Genealogy books sought for NLB collection

These valuable documents will be digitised, made accessible to S'poreans, researchers

- Chin Soo Fang

When Mr Chung Kwang Tong dug deep into his ancestral roots in China, he started wondering if he was a Hainanese or Hokkien. While his grandparents came to Singapore from Hainan, his ancestors had originated from Fujian.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he managed to connect with his ancestral hall in Hainan. When travel restrictions were lifted, he made a trip there and brought back copies of his zupu, or genealogy book.

From there, he traced his lineage to Zhuang Sizong, a Song Dynasty official who served as an administrator of Hainan, but was originally from Putian in Fujian province.

Mr Chung, 39, said when he approached the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan with the information, he was told he has to follow the dialect indicated on his birth certificate, which is Hainanese, despite tracing his roots to Fujian, where the Hokkiens come from.

"But I'm a Singaporean for sure," he said. "And each Singaporean's story has unique values and experiences that collectively shape Singapore's multicultural tapestry."

The Taoist priest donated his genealogy book to the National Library Board (NLB), in response to a call from the Genealogy Society Singapore (GSS). Eight titles have been donated by GSS so far.

On Sept 21, NLB and GSS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the National Library Building to jointly promote the interest in genealogy among Singaporeans by organising talks, workshops and exhibitions. GSS will also help enrich the genealogy collection of NLB with its donations.