Crocodiles, a Bear, and a Python
Fighting Fish and Other Animals
Banning Firecrackers Long Before the Government Did
Travelling Hawkers or Street Hawkers
Prologue
The Teochew
My father once told me that the Teochew people are highly refined. Instead of using crass terms, a Teochew answering the call of nature will describe the activity as a poetic reference to nature itself:
Huang lai, whole lai,
Keng chio ka lup
Sa si kai
The three key terms are: huang (wind), whole (rain), and keng chio (bananas). Lai means to come, ka lup means to drop, and sa si means three or four. Putting them altogether, the description reads:
When the wind and rain come,
The bananas drop
In threes and fours
Doesn’t this poem express beautifully not only the call of nature but also the sequence in which it is answered?
Now, who makes a better bride, a Teochew or a non-Teochew Chinese?
A full-blooded Teochew lady will be totally convinced that a Teochew girl makes the best bride. Her belief may be encapsulated in a catchphrase: Yu pi, yu chi.
Translated into English, this can be interpreted as “Not only cheap, but also fresh”. This phrase is normally what a fishmonger would say to entice customers to buy his fish.
However, used in the context of the desirability of marrying a Teochew girl, it means she is “good value for money”, or, more literally, “not only cheap but good”—a less complimentary remark.
A Teochew bride is beautiful, loving, faithful, and cooks well. And, most important of all, her parents will not demand many wedding dinner tables from the in-laws! So, it is wise to marry a Teochew lass!
Finally, Teochews often refer to each other as ka kee nang (our own people). This refrain is repeated, by Teochew to Teochew, and sometimes in full:
Teochew nang, ka kee nang
I began a book on Aukang by telling you about the Teochews because my father is a ka kee nang, and he is proud of it.
The Singapore Chinese
The Singapore Chinese resident population has three major dialect groups—Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese. The Hokkien form the largest group, followed by the Teochew.
Historically, the Teochew were one of the earliest groups of Chinese to arrive in Singapore.1 They came from eight districts in China, Ngee Ann being the ancient name for Chaozhou prefecture in Guangdong province where Teochews originated. According to the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan, these districts were Teo Ann (Chaoan), Theng Hai (Chenghai), Teo Yeonh (Chaoyang), Kit Yeonh (Jieyang), Jeow Pheng (Raoping), Po’ Leng (Puning), Hui Lye (Huilai), and Nam Oh (Nanao).
While some Teochews came to Singapore from Dapo (also Dabu, or Hakka district), language differences led to Dapo being separated from the Teochew region, leaving only eight districts, although after the 19th century, the Chinese government further divided the 8 districts into 11.
Nevertheless, in Singapore, Teochew organisations, such as the Ngee Ann Kongsi led by Teochew community leader Seah Eu Chin and the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan, established later, were set up based on eight districts.
To express gratitude for a safe journey from Guangdong province to Southeast Asia, Teochew seafarers and merchants in Singapore set up a shrine dedicated to the deity Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, in the 1820s.
Subsequently, another temple was established, called the Lao Ye Temple, or Lau Ya Keng, dedicated to Xuan Tian Shang Di (commonly known as Lao Ye), the ancestral deity of the Teochews.
These two temples were merged in 1826 and the resulting temple was named the Yue Hai Ching Temple. Although the temple was founded by Teochews, its patrons also included many Cantonese. The temple has been managed by the Ngee Ann Kongsi since 1845 and has undergone several rounds of expansion, renovation, and reconstruction. In 1899, the temple was bestowed with “peaceful clouds over the ocean at dawn” by Emperor Guangxu of the Qing dynasty.2 Singapore’s oldest Teochew temple was gazetted as a national monument in 1996.
Historically, many Teochews were involved in the planting of gambier and pepper in the Riau Archipelago
