Posted by Raymond (72.234.176.197) on January 25, 2008 at 04:51:56:
In Reply to: Help to Find Family of TEH TIAM from Amoy, China posted by Ofelia B. Te on January 24, 2008 at 03:27:12:
Ofelia,
You do not have much information to begin your genealogical research, so I can only speculate as follows. As you may know, most early Chinese in the Philippines were from Fujian Province, which was formerly called Fukien Province.....so, I can only assume that your father came from Fujian Province also. Since he came to the Philippines around 1930, he was not required to change his surname as would have been required when Spain colonized the Philippines. Thus, the Teh surname is likely the Anglicized spelling of his actual Chinese surname. In searching the internet for a Chinese surname, I could not find a Teh spelling of his surname. The closest match is Teoh which happens to be Fujian in origin. The following description of Teoh is given at the website http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~chinesesurname/t.html#T
Teoh
[?�] No. 24 Zhang1 (open up), Chang, Cheung(Cantonese), Chong, Teoh(Fukien Hakka)
So, absent of any additional information about your father, it would only seem logical for you to initially assume that your father is of the Teoh family clan from Fujian Province of China.
If you or your relatives still have those letters your father were receiving from China, those letters could reveal additional information which could lead you to where in China your father is from.....and possibly to long-lost relatives as well.
Hope this helps you out in your genealogical search.
Good luck,
Raymond