Ancestor land

厦门 Xiamen China

Last month my wife and I went on a free and easy holidays with my youngest son to 厦门Xiamen China. Hersan 禾山 village nearby  Xiamen was where my great grandfather Chew Joo Chiat was born in 1855. During his growing up years, China was ruled by the Qing Dynasty. Below is an old city map of 厦门Xiamen. The fortified walls had gates opening to the  north, south, east and west . 禾山Heshan village is not on the map as it is to the north of the city.

                                                                Picture credit to Ho San Kong Hoey Singapore.

Silk Air flight time to Xiamen was about 4 hours

Day 1

                                               Xiamen Swiss International Hotel

We arrived at Xiamen late in the afternoon and checked in at Xiamen Swiss International Hotel. It is directly opposite the tourists’ island 鼓浪屿 (Gulangyu). We took a cab to a hilltop restaurant overlooking the beach. The weather was hot like Singapore and the beach was very crowded.

Yummy food

Beach at Xiamen

We had dinner at the restaurant overlooking the beach

Day 2

We thought of going to Gulang Yu but could not get ferry tickets. The cruise centre was very crowded with tourists and school children on holidays. Since we had no fixed itinerary, I suggested to visit Heshan Road, hoping to find my great grandfather Chew Joo Chiat’s home village.

                                            Picture from Google Earth

My visit to Xiamen was partly to trace my family history in China. I was not prepared then but simply hope something would materialise. I was totally wrong. Chew Joo Chiat’s birth place,  禾山(Heshan) has been merged with Xiamen city. The place is now criss-cross by highways and multi-storey buildings. Searching for Chew Joo Chiat’s birth place was like looking for a pin in a haystack. Heshan village is not as before and after about an hour’s walk, we gave up.

                                                        禾山路Heshan Road 

                                                          Another view of Heshan Road

Mary needed rest to ease off the pain in her leg. A cab took us to SM City Plaza, a shopping mall nearby. 

                                               SM City Plaza Xiamen

The cab driver stopped us on the wrong side of the shopping mall. We had to walk a short distance to the building.     

                                           Mary could not walk and rested outside a restaurant.                

                                                         Mary could walk again

Day 3

We visited the Overseas Chinese Museum as it was near the hotel. See map 

 Entrance gate to the Overseas Chinese Museum

The Overseas Chinese Museum contains exhibits mainly from overseas Chinese. It show-case the story of Chinese migrant workers to south-east Asia during the Qing Dynasty. At the museum, I was hoping to find clues or pictures of my great grandfather Chew Joo Chiat but in vain. Majority  of the overseas Chinese then had no education. They worked hard as manual workers  such  as cooks barbers, tailors, dealers, hawkers and various other jobs. Some succeeded to be employers, teachers, doctors and lawyers, traders  etc. Many  entrepreneurs had made a name for themselves such as Tan Tock Seng, Lim Nee Soon, Tan Kah Kee, Chew Joo Chiat, Dr Lim Boon Keng and  others.

                                        Chinese migrant workers on board a Chinese junk

Zhongshan Road is the main commercial area in Xiamen. A large section of the road is now a pedestrian mall. We went hunting for souvenir and gifts for friends. As it was dinner time we had our meal at a seafood restaurant.

                                                   Dinner at a seafood restaurant

Day 4

We booked a ferry ticket in advance from the hotel for Wed 19 August 2015. Mary had problem walking and was given priority to jump queue. Although inside the barrier she could not move due to the pain and had to wait for the pain to go off.

                                            Passengers queue up to go to the ferry

Gulang Yu island is a tourist spot. It was once an international settlement in China beside Shanghai. Hence, there are many colonial buildings of Victorian era. We covered less than one percent of the island and returned to Xiamen due to Mary's condition. 

                                                  Gulang Yu Islang

                                                     Church

                                            Anglo Chinese College Xiamen in 1898. 

