Tracking my family history - YIM, NGIAM, YEAN
Satwadee...
I am trying to track our family history and relatives in Malaysia and Thailand. My grandfather when he arrived in Malaya with his twin brother and cousin as "little piggies"; escaped from the people smugglers. They decided to split to avoid being recaptured together - my grandfather and his cousin stayed in Malaya while his brother moved to Siam. Like most Hainanese in his days, my grandfather did open a Kopi-Dim (Kheng Nam Foong) in a small mining town (Kampar) with fellow Hainanese. Last known event about his cousin was that he worked as a chef for a Malayan Sultan or Prince in his younger days, then got married and has a daughter named "Ah Fah". Regarding my grand uncle's whereabouts, some relatives of ours in Kedah told us that they saw him in Hatyai and has married a Siamese girl.
We are of Hainanese ethnic. My grandfather's name is "Yim Kah Hock" - Yim means STRICT or SERIOUS. My grandmother #2's name is "Mah Khiew". Grandfather's childhood lover, grandmother #1 did arrive in Malaya but went back to Hainan after staying a few years. We have a recurring middle name for boys - namely "Kah, Hing, Chew, Fook, Sai"
This is probably way too sketchy to track anything but if this sounds remotely similar to your family background, do drop me a note.
- The Modern Hainanese