Photo A: A family portrait in the courtyard of the Heng Family "Si Tng".Sitting: L to R - Doris, Uncle Heng Chai Thiang 王再填 (late mother's cousin), Siang, Aunty Heng, wife of Heng Chai Thiang, Aunty Heng Siew Luan (Uncle Heng CT's sister), Tiang, Song Piak;
Standing: L to R - Hsiao Yun, Su-lynn, Jennifer, Heng, Ngoh, Khin and Caroline.
Stooping in front row: the two grandchildren of the late Uncle Heng Chai Teck, 王再德, elder brother of Uncle Heng CT
Our next mission of tracing our late mother’s ancestral village was also achieved with the help of the local Police (公安局)station . At least for this second mission, we were armed with more information - the names of one uncle (late mother’s cousin) and our late third aunty (late mother’s sister) in addition to the names of prefecture - Kek Sai(揭西) and township - Mee Oh (棉湖) and local village - Huay Hng 花园 (Garden). And we were more confident of where to seek help – the local Police station.
As part of our entertainment to have more excitement during the long coach journey, we played a guessing game. Each of us would guess the exact time of arrival(or the nearest estimated time) at the first Police station we would stop to ask for help in Mee Oh – beginning from the time we left our Swatow hotel, the Meritus. We started off at about 8.40am on Christmas Day. Each guess was written on individual slips of paper which were collected so that there would be no changes allowed.
Along the journey on the highway we ate tidbits, cakes, fruits and sweets , cracked jokes and had lots of fun and laughter. Of course we had a toilet break. We were excited when we came to the exit to “Kek Sai” and were even more excited when we saw the “Mee Oh” directional sign. Then all eyes (all 13 pairs of eyes including the driver’s) looked out earnestly for the Police station and lo and behold we spotted it, as we turned right into the road where the police station was. As the door of the coach opened in front of it, the time was exactly 11.07 am– the exact time that Heng had written on his slip of paper. It was very uncanny that Heng could guess it so right on target and as Khin explained, Heng being the youngest child and my late mother’s pet, my late mother must have a hand in this matter.
The uncanny coincidence did not end there. In the Mee Oh police station, (公安局) Siang met the police officer in charge, a Mr Lim. Siang gave the name of our uncle as “Heng Chai Kiang”. Mr Lim, not wanting to over promise and to give us false hope, said he did not know of such a person, but he recalled his uncle who knows of a “Heng Chai Thiang”. So he called his uncle who contacted Heng Chai Thiang who came to the Police station on a motorized bicycle in about ten minutes. So there it was, we were able to meet with my late mother’s cousin (although at first we were not quite sure if he was our relative). As Ngoh perceptively observed – we could have gone to the other police stations and then missed knowing Mr Lim whose uncle knew our uncle.
My late mother’s family name is Heng (王). Heng Chai Thiang was my mother’s cousin as he is the son of my late maternal grandfather’s brother. We called him 亚舅. He is a retired army officer, quite influential in the area. Uncle Chai Thiang is in charge of the Heng Family’s “Si Tng” which has been rebuilt and has a more impressive façade compared to the Yeo Clan “Si Tng”.
Uncle Heng Chai Thiang is 68 years old, and is a chain smoker and seasoned tea drinker. After our brief introductions at the Police station, he trustingly led us to his son's shophouse which was located a short distance away. Although we were rather mean to pose some questions to "test" whether he was indeed our mother's cousin , we were delighted when he mentioned the names of some relatives including his late brother, Heng Chai Teck - whom we had heard our late mother and our surviving Sio Ee (mother's youngest sister) mentioned. On hindsight, all this interrogation would not be necessary if we had consulted our Sio Ee before our trip as she would be able to provide the relevant information. However, as this trip was hurriedly planned, we did not inform her that we were making the journey to the Heng's family ancestral village.
Uncle Heng Chai Thiang was very warm, generous and gracious in his welcome in spite of the fact that initially we were testing whether he was really our uncle. As my sister, Khin critically observed , "What struck me was that we, city folks have grown to be very careful, cynical and doubtful. In contrast, here was this man, who welcomed us with open arms; never questioning that we might be imposters...a group of 12 strangers descending on his home without any notice...serving us with tea, which he expertly prepared, fried eggs with noodle in sweet soup (Tiam neng). ..This was a dish that my late mother used to serve on auspicious occasions.
