Back to golden age With Ina for coffee: Meeting and talking with Christopher Ong

By Ina Stašević, Croatia/Europe

Mr. Christopher Ong, investment banker, hotelier, antique collector and founder of George Town Heritage Hotels from Penang/Malaysia. He had a very successful career as an investment banker in Australia before returning to Penang in 2007. He is a fifth generation Peranakan, a Chinese ethnic group whose history goes back 600 years when male immigrants from China married local Malay women.
I had the opportunity to visit Ong's home and talk to this erudite about Peranakan traditions.

You live among stunning antiques. Your exclusive hotel is actually a showroom. What does this impressive collection mean to you?
It means a lot to me. That is my life's mission. This is a way to preserve and revive the heritage of my ancestors, the identity of the Chinese community, the unique Peranakan culture that distinguishes us from other communities in Malaysia. The beginnings of our Chinese community in Southeast Asia date back to the 12th century. Here is my grandparents' house, a collection of Straits Chinese ware once used by my grandparents (better known as Nonya ware), a ware used by married Chinese women of higher social status in Malaysia. What makes it so special is the fact that it was made in the Imperial Porcelain Furnaces in China, and is intended for the Chinese community in Penang, Malacca and Singapore. Antiques should not be in museums, so I wanted my antiques to live among the guests, while promoting the heritage and culture of Penang. I acquired some and even restored some myself, such as this door.

Since when have you been collecting?
Since childhood. Even when I was a teenager. I grew up with my maternal grandparents who lived in a large Peranakan house. Growing up, I was mesmerized by my grandmother's stories of porcelain dishes and black wood furniture. I prayed with my grandmother every night to the Jade Emperor. I have always admired my grandmother's cutlery, gilded trays, lotus flower plates, candlesticks, mother of pearl chairs, jade ornaments and gilded cabinets. My grandmother would tell me every day what goes on the table and at the same time she knew how to say - if it is done without passion and soul, it would be a meaningless ritual, because every gathering of the family around the table should have a calming effect, connect and fill with inner peace.

Until the age of 17, I was raised by my grandmother because my mother was sick. I left Malaysia at the age of 17. At the age of 20, I traveled around the world, took photos, read books. Knowledge, reading books and visiting museums helped me to recognize the value of Chinese and Anglo-Victorian antiques. 
On one occasion, when I visited a museum in Singapore, I realized that many of the exhibits were from Penang, the city where I was born, and then I wanted to preserve as many antiques as possible from my home. My impressive collection is focused on porcelain candy trays, so over the years I have collected more than a hundred that I keep in glass cabinets. 

Thirty years later when I came back from the world, in 2007, I could still find some shops because the city hadn't changed much. I started renovating old George Town houses, buying dilapidated Anglo-Indian bungalows and turning them into boutique hotels. Today, each of my four hotels represent indigenous 19th century architecture filled with antiques that could be found in any Peranakan home during that period.

What do you ultimately intend to do with this valuable art collection?
The thinking is ongoing, and I have clear ideas about what he would like to do with his collection. I would like to share my collection with the community and leave it to my own foundation for the future.