Post by nzbc on Dec 8, 2014 21:35:09 GMT 12
Chong cleans up famous relatives' gravesite
MATT RILKOFF
Last updated 05:00 08/12/2014
It has taken Murray Chong more than 20 years to finally get around to giving his great grandparents a spruce up.
Over the last two weekends the New Plymouth District councillor has cleaned, scraped, cut and painted red the Te Henui Cemetery gravesite of his famous Chinese great grandfather Chew Chong and his wife Elizabeth.
One of early Taranaki's most respected and business savvy citizens, Chau Tseung, known as Chew Chong, was widely credited with keeping the Taranaki economy afloat in the 1870s through the export of wood ear fungus that grew profusely on felled and burned forest.
He was also a pioneer in the export butter market and owned a number of creameries in and around Eltham.
"My dad took me to see the gravesite when I was about 12. But when you're young you don't think anything of it.
"I went to look for it again when I was 17 and it took me about 20 minutes to find it.
"I thought then something had to be done," Chong said.
It took a while for that thought to turn into action, but the middle aged Chong has now pruned the foliage all around the site, scraped the concrete clean and painted the six pillars a striking "Chinese" red.
"It felt quite humbling doing that. You almost feel like someone is looking over you. I was happy to do it. All it took was a wire brush and some paint," he said.
Chong said he undertook the maintenance work after consulting with other Chong family descendants and said he believed the bright red signified longevity and good luck.
Chew Chong died in 1920 at the age of 92. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and six children.
The grave site is part of the New Plymouth heritage trail.
- Taranaki Daily News
www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/63927119/Chong-cleans-up-famous-relatives-gravesite
MATT RILKOFF
Last updated 05:00 08/12/2014
It has taken Murray Chong more than 20 years to finally get around to giving his great grandparents a spruce up.
Over the last two weekends the New Plymouth District councillor has cleaned, scraped, cut and painted red the Te Henui Cemetery gravesite of his famous Chinese great grandfather Chew Chong and his wife Elizabeth.
One of early Taranaki's most respected and business savvy citizens, Chau Tseung, known as Chew Chong, was widely credited with keeping the Taranaki economy afloat in the 1870s through the export of wood ear fungus that grew profusely on felled and burned forest.
He was also a pioneer in the export butter market and owned a number of creameries in and around Eltham.
"My dad took me to see the gravesite when I was about 12. But when you're young you don't think anything of it.
"I went to look for it again when I was 17 and it took me about 20 minutes to find it.
"I thought then something had to be done," Chong said.
It took a while for that thought to turn into action, but the middle aged Chong has now pruned the foliage all around the site, scraped the concrete clean and painted the six pillars a striking "Chinese" red.
"It felt quite humbling doing that. You almost feel like someone is looking over you. I was happy to do it. All it took was a wire brush and some paint," he said.
Chong said he undertook the maintenance work after consulting with other Chong family descendants and said he believed the bright red signified longevity and good luck.
Chew Chong died in 1920 at the age of 92. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and six children.
The grave site is part of the New Plymouth heritage trail.
- Taranaki Daily News
www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/63927119/Chong-cleans-up-famous-relatives-gravesite