«Հարգարժան քաղաքացիներ» - Նադիա Հ. Ռայթ

Nadia Wright's article "Respectable Citizens" is devoted to the history of the creation of a book about the Armenian community of Singapore and Malaysia, as well as to the author's personal experience in archival and genealogical research.

Introduction and biographical context

The author is a native of New Zealand, the daughter of an Armenian woman, Varsenik (Vera) Dokmejian, whose parents escaped the 1915 genocide by fleeing from Amasia to Egypt. It is to her mother's memory that the book is dedicated. The absence of an Armenian diaspora in New Zealand meant that the author's interest in her own roots was awakened only in adulthood, during the period she lived in Singapore (1985–1988).

Research methodology

The starting point was the discovery of the Armenian Church of Surb Grigor Lusavorich in Singapore and the desire to understand the history of its construction. The author describes the fact she uncovered that the Armenians resettled there not directly from Armenia, but from Persia, to which they had been sent by Shah Abbas in the early seventeenth century. The work proceeded along several lines:

analysis of annual directories of residents dating from 1846;
study of gravestones moved to the church courtyard;
checking lists of jurors, passengers, and government gazettes;
work with complete runs of the "Straits Times" and other local publications;
gaining access to church records written in Eastern Armenian with Persian insertions.

Key methodological problem

The Anglicization of Armenian names by the settlers presented a particular challenge: the loss of the "-ian" ending and the transformation of surnames (Martin, Edgar, Gregory, Moses) forced the researcher to rework her initial approach and learn to identify Armenian origin by second, "untranslated" names.

Development of the project and publication

Begun as a brief study, the research grew into a large-scale work, enriched with information from the descendants of Singapore Armenians and extended to encompass the history of the Armenian community of Malaysia. The manuscript, completed in 2002, failed to find publishing support because of its volume and specialized subject matter; the book was ultimately published by the author herself, with the participation of her son, a designer.

A related topic: the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid

Separately, the author mentions her publications on the history of the creation of the orchid variety bred by Agnes Joaquim (Ashkhen Hovakimian), refuting the widespread legend of the flower's accidental discovery and drawing instead on the primary source — the 1893 description by the botanist Henry Ridley.

Conclusion

The article's key conclusion is that documenting the history of small and dwindling ethnic communities requires systematic archival work and critical verification of oral family traditions; the research undertaken made it possible to restore the contribution of the Armenian community of Singapore and Malaysia to the development of these countries and awakened in their descendants an interest in their own genealogy. The author announces the continuation of her work — a study of the history of the Armenians who resettled from Singapore to Melbourne.