The Teochew Store Blog / people

Vivian Lee: Passing on the Teochew language with technology and dedication

Teochew Gasig  (潮州教室) is an Instagram and Facebook platform that teaches and explains daily Teochew words and phrases in English, Indonesian and Mandarin. Since its inception in 2021, it has built a strong following among young Teochews from many countries.

The founder of Teochew Gasig is Vivian Lee, who lives on Batam Island. What made this member of Generation Z want to promote our ageless and charming Teochew language to other youngsters on social media? Recently The Teochew Store has had the privilege to chat with Vivian to find out about her journey in running Teochew GaSig.

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李佳纹:用科技和匠心接棒潮语传承

潮州教室(Teochew GaSig )是一个用英语、印尼语及华语来教授及解释日常潮州词语及短语的InstagramFacebook账号。自2021年创办至今,深受各国年轻潮州人的欢迎。

居住在印尼巴淡岛的李佳纹小姐是潮州教室的创办人。究竟是什么原因让作为Z世代的她,开始在社交媒体向年轻人推广潮州话这门历史悠久、别具魅力的语言?近日,潮舖The Teochew Store特别连线佳纹,请她与我们分享创办“潮州教室”的心路历程。

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Lim Ngian Tiong: Reviving Teochew language starts at home

Lim Ngian Tiong, Nigel, is a veteran Teochew language radio newscaster and teacher in Singapore. He has been actively spreading Teochew language and culture through the radio, opera stage and classroom for half a century.

Coincidently 2023 marks Lim Ngian Tiong’s 50th anniversary as a Teochew language radio newscaster and his 20th year as a language teacher. Lim Ngian Tiong has also served as language instructor and event host for the annual "Lai Bia Teochew Ue" (來拼潮州話) quiz competition for Teochew language enthusiasts in Singapore since 2020.

The Teochew Store had the pleasure of speaking with Lim Ngian Tiong recently to learn about his journey in promoting Teochew language and culture, and to pick up some tips for young people interested in learning to speak Teochew.

 

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林仰忠:复兴潮州话,从家里开始

来自新加坡的林仰忠先生是资深的潮语新闻播音员,也是资深的潮州话老师。半个世纪以来,他一直在广播、戏剧、潮语课等多方面传播潮语及潮州文化。

2023年,是林仰忠先生从事潮语新闻广播的50周年,也是他开班教授潮州话的20周年。从2020年开始,林仰忠先生担任潮语导师,为新加坡“来拼潮州话”年度竞赛出题并主持,热心带领潮语爱好者们“寻音觅字”。

潮舖The Teochew Store 特别连线林仰忠先生,请他与我们分享在推广潮语及潮州文化的心路历程,并为有心学习潮州话的年轻人解疑答惑。

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Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: A Spanish Jesuit shipwrecked in Teochew (Part 2)

 

"Well-built and tall, of white complexion, cheerful and good-looking". These were the descriptions of the physical appearance of the Teochew people given by Adriano de las Cortes, a Spanish Jesuit Father who was shipwrecked in Teochew in 1625.

However, what Cortes wrote about their character is a far less pleasant read: “They are extremely subtle, cunning and deceitful, and they show neither friendship, fidelity, nor compassion to foreigners and, moreover, show very little of it among themselves”. Was he being bias, vindictive or simply giving his true opinions?

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Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: A Spanish Jesuit shipwrecked in Teochew (Part 1)

Three words that strike fear in every Teochew child: pah ka-ceng 拍尻倉!

Did you know that this was once also a punishment meted out to adults in China? A Jesuit Father, Adriano de las Cortes, learned this shuddering fact, and more, when a shipwreck made him an accidental visitor to the Teochew region 400 years ago.

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Deng Cueng: Telling the Story of Teochew through Documentary & Old Photos

Wild Teochew, the first ever nature-documentary on wildlife in the Teochew region was officially released in the Teochew language recently. Deng Cueng (丁銓), who hails from Teochew, China, is the documentary’s director, as well as the editor of the photographic collection Historical Photos of Teochew. The Teochew Store had the pleasure of interviewing Deng Cueng to learn about his enthusiasm in promoting the nature and culture of his homeplace and the gains he has received from it.

