Projek
Roots
林 羅
Our collective family’s anthology of historical narratives
林 Lim’s migration from China in the 1930s, Kemp’s intervention and return visit to ancestral village in the 1950s, followed by nationalisation in the 1960s.
羅 Loo nusantara background of the 19th century, frequent return between China & FMS between the warring years, convent orphanage till 1960s and Lee guardianship in the 1970s.
The Kemp / Lee – benevolent guardian families, whose interventions have changed the fate and destiny of us. Discovering the oral narratives from four families, Projek Roots attempts to record and archive the collective memories that has made us who we are. “From mother to daughter, father to son”.
updated 18 May 2024
Project Roots- Introduction
Methodology & concepts
Languages, ethnicity
Profiles
Timeline
Mapping
Artefacts
Appendix
F O R E W O R D —
With the future behind us, the past is in front…
The year is 2019, and many among us, the 猷 Jew / Yew generation, are spread out all over the world. I can only imagine that this journey is very much like the ones taken before us by our paternal and maternal grandparents. The only difference is that their stories only exist in the living memory of our parents.
Being one of the youngest in this generation, I do not have much recollection of them, and I have always wondered what they were like, how they came to be. Uncovering their journey, their challenges, their lives are the only empathetic connection I can have with them, my past and myself. I feel it is important to remember, to understand, and perhaps realise where some of our innate nuances of character came from, that inborn-aspiration and spirit that we have inherited. Looking at the past for me, is a way to understand the future.
Since 2007, I have consciously started collecting stories, interviewing our parents, researching their leads, collecting and archiving artefacts, and visiting sites, trying to piece together the story of us. There are many missing gaps, and uncovering history is beyond a (my) lifetime, so I’ve decided to publish my findings as is, because if not now, if not I, if not here…
Jeffrey Lim 林猷進