INTRODUCTION

Ever since I was a child, Admiral Zheng He has held my imagination. I remember very well the stories which my father told me about his exploits. When I studied Chinese history during my secondary school days, I was disappointed that his entire enterprise was worth only three or four lines in the history text; and yet there were chapters after chapters of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Bartholomew Diaz, Magellan and Captain Cook. I wondered whether there was a worldwide conspiracy to keep the great findings of this remarkable Asian navigator a secret. That drove me to want to find out more about him.

My fascination about him grew after I graduated in Naval Architecture, and began working as an engineer in Keppel Shipyard. My understanding of the technical aspects of seafaring made me realize that the technologies which he employed was very advanced. The shipyard where I worked was at the “Longyamen” itself. Many a time I stood at the wharves at Telok Blangah and Bukit Chermin and imagined the ghosts of the great Treasure Fleet sailed pass in my mind's eye.

“THE FRIENDS OF ADMIRAL ZHENG HE”

I was not alone in this fascination. My colleague in Keppel Shipyard, Mr Ng Siong Tee, held a similar passion. While mine was more technical and marine based, his interests was the historical, cultural and religious significance of Zheng He's voyages. Over the year, he accumulated a collection of models and books on the subject. Last year, we felt that it was time to put our lifelong passion into something more concrete. We decided to set up a special interest group — “The Friends of Admiral Zheng He”. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that there is an underground community of secret Zheng He admirers who is beginning to make themselves known.

WHY IS THE LOCATION OF LONGYAMEN IMPORTANT TO SINGAPOREANS?

Why should Singaporeans be interested in whether Longyamen is Singapore? Is it an issue that needs to be resolved now? Why not let this controversy go on and on? The reasons are as follow:

Did Zheng He Pass by Singapore?

In 1992, the whole Western world was abuzz with activities relating to the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World.