My father had three older brothers (Lee Kam Man, Lee Kam Chun, Lee Kam Hing) and at least two older sisters. My father returned to China in 1922 and eventually settled in Hong Kong.

My grandparents once lived on a back street near the Quan Yin Temple in Penang. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of my uncles and aunts or any members of the Lee family, please contact Simon Lee through this website. Thanks in advance.

Simon W Lee

家祖李公宜煦祖貫廣東省台山縣 (昔之新寧) 東坑塔腳鄉。於十九世紀未期，以十七之齡，年未弱冠，遠涉重洋，僑居於馬來西亞之檳城、從事木匠之業。育有四男：錦文、錦全、錦興、錦茂 (即先父。字炳華、號偉茂) 、二女、名字不詳。

先君於一九二二年 (時十六歲) 獨自返回祖國，後定居於香港。時逢亂世，日寇侵掠，魚雁不通，音訊斷絕。今欲聯絡各伯姑兄弟，以圖聚首，惟時移世換，不知其所，而資料稀少，只知家祖於先父年幼時搬遷到新埠觀音廟後街。

本人於二零零一年旅遊檳城時、會唔觀音廟後街之長久居民李亞娥女士、相信家祖曾於三品巷三十三號居住。各位賢君如有上列各人或其子孫之消息請與此網站聯絡，萬分感謝。

李煥祥謹啟

Canada 加拿大
Chau Luen Kon Sol
71 D’arcy St
Toronto, ON M5T 1J9
416-977-2541

Chau Luen Society
325 Keefer St.
Vancouver, BC V6A 1X9
604-254-8616

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Chew Lun Clansmen’s Assoc Ltd.
352 – 354 Hennessy Rd, 15th Fl
Hong Kong, China

Taiwan 臺灣

World Chew Lun Association
704 Min Tsu E Road, 4th Fl
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
02-713-8629

United States of America 美國
Chew Lun Association
244 West 22nd Pl.
Chicago, IL 60616
312-791-1457

Chew Lun Association
1027 Doyle Pl.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-222-1666

Chew Lun Association
94 Mott Street 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10013
212 226 4092

Chew Lun Association
1056 Grant Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-982-4509

Huie Kao Yang Association
748 Jackson St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-982-0652

Tom Family Association
817 Clay St.
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-982-1478

Tam Kwong Yu Association
20 Duncombe Aalley
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-982-1465

Tse Family Association
748 Jackson St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-421-5292

Chew Lun Benevolent Association
416 Seventh Ave. S.
Seattle 98104
206-682-21244

Chew Lun Association
602 H Street, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20001
202-393-4092

Chew Lun Association of New England (紐英倫昭倫公所)
98 Tyler Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02111

Not long after getting married and before my sister, Lin Feng (琳鳳) was born, Dad bought Mom a servant girl for company. Soontoi (順彩) was five years old at the time. Well, as Mom said “It was a full time job looking after her. Good thing I just wanted her for company.” In a way, Mom should be thankful for the practical hands-on experience in child care. It was normal then for people to be married in their mid-teens. An unmarried eighteen-year-old girl was considered an old maid and a real cause for concern. Soontoi stayed with us for about ten years before she was married so none of us children got to know her really well.

At regular intervals Dad, in Canada, would sent money home. This was the family’s only source of income. After the States declared war on Japan, the fighting on the Pacific closed the shipping lanes, and the family suffered terribly. However, there were many families in this similar situation. Many sold or pawned their valuables such as clothing and furnishing while others hired themselves out as helpers during harvest and coolies the rest of the time. Mom chose the latter route and with help from her younger brother, Sui Wen Zhao (趙遂文), the family managed to cope. With this suffering fresh in mind, it was not a surprise when upon Dad’s return after WWII that they went and bought some farm land.

Don’t have much recollection of the rice fields because they were surrounded by fields of others. But I still have memories of the plot by the hill because the crops grew there were different. It wasn’t (still is?) suitable for rice, lack of water. So Mom planted peanuts and yams. A treat was roasted freshly harvested yam wrapped in tin foil on a cold winter day.

After giving birth to two daughters, at the rather advanced age of 46, Mom gave birth to a baby boy, Kevin. It was a difficult birth. It was only through the heroic effort of Lai Siu Sang, a nurse, that this joyous occasion remained so. In appreciation, they got their son to treat her as an adopted mother.

The move to Guangzhou and later to Hong Kong must have been very difficult for Mom. First she would have to learn or at least understand a new dialect, which, though somewhat similar to the one she spoke had enough differences to make understanding a problem. And for the first time in her life she had to learn to recognize street names. However, this was child-play when compared to the adjustments she later would have to undergo in Canada.

Somehow Mom got the notion, or somebody had told her that there are no coconuts in Canada. So while in Hong Kong waiting for our visa to Canada, Mom would make coconut congee, a rather sweet concoction, a lot. At the time, it seemed like daily. In actual fact, I’m sure it was only every other day. She would have it ready as an after-school snack. Really a treat to look forward to.

On November 20, 1957, we set sail for San Francisco aboard the President Cleveland. Mom became sea-sick almost as soon as we set foot on the ship. She hardly ate during the whole trip. It was a wonder that she survived the 18-day trans-Pacific journey. From San Francisco we took the overnight train to Vancouver. The two days stop-over in Vancouver rejuvenated her.

We boarded the Trans-continental which departed from downtown Vancouver’s CP Station. For four days, our eastward journey to Montreal took us over the Rockies, crossed the snow-covered Prairies and hilly central Canada. Prior to departure, we purchased some Chinese barbecue goods for the trip. Again Mom suffered from motion sickness, but compared to the ocean crossing this was nothing.

In the spring of 1958, she went to work at Wong Wing Food to earn some money to send back to my sister, Lin Feng, who was still in China. Because of the Great Leap Forward, China at the time was in the midst of a famine. Mom got Dad to bring home chicken feet which the restaurant would discard anyway. She would dry them and shipped it back to China. For a time, inside the house there were chicken feet hanging from everything and everywhere.

Packaging and shipping the dried chicken feet was something to remember. Either Canada Post or China had a weight limit on parcels going to China. I remember we were trying to get as close to twenty pounds as possible but had to remained under the limit. It was quite a challenge using a hand scale. One of us would lift it up and another would get on all fours to read the weight. Wording the declaration was extremely important. A wrong word could result in the parcel being discarded or confiscated by the Chinese authorities.