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丁铨:用纪录片和老照片讲述潮州故事

近期,首部讲述潮州野生世界的自然纪录片《野性潮州》潮语版正式上映。来自中国潮州的丁铨是这部纪录片的导演,也是影集《旧影潮州》的编著者。潮舖特别连线丁铨先生,请他与我们分享他在推广家乡自然及人文文化中的热忱和收获。

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Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: The Scholar-Officials of Song

A thousand years ago our ancestors in Teochew lived together with giants. Giants that weighed four tons, neared three metres in height, had two floppy ears, a trunk and a mammoth appetite.

An entry in the History of Song (宋史), dated 1171, reported that farmers in the Teochew prefecture had to set up pit traps in their fields after hundreds of wild elephants ate their crops. The cause of the conflict was quite imaginably the expansion of human settlements and agricultural activities into the animals’ habitats and stomping grounds. However, the elephants did not withdraw into the forests as a result. Instead, they organised themselves into herds and waited on the roads to ambush any passing cart or horse, which they encircled until the humans collected grain to feed them. To live with nature rather than conquer it was a wisdom our forefathers understood well.

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Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: Chen Yaozou, an unsung hero

History has a funny old way of repeating itself.

Chen Yaozuo (陳堯佐) was a prime minister and grand tutor of the crown prince of the Song dynasty (960–1279) in the 11th century. Coming from a family of officials, he was a rising star at the start of his career, until he bravely, or some might say foolishly, answered a call of Emperor Zhenzong for open criticisms by submitting a memorial that spelt out the ills of the times, including matters that no one else dared to speak about. As a result, Chen Yaozuo was banished and demoted to become an assistant prefect in the Teochew prefecture. This happened in 998, almost 180 years after Han Yu of the Tang dynasty suffered a similar fate.

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Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: Han Yu, the genius who discovered one of life's greatest joys

Have you ever wondered how did our forefathers live 100 years ago, 200 years ago, or even 1,000 years ago?

Our ancestors were a lot of things. Merchants, traders, seafarers, fishermen, agriculturalists, tea connoisseurs, culinary experts, artisans, builders, artists, musicians, poets, etc. But somehow there was not a historian among them. They spent their lives and energies in pursuit of happiness in many ways that today endow us with a rich cultural heritage and identity. Yet, it did not occur to them to document themselves or the world they lived in.

Fortunately, the Teochew region had over the centuries its fair share of visitors, of whom a few were both keen observers and skilled writers.

We begin a new series of articles telling the history and people of Teochew through the eyes of these men and women, with Han Yu (韓愈), a literary genius from the Tang dynasty, who came to Teochew more than 1000 years ago and not only escaped death here, but also discovered here one of the life's greatest joys. 

 

 

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Remembering the 1922 Swatow Typhoon 百年善纪——纪念潮汕八二风灾100周年

Watch 《百年善纪——纪念潮汕八二风灾100周年》, a four-part documentary produced by Shantou Television to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1922 Swatow Typhoon. 

Commentary in Mandarin, with interviews in Teochew and Chinese subtitles.

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Teochews in America

Today's Teochew presence in the United States was largely established after a wave of migration in the 1970s and 1980s. However, do you know that historical shipping records show that about 40,000 coolies were shipped from Swatow to the country between 1852 to 1858, and some of them might have formed their own fishing settlements on the West Coast? Learn about this and various stories of success achieved by the Teochews in America in this documentary produced by Shantou Television 22 years ago. 

二十世紀七、八十年代的一波移民潮形成了今日的美國潮人社群。其實船運記錄顯示,在一八五二年和一八五八年之間有大概四萬民“豬仔”從汕頭港被運到美國,而且他們有可能在美國西岸形成了自己的漁村。定居美國的潮人如何在這片大陸上成功立足?請看看這部由汕頭電視台在2000年攝製的記錄片,《美國潮人》。

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Canada - An Unlikely Teochew Gathering Point

Escaping Cambodia with five children in the 1970s, a Teochew couple were cruelly separated on the Thailand border. Yet they were miraculously reunited in Canada five years later and after much hard work, eventually came to own a supermarket. Notwithstanding its great distance from Asia, Canada is a gathering point for Teochews who resettled from Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China. Let’s watch this video where several of them share their stories and aspirations.

