The main inscription comprises of 9 chinese
characters carved on the grave stone of
LIM TUAN NEO 林端娘
(my paternal grand-mother)##
01. This grave is located at Bt Brown cemetery, Blk5, number 262C, next to grand-father’s (at 261C).
Lim Tuan Neo – born: 8th July 1890, died: 11th April 1948
02. The GPS location of Chia Keng Tye/Lim Tuan Neo gravesite is
N 01 deg 20.202’
1
Lim Tuan Neo
E 103 deg 49.265’
rev:00 date: 26th Feb 2012
elevation: 30m
顕 Xian
妣
Bi
(顕妣
謝 Xie
together means Late Mother)
married surname, Chia
門 Men
(house of)
林 Ling
(Lim = maiden surname)
氏
Shi (refers
端 Duan
娘 Niang
墓 Mu
03.
to previous character as maiden name)
(name= Tuan)
(name= Neo)
grave
On either side of the main inscription is the date of death in the
following lunar calendar format*** :“3rd month, 3rd day” and “Year 37 of the 民 国 Republic of China, 1911″. Therefore, after
converting the lunar calendar and 37+1911 = the date of death, 11th April 1948″.
04.
前宅 (qianzhai)**
are the 2 characters on the top of the
gravestone, flanking the picture of LTN, and refers to the Chia Family
ancestral birthplace in Fujian province.
** This is based on the Chia ancestral village known to be Tong An (同 安) in Fujian province, which is
close to Quanzhou (almost on the border), and follows the modern administrative divisions; in the past
Tong An was a county and Xiamen would have been part of it :厦门市 (Xiamen City)
同安区 (Tongan District)
2
Lim Tuan Neo
rev:00 date: 26th Feb 2012
大同镇 (Datong Town)
田洋村 (Tianyang Village)
前宅 (Qianzhai) [GPS: N 24.742271, E 118.137145].
05. On the left panel, the English inscription on the stone reads “In Loving Memory, Lim Tuan Neo“.
06. On the right panel, the English inscription on the stone show the dates of birth and death (as also
shown above) born: 8th July 1890, died: 11th April 1948
07. The names of Chia Keng Tye and Lim Tuan Neo’s surviving children were found in the center of
the 2 adjoining grave stones. Thus, only the names of 2 sons and 3 daughters are shown
engraved on the stone. Their other two daughters Amy and Grace had already passed away
earlier (in 1911 and 1946 respectively).
*** Ref: link to website showing example of lunar calendar conversion for the year 1961
http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/time/calendar/pdf/1961e.pdf
## Ref: the Chia family tree http://www.ccchia.com/chiafamily/tree1x.html and the Chia family Bt Brown
blog at http://chiafamily.wordpress.com
3
Lim Tuan Neo
rev:00 date: 26th Feb 2012