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By Dawn Tay
Ten years of silence has not stopped a Malay housewife in her search for Chinese relatives of her late mother, who was given away to a Malay family when she was a baby.
Madam Norsiah Haji Ahmad, 51 (better known to her family as "Emma"), was also given away as a baby by her own mother. Her mother was born in Singapore in 1924 to a Teochew migrant family from China.
Adopted by a Malay relative, Madam Norsiah remained in touch with her biological mother until she died in 1999. Since then, the desire to reunite with the long-lost Chinese branch of her extended family became stronger.
Eyes welling up with emotion as she spoke to my paper recently, she said: "Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if the person I'm looking at is my relative."
Given to a Malay family in exchange for a gold anklet, Madam Norsiah's biological mother was renamed Habsah Abdullah. Her biological father was a Javanese sailor, and she has no record of her birth mother's original Chinese name. The only other clues to her Chinese roots that she's hoping will lead her to them were told to her by Madam Habsah.
Her grandparents used to operate a stoneware shop in Beach Road in the early 1900s. The pair went house to house selling their wares in the Malay kampung of Kaki Bukit, which is now known as Bedok Reservoir. Madam Norsiah said that her mother was just one of many children who were given away to the families there.
As a child, Madam Norsiah was kept in the dark about the identity of her birth parents, though she often visited them with her foster parents. Eventually, her biological mother revealed her true identity to Madam Norsiah - but remained distant.
For the last 10 years, she has relied on word-of-mouth information among family friends in her search. Her daughter, systems administrator Norzailailah Zainal, 28, said: "The chances may be slim, but my mother is determined. She's not giving up."
If you have any information, please e-mail Ms Norzailailah at nz210001@yahoo.com.sg.
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