The Education of Daughters

Chee Kwee Kin's stand on education has proven staying power. Our home village, in Fuzhou honors him for his contributions in the establishment of a school in his name. In his family life, the commitment to scholarship, evident among his progeny is never more obvious than in the education of the daughters. His emphasis on education developed 'legs' which marched beyond time and borders to influence generations into the twenty first century.

The virtues of Confucius were inculcated into his daughters, as they studied alongside their brothers. Private tutors from China were chosen to ensure that his children received Confucian studies beyond calligraphy and recitation. He purchased and imported replicated sets of the Analects from the library owned by the Emperor of China. I was told by my parents, as well as my aunt (妗子; name: Goh Kie Ha nee Chee) that there were five or less complete libraries of these volumes intact in the world after the Japanese Occupation. The entire library of Analect volumes were donated to a Singapore university by Chee Peck Liang's children after the death of his wife( my 嬤嬤) It is speculated that today, these volumes are one of the three complete sets of the Analects from the Imperial Confucius Library. Unfortunately, we are not able to ascertain which university it is housed in today.

The two daughters of Chee Kwi Kin married learned men. A second generation Chee female, (I believe it was the second paternal grand-aunt we called 乙姑嬤; ni gu ma) delivered the eldest grandson of Chee Peck Liang, in the waning days of the Japanese Occupation, when the streets were too chaotic for the journey to the maternity hospital. Goh Kie Ha, Chee Peck Liang's eldest daughter was attended by her paternal aunt and her mother-in-law when Dr. Goh King Hwa was delivered at Cuppage Road family home.

It is said that 'The education of a daughter results in the education of another generation'. When Great-grandfather was stricken in his prime, his eldest son, Chee Peck Liang shouldered the burden (he probably considered a calling) of educating the second and third generation of Chees in Singapore, females and males alike. Unusual as it may seem for those times, Dr. Chee Peck Liang's siblings, sons and daughters were educated in schools founded by English missionaries. Due to this foresight, his siblings and children were among the first generation of English speaking graduates who rose above the smoke and ruins of the Japanese Occupation to pave the way for Singapore's independence and nation building. The first generation of English educated daughters included Jenny Lau, who was one of the first Chinese female magistrates in Singapore, Patsy Lau, one of the first Chinese female medical practitioners, and countless English teachers who taught during the crucial decades after the Occupation. When my grandfather educated his daughters, his daughters educated and enlightened Singapore's future.

On a personal note: the education of girls were controversial at the turn of the twentieth century. My maternal grandmother recounted the fear she had of the English ladies who combed the country for girls to attend the mission schools. My maternal grandmother hid because of rumours of the drinking of blood and the eating of flesh by the Christian ladies. Unwanted daughters given to the Christian ladies were never seen again. (I always wondered if they were adopted and sent overseas) Grandma had cousins who were 'lured' by the missionaries to the churches, and they acquired Western ways and spoke English. I learned at her knees that she wished she had not feared the English, she wished she had attended church with other village girls. According to mother, maternal grandma gladly lived with the Chee clan, taking care of Patriarch Chee Kwee Kin because of the opportunity for mother to attend Methodist Girls' School with the Chee daughters. The opportunity to study the Analects under the tutelage of scholars from China was the icing topping the cake.

After the war, the children of Dr. Chee Peck Liang made their way back to obtain their tertiary degrees. My father, Chee Siew Oon was lucky to reclaim his place in medical school. Uncle Goh Koh Pui, who married Chee Peck Liang's oldest daughter, Chee Kie Ha, after obtaining his law degree in the United Kingdom, returned to bring the Port of Singapore Authority within striking distance to the first place world standing it enjoys today. Mother wanted to attend university like her husband and brother. Unfortunately, in the days after the Japanese Occupation, she was persuaded to obtain a teaching degree, in order to allow the generation of males who were dismissed from classes after the sinking of the HMS Repulse and the HMS Prince of Wales, to complete their degrees. Mother worked the rest of her life to secure her daughters' opportunities to a professional degree which was denied her by the circumstances after the war. (I have always wondered what she would have chosen to study in university then)

N.B. I do not have the names of many of my relatives. The downside to our practice of addressing our elders by titles (grandmother, great aunts, grand uncles, etc) is the lack of knowledge of our older generation's given names. Any information as to their names should be relayed to me in order for me to be recorded here.