Day 3 in Singapore

16 May 2007
We paid a visit to Kwong Wai Siew Pek San Theng (Cantonese Clan Association) today. I have never set foot into a clan association so this is really something new to me.

2 representatives from the youth wing gave a presentation on Cantonese in Singapore and the role of their clan association.

The entire executive committee of the association was present during our visit although only 2 representatives were in charge of answering queries during the subsequent Q & A.

During our tour of the grounds,we found out that a memorial was erected by the clan association to commemorate the ancestors formerly buried in the cemetery that occupied the whole of Bishan. The burial ground has since been cleared to make way for a shopping mall and residential area. The clan association still retains 3% of the original land area the cemetery occupies. The exhumed graves have been moved into the clan association's columbarium.

After the visit, I felt that the clan association has worked very hard to preserve Chinese Heritage in Singapore. The clan association is elaborately decorated with stories from ancient China in an attempt to laud the treasured values from the stories. It runs Cantonese classes for people who wish to pick up the dialect.It is also the only clan association in Singapore to operate a columbarium, allowing the exhumed graves to remain in Bishan.

However it did seem like their sphere of influence has been largely limited to the older Cantonese people. Other than the 2 young presenters, who were the children of the elders in the clan's executive committee, we did not see anyone who is below 40 years old in the association's ground. The youth wing of the clan reportedly has about 10 members, but we are not sure if the 10 have joined out of interest or because of familial ties. Perhaps as the economic value of joining a clan decreases, the importance and value of a clan association also decreases in people's lives. It is interesting to consider how a clan association has to battle to win the hearts and minds of young Singaporeans in time to come.

-Hui Ping