Then Uncle Heng CT proudly led us to the Heng Family "Si Tng" behind his shophouse and which also faced a pond. At the temple, it was confirmed beyond any doubt that we were indeed in my late mother's ancestral village, Huay Hng (花园) as the names of my eldest brother, Yeo Yong Siang, our Sio Ee and late uncle were inscribed as donors to the reconstruction of the "Si Tng". However, the village was not much of a "huay hng" (garden) at 花园 as we had imagined from the name. Khin shared that as a child, she had visualised a "garden full of flowers in our mother's hometown". In fact, unlike my late father's ancestral house which was still intact, my late mother's house had been demolished. All that was left was a small house (like a terrace house) near the "Si Tng" that according to Uncle Heng Chai Thiang and his sister, Aunty Heng Siew Luan whom we addressed as Ah Ee, was built from money sent by our late maternal grandfather , 王经臣 who died around 1945 (over 60 years ago) in Singapore.
Our late maternal grandfather left his homeland with his family -which included our late maternal grandmother 林美清 , our late mother, 王粉莲 and her youngest sister (Sio Ee) - for Singapore around 1928 to forget the grief of the death of his only son. He started a Teochew "muay"糜 (porridge) stall at 5th mile Upper Serangoon Road and it probably expanded to a shop that was eventually taken over by our late adopted uncle when our late maternal grandfather passed away in or around 1945. The family lived in a village in the Poh Huat Road area (6th milestone, Upper Serangoon Road) where I remembered my mother saying that she had to help with household chores including washing clothes at a public standpipe and carrying water to the house from the public standpipe. My late mother enrolled in a nearby primary school probably run by missionaries but as my late grandmother did not believe in girls having an education, she never really had a proper education. Perhaps this may explain why my late mother strongly believed in an education for her children, both for boys and girls. She used to encourage us to study hard as she said that she could only bequeath each of us with a good education to build our own future on. In fact my siblings and I used to marvel at my mother's fantastic memory (especially for our misdeeds) and her argumentative and reasoning skills (including her collection of virtues and wise sayings) that we said that she would have made a very good lawyer if she only had the opportunity to study.
Uncle Heng CT wanted to invite us to eat in a nearby restaurant but we told him that we preferred some local favourites such as Po ling tau kwa, koo chye and soon kueh as well as the kiow (won ton) that we had heard my late maternal grandfather was selling before he migrated to Singapore. Considering the short notice, it was a wonder that Uncle Heng CT and his family were able to whip up a feast for us - including the pot of home-made kiow and the other kuays which were obtained from nearby suppliers. Simple though these food were, they were very tasty and delicious - and we enjoyed the meal - perhaps the food was served with much love and sincere hospitality.
The most touching moment for all our siblings was when Ah Ee (Aunty Heng Siew Luan), out of the blues, related our late mother's generousity in giving financial help to the Heng family during her visit to the Heng ancestral village in the early 1960s. She recalled how my late mother whom she addressed as "Ji jieh" 二姊, second elder sister - would present gifts/money to any relative who came , even with just 2 eggs, to meet her when she was there. Ah Ee said that the generousity shown by our late mother had blessed us all. We were so overwhelmed and touched by these kind words that most of us had tears welling in our eyes. Indeed we must be grateful to the good deeds that our late mother had done and emulate her inspiring example to be humble, generous and kind especially to the needy and poor. The good and kind deeds that we do in our life time will be long remembered after we are dead and gone.
After the feasting, it was time to say farewell to our long lost relatives as we had to make our way to our next destination in Guangzhou, another 5 to 6 hours driving distance away. Although our meeting with these blood relatives was short, the sincerity of their generousity and warm welcome as well as the rekindled ties would long remain in our memories.
Reflections
1) Uncle Heng Chai Thiang and his family's warm welcome and generousity has reaffirmed for me, at least, the universal virtues of family ties, loyalty, gratitude and traditional customs and practices. It was so heartwarming when he mentioned that when the reconstructed Heng Family "Si Tng" was opened, he contributed his own money to install the ancestral tablet to honour our late maternal grandparents who were his uncle and aunt (Ah Pek and his wife). I think such filial piety and respect to our departed relatives is a rare gesture among the younger generation including my generation today.
