How the Ancestry tour went

We had a fun day today (or at least I had) and I hope the participants enjoyed it too. While Ee Hoon was waiting outside at the main gate as she had announced in the FB  setup, a few of us sneaked in to under the Ole Rain tree.

 I met Angie there and she told me we had met in a previous life. (just kidding). Actually she had previously met me when my dad was master of KE Hall and her husband was a fellow there. Small world.

Also standing around expectantly was a young man Toh Yong Soon who had the tour on Facebook.

Toh Yong Soon

Toh Yong Soon started off by saying that conversion of Bukit Brown to housing was inevitable given the value of housing potential. When we asked for his occupation he said "developer", thus showing us where  his heart lay. Yong Soon said he was tasked to look after the family tombs at Bukit Brown, but one of the grand-aunts tomb was staked!.  There is a story about this aunt and his maternal grandmother when both deceased, appearing to his mother in a dream some time ago: Read my notes in my urban sketch:

As we chatted with Yong soon more participants trickled in.

Soon the trickle became a flood (or should I say "pond"?)

By 9:30 am the crowd was sizable so I started with my summary: Some of the participants had read it off the web: other were happy to have the handout. Before we started moving Angie did a spiel about the habitat.

We started at Tan Bin Ching and they saw how the wild cinnamon tree had taken over the place. En passant to the next stop we passed the Three Ho's and Keng Kiat whipped out his little red bible and started preaching....

I ran ahead to Yeo Buay Neo, my Great Grand Mother, 

and managed this sketch (colored at home)

After I did the ancestry bit, 

Keng Kiat shared on tomb structure and Angie on habitat.

On route to the next family stop we did a bypass to Gan Eng Seng:

Some found the uphill trek challenging.

There we got nuggets of history from Keng Kiat, and more Habitat from Angie

Finally, the triple set of  Mr & Mrs Lim Thean Geow (parents of Lim Boon Keng)  and Lim Mah Peng (grandfather of Lim Boon Keng). Again a hard uphill climb. Then negotiating vines and treelets. Finally we were rewarded. I borrowed a saw from Ee Hoon and managed to clear some of the vines: my own little QM contribution.

IN SUMMARY:

I had fun: co-facilitating a tour with knowledgeable partners from different spheres makes a wider presentation for the participants. Thanks to Khoo Ee Hoon, Keng Kiat and Angie. Today run is a good foretaste of my future "ancestry runs". I also enjoyed doing my 7 sketches!