| . More than Devil Curry ~ by MELISSA DE SILVA http://www.todayonline.com/sites/default/files/styles/photo_gallery_image_lightbox/public/photos/43_images/27098109.JPG lifestyleMore than Devil Curry
PUBLISHED: 10:30 PM, AUGUST 17, 2016
UPDATED: 7:49 AM, AUGUST 18, 2016
SINGAPORE — So, how did Eurasians come to be in Singapore anyway? A Eurasian is someone who has both Asian and European ancestry. Many Singaporean Eurasians trace their heritage to European colonisation in Asia, first of the Portuguese in Asia back in the 1500s (in Malacca, Sri Lanka, Goa and Timor), then the Dutch (Malacca, Sri Lanka and Indonesia) and finally the British.
Some of these Eurasians came to Singapore to seek their fortunes and ended up settling here, just as ancestors of other Singaporeans, who journeyed from India, China, Indonesia and the Middle East. Some were born in Singapore as first-generation Eurasians, from unions between Europeans and Asians. It was also the norm then for Eurasians to marry within their community, producing second- or third-generation
Eurasian children.
According to the census in 2010, the Eurasian population here is at 0.4 per cent of the population, or 15,581 in total. Despite the small population, the Eurasians have made a significant impact here. Here are five other things to know about them.
SPORTS IS KIND OF THEIR THING
Even before Joseph Schooling’s scintillating win at this 2016 Rio Olympics, Eurasians have enjoyed a long history of excellence in sports. This goes back to the colonial era, when Eurasian families valued sports as character building.
In 1931, Alice Pennefather, of Scottish-Japanese descent, became Singapore’s first women’s singles badminton champion at the Singapore National Badminton Championships. She continued to win titles until the 1950s. The versatile sportswoman was also the first non-European Singapore Ladies Tennis Champion
in 1936.
It was the Eurasians who formed the Singapore Hockey Association in 1931. In 1956, the Singapore hockey team went to the Melbourne Olympics. The team placed eighth, ahead of Malaya. Half of the team comprised Eurasians, including captain Percy Pennefather, Rudy Mosbergen and Osbert Rozario.
Edmund William Barker, former Minister for Law (1964 to 1988), was the first President of the Singapore National Olympic Council. He led the construction of the National Stadium in the 1970s. He was a star athlete and captain of the soccer team at Raffles Institution, and was of Portuguese, Irish, Japanese, Scottish, Malay and German heritage. His Portuguese great-great-great grandfather Dr Jose D Almeida (1784 to 1850) was one of the first 10 Europeans to settle in Singapore.
THEY STARTED THE SINGAPORE RECREATION CLUB (SRC)
The formation of the SRC in 1883 was a reaction by the Eurasian community against the Singapore Cricket Club’s barring of non-Europeans. They set up their own sports club exclusively for Eurasians, the SRC, on the Padang directly opposite the Singapore Cricket Club. In 1955, club membership was opened to non-Eurasians.
THERE ARE ROADS NAMED AFTER THEM
Cashin Street
Named after Singapore’s first Eurasian millionaire, Cashin, a lawyer’s clerk in the 1880s who invested in opium farming and property.
Desker Road
Named after Andre Filipe Desker (1826 to 1898). He was born in Malacca and became a philanthropist to Singapore’s Catholic schools and churches.
Galistan Avenue
Named after orchid cultivator Emile Galistan, founder of the Malayan Orchid Society. One of his best-known hybrids, the Aranda Hilda Galistan, is named after his wife.
Koek Road
Named after lawyer Edwin Koek, a Malaccan of Dutch-descent, who practised in the 1870s and 1880s.
Norris Road
Named after Richard Owen Norris and George Norris, sons of an officer in the East India Company. Richard Norris’ great-granddaughter, Noel Evelyn Norris, was principal of Raffles Girls’ School from 1961 to 1977.
Tessensohn Road
Named after Edwin Tessensohn (1855 to 1926), who came to Singapore from Malacca in his teens. He was the first Eurasian to be a nominated member of the Legislative Council and in 1894, became the president of the Singapore Recreation Club.
THEY ACTUALLY HAVE THEIR OWN MOTHER TONGUE(S)
Eurasians, having many threads of heritage, may technically count various European and Asian languages among their wealth of mother tongue inheritance, such as Dutch, English, French, Indonesian, Chinese and the Indian languages.
The mother tongue spoken by the Portuguese Eurasians from Malacca, though, is a creole language called Kristang — a creole is any language formed by an intermarriage of two other languages — developed from the presence of the Portuguese in Malaya. Kristang comprises a largely Malay grammatical structure and Portuguese vocabulary.
