I know that typing in caps is not the protocol, but the caps is to differentiate the blog from the emails posted below it.
FOR THOSE WHO MAY WONDER HOW THIS BLOG CAME ABOUT:
JEAN BROUGHT DAVID CHEE, MY BROTHER ALEXANDER CHEE PING CHIAN, CHEE MEE DING AND I TOGETHER AT LUNCH IN SINGAPORE IN FEBRUARY. DAVID WAS COLLECTING STORIES ABOUT HIS LINEAGE AND EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN OUR LINEAGE. AS I HAVE ALSO BEEN COLLECTING STORIES ABOUT OUR FAMILY, WE SPEND SEVERAL HOURS (THE RESTAURANT PRACTICALLY THREW US OUT) REMINISCING OVER THE GOOD TIMES SHARED AT 222 ORCHARD ROAD.
BEFORE WE PARTED, WE AGREED TO CONTINUE TO KEEP IN TOUCH AND TO COMMIT OUR ORAL HISTORIES INTO WRITING. WE ALSO PROMISED TO TAP INTO THE MEMORIES OF OUR ELDERS TO ENSURE THAT THEIR TIMES WERE ALSO MEMORIALIZED IN WRITING TO BE PASSED ON TO OUR CHILDREN. SO MANY HAVE PASSED ON, MANY OF THOSE REMAINING SUFFER FROM DEMENTIA OR FADING MEMORIES, AND MANY AMONG OUR GENERATION HAVE MEMORIES DORMANT IN THE INNER RECESSES OF OUR BRAIN WHICH TRIGGERED BY RECOLLECTIONS OF ANOTHER RELATIVE, WILL PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE SACRIFICES AND VENTURES OF OUR ANCESTORS. EVEN SIMPLE MEMORIES SUCH AS THE CHILDREN'S POEMS I RECITED OVER LUNCH SHOULD BE PRESERVED, FOR AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, MANY RECALL THESE POEMS WHEN I RECITE THEM, BUT I HAVE YET TO MEET ANOTHER FOOCHOW WHO CAN FILL IN THE WORDS OF THE POEMS WHICH I HAVE EITHER FORGOTTEN OR AM MIS PRONOUNCING. HOW SAD THAT THESE POEMS WHO ENTERTAINED US AS TODDLERS MAY BE LOST FOREVER TO THE WORLD.
[ I SHALL POST THE POEMS WHEN I HAVE GOTTEN THE PROPER CHINESE WORDS AND HANYU PINYIN FOR THEM. NATURALLY, I SHALL ATTEMPT TO ANGLICIZE THE FOOCHOW PRONUNCIATION FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO RECITE THEM IN FOOCHOW ]
THE FOLLOWING EMAILS TRACE THE SEQUENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS WHICH RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS BLOG. DAVID EXPRESSED IT BEST IN HIS MOST RECENT EMAIL, WHICH IS POSTED BELOW.
RE: Chee clan
From:
"Chee David"
View contact details To:
"Chee Kiter" , "Goh Jean"
Cc:
"Chee Maureen" , "Chee Meeding" , "Chee Kuan Tsee" , "Chee Ping Chian" , kalinchee@pacific.net.sg, chee9872@comcast.net
Message contains attachments
Dear All,
Greetings.
Actually, I am not concerned about the addressing protocol, us all being seniors. Evidently, my brother is
concerned about Americanization taking over our tradition, which is fine indeed. But he also touched something
I think worth writing and sharing abit since we are on this project.
The Clan-tree in Chinese culture is a reflection of the core teaching "Ying Shui Si Yuan 飲水思源"
(when you drink water, think/remember/cherish/appreciate the spring from which it came" tied to filial piety.
Standing usually at a higher level than that of the ancestral tablet on the Confucianist altar, is the
"Tien Di Jun Ching Shih 天地君親師"("Heaven Earth Emperor Parents Teacher") tablet, "Parents" to be taken
as including all direct (grand, great grandetc.) ancestors. So the clan-tree is also to help the linear remembrance.
The "web"-part is however a little complicated.
Since the villages in the hundreds of years of Chinese civilization remain basically the same, and they are clannish,
one 5-year old child can actually be the grand-uncle of a fifty-year old person. Evidently, there is a conflict of "respect
to elders" vs. "generational ranking" to resolve. Also, a young man may well be the grand-uncle of his wife or
a son-in-law of his nephew, all through marriage. Hence we also speak of "Yi-deng Ching一等親"(first degree kin)
"Er-deng Ching二等親"(second degree kin) and so forth, the higher the degree, the more you are left to formulate
your own protocol of address and inter-relationship, including marriage.
Generational ranking can cause problems, can you imagine someone with the same surname, a juniorly-ranked relative,
asking for a $$$ cheque? (Those days they may actually help, at least surely at the clan "office"!) Or indeed, as happened
in history, you joining the line waiting for execution because someone in the "family" caused trouble for the emperor?