一對潮州夫妻在上世紀七十年代離開柬埔寨逃往泰國,在邊境走散,不知生死。五年後,他們奇蹟地在加拿大團聚。為了生活,他們刻苦耐勞,最終成功經營自己的超市。在離亞洲數千里的加拿大是許多來自越南、柬埔寨、香港和中國潮人移民的集中地。在這片土地上,他們與我們一起分享自己的故事和夢想。

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Teochews in France

For over 200 years till the mid-20th century, Southeast Asia was the primary migration destination for the Teochew people. However, as the result of various wars and upheavals in the 1970s, tens of thousands of Teochew families in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were forced to resettle again in France. Watch this documentary produced by Shantou Television in 1997 to hear the stories of how these Teochews who arrived in a foreign land as refugees courageously re-established their lives in Europe.

直到上世紀中旬,東南亞一直是潮州人主要的移民地。但因二十世紀七十年代的戰亂,數万個原定居在越南、柬埔寨和寮國的潮人家庭被迫二次遷移到法國。請看這部汕頭電視台1997製作的紀錄片,聽聽這群潮州人如何以以難民的身份勇敢地在歐洲找到新生。

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The Teochew community in Cambodia's rebirth

Watch how the Teochews living in Cambodia in the 1990s, after surviving the devastations of the brutal Pol Pot regime and years of war, devoted their  scarce resources towards the education of the next generation. 

看看在上世紀九十年代,經歷過多年紅色高棉暴政和戰亂的柬埔寨潮州人如何把有限的資源投入在下一代的教育上。
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Teochews in Singapore 25 years ago

The 20th century produced many successful overseas Teochew businessmen, who always devoted their energy and wealth towards the education and other fields of philanthropy. Watch the late Lien Ying Chow of Overseas Union Bank and other Teochews in Singapore share their stories and the philosophy behind their selfless contributions towards the larger society in this documentary produced by Shantou Television in 1997.
在二十世紀,誕生了不少成功的潮籍商人。他們熱心貢獻於教育和其他慈善領域。請觀看這部汕頭電視台1997年製作的紀錄片《獅城不只一座塑像》,聽聽已故大華銀行創辦人連瀛洲和其他新加坡潮州人講述他們的故事,以及對貢獻社會的理念。

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The Teochew Community in Malaysia

Do you know that the city of Penang in Malaysia has a “Swatow Street”? (It is officially known as Lebuh Kimberley.)Let’s watch this documentary produced by Shantou Television to find out more interesting facts about the lives of Teochews living in Malaysia 25 years ago.

你知道嗎?馬來西亞檳城有條汕頭街。一起來觀賞汕頭電視台製作的紀錄片《落地生根 》,關注居住在大馬潮州二十五年前的生活。

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A Documentary on Teochews in Thailand from 1997

Thailand has the largest Teochew diaspora in the world, with the size of the community estimated at 5 million in the mid-1990s. This documentary from 1997 by Shantou Television gives a glimpse of the lives of the Teochews in Thailand. (Audio in Mandarin, with some interviews in Teochew).

海外潮州人在泰国居多。根据上世纪90年代的统计,泰国的潮州社群约有五百万人。想了解潮州人在泰国过去的生活情况,请观看汕头电视台1997年制作的纪录片《佛國潮踪》。

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1987 Teochew Musical Movie - Sounds of Teochew 《潮人鄉音》

Have you ever watched a Teochew musical movie? Check out this rare classic that showcases a variety of Teochew art forms, including cross talk (相聲), bamboo clapper singing (竹板歌), Teochew classical music (潮州音樂), Teochew opera (潮劇),  Teochew narrative songbooks (潮州歌冊), ballads (歌謠), etc.