It is an endangered language, with less than 100 fluent speakers in Singapore, most of whom are elderly. There is currently a revival movement among younger Eurasians to learn this language before it is lost, initiated by National University of Singapore linguistics undergraduate Kevin Martens Wong. For information on Kristang classes, check outhttps://www.facebook.com/kodrahkristang.
THEY HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF SURNAMES
Many Eurasians have European surnames, which can tell you what countries their European ancestors came from. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list:
Germany: Hochstadt, Keller, Klass, Neubronner, Oehlers, Schooling (an anglicised variant of Schilling)
Britain: Batchelor, Branson, Campbell (Scottish), Clarke, Hogan, Leicester, Moss, Scully (Irish), Sheperdson, Smith
Denmark: Jensen, Lange, Olsen
The Netherlands: Ess, Hoeden, Marbeck, Minjoot, van Cuylenberg, Vanderstraaten, Westerhout
Portugal: Aeria, Carvalho, Coelho, Cordeiro, De Almeida, De Cotta, De Silva, De Souza, Gomez, Lazaroo, Nonis, Oliveiro, Pestana, Pereira, Pinto, Rodrigues, Theseira
Melissa De Silva writes about Eurasian culture and identity at https://eurasiansg.com. She has been published in literary journals in the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong. She is currently working on a novel about Eurasian identity.
===.Comments: Joseph Pereira ·Melissa , I think you missed out Pereira Road ? Melissa De Silva ·Hi Joseph, unfortunately I had a word limit so this is just a selection of the roads. Would have loved to have included them all! Joseph Pereira · No worries. Thanks for the article. Anselm De Souza · . |
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European ancestryOf Portuguese and Spanish Descent
Before the arrival of the Dutch, British and French in Asia, the first Europeans to land and seize territory in Asia were the Portuguese, followed by the Spanish who claimed the Philippines. Portuguese spice-traders first sailed to Malacca in 1509, having already established settlements in Goa and other parts of India. Portuguese explorers and conquerors were accompanied by the first Jesuit priests to South-east Asia via Goa in Portuguese India. Afonso de Albuquerque, the viceroy of India, conquered Malacca (today just a few hours' drive from Singapore) in 1511, while Jesuit Francis Xavier, (a Basque Spaniard serving the Portuguese Crown) arrived in Malacca in 1545. Descendants of Portuguese and Spanish colonialists who lived in Malacca and are of mixed Portuguese/Spanish and mostly Malay, but also Indian or Chinese descent, are collectively known as the Gente Kristang. This group is characterised by having its own distinctive Portuguese creole, the Kristang language, although it is now only spoken by a few, older members of the community. Many are descended from individuals who lived in Malacca or other parts of Malaysia. Others have ancestors who lived in Java or other parts of Indonesia as a result of being expelled from Malacca after the Portuguese were forcibly ejected from Malacca by the Johore-Dutch alliance in 1641. A few Macanese people of Chinese-Portuguese ancestry from Macau are also living in Singapore.
Read on...
Eurasians in Singapore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| . The Eurasian Mix I just wanted to share my own experience to add to the recent news about Joseph Schooling being "foreign talent" and the Eurasians. Just yesterday, I was at the hospital for my normal appointment for a CT-Scan. I obviously don't fit this nurse's perception of what a Eurasian would look like. Since my info card says Eurasian with my surname Rodriquez, she looked at every person in the room, looking for one that would fit. When she looked at me, I smiled... but she turned away. After looking at everyone and giving up... she announced my name. I think she was looking for the 'Ang Mo' (Caucasian or European) looking type because there were already... Chinese, Malays and Indians in the room. It's a game for her. She does it with all the names. Trying to match the face to the name. But it gets tricky when a Eurasian is thrown in. The Eurasian is like a Joker in a card game where anything goes. All Eurasians know that we won't always look like our parents. I remember my Chinese choir master. In front of the whole choir (of about a 100 people) he told my daughter that his daughter's name is Alice. There were 2 Alice-s in the choir and he ask the 2 Alice-s to stand. One was Indian and the other was Chinese. He asked my daughter to guess, which is his daughter? When my daughter just smiled without answering, he turned to me. I told him that, in our family, she knows that it is possible that we don't have to look like our parents... and she's probably smiling... because she thinks the Indian girl could be his daughter. I'll have to teach my daughter that it is not necessarily true for the "Other Races" (hmm... first time I'm using the term 'Other Races' in a different way... now the tables are turned). . |
| . News Article
My boy Joseph is a true son of Singapore, says Colin Schooling
PUBLISHED ON SEP 29, 2014, at 9:42 AM
Incheon - Talk of Joseph Schooling being a "foreign talent" still baffles the swimmer and his parents Colin and May.
