This shows the family tree of the extended Low family. It was compiled based on existing records. Hopefully, with more research, the tree can grow further!
As of 2020, the tree now spans seven generations, starting with the earliest known ancestor Low Chow Thean. The latter had two sons and three grandsons.
The bulk of the family tree comprises descendants of the three grandsons Low Huat Leong, Low Bock Seng and Low Bock Eng.
Low Family History
The Low family came from the Meibin Village 美滨村, Penglai Town, Anxi Prefecture, Fujian Province in China. The village is also known as Xiwei 溪尾 , Ximei 溪美 and Kuimei 魁美 .
The earliest recorded family member was Low Chow Thean*刘肇阵. He was married to Poh Mui Neo* 傅梅娘. Both were born in China in the 19th century (exact year unknown). They had two sons Chye Teng* 财丁 and Puah Chwee* 泮水 (dates of birth unknown). In 1880, Mui Neo passed away. Sometime in the late 19th century, likely after his wife’s demise, Chow Thean took his then five-year old son Puah Chwee to Singapore. Chow Thean later married a woman in Singapore who already had a son by her previous husband with the surname of Teo 赵 . Unfortunately, Chow Thean did not recognise the younger Teo as part of his family. Chow Thean passed away in Singapore in 1909.
Sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, Chow Thean’s elder son Chye Teng also came to and settled down in Singapore, with his wife Lim Yeo Neo*林腰娘 and son Huat Leong发谅. After Chye Teng passed away (date unknown but sometime before 1906), his younger brother Puah Chwee then married his widow Yeo Neo. Puah Chwee and Yeo Neo went on to have two sons of their own – Bock Seng木生 (born in 1906) and Bock Eng木荣 (born in 1908).
In Singapore, Puah Chwee worked as a bullock cart driver. The cart was used for carrying rice and various goods including animal swill to farms. He loved to gamble, which often left his family in difficult financial straits. This later became a source of conflict between him and his son Bock Seng who disapproved of his father’s gambling habits.
Like most women of the time, Yeo Neo was a housewife. She was a kindly woman who had bound feet. Puah Chwee used to be very bad-tempered and often scolded his wife. However in their later years, they became closer, and he would sometimes hire a trishaw to go for a ride around the city with his wife after dinner. Yeo Neo passed away of cancer in 1957, followed by her husband Puah Chwee who died of illness and old age in 1969.
Of their three sons, Huat Leong worked as a tuckshop operator at Chuan Meng Primary School 全民小学 and passed away in 1949. After his demise, his children were then looked after by their uncles Bock Seng and Bock Eng.
For more information about the Low family history in Meibin Village, please refer to: https://www.mychinaroots.com/report/lowszewee/meibin/stories
* Note: The English names used here are approximations based on the Hokkien pronunciation of the known Chinese names.
刘氏族谱
刘氏家族来自中国福建安溪县蓬莱镇的美滨村。
最早的家族成员记载是刘肇阵，其妻是傅梅娘。两人出生于十九世纪的中国（出生年不详），育有二子财丁和泮水（出生日期不详）。光绪六年（1880年）九月初九，梅娘逝世。十九世纪末期，有可能是在妻子过世后，肇阵把年仅五岁的泮水带到新加坡。肇阵后来在新加坡娶了一名女子，该女与赵氏前夫有一子。然而，肇阵不视赵氏之子为家族的一份子。肇阵于己酉年（1909年）十一月二十逝世。
十九世纪末至二十世纪初，刘肇阵的大儿子财丁也携妻子林腰娘和儿子发谅前来新加坡定居。财丁逝世（日期不详但在1906年前）后，其弟泮水就娶了未亡人腰娘。泮水和腰娘育有二子 — 木生(1906年生)和木荣(1908年生)。
泮水在新加坡是一名牛车夫。牛车用来运送米和包括动物饲料的各种货物到农场。泮水爱赌博，经常导致家庭经济拮据。由于木生反对父亲的赌博习惯，这后来也成为他们不和的导火线。
和当时许多的妇女一样，腰娘是位家庭主妇。她缠小脚、心地善良。泮水则脾气非常暴躁，经常责骂妻子。然而到了晚年，他们关系更为密切，有时晚餐后泮水会雇三轮车与妻子在城市里兜风。腰娘于1957年因癌症逝世, 泮水随后在1969年死于老年和疾病。
三个儿子之中的发谅在全民小学的食堂经营，于1949年逝世。之后他的孩子就由叔叔木生和木荣抚养。
有关刘氏家族与美滨村的详情，请浏览： https://www.mychinaroots.com/report/lowszewee/meibin/stories
Information from ancestral plaques
Directions to tomb site and columbaria
Niche of Low Chow Thean 刘肇阵 and Poh Mui Neo 付梅娘
Address: Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium Complex, 300 Mandai Road, Singapore 779393
Block C, Section 110 (ground floor), Niche No. 30
Niches of Low Huat Leong 刘发亮, wife Kor Hoon Neo吕粉娘 , and eldest son Low Seng Chor 刘成助
Address: Shuang Lin Monastery Columbarium 莲山双林寺, 184 Jalan Toa Payoh, Singapore 319944
Niche No. 08-0222, 0221, 0220
Temple plaques of Low Huat Leong 刘发亮, wife Kor Hoon Neo吕粉娘 , and eldest son Low Seng Chor 刘成助
Address: Singapore Buddhist Lodge 居士林, 17-19 Kim Yam Road, Singapore 239329
Tombsite of Low Puah Chwee 刘泮水 and Lim Yeo Neo 林腰娘
Address: Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang Track 14 (off Old Choa Chu Kang Road)
- Turn into Choa Chu Kang Track 14 from Old Choa Chu Kang Road
- The cemetery will be on the right side.
- Drive to the end of the cemetery where Track 14 makes a slight bend to the right.
- Walk towards the end of the cemetery (closest to the road bend) where there will be a concrete path across a small drain. There is a warning sign near the path.
- Behind the warning sign, there is a large double tomb on the right side (number 38, deceased from南安,云峰)
- There is a row of single tombs immediately behind Tomb 38
- Low Puah Chwee’s tomb (number 166) is behind the row of single tombs, further upslope.
Temple plaques of Low Bock Eng and Goh Kim Hong
Address: Man Fatt Lam Temple 万佛林, 211 Bedok Rd, Singapore 468584
Niches of Low Bock Eng and Goh Kim Hong
Address: Nam Ann Siang Theon 南安善堂, 36E Paya Lebar Crescent, Singapore 536067
Niche A5-10 (for Low Bock Eng), Niche A5-09 (for Goh Kim Hong)
Niche of Low Bock Seng and Koh Kim Lian
Address: The Garden of Remembrance, 920 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Singapore 699815
Level 4, Section X, Row 4, Niche 89
Niche of Low Seng Poh and Lee Guat Hiong
Address: The Garden of Remembrance, 920 Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Singapore 699815
Level 4, Section X, Row 4, Niche 96
If you have updates/ corrections for any family tree, please send an email to us.