My Ancestors

From my father, I came to know a little bit of my grand parent who staying in kampong Tawar a Chinese village opposite directing the famous Perak Cave. I visited my grand mother twice before she passed away in the 1960 where our family attended her funeral and also come to know more about my mother practicing the ancient Chinese style crying with song at the funeral. I also meet up with grand parent three other sisters who were born in Malaysia who are well in song crying at funeral using the Hakka language. However my grandfather passed away long before I was born.

My grandfather come from the Zeng village our ancestor home place in the early 1990 with my grand mother bringing my father and his elder brother along to the then Malaya to seek fortune. He stays in few places in the north states before finally settle in Ipoh. After my grand father manage to buy a few acres of rubber trees near the Tawar village and finally settle down.

My father and brother all become rubber taper and including producing rubber sheets to sell to wholesalers etc.  

Grand parent house is still standing in the village and some of cousins and their children are staying there with a few shifted out after having their own houses. I visited them in the mid 1970 after I purchase my new car a Madza 1000 and a few more times when own Mitsubishi gallant and Volvo 240.

I manage to visit my ancestor village located 20 minutes drive from Guangzhou in the late 1980. After I met one business man from China in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh city and from conversations we know that we are coming from the same ancestor village with same surname and family root. He told me my name reveal the ancestor root my surname written in Mandarin Chen and name Kong Men the second words ‘Kong’ mean I am more senior and higher in ranking than him even thought I am only 5 years older therefore call me great Grand uncle Chen.

We keep in touch and I always call him when took tours group to Guangzhou and met up when I am free. The very tight schedule of tour sightseeing with only 2 night stay before going to the next cities only permit us to met for supper or at night just at the hotel coffee house for chit chat.

It was only when I own my travel agencies in 1986 that permit to me visit Hong Kong & China for business regularly and sometimes travels by train HKG to Guangzhou to stay a few days visiting his families etc. and my ancestor village. 

He told me a lot about the ancestor village culture etc. practice during those old days. Every the whole village celebrated some festivals together and there was hundred of tables for set dinner all the food cook by the villages together. It was not a 10 course dinner but a dinner with one big dish. All the chicken, seafood, roast pork etc was cook and arrange in big basin by layers one top another with all the mixed vegetables at the bottom. This same well known Hakka village dish  known as Hakka PenChai was introduce by well known chief in Hong Kong in the late 1990 with added special ingredient like abalone, shark fin, bird nest and promoted as a very expensive dish. It becomes very popular and it promoted in some restaurants but it didn’t get popular. I try this dish and found that those restaurants use cheap quality ingredients no wonder it is a failure.    However during my first visit to the village in early 1990 there the ancestor village disappears due to development becoming a city and what was left was the ancestors alter.  There was big apartment hotel with more than 500 rooms and a few high class apartments as well. Geo Ze Zeng my nephew is a great story teller telling all sort stories related to various Buddhist God. He also a great eater and took me try all type of famous dishes from traditional restaurants to modern restaurants.