From faded letters to WeChat: How some Teochew families in Southeast Asia are finding long-lost relatives
Following the success of Chinese box office hit Dear You, more Singaporeans and Malaysians of Teochew descent are turning to a volunteer network in China to trace their roots and reconnect with long-lost relatives.
Source excerpt
CHAOSHAN, GUANGDONG: Decades ago, Chinese families separated by migration and war relied on handwritten letters that would take weeks, or even months to arrive.
Today, instant messages on WeChat are helping their descendants to reunite and reconnect with lost relatives in China.
Interest in tracing ancestral roots has surged among Singaporeans and Malaysians of Teochew descent, following the recent success of Chinese box office hit Dear You.
Set against the backdrop of the mass migration of Teochew people from China’s Chaoshan region to Southeast Asia during the 1940s, the film tells the story of a young Chinese villager who travels to Thailand in search of his grandfather, who fled the country to escape conscription during the civil war.
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