A casual Chinese New Year visit to an uncle’s house at Kampung Pasir Parit in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, in 1994 sparked a man’s desire to find out more about the Kelantan Peranakan community of which he is a part of.

Wee Chong Joi, who was then teaching at a school in Kelantan, found himself drawn to his 80-year-old uncle Koh Boon Chok’s vivid account of his family ancestry. Koh, a fourth-generation Kelantan Peranakan Chinese, could even recall the names of his ancestors with ease.

“He told me and my family about our ancestors’ sea voyage from the southern part of mainland China...