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A Slumbering Chinese History and a Silent Time Watcher on Christmas Island

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On the Australian territory of Christmas Island, cemeteries stand quietly, bearing silent witness to over a century of Chinese immigration’s presence. Here lie Chinese labourers who once crossed oceans and toiled in the island’s phosphate mines, as well as generations of immigrants from South East Asia who took root and persevered in a foreign land. Their stories have slowly faded with time. Yet on this slumbering land, there are still those who quietly keep watch—guardians who ensure that the memories of the departed endure, uncovering stories long buried beneath the dust of time, among the silent headstones.
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