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Teochew Home News - A Publication of Our Own

Goh Yee Siang (吳以湘) was born in 1912 in Nio-ior village, Sou-uang town, Thenghai County (澄海縣蘇灣都蓮陽鄉) (now Nio-zie town, Thenghai district, Swatow city [汕頭市澄海區蓮上鎮]). He was the editor-in-chief of a well-known publication Teochew Home News (潮州鄉訊) that was founded in Singapore in the late 1940s.
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Teochew Short Film: Uncle Goose Waits for A Phone Call 潮州話短片: 《斷捨離》

Uncle Goose has been waiting. He has lived long enough - 75 years - to understand that patience is always rewarded. Whatever it takes to be in time for his best friend’s phone call. A promise is a promise. Mahjong is mahjong. "Uncle Goose Waits For A Phone Call" stars veteran actor Chen Shucheng in this short film about cherishing and being positive.
A short film produced in Singapore with subtitles in English and Chinese.
鵝伯(陳澍城飾)為了等一通老朋友的電話竟然硬守在家不肯出門!

本片風趣幽默,天馬行空,是一部關於等待的故事。希望大家看了《斷捨離》,對待生活灑脫樂觀,活在當下,且行且珍惜。

注:本片所有對白均為潮州話。
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Teochew Movie "Proud of Me" Theme Song: "Father Have You Eaten?" 潮州電影《爸,我一定行的》主题曲: 老父您食未

Performer 演唱:黃澤森
Lyrics 作詞:楊育挺
Music 作曲:李奕瀚
Click Read More for Full Lyrics (Teochew/Chinese and English)
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Where do the Teochew people come from? Teochew, or the Yellow River?

Where do the Teochew people come from? The Teochew region in southern China is the obvious answer.

Yet if one is to run a search on the Internet, he or she would find a string of references stating that our ancestors came hundreds of years ago from the Central Plains in the Yellow River reaches, thousands of miles away.

Click "Read more" to begin our journey of discovery

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Heart-warming Swatow in a Cold Winter 汕頭街頭寒冬送暖

China is experiencing a colder than usual winter this year. Watch what happens when a tired street cleaner goes round different shops in Swatow to ask for refill of hot water to keep himself warm...

Video produced by 汕頭生活 STLives
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Malay loanwords in Teochew language

Spoken Teochew is both ancient and at the same time evolving, just like any other "live" languages. The Teochews settled in the Malay-speaking world covering Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have absorbed not a small number of native expressions into their daily vocabulary. Here we present a list of over 50 expressions.

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Teochew Short Film 潮语微电影: “Yeo Bhue Eng"《杨梅英》

“Yeo Bhue Eng"《杨梅英》is a film about the life of a former Teochew opera adolescent actress who performed by the same name (real name Ang Hui Eng 洪惠英). Sold to an opera troupe at the age of 7, she became famous by 15 and was married to a man she loved five years later. However when she was 37, her husband became a victim of the Cultural Revolution and she was left to bring up their five children alone.

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My Teochew Family Story Sharing: "My Special Teochew Family 特别的潮州家人" by Harada Ryotaro 原田燎太郎

"In Teochew I found love and family" - the heart-warming story of a Japanese in Teochew.
"在潮州,我收获了爱情和家庭" - 一名日本人在潮州的感人故事
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What Family Meant to the Teochew Forefathers

Red Head Junk
The Teochew migrants to Southeast Asia in the early 19th century were a rough lot. John Crawfurd, who led a British mission to Siam and was the second Resident of Singapore, described them as “the lowest in rank”, and “most noisy and unruly”. But the true character of these men can be discovered in two articles written by Teochew merchant Seah Eu Chin (Siah U Chin) in the late 1840s.
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我们要听您的故事: “My Teochew Family 潮州一家人”

The Teochew Store潮舖一岁啦!

为了庆祝我们的第一周年与答谢各位读者的支持,我们希望邀请您和大家分享您对主题 “My Teochew Family 潮州一家人”的故事.

您的故事可以关于您的家人,在您生活里扮演重要角色的潮籍人士,或者是一个让您领悟的“家”的意义的社群。您可以通过以下两种方式参加...

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