Facebook user David Yip shared that his friend visited Lee Kuan Yew’s Ancestral House in Meizhou, China and was surprised to find a dark figurine of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, and his wife Kwa Geok Choo. His post was shared over 700 times and may who did so expressed shock as well.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s great grandfather
Mr Lee is the fourth generation of Hakka, who originated from Tangxi in southern Guangdong province. His great-grandfather came to Singapore for business in 1864. He went back to his hometown after he made money from his business and built his ancestral home there. The ancestral building called “Zhonghan Di” comes administratively under a larger village called Dangxi in Meizhou city.
“Zhonghan Di” is the typical Hakka building, and is built on an area of 230sqm. The local government recently restored the building.
When Mr Lee passed away in 2015, more than 1,000 mourners from Tangxi visited the ‘Zhonghan Di’ to pay their last respects to him by offering incense, candies and rice wine. The villagers also held local funeral rites for Mr Lee, including the burning of paper money at the entrance of Zhonghandi in the belief that this will allow his soul to return home.
It seems like the faces in the figurine of Mr and Mrs Lee appears darkened because the paint on them has faded. The figurines’ hands look to be of the right colour.