While there is only a smattering of published personal accounts of these men and their families in Australia, the names of the Chinese and Malay seamen who were booted out were publicly listed.
St John Gray’s team looked through voter and grave registries, marriage, birth and death certificates, even genealogy websites to track down these families.
Viewers will meet Christine Frater, 58, an Australian granddaughter of the late Phyllis Osman. Back in the day, Phyllis left her three sons behind to be with her new Malay husband, Ahmad Osman, in a kampung in Singapore.
Then there are siblings Samson Zee, 53, and Lela Zainal, 51, and their cousin Rohaizat Jan, 55, who spent much of their life in Singapore “unsure of who (they) were”.
After their grandparents were deported from Australia, the family lost contact with their relatives. Only after 75 years and a documentary was there a reunion, and answers finally surfaced.