                                                      Yang Villa built in 1935

                                                       Roadside artist

                                             Mary on wheel chair at Cruise Centre

Day 5

Home Sweet Home

                                                View from our hotel room

                                 Good bye Xiamen. Hope to see you again

Rediffusion Talk Show SG50

Rediffusion on its SG50 celebration will film a collection of 25 stories shared by the nation’s pioneers through  interviews at the talkshows. The program will be filmed at 7 community centres.  At each talkshow pioneers would share their personal stories during the last 50 years.

 On Saturday 14 March 2015 the talkshow was held at Joo Chiat Community Centre Theatrette. The Theme -我最喜欢的广播员和节. I was one of the pioneer generation paticipants and also a past Joo Chiat residents.

It had an audience of about 80 people. The show started with a brief history of Rediffusion given by Ms Eeva Chang Mei Hsiang, a former Rediffusion DJ who bought over the Rediffusion.

                                                     Ms Eeva Chang Mei Hsiang

                                             Pioneer Generation Participants

                                             Interviewed by Ms Eeva Chang

                                                       Audience at the show

Each participant shared their nostalgic story. Some was quite emotional. The lighter part was singing old favourite in English as well as in Chinese such as “It’s Now Or Never” by Elvis Presley and a Hokien Song 望春風.

I talked  about the Rediffusion in Joo Chiat. In the 1950s  Rediffusion arrived in Joo Chiat. Most houses had a Rediffusion voice box including the attap huts kamong behind my house.  Rediffusion had only 2 radio channel. Turn the knob left or right for English or Chinese which included Chinese dialects. My uncle liked Chinese songs and I listened to English songs. Sometimes our timing clashed. But when it came to Ong Toh’s action packed story we had a common interest. The kungfu story was very captivating. Whenever it was Ong Toh story time, I took down the Rediffusion box hung on the wall to the table top for closer listening for I did not want to miss any part of his story. 

                               Listening to Rediffusion's Ong Toh's story

I also shared about the hawker food in Joo Chiat.

Tau Kua Pow The best ‘tau kua pow’ was not at Joo Chiat Road/East Coast Road junction coffee shop (now Alibaba). It was at a small coffee shop opposite Joo Chiat market (now Joo Chiat Complex). The secret for good ‘tua kua pow’ is in the sauce.

Katong Laksa  The hawker  who  was selling Katong laksa  known as ‘jangok’ because he had a few strands of hair on his chin. The name Katong laksa was not coined by him. His customer gave the name for easy reference. He was an intinerant hawker selling laksa in Joo Chiat, Marine Parade and finally he found a place on the 5 foot way of a coffee shop at the corner of East Coast Road/Ceylon Road. His customers loved his laksa and was referred by words of mouth as ‘Katong laksa’.  Jangok was a squatter on our land at Tembeling Road. He carried his laksa stall on a bamboo pole. On one side was a charcoal stove with a pot of laksa gravy on top. On the side was the cockery, laksa noodles, etc. In early 1970s The Ministry of the Environment wanted to clear all itinerant hawkers in Singapore.  His hawker stall was affected. The coffee shop owner saw the benefit of a popular laksa stall in his shop and rented a small space next to a pillar for him to continue his trade. Today Katong laksa is found in many parts of Singapore.

Objective of the project:

Commemorate 50 years of Singapore through the stories shared by the nation's pioneers.

Allow younger generations to rediscover the history and heritage of Singapore.

The Rediffusion Talk Show can be viewed at:

Website: www.rediffusion.com.sg

Youtube:   https://youtube.com/user/eevashowproduction

Vimeo:      http://vimeo.com/user18428569

Reason for Blogging

                                                                   Chew Joo Chiat

I believe I am the oldest blogger in Singapore. Many people including the Straits Times reporter had asked me why I blog about my great grandfather Chew Joo Chiat. I have two reasons to do so. First I want my children, grandchildren and those after them to know their roots who had a humble beginning and through hard work and successful business he became wealthy man. The Straits Times on 11 Feb 1926 reported “A striking example of the ressourfulness of the Chinese of making a fortune in Malaya writes a correspondent, is recorded in the life of Chew Joo Chiat ……………….  He was a Hokien and landed at Singapore from Amoy (Amoy is in China) some 50 years or more, a penniless boy but by hardwork and endowed with keen business foresight he left an estate estimated to be worth millions of dollars……..” The moral of the story “Chew Joo Chiat our roots had a humble beginning”. Inspite of his wealth he kept a low profile and frugal in his spending.

