My Maternal Roots: A Story Of Family, Faith And Freedom

Were your ancestors migrants? If they were, you have a unique story to tell about your roots. For many Chinese Singaporean families, why and how their forefathers took to the south seas is nothing short of intriguing. Driven by the prospect of a better life or seeking refuge from turmoil at home, many Chinese came to settle in Singapore. In this book, Cyprian Lim chronicles the ups and downs of his family, capturing 20 generations of the Lee Clan from the first person who established the lineage in the late Yuan dynasty to the present day. He has painstakingly pieced together his lineage from a collection of historical documents, supplemented by interviews with eye witnesses and protagonists to present a fascinating personal history. Key personalities are fleshed out as far as records allow. Cyprian focuses particularly on his great, great grandfather, a Qing scholar who brought the family to the Catholic faith and his great grandfather, Paul Lee Kheng Guan, a well-known Catholic towkay in Singapore. Of particular interest is the family''s links to the Catholic faith. Paul''s contribution as a respected towkay to the development of Singapore''s Catholic community is chronicled, as is the legacy of his son and grandsons who have served the Catholic population in Malaysia and Singapore as Catholic priests. By giving the historical context of various family developments, such as the political unrest in China in the early 1900s and the rise of Singapore, Cyprian captures the family''s fortunes as a microcosm of the world order.