But of course, our project is the mere four generations of the progeny of Chi/Chee Kwee Kin, with easy-enough
clear-cut generational rankings, whether Chinese, American, Singaporean, and maybe a surprise somewhere!
Let's just continue with making contacts, and hopefully we can arrive at a place where we can see and know each other
on paper or via the blog or in person or whatnot. Should be fun. I am for anything workable and effective.
But do do the blog (Mau).
David
Jean, you are sure part of the Chee clan, even if half, they (traditional Chinese)
used to not even record names of girls, or even wives of the clan in the genealogies!
From: kiter@singnet.com.sg
To: ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
CC: hsutze8@hotmail.com
Subject: Fw: FW: Chee clan
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:37:42 +0800
Dear Maureen, Ping Kong, Jean etc., etc.
Since we are on the Chee Clan and Family Ancestry I like to point out the protocol of addressing one another.
I am David Chee's eldest brother. Our father Chee Siew Kee is your father/uncle Chee Siew Oon's 5th Uncle.
So we are your father's "tang xiong di" or first cousin.
"Cousin Big Ears" is therefore your Uncle David, unless we follow the ang mohs who call one another including their elders by first names.
Regards to all
Your Uncle Kuan Tsee
![]()
" src="http://f762.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f322766%5fAHpzbHwAALX0SboYnw3HZH4xWFM&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1" width="16" height="16">Chee David
From: hsutze8@hotmail.com
To: mau_chee@yahoo.com.sg
CC: chee9872@comcast.net; ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
Subject: RE: Chee clan
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:38:17 -0700
Dear Maureen (and All),
Great to hear from you! The blog idea is perfect if you can do it. As you can see, I don't have
much information on your granddad's side. A blog will help gather more info. for sure.
Good to know about Peter too. Maybe Jean would like to get serious about planning a
trip to Fuzhou. Fuzhou is within reach now from Taipei. I was in HK and Shenzhen a week ago,
didn't go to Fuzhou as I didn't have the reliable info.
David
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 18:40:35 +0800
From: mau_chee@yahoo.com.sg
Subject: Re: FW: Chee clan
To: hsutze8@hotmail.com
CC: chee9872@comcast.net; ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
Greetings.
Actually, I am not concerned about the addressing protocol, us all being seniors. Evidently, my brother is
concerned about Americanization taking over our tradition, which is fine indeed. But he also touched something
I think worth writing and sharing abit since we are on this project.
The Clan-tree in Chinese culture is a reflection of the core teaching "Ying Shui Si Yuan 飲水思源"
(when you drink water, think/remember/cherish/appreciate the spring from which it came" tied to filial piety.
Standing usually at a higher level than that of the ancestral tablet on the Confucianist altar, is the
"Tien Di Jun Ching Shih 天地君親師"("Heaven Earth Emperor Parents Teacher") tablet, "Parents" to be taken
as including all direct (grand, great grandetc.) ancestors. So the clan-tree is also to help the linear remembrance.
The "web"-part is however a little complicated.
Since the villages in the hundreds of years of Chinese civilization remain basically the same, and they are clannish,
one 5-year old child can actually be the grand-uncle of a fifty-year old person. Evidently, there is a conflict of "respect
to elders" vs. "generational ranking" to resolve. Also, a young man may well be the grand-uncle of his wife or
a son-in-law of his nephew, all through marriage. Hence we also speak of "Yi-deng Ching一等親"(first degree kin)
"Er-deng Ching二等親"(second degree kin) and so forth, the higher the degree, the more you are left to formulate
your own protocol of address and inter-relationship, including marriage.
Generational ranking can cause problems, can you imagine someone with the same surname, a juniorly-ranked relative,
asking for a $$$ cheque? (Those days they may actually help, at least surely at the clan "office"!) Or indeed, as happened
in history, you joining the line waiting for execution because someone in the "family" caused trouble for the emperor?
But of course, our project is the mere four generations of the progeny of Chi/Chee Kwee Kin, with easy-enough
clear-cut generational rankings, whether Chinese, American, Singaporean, and maybe a surprise somewhere!
Let's just continue with making contacts, and hopefully we can arrive at a place where we can see and know each other
on paper or via the blog or in person or whatnot. Should be fun. I am for anything workable and effective.
But do do the blog (Mau).
David
Jean, you are sure part of the Chee clan, even if half, they (traditional Chinese)
used to not even record names of girls, or even wives of the clan in the genealogies!
From: kiter@singnet.com.sg
To: ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
CC: hsutze8@hotmail.com
Subject: Fw: FW: Chee clan
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:37:42 +0800
Hi Jean,
I noticed that your email address is not there, so I am forwading this to you.
Sounds like my husband is getting a bit serious, but you have always been following the proper protocol and call me "Auntie Kiter".