ST 2 April 1999 published an article from an interview stated that Chew Joo Chiat died in 1950s and he had only a daughter. The informations given to the reporter was incorrect as Chew Joo Chiat's tombstone in Englsh showed he died on 5^th February 1926. His main tombstone in Chinee characters showed he had 2 sons, 3 daughters and 8 grandchildren. There were also factual errors in the internet websites and books etc. 

My second reason was to correct all the errors and tell my own story.

During my research  I found Chew Joo Chiat had many other businesses besides being a housing developer and owner of plantations such as spice, rubber and coconut trees. In his early days at the turn of the 20^th century he was a ship chandler and a timber trader owning a sawmill at Beach Road. His office was at No 5 Philip Street. In the early 1920s he owned 2 tin mines, The Trengganu Corporation and The Ulu Pacca Corporation as well as 2 banks. He founded the Pacific Bank in 1919 and was its first chairman. He was also a major shareholder of Batu Pahat Bank. Again many questions were asked. What had happened to all his wealth? Well the juicy part will be in the book “The Story  of Chew Joo Chiat” which will be published in December 2015 or January 2016..

                                                                           

Trengganu Corpoation                                                                          Ulu Pacca Corporation

                                                               Batu Pahat Bank

                                                                 Pacific Bank

Tracing The Roots By Younger Generations

On Saturday 20 September 2006 I gave a talk about our great grandfather, Chew Joo Chiat at my home. Many relatives were invited but only my nephew Andrew Chew and his sister Dawn  were present. I gave him the book “Joo Chiat a living legacy” before he left.

In November 2006 I  gave Andrew our family tree website to kindle his interest in tracing his roots.

                                       Andrew Chew

It took 8 years from 2006 to 2014 for the seed I planted to germinate.

On 19 October 2014 Andrew wrote to me:

Hi Uncle Philip 

Its been a while, how have you been? Recently there's a urge for me to trace back my roots as well. For a start, I think it is good for me to pay respect to our ancestor. Understand that you had been to Joo Chiat's grave before. Do you know how I could get there? (I only have a brief outline of a map I found online)

I replied 

Hi Andrew, it's a pleasure to show you Chew Joo Chiat's grave. It is at Bukit Brown Cemetery. l was there in August 2014 with my son and his family from US. Contact me when you are ready. Get more relatives to come along if they are interested.

We fixed the date Saturday 29 November 2014 to visit Chew Joo Chiat’s grave. He told me 6 other relatives would be visiting too. We arranged to meet at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange. 

On the appointed date I was surprised to see a dozen relatives including 2 of my cousins. They were 4th 5th and 6th generations of Chew Joo Chiat. We boarded bus service No. 157 which took us there. 

At Bukit Brown Cemetery everybody was happy walking on metal road until they reach the foot path that led to Joo Chiat's grave. We could see large tyre tracks of truck. It was muddy with puddles of water here and there. We moved very carefully forward until we reached the marker. We walked up the slope a short distance and was glad to see our ancestor's grave. It was my first attemp leading such a big group at BBC.

  

                                                   At Toa Payoh bus interchange

Walking towards the cemetery 

Inside cemetery ground

Chew Joo Chiat's grave

At Chew Joo Chiat's grave

On the way out of the foot path.

The group wanted to explore the area and Dominic who was there to assist me took them to see Ong Sam Leong'grave.

                                                    Ong Sam Leong's grave

We were fortunate that the weather was kind to us. After we left the cemetery ground  there was a heavy rain.

Comments below were collected by Andrew Chew and forwarded to me on Wed 3rd Dec 2014.

Just to consolidate on our thoughts after visiting the grave:

Joanne Lim: It's a great feeling to gather with our different generations to visit and pay respect to our great great great grandfather tomb and understand the history.

Lillian Chew: Today after visiting my great grandpa, I feel very happy and also give the chance give to meet my cousin, nephew and niece. We chat and laugh together and have our lunch together.

