Mr. Chung Kwang Tong, a Singaporean citizen, embarked on a journey to uncover his ancestral roots, tracing his lineage back to the Song Dynasty and discovering unexpected Hokkien heritage despite being registered as Hainanese.
SINGAPORE – When Mr Chung Kwang Tong dug deep into his ancestral roots in China, he started wondering if he was a Hainanese or Hokkien . While his grandparents came to Singapore from Hainan, his ancestors had originated from Fujian.
Mr Chung, 39, said that when he approached the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan with the information, he was told he has to follow the dialect indicated on his birth certificate, which is Hainanese, despite tracing his ancestral roots to Fujian, where the Hokkiens come from. On Sept 21, NLB and GSS signed a memorandum of understanding at the National Library Building to jointly promote the interest in genealogy among Singaporeans by organising talks, workshops and exhibitions. GSS will also help enrich the genealogy collection of NLB with its donations.
On behalf of GSS, Mr Ng contributed two genealogy publications donated from China. One came from the Khoo family in Zhangzhou city, Fujian, and contains the family history of famous Singaporeans like the late businessman Khoo Teck Puat.Mr Ng said that GSS, which was started in 2012, is in discussions with the Overseas Chinese Museum in Quanzhou city, Fujian, China, to bring in its family history collection of Singaporeans whose ancestors hailed from Quanzhou, to have it exhibited here.
“For migrants from around the world, such as those from South-east Asia and China who have made Singapore home, genealogy books and other ancestry records help Singaporeans to trace their roots and develop a sense of belonging, which contribute to the collective Singapore narrative,” Ms Yeo said.
Mr Sarafian Salleh is the author of the book “Tuah Bugis - Chronicles of the Seafaring People of Singapore”. ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN
Genealogy Ancestry Hokkien Hainanese Singapore
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