INVITATION TO THE 2nd CLAN GATHERING OF THE GREAT LO LAN KWAI TONG 劳兰桂堂
Dear Clan,
A) INVITATION & INTRODUCTION
Greetings from all of us, the Organising Committee of the 2nd Lo Lan Kwai Tong Clan Gathering, an event which is scheduled to take place in Singapore on Saturday, 15 July 2023.
If you are reading this email, you are very possibly a member of our Clan by blood relations, or through marriage into the Lo/Loh (劳）family, in which case this Invitation is warmly extended to you.
Many of us overseas Chinese have but a vague impression of where our ancestors came from, but members of our clan can take pride in being different from many other families as we are able to trace our ancestry back to 5 generations, through the efforts of our in-house family historians.
For many years, pages of the Clan’s history were lost in the wind and through the erosion of time as our ancestors in China witnessed the end of the Qing Dynasty, rode through the tumultuous years of the Republic of China and the founding of the People’s Republic of China whilst continuing to spread their wings and their diaspora across South East Asia, Hong Kong, Europe and the Americas. They faced the vagaries of war, the Cultural Revolution and many other unspoken challenges. They battled on bravely and whilst many may no longer be with us, their spirit and legacy continue to live in us, and in you.
B) THE MOTIVATION TO DISCOVER, RECONNECT & REKINDLE
As we now emerge from the pandemic, we are taking this opportunity to continue this meaningful project of preserving our ancestral history while information remains available, so that many of us, as overseas Chinese, can know our roots and connect with relatives. If you missed our 1st Clan Gathering in 2010, this is now the chance.
C) YOU & LO LAN KWAI TONG
You are a member of a very unique and distinguished family. Lo Lan Kwai Tong is the name of the Clan founded by the Grand Patriarch Lo Yuen Lan (劳远兰）. The name Lo Lan Kwai Tong reflects the name of the Grand Patriarch through the word “Lan” (兰) whilst the the name “Kwai” (桂）is derived from the honorific name of our Grand Matriarch Kwai Chun Ma (桂珍妈). They were prominent land owners in Gulo (古劳镇 Gulao Town) which is located in Hoksan (鹤山市 Heshan City), Kongmoon (江门县 Jiangmen Prefecture), Kwangtung (广东省 Guangdong Province).
Many of us are descended from the 2nd and 5th sons of the Grand Patriarch, who were the Great Grandfathers of all of us on this Organising Committee, and we are hoping to locate more lost relatives. Lo Lai Sun (劳丽生）Lo Sui Sun（劳瑞生）respectively, were distinguished businessmen in the sphere of international trading, and who, having taken the high road from China to Singapore (then the Straits Settlements) were both involved in the founding of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the early 1900s towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. Our Great Grandfathers fathered many children, some say close to 40 or so(!), and our Grandfathers were amongst their ranks!
We hope we have given you a taste of what our Clan is about and would invite you to join the exciting task of deciphering where you are on the Family Tree（族谱）, which we are in the midst of updating. Please note that each of us on the Tree have a unique number, beginning with either “2” if one is descended from Lo Lai Sun (“the 2nd Lineage”), or “5” if one is descended from Lo Sui Sun (“the 5th Lineage”). The numbers which then follow will help identify which son one has descended from; for example, the descendants of the 3rd son of Lo Lai Sun will find “2.3” appearing at the beginning and this numbering system continues until one’s generation.
May all of you have good health, peace and prosperity in this year of the Rabbit, and may we rekindle old ties, discover long lost ties and may the name of Lo Lan Kwai Tong flourish forevermore.
So please RSVP by Sat, 24 June 2023
Details of the Event are as follows: –
Date: 15 July 2023 (Saturday)
Time: 10:30am – 3:30pm
Venue: Jubilee Garden Restaurant
293 Lor 6 Toa Payoh, #03-01 SAFRA, Singapore 319387
Tel: +65 6250 4477
Warmest Regards
The Organising Committee
Lo Kin Yue, Anthony 劳坚如 5.3.1.2
Lo Weng Fai, Alex 劳永辉 5.3.13.3
Lo Kwai Yong, Pauline 劳规镛 5.3.2.7
Lo Chow Yong, Serena 劳宙镛 5.3.2.9
Lo Darm Yue, David 劳淡如 5.3.2.8
Lo Khuan Yi, Michael 劳坤如 5.3.14.2
Loh Wai Yue 劳玮裕 2.7.8.1
Loh Seng Yue, Alex 劳星裕 2.7.8.2
Lo Yun Kai 劳润佳 2.3.3.1