My family tree is rather complicated as it spans across countries around Asia. Here in a nutshell are 10 things about my family tree.
- My great-great-great grandfather(Mother’s side) comes all the way from Fuzhou in China. It seems that he was a vegetable seller that’s why their family surname is Chua ~Cai ( 菜)
- My great-great grandmother (father’s side) is suppose to be a native from Eastern Malaysia that’s where the curly hair traits are from.
- Our family is Peranakan which stems for intermarriages between the Chinese from China and Straits born Malays . There is a fusion of Chinese and Malay culture /foods and language.
- My grandparents (mother’s side) were match made by their parents when they were young. They were 18yrs old and 20yrs old when they wed. They have six girls and one boy, 16 grandchildren and 10 great- grandchildren. They were married for 52 years before grandfather passed away 5 years ago.
- My grandfather was a vaccination nurse while my grandmother had always been a housewife who loved to cook, bake and sew.
- My grandfather (father’s side) had two wives. His first wife died after giving birth to my dad (he has an elder brother and sister). His second wife suffered depression after giving birth to a girl and has been institutionalised since then. I have never seen my grandfather as he died before I was even born.
- I still have several relatives(Father’s side) in Ipoh, Malaysia and long ago the family used to take charge of a rather huge rubber plantation there.
- We are Catholics and follow both Christian and Chinese customs.
- My parents and grandparents learned Malay and English when they were schooling. They speak English and Teochew at home. It was only during our generation when we learned Chinese and English. However we mainly speak English at home.
- My family and relatives normally meet up during Chinese New Year and one of the must have dishes is grandma’s speciality – Ngoh Hiang.
5 comments
Stasha
October 11, 2011 at 11:52 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
What an interesting journey your family had. I really enjoy reading about family history and yours sure is a blend of many winds. I always thought arranged marriages are a good idea. Who in this world, if not your parents, wish you the best future, right?
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Kiddothings
October 11, 2011 at 3:15 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
I’m interested to know what Ngoh Hiang is.
You know a lot about your family history – that’s great. My hometown’s Ipoh….hmm…maybe we could be related!
Dominique
October 11, 2011 at 4:41 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
@Kiddothings,
here is the link for Ngoh Hiang. It’s really yummy. My dad’s family is from Parit Buntar.
Kiddothings
October 11, 2011 at 4:47 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Ah, it’s like what we call ‘lobak’ over here! Thanks for the link.
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Ado
October 11, 2011 at 9:34 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
This is all very exotic to me – wow.
The food sounds AMAAAAZING.
So sad about your grandfather’s two wives.
What an interesting family tree you have. (-: