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The Njo Family of Padang/Jambi

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Njo
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  • 1st Gen of the Njo Family (From China) (deceased)
    Legend has it that the first Njo ancestor (still trying to find the actual name of the ancestor) came from China in a Junk which shipwrecked near the coast of Sumatera and they were saved by a giant to...
  • Njo Giok Lan (b. - 1968)

Amongst the many stories and legends about my family that my Maternal Grandmother and many other relatives told me, I find the story of the Njo (楊) family - based in Padang - to be the most fascinating of all as the background of the family is surrounded with a lot of mystical stories.

One of the most popular stories within the Njo family would be how our first ancestor migrated to Indonesia from China. Legend has it that my first ancestor ('Engkong Padang' - I am still trying to find out what his name was) was on board a traditional Chinese Junk on his way to Nanyang (Southeast Asia) to seek a better life. In the middle of the sea journey, stormy weather wreck havoc in the sea near Bencoolen (Bengkulu) which caused the Junk that my first ancestor was onboard to shipwreck in the middle of the sea and he nearly drowned to death until a mystical gigantic sea turtle came to rescue my first ancestor out of the shipwreck and he was lead to a beach in Bengkulu, where from Bengkulu, he moved to Padang and raised so much fortune which made the Njo family rich with many relatives expanding businesses within Padang and off to Jambi. My side of the Njo family comes from the Jambi side of the family - Njo Giok Lan is my great-great-grandmother.

Although the family legend surrounding how a gigantic sea turtle came to save my first ancestor may sound mythical in nature, the fact is, most of my family members to this day - despite a majority of whom had already been Christians - abstain from consuming turtle eggs or the infamous Chinese 'turtle soup' usually sold in Gg. Gloria in Glodok, Jkt (Pi Oh), as a form of gratitude to the gigantic turtle who saved my first ancestor's soul, maybe a form of Chinese mystic beliefs or 'Pantang Larang' like how many devotees of Dewi Kwan Im would abstain from eating beef.

However, aside from this legend, I do not know much about the beginnings of the Njo family as my maternal grandmother (now deceased) did not mention much about the Njo family back when I asked her questions about my family roots when I was researching my maternal family's side of the family.

Who was our first ancestor's real name? Was Bengkulu/Padang/Jambi their actual destination in Indonesia? Why did they migrate to Indonesia? How do they accumulate their fortunes and was it thanks to the blessings of the gigantic turtle?

This would be an interesting part of the family tree to research upon.

Kuala Lumpur, 02 January 2023

David Leung