Kee Ancestors Lineage

The Kee Ancestors Lineage is more than 170 years old and I am the fifth generation in the lineage.

It is now in the eight to ten generation as some of my nieces and nephews are married and are with kids of their own. 

As the Kee Ancestors Lineage has a long history, I would like to share a bit of what I gather from surviving relatives on how my ancestor Kee Lai Huat came to Malaya in the nineteenth century.

  

The Kee Ancestors in Sungai Bakap, Penang started with my great-great great grandfather, a Teochew man named Kee Lai Huat. 

He also was the man who built Sungai Bakap town. (Sometimes pronounced as Taochew, Teochiews or Taochiew.)

 Leaving home to seek better pastures

  

 As a young man of 19, he took a barge from his Thenghai home town in Swatow, China. He arrived in Bukit Tambun, then the principal port of Province Wellesley. (I went to Guangdong in 2018, looking at the same river that carried our forefathers to Penang made me wet with tears. The rivers were wide and mighty strong current)

Born in 1834, he worked as a clerk on the sugar plantation of Batu Kawan pioneer settler Khaw Lau Hup.

  

"Chor Chor Lai Huat"(To pronounce "great great great grandfather" is too long, so "Chor Chor" means at least 2 to 3 generations ago grandfather, for his case 4 generations deep) was very industrious and hardworking.

He was promoted to a supervisor for the sugar plantation owner Khaw Lau Hup.

Young Kee Lai Huat Ancestral founder Sungai Bakap town

Kee Lai Huat's Marriage

Khaw Lau Hup has a daughter Khaw Bee Gek of marriageable age. It seems her first betrothed died after they got engaged. So her father consulted the geomancer to find a match for her.  Chor Chor was "hand and face picked" by a feng shui master.

  

The tycoon seek the feng shui master's help and was told, a certain young man coming in the next boat with such kind of facial expression will be suitable for his daughter. Dutifully Khaw Boo Aun, (her brother) waited at the shore to pick up the young man. 

So started the Kee Ancestor Lineage tradition. When they first got married, Chor Chor was not rich and Khaw Lau Hup would sent a "cream cracker" tin of Spanish 

coins for his daughter use.

Tek Kooi, Tek Kow,Tek Leng,Tek Seng,Tek Phang, Tek Chye

 Chor Chor had six sons, named from the eldest Kee Ancestors Lineage: 

Tek Chye (1st Son) 

Tek Kooi  (2nd son)

Tek Phang (3rd son) (my lineage) 

Tek Kow (4th son)

Tek Seng (5th son)

Tek Leng (6th son)

(on the picture, the sons photos were arranged not by hierarchy. Do not be confused) 

Now since he has six sons in the Kee Ancestors Lineage, he got to make sure they stayed together. In doing so, he built Sungai Bakap township, in the same replica like the homes in China then under the Manchus. 

His Legacy 

Chor Chor died at 58 in Sungai Bakap and his remains were taken back to China. He maintained close ties in China. 

Even after his death in 1892, a substantial amount of money is sent back to his relatives. Chor Chor was a strict man but was fair to all.

Chor Chor wrote a will six months before he died which stated that his sons were not allowed to gamble, smoke opium, contact veneral diseases or break the Law. 

He ruled that "the wrong doer get nothing, only 2000 Spanish dollars. He left specific instructions that the family need not over spent on funeral expenses and be frugal and guided by discretion. 

1st and 2nd Lineage of the Kee in main altar

There are three sections with altar and name tablets. Chor Chor's name tablet sits in the first line as the first generation on the center of the main section altars. Below him are the six sons. 

So it means the "center" altar housed the first and second generation of the Kee Ancestors Lineage.  First lineage, is Chor Chor is "Lai", then 2nd lineage is the "Tek".

3rd Lineage of the Kee, on the main altar's right

Middle names were given and prepared by Chor Chor. The Tek, Hup, Ban, Chin, Yong, Thuan are middle names in the Kee Ancestors Lineage.

The 3rd lineage are those with middle names Hup, Ban and Chin. My own Kee Ancestor Lineage after Great great father Tek Phang is Ban Chuan.

4th Lineage of the Kee, on the main altar's left

Now the fourth lineage is the Saik and the Yong. My late father is Saik. If dad is alive today, he would be 109. My late father has no more surviving sisters or brothers but for the Yongs, I met Uncle Kee Yong Hee.

There are other cousins I recently met after writing this post since 2013. This is the same post but I updated a little more of what I gathered over the past years since 2013. 

When my father was alive back in the 80's, we used to meet up with Uncle and Auntie Saik Poh (father's cousin brother) and late granduncle Kee Ban Hoe (Uncle Saik Poh's father). 

Khaw Bee Gaik with 6 sons and 2 daughters and families

He too passed on at a ripe age of 97 in the year 1996. It was fun talking to Cheat Chneh Kong (7th granduncle and cousin to my late grandfather). He has lots of stories and jokes to share.

  

His sense of humor was great. Even in his nineties, Grand Uncle Ban Hoe and his buddies would be walking around town. 

When you talked to him, you need to be careful with your words. Even at his age, he is mentally alert, as he could catch you misusing words. 

On a few occasions, I had this to tell. He would asked, "Have you all eaten?" and we said "not yet". Then he would ask, "What you like to eat?"

We would reply chin chye, "Anything also we eat."...literal speaking, we can eat anything because won't want to trouble granduncle) "okay, Grand Uncle Ban Hoe would replied", Ok let us go and eat (lang bah) human meat. 

Then we would correct ourselves and he would roar to laughter. Really those were good great times we had. The house behind the ancestor main hall had a big playing ground in the courtyards. 

They had all kinds of pets. Homing pigeons and scorpions in pits. Sometimes, men folks will be towing the iguana back form hunting. We would see then skin it.

 My thoughts in 2009

  

Last week, I was at Sungai Bakap "Tua Chu Lai or Kong Chu", or the Kee Kongsi. Uncle Kee Yong Hee (now deceased) was there to explain to me the Kee Ancestors Lineage. My last visit was in Year 2000, when uncle Kee Saik Poh passed on.

The late Ah Nui Kor Kor gave me this

Our Kee ancestors home is so rich in our heritage. It is such a waste to be so silent about it. Despite effort to restore the kongsi, I feel a calling for the descendants to come home with your new family, to explain to them their heritage. 

Descendants need to understand their roots, their culture and tradition. Chor Chor built this with a VISION that the descendant have a permanent place to come home too. 

  

The fifth generation are my brothers Thuan.I am trying to make sense of my writing on ancestor worship. Why I keep coming to this subject. Why I wanted to start writing? I will write more after my research. 

I hope someone who has more knowledge of olden days history and will share more of their own stories. 

Pearly Kee
6th Apr 2020