2) From the visits to the newly restored Heng family "Si Tng" 王氏祠堂 at花园 and the equally new Yeo clan "Si Tng" as well as the Chiu(赵) Family Si Tng which is under reconstruction and will be ready in 2008 - in Caroline's grandfather's ancestral village at 仙城, I have more faith and trust that the donations that our relatives in the ancestral villages used to solicit from their overseas kins have been put to good and genuine use for the reconstruction of the respective village temples. In the past I used to doubt if these funds were properly used but I now know that they are - at least from the three "Si Tngs" I have visited from this trip.
And I realise the importance of the Si Tng in each village as these village temples served to help overseas Chinese to trace their ancestors and roots. In Singapore and perhaps even in Hong Kong, we do not have any similar social or religious institutions which would be able to keep records of our family history. Thus we do not have that sense of history and traditions which many of our parents and grandparents' generations had. This is a great loss for us, our children and grandchildren.
3) It is very interesting and heartening to hear what our three nieces and Chris , our relative by marriage, have to say about this pilgrimage or "heritage" trip:
3a) Su-lynn, eldest 3G, Siang's daughter - promised to write her reflections and to submit in January but her contribution has not been submitted yet as on 5 Feb 2008.
3 b) Caroline, Ngoh's daughter - whose family lives in Hong Kong
This trip is one of the most meaningful I ever had so far. As mentioned by the others, I have gained much more than I had originally expected . Prior to this trip, my memory of 返乡下 was something unpleasant - some 20 years ago, it took me one whole day to reach my grandmother's village by train and by van from Hong Kong, and the public facilities there such as toilets were awful. According to my mum (I, myself, have no recollection at all), I had refused to visit any place in China since that trip to my 乡下. I was only 3 then.
With this childhood memory, I was pleasantly surprised to find Shantou a relatively developed town with a few 5 star hotels. I was even more surprised when we arrived at the Yeo's clan Association and I saw an actual temple. An entire community of some 30,000 people with the same surname Chiu is totally unheard of in Hong Kong (there may be some 100 - 200 people of the same surname in a few rural villages). I enjoyed most visiting the clan association of each village. I began to understand the usefulness of having a clan association which allows a person to trace his ancestry - I can now believe I may have descended from a "royal"family of the Sung Dynasty. In our present society , I do not think it is possible to trace our ancestors beyond 3 or 4 generations back.
It was also during this trip that I realised the similarity between a temple and the 'Chiu clan association' where my late paternal Grandpa used to frequent in Hong Kong. I now realise why he was so fond of visiting the Chiu association. It must have given him fond memories of his birthplace, family and village.
As many others have mentioned, the helpfulness of the police we met in all 3 villages is something I have never dreamt of. To date, I wonder if we had to go to a fourth police station, would the officer/s be just as kind and helpful? Was it just pure coincidence that we had experienced such wonderful service or could it be because of our 'chi' and strong desires of wishing to trace our roots that led us successfully to all three ancestral villages? May be our late ancestors had a hand in this success?
After this visit, I am considering bringing my sisters and maybe my Hong Kong cousins to my paternal Grandma's and late Grandpa's villages. It would be an experience they should have..
3c) Hsiao Yun, Khin's daughter
" I was initially unwilling to make the trip to China as I was exhausted from my 3-week trip to India and constant travelling over the past 2 years. Besides, I spend more time in China each year than I would like to in my lifetime. I did not really expect to learn much about our roots from the trip as it was promoted as a makan adventure rather than heritage trip. Gong Gong and Mah Mah passed away when I was a little girl, so I did not know much about them nor hear stories about their lives in China. In fact, it was only on the trip that I learnt about the Ang Kia Chu and the reasons why they left China. Also, being the 3rd generation and having no contact with any relatives in China, I did not feel any connection with China or the villages which Gong Gong and Mah Mah came from. In fact, I only found out that Swatow is Shantou when I tried to goggle "weather in swatow" and there were no search results. It was only when I asked around that I realised Swatow is actually Shantou.
