Roots

Knowing Your Ancestors

When your 93 year old father keeps calling you for an all important event and wants your presence, you can only concede and oblige. So, my brother and I made a trip down South to accompany the parents to a 'world' Chong Clan get together in good old Melaka.
The Chongs of the universe right across international waters - Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand - met for a recognition of past heritage and their motherland.

Kong Kong told us that the figure up there is the oldest recorded Chong guy and today the Chongs, Changs, Teos, Cheongs and whatever sounds which originated from different dialects met and a sense of "belonging" emerged from it.

So some spoke in Hakka, others in Teo Chew, still others in Cantonese... but they all come from the same source. A participant in her sing song Teo Chew dialect said " pak seh pak si ai choi chi kai seh " ...you don't mind dying just to produce the next generation of the same clan. Next she related that it is most permissible in the olden Chinese culture to remarry if your spouse was not able to continue the line for you. So primitive.

While dining, you hear people talk especially if you are in the company of people in their 70s and 80s about some Chinese taboos. If you are from this clan, you are not supposed to marry a partner of the same clan. This will cause misfortune and bring bad omen to the family. The older generation will even quote that the thunders in the sky will strike in disagreement of such a union. Modern medicine will agree that close blood ties will cause 'chromosome disorder' and other complications in the next generation.

But yet, the same group of people told me that among some of the guests were couples who intermarried within the same clan; immediate cousins to be exact. Miraculously, they have children who are perfectly normal.

That's why it is known as 'taboo' but no... I won't encourage this too. Too close in blood tie for comfort.

In Chinese dinner gatherings, the liquor is a must. Somehow the evening is not complete without it. So the beer promoters went round and round emptying bottles and topping glasses; as though to have empty glasses is a 'taboo'. I wonder at the number of pourings made; is it because it is 'free' that everyone is drinking till the cows come home? But this is typical Chinese culture. Men and women, young or old , they drank; that I observed. Liquor is another symbol of wealth.

When the clan met, they had a cause and it is most always something to do with money. They want to buy a building to house matters of the clan. So the 2ooo or so participants were generous and gave...RM800k.

Kong Kong I believe, was the oldest participant that evening. They invited him up stage to be one of the drum players. I took a shot of him standing right below the "Chong" symbol. The sense of pride I had when I see him. He told us that when he left the shores of China he had 10cents in his pocket. He sailed through the South China Sea on a passage fee of 34 dollars and that meant he working as a peon for 3 years to clear his debt. My father though from China is eternally grateful to this land because she has given him an opportunity to live a meaningful life. He has been a good son of the Chong Clan as he has led an exemplary life.

The shot is so appropriate...son of the Clan.
Kong Kong is so handsome.

So they hit the drums; another loud sounding symbol of good fortune.

The deputy Finance Minister Dato Donald Lim gave away a souvenir to Kong Kong; not knowing that his daughter is classmate to Sara in Reading. What a small world; strangers and yet connected in unknown ways.

Dato Lim reiterated that Malaysia has been gracious and allowed the Chinese in this land to have an opportunity to learn the Chinese Language which has been passed down from generation to generation. That's why he spoke with such eloquence. My brother and I though were quite some 'bananas' as we could not understand the speeches well. This was one time that I felt lost when they used the formal language. I could not help but feel this tinge of regret that I had not mastered the language. So Chinese in appearance and yet the language was missing. But, I may start picking the challenge for I love many things Chinese...songs, movies...

So the pompous evening had to come to an end. I looked at my father and brother; the Chong Clan. The cycle of culture, heritage and pride are in the sons; never daughters. How chauvinistic. How can anything begin without the fairer sex?

But it was an evening of its own. Though we began with reluctance accompanying the old folks, it ended with nostalgia as we see how people all over the world would come together to meet, be friends and remember their heritage. The Chinese people's roots are from China ; aren't they?

But I am proud to be a Malaysian.