One hundred young students from across Taiwan toured the house that belonged to the family of NBA star Jeremy Lin (林書豪) in Changhua County’s Beidou Township (北斗) on Tuesday, listening to stories of the family that nurtured the world-renowned basketball sensation.
The visit was part of a series of scheduled tours for students taking part in the 52th National Primary and High School Science Fair, which ran from Tuesday and ends today at the Changhua County Stadium.
Lin Ching-shu (林清樹), cousin of Jeremy Lin’s father Lin Gie-ming (林繼明), served as a temporary guide to the young scientists. He is well acquainted with the Lin family’s history, as he helped compile the family’s genealogy in 1983.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
“This was the place where Jeremy [Lin] paid tribute to the generations of ancestors during his visit to Taiwan last summer, and where his father was raised as a child,” Lin Ching-shu, who has a career in gardening, told the students as he pointed to the one-story brick house with a black-tiled roof.
The basketball star also encountered several relatives he had never met before during the summer visit, Lin Ching-shu said, adding that when Jeremy Lin was asked by his father to greet his elder relatives in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), the Taiwanese-American’s “faltering Taiwanese” left him with a deep impression.
“Jeremy [Lin’s] grandfather died at a young age and left his wife, Lin Chu A-mien (林朱阿麵) to shoulder the immense burden of supporting the entire family. The household expenditures were overwhelming at the time as two of her sons were attending college,” Lin Ching-shu said.
In light of Lin Chu A-mien’s financial situation, Jeremy Lin’s great uncle — Lin Ching-shu’s father, Lin Shun-hsiung (林順雄) — looked after the widow by sending her money and goods from time to time, Lin Ching-shu said.
Jeremy Lin’s eldest uncle dropped out of school to save money for his other two brothers, including Lin Gie-ming, to receive college educations.
Only because of that sacrifice could Jeremy Lin’s father later emigrate and settle in the US, Lin Ching-shu added.
During the students’ tour of the house, they got to see a record of the Lin family tree, an autographed basketball and a number of pictures of the basketball star taken during his summer visit.
A student from Ruei Suei Elementary School in Greater Taichung, Huang Yun-shao (黃允劭), said the visit to the house of Jeremy Lin’s forefathers was the most appealing stop among the many other planned visits on his school field trip.
A loyal fan of Jeremy Lin, Huang said: “It was satisfactory enough to just visit the house and see for myself the autographed basketball.”
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