Descendants of seven pioneers gather to share family histories
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(Front row, from left) Ms Jolene Seet, great-great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law of Seet Hoot Kee; Mr Shawn Seah, great-great-great-grandson of Seah Eu Chin; Ms Zahra Aljunied, great-great-granddaughter of Syed Omar Aljunied; Mr Malik Alsagoff, great-great-grandson of Syed Mohamed Ahmed Alsagoff; Mr Roney Tan, great-great-grandson of Tan Tock Seng; and Ms Vivienne Tan, great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law of Tan Kim Seng - with books they wrote about their ancestors as well as images of them. (Back row, from left) Mr Michael Stewart, whose great-great-grandfather was Stamford Raffles' nephew, and his wife Andreas Stewart.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Melody Zaccheus
The descendants of seven of Singapore's high-profile pioneers came together last Saturday, in what is believed to be the first gathering of its kind.
They included the great-great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law of Hokkien pioneer Seet Hoot Kee, housewife Jolene Seet, 46; Singapore's first Arab settler Syed Omar Aljunied's great-great-granddaughter, senior librarian Zahra Aljunied, 63; and Arab trader Syed Mohamed Ahmed Alsagoff's great-great-grandson, retired purchasing supervisor Malik Alsagoff, 77.
Also present were the great-great-grandson of Hokkien entrepreneur and philanthropist Tan Tock Seng, company director Roney Tan, 72; Peranakan philanthropist Tan Kim Seng's great-great-great-granddaughter-in-law, retired general manager Vivienne Tan, 67; and Teochew merchant and king of gambier Seah Eu Chin's great-great-great-grandson, civil servant Shawn Seah, 34.
The descendants also met lawyer Michael Stewart, 71, whose great-great-grandfather was Sir Stamford Raffles' nephew.
The event at the heritage gallery of Tan Tock Seng Hospital was organised by Mr Roney Tan.
He said the purpose of the gathering was to meet and to discuss and learn more about their ancestors' likely intertwined histories.
He added that there are plans for more of such meet-ups.
"Our meeting is significant for our forebears, as community leaders, would have likely met up with Raffles in the early days, helping him to start a trading port.
"They will be happy to see their descendants still interacting with one another after all these years, especially during this bicentennial year," Mr Tan said.
Mr Shawn Seah added: "As pioneer families, we want to continue the legacy of Singapore's early contributors to make sure their values of grit, generosity, and building a better Singapore are carried forward and not completely lost."