On our bus ride from Guangzhou to Swatow, I realised that we had no idea how to get to our village and our Ang Kia Chu. All along I thought someone in the group knew how to get us all there as Uncle Siang was going to show us his room in the Ang Kia Chu. It was when we visited the Yeo Clan Si Tng that I realised the importance of the clan house as it lists our history and served as a meeting place for the clan people. It was my first visit to a Si Tng. At the Ang Kia Chu, I imagined (a skill I acquired while visiting Angkor Wat, where a lot of imagination is required) the house and its intricate encravings in its grandeur many decades ago. It dawned on me that if Gong Gong had remained in China and his Ang Kia Chu, our lives and fates would be so different. Especially for us girls, who may have been smouldered to death as infants. In the village, we would also not have the opportunities we have in Singapore. On this day, we also discovered that Teochew is a small town in Swatow and Gong Gong is from Theng Hai, another town in Swatow. So we are specifically Theng Hai Nang, and not the generalised Teochew Nang that we thought we were. Mah Mah's village is very far away from Swatow. My mum told me that Mah Mah's father used walk from the village to Swatow to buy things. I count my blessings that I do not have to walk many days to go shopping! Gong Gong and Mah Mah would not have met if they had remained in China. The village is filled with shop houses, maybe we just need some imagination to picture the flora that was there in the past. Grand-uncle's family was very friendly, opened their house to us and bought/made lots of yummy food for us. They are very different from the cautious (nicer way of saying cynical) city dwellers which we have become. In our (3Gs') defense, we would not be able to whip up a sumptious meal in a matter of minutes, not because we are unwilling to, but because of our lack of culinary skills. I noticed that in a matter of 2 or 3 generations, overseas Chinese can evolve to be 'foreigners'. We could hardly hold conversations with our long lost relatives. The 2Gs managed short conversations with them but the 3Gs just sat there, smiled and ate. Even Su-lynn who is probably the most fluent in Teochew amongst the 3Gs could not really understand what they were saying.
Despite the daily 6 am morning calls and long bus journeys, it was a very memorable trip. I learnt more about our grandparents, the villages they were from and better appreciate the Chinese culture. Before this trip, I heard many stories of the Chinese being money grubbers and of corrupt officials. Now I surprise people when I tell them that the people and policemen that we met in the villages are not money grabbers nor corrupt. They seem genuinely happy to see a group of overseas/foreign Chinese find their village. This trip has sparked interests amongst my friends and colleagues, who asked me more and told me where their grandparents are from. Roger asked his parents where his grandparents are from and Adeline my friend asked me many questions after reading Aunty Tiang's blog. It is a pity the rest of our cousins could not join us as we would not be making a trip there anytime soon or ever. We will just have to share our experiences and photos with them. "
3d) Chris, our relative by marriage - Heng's sister in law
Initially Chris wondered if the trip was relevant for her to tag along but she felt good to be allowed to join the trip. What she remembered and enjoyed about the trip was to be able to visit the Yeo ancestral house which has lasted for so long (almost a century at least) and to be in there drinking tea and standing at the entrance, eating the "tang yuan" and home grown starfruits.
At the end of the trip to Shantou and Guangzhou, Chris confirmed that the trip was very enjoyable - there was much laughter, eating, cheap shopping and massages.
4) The ancestral villages of my late parents have also made way for modern development. For example, except for the Yeo Clan "Si Tng" and a few traditional houses such as our "Ang Kia Chu", many modern buildings and houses have emerged in the Chwee Kee Sia area. In my late mother's village, the shop houses along the road leading to the Heng family ancestral temple are also modern structures - in fact I had imagined that my late mother's village to be surrounded by agricultural fields and the villagers to be farmers. After all my late mother had sent about S$900 during her life time to enable her sister (the third aunty who was the sister who was given away and the only sibling who remained in China) to buy a cow to help till the field.
The only village that has remained intact with many traditional houses over quite an extensive area is Caroline's grandfather's village - the Chiu ancestral village in 仙城. Some of us had the privilege of visiting this village during this trip.
I believe that like many other places, modernisation and development will change the face of our family ancestral villages so that in time to come, the ancestral villages will no longer be the interesting and historical villages we know them to be. My siblings and I as well as the other members in our pilgrimage party should consider ourselves lucky to get a glimpse of what the ancestral villages were like in our ancestors' time.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This trip was made possible and successful through the collective and collaborative efforts of all the 12 pilgrims and a few others such as the Chinese police officers and our driver. It was through TEAMWORK, cooperation and positive KARMA that every moment and activity flowed so smoothly and safely:
* It was Heng assisted by Su-lynn that the SQ flights to and from Singapore and Guangzhou and the hotels in Swatow and Guangzhou were booked through the internet so speedily and efficiently. Heng also painstakingly and meticulously did homework and research on the internet about Swatow and Guangzhou. He was unanimously appointed as our treasurer during the trip and he did an excellent job of keeping track of our pooled money. Heng and the two nieces (Su lynn and Hsiao Yun) also worked on the compilation of all the photographs that were taken during the trip and we had a slide show for the family one weekend.
