the-zz-chetty-malacca-families-in-singapore-final-2-dec-2013

ZZ CHETTY MALACCA FAMILIES IN SINGAPORE A Collaborative Project (see Annex A for co-authors) Led by Gerald F Pillay Point of Origin –Malacca during the early Sultanate Introduction The rediscovery of the history of the Chetty Malacca was pioneered by the late Mr B Sithambaram Naiker, an outstanding leader of the community who passed away in 1986 His monograph “Chetti of Malacca”, with an impressive collection of pictures, was published posthumously by his son Mr S Vengadesan Naiker, PBM, and may be found at http://malaccachetty.blogspot.com/2011/08/history-of-malacca-chetty-community.html This historical quest was taken up by a Singapore educationist, historian and author, Mr Samuel S Dhoraingam Working closely with Mr Naiker and others, he wrote the first substantive history of the community entitled, “Peranakan Indians of Singapore and Melaka”, published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in 2006 (IBSN 981-230-346-4) In Mar 2011, Gerald F Pillay, a Malacca-born Chetty Malaccan and retired Singapore civil servant, began writing the “Story of Odiang” a chronicle of his late father Francis Joseph Pillay This led him to review the available information about the community In the process he produced a substantial update of their history, which he decided to make available independently on the Internet at http://chettymalacca.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/welcome-friends/ The Association of Chetti Melaka (Peranakan Indians) of Singapore was inaugurated on 19 Jan 2008 Under the leadership of its current President, Major (Ret) Ponnusamy Kalastree, the This Story is available at http://geraldpillay.wordpress.com/the_story_of_odiang/ Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore association has been the major catalyst in the current revival of public interest in and the resurgence of the community The President has urged that the history of the Chetty Malacca diaspora in Singapore, and their further extension abroad from the island, be captured before all is lost with time This monograph seeks to respond to this challenge It complements the earlier studies, which form the necessary background to the present work A Community Collaborative Exercise This exercise, although led by the undersigned, could only happen with the participation of the community Through the association, I was delighted to find all-round encouragement Various members of the community pointed out people with a store of memories The latter in turn showed a readiness to be “examined”, so as to contribute whatever they could Mostly importantly, I found some key members of the community who shared a common “grand passion” to find out the antecedents of their families and the history of the community They have collaborated unstintingly in the exercise These co-authors worked separately but followed common guidelines and definitions In all cases, they have shared their own precious data, painstakingly collected over the years They have followed common leads, searching out and questioning their friends, elders and relatives, even to the extent of calling them overseas and in one case visiting them in the course of travel It has been an equal collaboration in all cases, and the partners truly “own “the write-ups associated with them These co-authors are acknowledged in their proper place, but I would like here to record the thanks of the community to them, for without their participation, it would not have been possible to carry out the exercise At the centre of things has been Ponno Kalastree, who marshalled relevant persons to see us, and to whom I wish on behalf of all to express our whole-hearted gratitude The approach has been eclectic, doing what is available first, and is on-going In the process we look forward to covering the Chetty Malacca community substantially, At the end of each release we list, and will list, those families we have come to know of and still hope to reach It has taken more time than originally expected, due to interruptions Parts and were begun in Mar and Sep 2011, and the other parts now being released mainly from Apr 2013 One consequence of this is that the cut-off dates of the different parts vary, depending when we stopped It is hoped that the release of these reports will encourage readers to provide us with missing information, families and links We envisage adding and amending from time to time as necessary Scope of the Exercise We recognize that there has been leakage of the Chetty Malacca population from Malacca to Singapore (and other parts of Malaysia) from the beginning of the last century if not earlier They left to seek better employment and educational prospects The overall impression, however, is that for Singapore the significant migration and family-building momentum began in the decade before the Japanese Occupation - with the arrivals continuing after the war Migration in both directions carried on through the period of political changes in the 1950s and 1960s until Separation