The red packet given to the bride Chee Lak Neo during the tea ceremony was inscribed with “good luck from father-in-law” in black ink. It contains two pieces of Malayan dollar notes. Instead of the Malayan notes, people during the occupation adopted the currency by the Japanese government, commonly termed the “banana note”. Peranakan weddings were typically elaborate ceremonies that lasted up to twelve days. They involved numerous customs and rituals, such as the tea ceremony on the sohja tiga hari (third day) and presenting the prove of virginity on the duablas hari (twelfth day). Wedding portraits often show the bridegroom in suit and the bride in traditional Peranakan wedding attire. Although more brides adopted Western wedding gowns around the mid-20th century, they could also have a change of traditional outfits for certain events during the wedding. The objects from this group acquisition show how the Peranakan wedding was simplified during wartime, while some traditions were retained.Chee Lak Neo’s father, Chee Guan Chiang was a director at OCBC (1938–1958), while his father Chee Swee Cheng was a prominent businessman in Malacca dealing with plantations and real estate among others.
