Peranakan derives from a Malay word that means “descendants from a union between a local and a foreigner,” specifically Chinese immigrants and the indigenous Malay population. Peranakan culture is at the core of George Town’s identity. This museum occupies an ostentatious mansion built by a wealthy Chinese merchant in the 1890s. Its contents reveal the Peranakan people’s love of opulence. The cabinets are filled with German bisque porcelain figurines, fine British pottery and even mantel clocks made in Ansonia, Connecticut.