New Roots: Cousin From CAS 3rd Son

I must say the the power of the internet is mighty. We found each other here. It is utterly amazing! We were discussing our family tree. Anthony is sooooo way cool, he tracks all of our family tree down to the minute. Bless his heart!

Alvin, my 2nd Brother, Anthony - My New found cos and Aunt Grace

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Tiger Lily Peranakan Tile

Tiger Lily Tile by Victor Lim, Aster

Ta Chi 80 Birthday Bash

What an exciting moment and a gift to be 80th years old. That is my wonderful mom, a women I admire and love very much. She is such a giver, kind, understanding, a woman who knows how to please her hubby, who loves the lord and is beautiful inside out. What a role model!

Mom the lovely BDay Gal

Mom and me

Of course I had to fly back from CA to be with her and help arrange the birthday bash for her family. It was such an honour and an exciting event.

My brothers and I brainstormed what the theme should be, and we decided that it would be so cool to bring her Peranakan heritage out. That would bring the family closer and be better connected.

The Electronic Invitation

My job was to think of the theme of her birthday party and to make it an elegant Peranakan event. I had to order and make the birthday cake look awesome, arrange for the caterers from Peranmakan who cooked seven fantastic Nonya dishes... so yummi and gastronomical.

Awfully Chocolate cake

I chose the location at Herbal Oasis because it was close to Ann Siang Hill and it brought the spirit of Chia Ann Siang into the picture, after all he bought so many properties around that area, it just felt right to hold the event there.

It was great of Alvin, my second brother to take the lead of the event and present our heritage to the family members in the video and audio format. That gave meaning and a historical touch. Al is so good at doing such things.

Beautiful Pix of my Brother Al and Celia

What a nice batik shirt Al has!

Jem, my nephew and his buddy, Andrew gave the party a sense of class by playing the violin and Jem, the piano.

Pop singing, and Andrew and Jem keeping up lol... Celia advising...

My father serenaded to my mom and made her blush. How romantic!

Kenneth playing his magical flute, mesmerize us all 

My youngest brother Kenneth and his family, made the guest book and finished the event with memorable photos of the event.

My elder brother, Terence gave his EQ support and his generous wife, Joanne contributed to the event... she is so sweet and looked so beautiful in her kabaya! ... And our house help, Yati who did an awfully amazing job.

My beautiful women: Celia, Fiona, cos's Greg's wife, Imm, Joanna, Little Faith, my niece,
Miao, cos's David's Wife and Mom

All in all, I am thankful that my siblings and their family contributed either financially or in service and in so many ways to make the event so memorable.

MySiblings and Cousins

Not forgetting my lovely friend Norman Wee who contributed his wonderful candles as give aways to remember the event by. That was so considerate and unexpected of him.

Norman Wee, the sweetie pie

I am also thankful for my cousin Stuart who detoured from his Aussie journey just to be there on this special occasion and all my cousins, uncles, aunties, and family friends; Vivien, Hui Ling, Ee Hoon, Primmi (my Thai Sis) and Norman, who took time off and attended this event and make it possible to celebrate together this wonderful joyful occasion.

My lovely Cos Tina

Terence–red, Alvin–Lt, Stuart, Me, David, Tina, Greg and Kenneth

Ee Hoon Explaining the Bukit Brown History

Front to back: Uncle Harry, Uncle George Lim, Pop, Jem,
Greg, Al, David, Stuart, Terence and Kenneth

Another cute shot of mom

My cos Tina and Aunty Swee Eng

Kenneth, Faith and Imm (in teal) and Stuart

Beauty Queen and Princess

Mom right, Aunt Helen, Uncle Harry, George Lim, Aunt Roseline,
Aunt Doreen and Aunt Grace

My two beauty Queens on my left: Joanna and Imm  — wow...

Aunt Helen, Uncle Harry and Little Primmi

Mom and her six sis, Aunt Grace

My Cos TIna and fifth Aunt Ruth fooling around

All in all, this event was a very memorable event for me. It was a lot of work for sure but definitely well worth it.

Cheers to all. Tee Hee!

Ginger Flower Tile

Sold by Victor Lim

Our Ancestral Genes

I often wondered how we are built and how our gene pool is integrated in us. Why and how our mannerism and the way we speak reflect our forefathers, parents uncles or aunts? It must be our DNA and the way we are built that are the reflection of the bases of our very nature. The rest of course is the influence of our environment that makes us different. And we want to be individuals... we strive for that.

Knowing the fact that I am related to Chia Ann Siang, I feel no different than yesterday, only in knowledge. It just makes me more curious who this bald guy is. He seemed to look like my elder brother Terence Lee. Just curious what is his personality is like and what kind of characteristic has he passed on to his descendent through his genes?

 I love spending time with my mom's sisters, brothers and family. I must admit that I am entertained and amused fondly by them... the six Chia Sisters whom one of them is my mom, my aunts and two Chia uncles. All the sisters are incredible cooks, yummmi.... and take care of their husbands well. Beautiful in their own very way and very dedicated to their husbands and family. They don't take crap from anyone unless they allow it.

They are the backbone of their husbands and family. You can never keep a secret from them, as they share what they learn as they believe in a group consensus... in the most loving way, that is how they communicate and be connected. Did I mentioned they are totally peranakan? My uncles are great listeners and my aunties are the talkers in the family. Sometimes you can hear 3 or four voices talking all at once, and it gets really funny as the mis-communications zips at cross roads and back to the focus once more. These are very endearing moments. They are forthright and loveable, always trying to understand the circumstances.

The Family by Ee Hoon

The Chia Siblings

1 Sister - Educator: Giving, kind, thoughtful, practical
2 Sister - Nurse: Kind, caring, loving, tender
3 Sister - Nurse: Strong will, loving, just
4 Brother - TBD
5 Sister - Medical Entrepreneur: Wise, tenacious, intelligent
6 Sister - Radiologist: Adventurous, independent, pragmatic
7 Brother - Accountant: Sensible, pragmatic, nonchalant 
8 Sister - Editor: Adventurous, traveler, easy-going

The Chia Sisters

 I am sure the CAS DNA is stemmed in these descendent somewhere and more obviously the fifth sister has Chia Ann Siang's business attributes and the sixth and eight sister have the tenacity of independence and adventure of CAS. The first sister has the giving philanthropy spirit nature of CAS (Ann Siang Secondary School)

Pendent Tile sold by Victor Lim