KOTA KINABALU: For 39-year-old Charly Cheminais, stepping onto the streets of Sandakan felt like stepping into the past – one that belonged to his mother, who left this town four decades ago.
On his first-ever visit to Sabah, he followed her memories, tracing the places she once called home while searching for his grandfather’s grave at Red Hill Chinese Public Cemetery (Bak Kung San), a final resting place his family had never visited.
Born to a French father and a Chinese mother, Cheminais grew up in Fontainebleau, France, far from the town where his mother spent her early years. Though raised in France, he speaks some Mandarin, which helped him connect with people who once knew his grandfather.
His mother left Sandakan at 30 years old in 1984 and lived in Hong Kong for a few years before moving to Paris as a language student, later becoming a reporter for a Chinese newspaper.
When his grandfather passed away in 1997, the family attended the funeral, but none of them has visited the grave since.
At his mother’s request, Cheminais travelled to Sabah to find his grandfather’s grave. He spent five hours searching the cemetery, hiring maintenance workers to help. But the area had turned into a jungle, with fallen trees making the search even harder.
“I searched a good part of the day yesterday, five hours. I also paid maintenance workers to help me search, but we found nothing because the area has become a jungle. Trees have fallen,” he said when interviewed recently.
“I tried to come back and search a little this morning before my flight, but I could only narrow down the search area.”
Since he could not find the grave, Cheminais hopes to return to Sandakan next year to continue the search.
“I hope to come back and continue the research, probably with my brother. But I don’t know yet when it will be possible,” he said.
Before heading to the cemetery, his first stop was Tempat Gunting Rambut Hollywood & Shanghai, where his late grandfather, Chan Hok Man, had worked as a barber.
He wanted to see the place where his grandfather started a new life after moving from Shanghai as part of the first batch of barbers in Sandakan.
“My younger brother visited Sandakan last year, but this is my first time here. I wanted to see for myself where my mother grew up and hear stories about my late grandfather,” he said.
Guided by Sandakan Heritage Committee chairman Lai King Hang, he stepped into the historic barbershop, where only one barber remains: Chai Tze Pung, now 77 years old.
Chai started working at the shop in 1970, when skilled barbers from Shanghai, Hong Kong and China made it one of the most well-known establishments in town. He later took over the shop with his colleagues, including Cheminais’ grandfather. The shop still operates under the same name today.
For Chai, meeting the younger man was emotional. He had trained under Chan in 1970, calling him his sifu (master).
“He was my mentor,” Chai said, recalling the days they worked together in the once-thriving barbershop.
Over time, as Sandakan’s old streets lost their vibrancy, the once-eight-seat barbershop shrank to just three.
Today, only Chai remains, keeping the business alive as a way to pass the time. His customers are mostly loyal seniors who have been coming for decades, refusing to go anywhere else.
“He was very, very happy to see me,” Cheminais shared. “He feels that he is not forgotten.”
Cheminais even had his hair cut by the very barber who once worked alongside his grandfather, and brought gifts for Chai as a sign of respect.
Despite the years apart, language became a bridge. Though Cheminais grew up in France, he was able to converse with Chai in Mandarin, allowing them to exchange stories about his grandfather and the shop’s golden era.
Another poignant stop on his journey was Singapore Street, where his mother spent her childhood.
“Everything has changed. I only came to Sandakan once as a child, but that was for my grandfather’s funeral, and I don’t remember much of it. Seeing the place now, I can only imagine what life was like for my mother back then,” he reflected.
For many descendants of Chinese immigrants, returning to their ancestral homeland is more than just a sentimental journey, but also a way of reclaiming lost connections and rediscovering their heritage.
In an era of globalisation, cross-border ancestral searches have become more common as families seek to reconnect with their past. From Fontainebleau to Sandakan, Cheminais’ journey is a testament to this deep longing.
Though the streets of Sandakan have changed, family memories remain. They are etched into the corners of old houses, embedded in the bricks of familiar streets, and live on in the names of those who once toiled here.
Cheminais indicated he may return with his whole family to continue the journey of remembering and reconnecting with the land that shaped their roots.