A great clan gathering does not happen overnight. True enough, much effort was put in by the organising committee chaired by Mr Anthony Lo. With the blessing of his father, Mr Lo Ching Yee, the team spent no less than 6 months preparing and planning for today’s gathering.
An invitation was sent to many clan members and almost 250 signed up to attend. A commemorative invitation card was designed for this occasion as it was the inaugural clan meeting. We had clan members who came in from USA, Canada, Malaysia, Taiwan & United Kingdom.
Many clan members arrived early just to catch up on old times. Some have not seen each other for decades and some have never even met before. It was a sight to behold as there have never been so many clan members in one place before.
Charles Lo, 2nd son of Lo Cho Yee, a pastor by vocation, chaired the meeting. After leading the clan in some singing he handed over the mike to Anthony Lo, eldest son of Lo Ching Yee. Lo Ching Yee is the eldest son of Lo Fook Seng, third son of Lo Sui Sen.
Anthony welcomed all the clan members on behalf of his father and encouraged all members not to forget our lineage and heritage as a Lo. After thanking the committee and sponsors for making this meeting possible he handed the mike back to Charles.
Charles explained an interesting number system to indicate our position in the genealogy under Lo Yuen Lan. Most of us present had a prefix of either a 2 or a 5 as the first number. The 2 denotes that you are descendant of Lo Lai Sun while a 5 denotes that you are descendant of Lo Sui Sen. Charles used his family number, 5.3.13.2 as an example. This meant that he is the second son of his father, Lo Cho Yee, who is the 13th son of Lo Fook Seng, who is the third son of Lo Sui Sen. Here is what it look like:
Lo Yuen Lan (Grand Patriarch)
5 Lo Sui Sen
5.3 Lo Fook Seng
5.3.13 Lo Cho Yee
5.3.13.2 Charles Lo
Wow! What a number system to learn about, but soon the members appreciated it as they were able to quickly place one’s standing in the family tree. Here’s what Charles’ name tag looks like. There are colour bands that indicate which generation you are. Charles is the fourth generation from Lo Yuen Lan.
5.3.2.6 Pauline presented to the clan some theories of how the clan got its unique family name. After that she also presented the family history through the line of Lo Yuen Lan. She iterated that Lo Lai Sun and Lo Sui Sen were founding members of the Singapore Chinese Chambers of Commerce. She found archived copies of the first minutes of the SCCCI from 1906 and saw their names in it.
5.6.4 Stephen Lo, who resides in UK, next presented a slideshow of the Lo Lan Kwai Tong Family Ancestral home to all members. There were 8 houses within a compound next to a paid field owned by the family. There is still one relative living there and he is performing the curator job of making sure the houses are still standing and belong to the clan.
Young violin prodigy, 5.3.13.4.2 Kimberly Lo, was up next with her rendition of a classical piece followed by several old time favourites.
Wow! After so much information and activity everyone dug in heartily to a sumptuous lunch prepared at Pioneer Springs Restaurant, Mt Faber. They ate and viewed photos of those who had submitted of their family activities. It was so nostalgic.
5.3.9 Siblings (from USA and Taiwan) led the members in singing a song they wrote. The lyrics are here. No prizes as to which tune it was sung to.
What’s a Clan gathering without fun and games. Emcee Charles rocked the house with many Lo Trivia that contained the word Lo, e.g.. a bible verse that says, “Lo! I am with you.” or an MRT station (in chinese) somewhere in the heart of Singapore that has “劳” in it.
Well all good things must come to an end. The grand finale of the event was a lucky draw. The organisers put very attractive prizes and everyone keep calling their names to be the winner. Indeed the young winner of the grand prize was jumping all over for joy when she heard her name being called.
It was time to take an entire clan photo. A behemoth task that was made easy by all the able bodied, 4th and 5th generation members who pitched in to arrange the chairs and everyone into place. The photographers snapped away gleefully as the emcee led everyone in “Take Me Home, Family Lo” for a last time. It was so memorable. I felt a tear drop at the corner of my eye as I lingered in the moment a little longer.
Thank you, everyone who made this event possible.
Long live the Lo’s!
