Monday, October 13, 2014

Academic journal article By Armstrong, M. M. Ann




Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan/Chen Jie Xue, 2013, from China to Borneo and Beyond 

http://www.questia.com/article/1G1-375949200/ann-kit-suet-chin-chan-chen-jie-xue-2013-from-china


Article excerpt

Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan/Chen Jie Xue, 2013, From China to Borneo and Beyond. Auckland, New Zealand: Ann Kit Suet Chin (privately published), pp xi + 299. ISBN 978-0-473-23900-8.
Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan with the blessings and assistance of her eight siblings, set out on a journey of discovery when she wrote an account of the lives of her paternal and maternal great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and her siblings and their children. This account follows the Chan and Kong families as they migrate to Sarawak from China, their trials and triumphs, journeys and homecomings and, finally, their worldwide Diaspora, with their father, John Chan, always the central point of reference. The account starts with the great grandparents of the two families and finishes with the passing of the author's father, John Chan Hui Fei, on February 18, 2006, exactly 18 years after their mother's (Kong Wah Kiew) death. For the most part, the Chan and Kong families' histories are related chronologically with personal anecdotes and recollections, as well has historical events woven into the account. This is a work of love and is a vital record of one family's history.
Family members included are identified according to their relationship with the writer. For example John Chan is always referred to as "Father." Personal names are also used, but the complexities of the relationships of aunts and uncles in Sarawak, China and around the world become confused for a reader who is not intimately tied to the family. A family tree might have been useful to help sort out these relationships. It might also have helped nieces and nephews of the writer better understand their relationships to the people they meet in this account, if nothing else, by providing a visible the framework on which to hang family stories and historical accounts.
The first of the 24 chapters sets the context by describing of the arrival of Chinese in Sibu, Sarawak. The Chan and Kong families were part of this exodus from Mainland China. The Chan family moved back and forth between Sarawak and China. Eventually their Grandmother remained in China with her children, while Father and Grandfather returned to Sarawak. Grandfather Chan married a second time to Step Grandmother Wong Sam Ying, Say Bo (small wife or concubine). Her story as a pioneer woman is recounted in Chapter 5, "The story of Say Bo," with surprising detachment considering the difficult situation she encountered.
Like the Chan's, the Kong family was a family of scholars. …
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Borneo Research Bulletin


An annual bulletin by the Borneo Research Council covering reports of research in the social, biological, and medical sciences in Borneo. Its goals are to integrate Borneo research and to record both the culture and natural features of Borneo for future g

Issues

2013

Vol. 44, Annual 

Thank you
Armstrong, M. M. Ann, Borneo Research Bulletin,

I am honoured your did this article. I did have a family tree of 6 generations. However, as members from the 3rd generation are living, and some of them were reluctant to be included in the book, it was with the consensus of my siblings that I omitted the tree rather than to have an incomplete tree. We published the tree for the family only.

Once again, I thank you.
This book is in circulation in All Auckland City Libraries, Auckland University Libraries and Sarawak Council libraries.

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