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Links in this page : | On 12 Feb 2000, about 190 people of all ages came together at the Garden Hotel on Balmoral Road. The link between them - they were all either descendents (or their spouses) of Chia Hood Theam. For those who don't know, Chia Hood Theam is my great-grandfather (my Dad's mother's father). Noreen Chan, great great grand daughter of Chia Hood Theam, with her sister, Jackie, organised and orchestrated the immensely successful event. Read their welcome letter. Even though 190 seemed like a whole lot of people, there were still many others who, I am sure, could not make the reunion dinner for one reason or another. So there must be at least twice as many in the world ? We occupied a whole room on the ground floor of the Garden Hotel, and due to overwhelming response, another area was opened outdoors by the poolside !! A sumptious buffet dinner was planned, with several speeches and even Baba songs throughout the dinner ! The night was finally rounded off with group photos, which due to the large number of people, was almost impossible to coordinate ! A whole-hearted thanks to Noreen for her hard work, perseverance, and patience in organising this dinner. I'm sure the objectives for the reunion were met many times over ! I took some pictures while I was there (with Janet and the kids), but not a whole lot as I spent more time just meeting and talking to people, and discovering people whom I never knew I was related to !! Don't forget to check out the related links to see more photos by others that night...! Enjoy !! On entry to the hotel, both sides of the wall were decked with chart upon chart of family trees of Chia Hood Theam, as well as old sepia-toned photos of our forefathers. At the dinner table, Noreen had prepared handouts with the family tree she had so far. After dinner, came the group shots. There were many many groups. Here's the one for grandchildren of Chia Hood Theam. And here's the one for grandchildren + their families, of Chia Siew Lian. Ahem, actually should be more lah, but many didn't come ! And another for the grandchildren of Chia Keng Tye. Finally, a farewell picture of Sah Kor, Dad, and George and Jennifer Chia. Looking forward to the next reunion...and perhaps more will be able to make it next time ?! |
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