Mei Yan: A very enjoyable trip. Meet up with cousins and pay respect our great great great great grandfather.

Joseph Lim: It's a fruitful experience for the younger generations like us to learn more of our ancestor and the root of our origin.

Andrew Chew: Thinking on how our ancestor came to a foreign land and settled down, live and died here. It's nice that the descendants are able to visit the grave, each living and continue the path forward.

Ivy Chew wrote: helo thank you Philip. It was good  to meet the other relatives really unfamiliar. Thanks for arranging the trips and meetings. Look forward to the book.

Bellra Chew: Really thankful to Philip uncle fo  bringing us to visit our ancestor grave and sharing his knowledge with us. It's a very meaningful experience to be able to hear stories of the past and learn to appreciate our roots.

Chris' Family Tracing Their Roots

My son Chris and his family arrived here from California on Wednesday 9^th July 2014 for a month’s holidays. The next day I was taken aback when he told me that they wanted to visit Chew Joo Chiat’s grave. I was lost for words. It was my joyous moment that my son had shown interest in his roots.

We arranged to visit Bukit Brown Cemetery on Saturday 12 July 2014. I visited the site many times and was quite confident of finding my great grandfather’s grave easily. I remembered a ‘No Entry’ sign board and a foot path beside it. When we arrived at the site I noticed the scenery there was different compared to before. Previously the foot path was narrow, wet and soggy, and both sides of the path were covered with trees and thick foliage (picture 1). That day the foot-path was dry and well-trodden. There was less foliage and a few graves at the sides of the foot-path were visible (picture 2). Chew Joo Chiat’s grave, a double tomb up the slope could not be seen from below.  

                                                picture 1

picture 2

I was disorientated by the change of scenery and had problem finding the grave. We walked to and fro the foot-path a number of times plus climbing up a few slopes. I was very sure of the ‘No Entry’ signboard and the foot-path beside it. Fortunately I remembered an additional clue. Along the foot-path on the left hand side was a tree trunk with a patch of red paint. My great grandfather’s grave was directly opposite it on the right hand side. We found the tree with the red paint (picture 3). The girls were tired and waited at the foot path. I and Chris walked up the slope directly opposite the tree. Within a minute we saw Chew Joo Chiat’s double tomb. We could not find it earlier because we were facing the wrong side of the grave. Furthermore, the tomb was completely covered with vegetation except for the front tombstones. 

picture 3

Chris announced the good news to the girls and led them to the site.

picture 4, 5 & 6

All of us were very happy and smiling. Chris said “mission accomplished”. We took a few pictures standing beside Chew Joo Chiat’s  tomb (picture 7 & 8). It was our momentous hour discovering and getting connected  to our roots as the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th generations.

                                          picture 7 & 8

Picture (9) shows the double tomb. The tomb on the left belongs to Chew Joo Chiat’s second wife Tan Quan Neo who was a Peranakan. For some reason she was not buried in the tomb reserved for her.     Instead, I found her grave at another location quite a distance away from the double tomb.

                                             picture 9

CHEW JOO CHIAT ORIGINAL PHOTO

                                                             

CHEW JOO CHIAT

 

There is only one original photograph of Chew Joo Chiat. It is in the home of one of Chew’s great grandson. Ancestor worship has been passed down from generation to generation and the duty now falls on him.  Chew’s photograph is a full body portrait. It was taken in a photo studio as shown above. It shows him dressed in a western attire - coat and pants with a bow tie complete with a topee or hat on the table. The photo gave the impression that he was an educated man with an illustrious career and standing in society.

After Chew Joo Chiat’s death his photo was put in No 73 Joo Chiat Road for ancestor worship by his eldest son Chew Cheng Liam. When Cheng Liam died in 1946, his photo was placed next to his father. Ancestor worship was continued by the next generation. Now the duty falls on the fourth generation living at Chai Chee.

I saw Chew Joo Chiat’s half body photo in books, magazines, newspapers and webpages. It had been crop and used without permission. In one instance I noticed credit for the photo was given to a person who copy it. In fact, that person should not take credit for himself. Many people are not aware of copyright.

                                        

         Half body photo Chew Joo Chiat crop from the top photo