Actually, I don't really mind and for people who have been staying overseas for a long period of time,they may not be conscious of the need for protocol.
I suppose David also takes in in a light hearted way. Hope nobody is offended.
I would be willing to help in doing anything for the Chee clan as I am also a Chee.
Regards,
Kiter
----- Original Message -----
Cc: Chee David ; Chee Kiter
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: FW: Chee clan
Since we are on the Chee Clan and Family Ancestry I like to point out the protocol of addressing one another.
I am David Chee's eldest brother. Our father Chee Siew Kee is your father/uncle Chee Siew Oon's 5th Uncle.
So we are your father's "tang xiong di" or first cousin.
"Cousin Big Ears" is therefore your Uncle David, unless we follow the ang mohs who call one another including their elders by first names.
Regards to all
Your Uncle Kuan Tsee
| Institute of Mental Health, Singapore | Visit us at http://www.imh.com.sg Vision: To be the leading mental health centre in Asia by 2012 Privileged/Confidential information may be contained in this message. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately. |
10/03/2009 21:40 |
|
From: hsutze8@hotmail.com
To: mau_chee@yahoo.com.sg
CC: chee9872@comcast.net; ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
Subject: RE: Chee clan
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:38:17 -0700
Dear Maureen (and All),
Great to hear from you! The blog idea is perfect if you can do it. As you can see, I don't have
much information on your granddad's side. A blog will help gather more info. for sure.
Good to know about Peter too. Maybe Jean would like to get serious about planning a
trip to Fuzhou. Fuzhou is within reach now from Taipei. I was in HK and Shenzhen a week ago,
didn't go to Fuzhou as I didn't have the reliable info.
David
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 18:40:35 +0800
From: mau_chee@yahoo.com.sg
Subject: Re: FW: Chee clan
To: hsutze8@hotmail.com
CC: chee9872@comcast.net; ysgoh@uobkayhian.com
| dear cousin big ears i regret it took me so long to reply to your letter, but when i got back to the united states, my brother ping kong was in china, and he just returned this evening. ping kong tells me that the name of the town is hu long ( i think this is the phonetic spelling) from what he says, i believe the chinese name for the town is [IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE] pingkong also says that we have a cousin name peter who lives in fuzhou who knows more about the town, which by the way is becoming ever technologically advanced by the day. peter will also arrange for a trip to the town for interested chee family members. on another note, i thought perhaps you and i can start writing a blog (which i will be happy to create) and invite other chee relatives to include their memories of our oral history. i agree with you that it is important to preserve this. hope to work with you on this. now that i am back, i will continue to email you regularly. i hope you do not mind the inclusion of my siblings and cousin jean in our communications. numbers 6:24-26 cousin mau --- On Sat, 7/2/09, Chee David From: Chee David Subject: FW: Chee cla[IMAGE]n To: mau_chee@yahoo.com.sg, meeding@harryelias.com.sg Date: Saturday, 7 February, 2009, 8:36 AM From: hsutze8@hotmail.com To: ahlexxus@juno.com; mau_chee@juno.com.sg; ysgoh@uobkayhian.com; meading@harryelias.com.sg CC: kuan_tsee_chee@imh.com.sg; kiter@singnet.com.sg Subject: Chee clan Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 16:32:40 -0800 Dear All, It was so good meeting up with you that day after so many years - no matter how much we remember of those childhood "feast days" of Orchard Rd. house, or of each other, there is always now a face and name to reconnect with! I am back in Taipei to a whole lot of commitments and other planning work to do, so will not be continuing with that paper on grand/greatgrandfather for a while, but if you have further materials to send me, please by all means do, especially the updated Foochow location/name of his grave-site. And Jean, do plan the trip! I have been thinking of how and what we can do with an English-version "genealogy". It should be useful especially with many third, fourth generations not knowing any Chinese, perhaps not even having their own names in Chines! I actually wrote the article on grandfather in English simply because I realized that some of my own kin can't read Chinese. Maybe we can produce a little booklet in English, say beginning with a chapter on where the Chee ancestors hail from within China itself, a chapter on Chee Kwi Kin the emigrant, a chapter on Chee Pek Liang - the oldest son, a chapter on the Chee genealogy-tree listing all progeny of Chee Kwi Kin, and finally a collection of photographs of each family and whatever pertinent stories that anyone is willing to contribute. We can allocate responsibility to volunteers, and I a sure there are many with so many retired Chees now! Perhaps Maureen or Ping Chian can write on Chee Pek Liang; I know my sister-in-law Kiter is happy to help with gathering and collating names and family photographs etc. Think about it. Printing is easy, we can do it the term-paper style (in Taiwan). Thanks to Jean for organizing the lunch and sending me the added Chinese material. Do stay in touch! Blessings for a great New Year! "Elephant Ears" David |
