In Citizen Historian, Jack Chia, a history student from NUS, writes his experience about chronicling his family’s history by interviewing his grandmother. His post doesn’t so much touch on the content of his interviews but rather his methodology in gleaning the information from his grandmother. Perhaps his experience will inspire you to ask your grandparents about their stories in order to help you write your family history.
As a history student, an area of inquiry that has always intrigued me is my own family history. In my attempt to gain greater insight and understanding of my family’s past, particularly as it also applies to Chinese immigrants in early day Singapore, I had decided to use the life history approach, focusing on the migrant experience and religious practices of my Ah Ma (an affectionate Hokkien term for grandmother), a Chinese woman from Fujian province, China, who had immigrated to Singapore in 1935.
Many questions remained for me about my Ah Ma. Although I used to stay with her when I was younger, I still knew little about her past. Therefore, I wondered: What was her family like back in China? Why did she leave her homeland? Why and how did she come to Singapore? What was her World War II experience? (And as I am very interested in religious history), what were some of her religious beliefs and practices?
Read the full post on Citizen Historian.
Tags: Family history, oral interviews, Jack Chia, Citizen Historian
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