Homecoming - Back to the roots (Part 1)

Dec 2007

The long awaited return to roots has arrived and we finally set foot on Hainan Island, all 19 of us Singaporean and Malaysians of 3 generations. All with the same family name and related somewhat by blood to each other. The trip is a walk back to the past to where our forefathers worked and lived and bred.. to some of the elderly ones, it is a nostalgic trip to a past they have long left behind, and to the younger ones, a revelation to a world where it might have been if our grandfathers had not ventured out of the country.

Strange relations

Our first morning saw us taken to a village, where 20 people came to greet me and dad. They were my uncles, aunts and cousins, and there was one grand-aunt aged 95. I’ve never met them but they know my name. They spoke in dialect which I couldn’t understand, and they held my hand and looked in my face like a prodigal son.

Then they took me to their home, supposedly our ancestral house – which means our family has lived there for 7 generations dating more than 100 years back, and some still live there. The entire place was about 500 sq ft with a hall for dining and 3 rooms. There was a centre table that measure about 1 x 1 metre and looks like something out of a martial arts movie. The beds were lined with planks and no mattress. And the bath, toilet and kitchen were outdoors, with wood used for cooking. I’m told that I’m not visiting but I have come home.

Then I was taken to pay respect at the ancestors altars, complete with kow-tow and joss-sticks, as a sign of the son having returned home and visiting the elders. 4 different places for my immediate family ancestors, the community ancestors, the village ancestors and finally the forefathers. All with the same family name and related by blood over 20 generations. Very eerie, especially when I’ve never done this before. And fireworks were cracked each time, lasting 2 minutes each time, as a symbol of a celebration (much like Chinese New Year). I can tell our return was a big deal to them!

Lunch was sumptuous with 30 people crammed in the home’s hall. And I can now confirm that there is Chicken Rice in Hainan. It took 2 hours for me to feel at home, and I felt sad having to leave the place after the ancestors visits, taking family photos, lunch and being introduced around. I don’t know them, I have nothing in common with them and I can barely communicate with them in sputters of Mandarin. But I feel like I’ve shortchanged them for spending only a short span of 6 hours for an occasion that they may have been anticipating for all their lives.

The village banquet runs the next day. I will write more on that soon.