Family & Life Magazine Issue 8 | Page 26

RELAX Here Come the Cantonese! In an ongoing series, we cover the different Chinese clans in Singapore and how life was for them in our island’s early years. This month, the Cantonese people are in the spotlight! The third largest Chinese dialect group in Singapore, the Cantonese clan can trace their historical origins to two main locations – Hong Kong and the Southern region of the Guangdong province in China, particularly near the Pearl River Delta. In fact, this area functioned as the economic centre and was an important shipbuilding region; it was also the largest port in China, which was how the Cantonese clan started making its way to Singapore in large numbers. The Cantonese, who were mostly artisans back in China, became carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, goldsmiths, barbers and builders in Singapore, transferring their skills to trade instead. 1819 When Sir Stamford Raffles sailed into Singapore in search of a trading post for the English East India Company, two things greeted him: marshland and a local population comprising about 100 Malays and 30 Chinese. However, within a decade, the Chinese comprised the largest group in the island, outnumbering even the Malays. The community was so large that there were five distinct subgroups, one of which was the Cantonese. The first traditional Chinese association, the Ts’ao Clan House, was founded in 1819 by a Cantonese cook named Ts’ao Ah Chih. Apparently, he was a cook on board the ship that Raffles sailed in. 1821 - 1822 The Cantonese sailed to Singapore from the Pearl River Delta port as well as the port of Macao. The earliest recorded instance of a Chinese junk travelling to Singapore from Macao was in 1821! It was also during this time – 1822, to be exact – that another Chinese association and major Cantonese bang, the Ning Yeung Wui Kun, was established. Interestingly, one of the leaders of the Ghee Hin secret society, which would go on to be the largest secret society in Singapore, was also a council member of the Ning Yeung Wui Kun. His name was Zhao Wenbing. 1824 – 1887 Together with the Hakka community, the Cantonese clan built the Fu Tak Chi temple on Telok Ayer Street, dedicating it to the popular Chinese deity Tua Pek Kong. It was one of the first stops for Chinese immigrants who just arrived in Singapore as they would come here to offer their thanksgiving for their safe arrival in Singapore. The initial structure of the temple was just a small shed over the Tua Pek Kong shrine but as donations poured in, the bricked temple was finally completed in 1825. There were further renovation and redecoration works in 1869 and 1887. Similar to Zhao Wenbing, the Director of the Fu Tak Chi in the 1840s, Deng Xujin, was also a prominent Ghee Hin leader. Unlike the modern era, the Chinese secret societies at that time played important social and economic roles. 26 Family & Life • May 2014