Tell that to Colin and he will quickly rebut in Malay: "Nama saya Colin Schooling. Anak berna Singapura." ("My name is Colin Schooling, true son of Singapore.") The 66-year-old businessman was born in Singapore and is fluent in English, Malay and Hokkien. May, 59, a Chinese who hails from Ipoh in Malaysia, is a Singapore permanent resident and has lived here for over 30 years.
Said Colin: "My grandfather was an officer in the British army. He came from England and married a local Portuguese-Eurasian. "But I was born here, so was my father. I see these comments many times on Internet forums. They say Joseph's father is an ang moh.
"I say, don't forget Eurasians are part of the Singapore population. "The most important thing is we know who we are and what we are."
Joseph - his only child - was also born in Singapore. The former Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student left for the United States five years ago at 14 to pursue his dream of winning a medal at the 2016 Olympics. Said Joseph: "It used to bother me. I see it sometimes on Facebook. I used to get p****d but now I ignore them. "They are just keyboard warriors so I just tune it out.
"I'm just glad to get the opportunity to do my country proud," added the swimmer who bagged one gold, one silver and one bronze in the Incheon Asiad.
Indeed, other than speaking with an American accent, an inevitable by-product of spending five years in the States, there is little to suggest that Joseph is not Singaporean.
And after hanging out with his team-mates for a few days in Incheon, bits of Singlish crept into his conversations. "Hurry up, lah," he told Teo Zhen Ren, who had asked Joseph to take a picture of him in the Munhak Park Tae Hwan Aquatics Centre last Friday after the swimming meet ended.
As for the Schooling name, Colin said it originated from the Mecklenburg region in Germany and was originally spelt Schilling. He had traced his lineage back to 1172 and said: "My great-great-grandparents were artisans to the British royal family. "And after the First World War, due to the anti-German sentiment in England, they changed it to Schooling, the same way Battenberg became Mountbatten." As for pronunciation, most people say "Schooling" as you would describe someone who is attending school, although some do call them "Shoo-ling". Said Colin: "It's up to the person who addresses us but we're not too bothered."
Just do not call them ang moh.
Chua Siang Yee
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| Joseph Schooling with his parents Colin and May after he won Singapore's first gold medal in the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 Men's 100m butterfly event. |
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| Joseph Schooling with his parents, Mary and Colin, in 2012. |
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| Joseph Schooling (centre) with his parents during a victory ceremony at the 26th South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang, Indonesia, in November 2011. |
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Friday, May 16, 2014
The Straits Times
By Salma Khalik
This article was published on May 14 in The Straits Times.
http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/one-two-spore-kids-has-rotten-teeth-reporthttp://yourhealth.asiaone.com/print/content/one-two-spore-kids-has-rotten-teeth-report More than half of all children in Singapore have one or more rotten teeth by the time they start primary school. This is a worrying trend because bacteria from their milk teeth can affect the development of their permanent teeth.
That is why the Health Promotion Board (HPB) is introducing oral care programmes to pre-primary children, starting in August. HPB said it plans to reach out to children in all childcare centres within five years.
A report on the oral health of schoolchildren found that the proportion of children with dental caries at the age of seven had gone up from 47.6 per cent in 2003, to 50.6 per cent last year.
"If left untreated, decay on the primary (milk) tooth can affect the developing permanent tooth," said School Dental Service senior deputy director Eu Oy Chu. This is because bacteria from the milk tooth can result in an abscess that will spread to the tooth growing under it, she said.
Among seven-year-olds, more foreign children (56 per cent) had caries than local children (51 per cent). Generally, more boys than girls had bad teeth.
One in four Primary 6 pupils last year had caries on the permanent teeth. This is a significant improvement from 2007 when slightly more than one in three had caries. And among 15-year-olds, 41 per cent had caries last year, slightly lower than the 42 per cent in 2007.
Local children continued to have better teeth as they aged than foreigners. By the time they were 15 years old, 59 per cent of local children had no decayed, missing or filled teeth, compared with 57 per cent of foreigners that age.
Eurasians have the most problem-free teeth (71 per cent), followed by Indians (64 per cent), Malays (60 per cent), and Chinese (58 per cent) coming in last.
Dr Matthew Lau, a dental officer with the School Dental Service, told The Straits Times: "We are seeing more children with decayed and filled teeth."
