30 January 2011

20. Demise of Chan Keng San

Lake Gardens, Taiping

Lake Gardens, Taiping - 1900s

One of the most devastating tragedy that happened to the Chan family during the Japanese Occupation was the death of father Chung Chow's younger brother, Keng San, on November 3, 1944.

On that particular day, the Japanese authorities had organized a water festival at the Taiping Lake Gardens. Without his parents knowledge, Keng San participated in a duck-catching event in one of the lakes. Nobody knows what happened that day. When the excitement of the event died down, his body was found floating in the water. He was only eight years old. Our grandparents were so heart-broken that all of Keng San's personal items including his photographs were burned, and his name was never mentioned again.

Memorial plaque at the Buddhist temple in Assam Kumbang


Next: 21.Japanese Invasion Money

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