in 1965, with net gains on the Singapore side Thereafter, the immigration and manpower policies on both sides of the causeway became the determining factors As a result, we see the Singapore diaspora as comprising tiers or generations as follows: “We” means the collaborators in this exercise While each has worked with me independently of the others, they all share the common basis of work and views expressed in this Introduction Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore Time Frame (migrated or born in Singapore) 1930 or earlier Present Age Present Status Over 100 -90s Probably deceased Second (Senior Current) Generation From 1931 to 1950 81 to 62 Retirees and grandparents Third (Current) Generation From 1951 to 1990 61 to 22 Fourth (next) Generation From 1991 to 2010 21 to Parents, married and economically active The youth First Generation In this exercise, the approach is by families Our objective has been to establish the historical scenario in respect of the first generation where available, and then the senior current and the current generations We have confined ourselves to what is in the public domain as available We have not undertaken any research In point of fact, other than Mr Dhoraisingam’s book to which we are deeply indebted, we find that there have been no surveys or published research on the diaspora of Singapore Family records and histories, to the extent they exist, have also not by and large surfaced yet We have therefore had to rely on the recollections of people, including third parties Our strategy has been as follows:      to establish the main families in Singapore in and around the 1950s viz the senior current generation From the above baseline, we proceed to capture their recollections of how their families or their predecessors, viz the first generation, migrated to Singapore, and established themselves; and Thereafter, we have sought to establish the growth of the third or younger current generations of these families, but only sketchily We will leave the fourth generation to be written up by their parents or the younger current generation Wherever possible, we have checked our findings with the families concerned The general feeling is that with the passing of the first and senior current generations, much has been lost Again, many of the younger generations have migrated further abroad The depth of coverage varies with each group, depending on the source We have a scheme of enquiry, but have been happy to report both what is known and what is known to be unknown This report is not a social history The outcome will be an historical delineation of the main Chetty Malacca families today in Singapore Our particular interest will be the links to Malacca It will not be a numerical or comprehensive review Within the limits of this exercise, we concentrate on the first and senior current generations As for the current generation, we try to capture as a minimum their sons and daughters and their basic progress We would have fulfilled our purpose if we can capture sufficient of a scenario to prompt and stimulate members of the community to check out errors and omissions, search for their own family histories and records, and either add to our work or write their own contributions It is beyond our resources to cover the next or fourth Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore generation The community will have to depend of the current generation to fill in the picture, both in terms of the on-going local growth and the further migration abroad We are writing only about the diaspora in Singapore We look forward to others, including those living abroad, to the same in respect of their territories These would include updating of the situation in Malacca itself, other parts of Malaysia, and overseas countries such as Australia, Britain, Canada, USA, etc Related Matters We see the value of this undertaking to be    As the Chetty Malacca community becomes far flung and dilute, there will be a minimal body of historical material from which future generations can learn about their past and their heritage; We will encourage future generations to research and write about the community in different parts of the world; and Through the Internet and modern media, we can integrate, preserve and share in our common identity and heritage Although there are a number of variations in use, we have retained the name “Chetty Malacca” as standard for description of our community We also retain the use of the historical name “Malacca”, but use “Melaka” where contextually required In a similar way, we use the old place names Names of persons always present a problem, with the penchant of the Chetty Malacca to use familiar or nicknames and forget their true names or their spellings In our renditions we have done the best we can with names orally given, but cannot vouchsafe for their accuracy We also make the best possible estimates of dates We would much appreciate inputs on these and related matters There is no intention to ascribe relative importance to the families in