He asks parents if the child takes lots of sweet foods and beverages, if he still falls asleep with a milk bottle, or holds food in his mouth for long periods - all bad habits that lead to tooth decay.
Dr Lau urges parents who give their children sweet treats to do so immediately after a meal rather than any time the child wants. This limits the amount the child takes. He also tells parents they need to brush their child's teeth "until a child develops the dexterity to do a good job on his own".
Usually, a child who can tie his shoelaces should be able to brush his own teeth. But Dr Lau added that parental supervision is still necessary to ensure that the child is doing a good job.
Parents should start taking their children to the dentist when they turn one, or when they get their first tooth, he said.
Ganesh Mohandas, who turns five this month, started brushing his own teeth this year, but his parents would follow up with a second round of brushing to make sure that nothing is missed.
His mother, Mrs R. Mohandas, said they started brushing his teeth from the time he was just six months old.
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Sports News
Joseph Schooling sets sights on Olympic medal
by ADELENE WONG
Monday, 2013 Oct 21
http://www.todayonline.com/print/307961
Picture Caption:
Singapore's Joseph Schooling (pictured) is now the 10th fastest swimmer in the men's 200m butterfly after setting a national record of 1min 56.27secs in the event's semi-finals at the 2013 FINA World Championship. But it was not enough to see him through to the final. TODAY FILE PHOTO.
Click on Picture to enlarge
Track record and progress in recent years have given him self-belief
SINGAPORE — Ang Peng Siong came close in 1984 in Los Angeles, and Tao Li came closer five years ago in Beijing. Now, Joseph Schooling believes he can end Singapore’s wait for its first Olympic swimming medallist.
Widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents, the 18-year-old, who is based in the United States, is now aiming to finish on the podium at the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
According to US swimming records last month, Schooling, who specialises in the 100m and 200m butterfly events, is ranked in the top-five with Americans in his age group.
In the 100m fly, his time of 52.33secs is just behind 18-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps (51.10). He is also ranked third in 200m fly (1:56.27) and fifth in the 200m individual medley (1:59.99).
Schooling, a final-year student at the Bolles School in Florida, told TODAY his track record and progress in recent years have given him that self-belief.
“I have been steadily improving in my swimming over the past few years, so that is why I think I have a shot,” he said in an interview last week. “I want to bring glory to Singapore and win an Olympic medal in 2016 when I will be 21. Every competition is a stepping stone … I am getting closer (to my dream of winning an Olympic medal) every time I race.”
Ang and Tao have come closest to winning Singapore its first Olympic medal in swimming. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Ang was ranked ninth overall in the men’s 100m freestyle after winning the event’s “B” final for the eight fastest swimmers outside of the final. Twenty four years later at the Beijing Olympics, Tao became the first Singaporean to reach a swimming final, finishing fifth in the women’s 100m fly final.
Singapore have won four Olympic medals: A silver and two bronzes from table tennis and a silver in weightlifting.
Schooling made his Olympic debut in London last year, but was distracted after an official ruled just minutes before his 200m fly heats that his cap and goggles were not approved for the Games, leading to a disappointing time of 1min 59.18secs, well below his then-personal best of 1:56.67. But he said “champions don’t make excuses” and vowed to bounce back.
Since then, he has chalked up strong performances, including at the World Championships in Barcelona in July, where he lowered his own national 200m fly record to 1:56.27.
At the London Games, Phelps won the 100m fly in 51.21, while South Africa’s Chad Le Clos took the 200m fly in 1:52.96, and Schooling is under no illusions about the difficult task ahead, saying there “needs to be a right balance” for all the moving parts to come together.
One vital component is his application for deferment from National Service (NS) so that he can maintain his momentum to the 2016 Games. A spokesperson from Singapore’s Ministry of Defence confirmed on Friday that Schooling had “made a deferment request for NS”, but declined further comment until a Parliamentary sitting today, when the topic of providing a more flexible approach to NS enlistment for male athletes at their prime will be raised.
Choosing a university with a suitable academic and swimming programme is also important for Schooling. Several American colleges are reportedly keen on him, with the University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin and University of Florida among those on his shortlist.
In the meantime, preparations for the Dec 11-22 South-east Asian Games in Myanmar are on track as he aims to win all his seven events. Trained by Spain’s 1988 Olympic 200m breaststroke bronze medallist Sergio Lopez at Bolles, Schooling has added 4kg of muscle to his 1.82m tall frame to improve his speed.
Said Schooling: “If I pace myself properly, I am confident of going a lot faster.”
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| Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Brown Head with Black Cheeks) |
