If they were, you have a unique story to tell about your roots.
For many Chinese Singaporean families, why and how their forefathers took to the south seas is nothing short of intriguing. Driven by the prospect of a better life or seeking refuge from turmoil at home, many Chinese came to settle in Singapore.
In his book, Cyprian Lim chronicles the ups and downs of his family, capturing 20 generations of the Lee Clan from the first person who established the lineage in the late Yuan Dynasty (1360) to the present day. He has painstakingly pieced together his lineage from nightly stories told by his mother, from a collection of old photographs and historical documents, supplemented by interviews with eye witnesses and protagonists to present a fascinating personal history.
Key personalities are fleshed out as far as records allow. Cyprian focuses particularly on his great, great grandfather, a Qing scholar, Joseph Lee Gek Hong (1845-1901) who brought the family to the Catholic faith and his great grandfather, Paul Lee Kheng Guan (1885-1959), a well-known Catholic towkay in Singapore.
Of particular interest is the family’s links to the Church. Paul’s contributions as a respected towkay to the development of Singapore’s Catholic community, the Catholic High School and in Teochew clan associations is chronicled, as is the legacy of his son and grandsons who had served the Catholic population in Malaysia and Singapore as Catholic priests.
By giving the historical context of various family developments, such as the political unrest in China in the early 1900s and the rise of Singapore, Cyprian captures the family’s fortunes as a microcosm of the world order.