* Our eldest brother, Siang, through his personal contacts managed to get special hotel rates at the Hotel Meritus in Swatow (thus the welcome basket of fruits and floral arrangement in each of our rooms) which included daily breakfast at the executive lounge. He also arranged for the coach with the driver, Mr Li who ferried us around in Swatow as well as to all the three ancestral villages to find our roots. Mr Li was a responsible, helpful and safe driver - in fact credit must be given to him for suggesting that we get help from the local police station to locate our ancestral village on the first day of our search.
Some of us also remember Mr Li for his principle when he refused to give in to the unreasonable demand at one of the private petrol stations in Swatow that wanted to charge us three times the market price for a litre of diesel (from 5 yuan to 17 yuan) in spite of the fact that our petrol tank was running low. This was quite a scary experience for us, cityfolks who have never experienced petrol rationing or scarcity. .. we were praying hard that we would be able to get diesel for the coach and after several unsuccessful stops at a number of petrol kiosks, we eventually managed to fill up the tank at a Sinopec station. What a relief!
We also remember Mr Li for so kindly ferrying us to and from the hotel for our nightly massages/foot reflexology sessions in Swatow. We missed his service when we had to take taxis every night to the massage centre in Guangzhou. However we enjoyed the excellent massages that we had during the trip.
* Sister Khin looked after our stomachs very well from the start of the pilgrimage, providing us with her delicious signature chicken pies for lunch during the six hour coach journey from Guangzhou Airport to Swatow on the first day, Of course we also enjoyed her fruit cake and other tidbits. Not to be outdone, Jennifer supplied bak kwa, personally wrapped in small plastic bags while Chris bought her marble and banana cakes that we ate whenever we were hungry in the coach. We also appreciated the quality wine (from Singapore) that Siang generously and thoughtfully supplied for most of our meals although we had one bottle less to drink as one bottle (out of six) was broken during the flight. The two sisters, Jennifer and Chris also played an crucial role in keep the driver awake while he was driving - by conversing with him in Cantonese and supplying him food and titbits.
* Caroline and Ngoh did considerable homework in pouring over maps and travel books (in Chinese) on Guangdong, Swatow and the Teochew cities/towns, without which we would have been more lost. In fact Caroline was a fantastic navigator and with her fluent Cantonese, she was able to direct the driver around the places that we wanted to visit. Of course sometimes we did get lost ( a minor hiccup) but on one such occasion, when we were trying to travel by a scenic route on our way back from the Citic Golf Course to Swatow city, we were lost. But it was a blessing in disguise as we managed to eat and taste the famous Swatow orluak (egg oysters) at Sai Ti Hang - it was the best orluak that we had - crispy on the outside and moist with plenty of oysters inside. Yum, Yummy yummy!
* Even Song Piak contributed to the fun we had during the trip as many jokes were made at his expense - otherwise there would not be so much laughter and merry making to break the monotony of the coach journey. His expertise in bargaining and buying fruits was made use of on the very first day when he helped to buy oranges, mangoes, papayas and bananas at a local market for us to eat on the way. He even bought a tray and two knives that he reluctantly had to leave behind in Guangzhou to comply with airport security.
* Our sister-in-law/ aunty to the 3Gs, Doris also played a significant role. With her command of good spoken Teochew she was able to converse well with the relatives we met during the trip. Without her and Siang, I think our conversations with the relatives and the others we met, would be less comprehensible and effective.
* For me, my contribution has been the posting of this blog which I have enjoyed compiling. However, I must acknowledge the contributions of all my siblings and nieces who have given me their feedback and reflections which I have incorporated into the blog. Most of all I must thank Heng and Caroline for working very hard to get the Mandarin translations of names, places and other terms that we have mentioned in the blog. Thank you every one for your contributions to the success of our sentimental journey to our ancestral homes - our memorable journey of a lifetime. And to the other Yeo family members especially the 3Gs, such as Soen Ming, Adeline, Alvin, Melinda, Jessica, Serene, Sylvia, Sonia and Samantha who were not able to make the trip - please read this blog to have the vicarious experience to learn about your roots. Enjoy.