the order we describe them Where related we have placed them together We are aware that we are unlikely to be complete But, our intention is at minimum to log in all the families that come to our knowledge, regardless of how meager or inaccurate the coverage on each Where our co-authors have uncovered information relating to earlier generations or family members who moved to other parts of Malaysia as well as overseas, we have retained them in our narrative They are too precious to lose Omissions of families or people are entirely our fault, and due to ignorance We apologise and hope to be corrected Finally, thank you, readers, for your support and interest Disclaimer We, the project coordinator and the co-authors, have done our best to reflect information conveyed to us correctly We disclaim any intention to be biased or slurred We sincerely apologise if we have offended anyone No co-author is responsible for the work of another coauthor Ultimately, the undersigned assumes sole and full responsibility if anything goes wrong Output Because of the varying access and times required for each family, the results will be released in Parts The project will continue as long as there remain families to be covered At Annex A is a list of the co-authors of this project in the Parts so far As other Parts appear, this list will be enlarged Gerald F Pillay Project Coordinator Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore * * * Dec 2013 ANNEX A TABLE OF CONTENTS PART CO-AUTHORS FAMILY PARTICULARS page Family Group of Muthukrishnan Thevanathan Pillay (@ M T Pillay) Family of Arunasalem Kanagasabai Pillay Family of Ardy Pillay Family Group of Pasurama Babok Pillay Mrs Lorraine Netto, nee Letchimy Pillay, daughter of M T Pillay now settled in Perth Australia Mrs Sarojini LIttrell, nee Sarojini Pillay, daughter of A.Visvanathan Pillay @ Amby and Sigamany Pillay, daughter of M T Pillay Married to David Littrell, an engineer, they have two children and are settled in Phoenix, Arizona, USA 11 Mdm Sally Pillay, nee Tayna Sellam Pillay @ Chelong daughter of M T Pillay, whose husband was the late George Pillay, son of Ardy Pillay She is presently resident in Johor Bahru, Malaysia 17 19 This Part has been researched, compiled and written up in its entirety by Devastry Parasurama Bok @ David Bok, grandson of Parasurama Babok Pillay and eldest son of Kalastri Devasingam Bok (Baba) He is a distinguished gospel educator He is married to Annabella Tay Chin Chin and they live in Singapore They have two sons and one daughter 26 Major (ret) Ponnosamy Kalastree, only son of Kalastree Suppiah, and President of the Association of Chetti Melaka (Pernankan Indians) of Singapore; and Devastry Parasurama Bok @ David Bok, the eldest son of Kalastri Devasingam Bok (Baba) He is a distinguished gospel educator He is married to Annabella Tay Chin Chin and they live in Singapore They have two sons and one daughter Family Group of Ramasamy Suppiah Naidu Family of Dasuah Sangra Chitty 30 Family Group of Nenek Kathai John Pillay, 9th child of Sangra Chitty He is married to Joan Gomes with two children, and is settled in Singapore S.Sundrum Sanasee, first cousin of Francis Joseph Pillay @ Odiang, was the first person, in Mar 2011, to suggest recording of the history of the family and the community He then proceeded to relate as much as he could recollect He passed away soon after that on 18 Jul 2011; and Philips Roy Sanasee, second eldest son of S.Sundrum Sanasee is a Senior Lecturer at ITE, He is married to Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore Sushila with two children They are settled in Singapore 32 Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore PART Family Group of Muthukrishnan Thevanathan Pillay (@ M T Pillay) Co-Authored with Mrs Lorraine Netto, nee Letchimy Pillay, daughter of M T Pillay now settled in Perth Australia Family of M T Pillay A The First Generation The late Mr Muthukrishnan Thevanathan Pillay (better known as M T Pillay) was perhaps the most prominent leader of the Chetty Malacca community in post-war Singapore He was generally known among his peers and across all communities as “Baba” He was born in Malacca on 10 April 1897 His natural parents were not known It is believed he was of Bengali descent, for he always kept a “kudumi”, a mini-tail of hair at the back of his head, after their fashion He and the late Mr Murugah Pillay were adopted by the parents of the late Mr.Velu Pillay, and all three boys were raised as brothers Velu became a senior and respected leader of the community, and was also known as “Velu Susu” because he owned a sizeable agricultural holding in Baching dedicated to both farming and a dairy business M.T Pillay was educated at St Francis’ Institution and completed the Cambridge Thereafter, it is believed he worked in various government clerical positions in Malacca before appearing on the scene in Singapore in the mid 1930s working for the government in similar occupations He was well established in an executive position in the Accountant General’s Department by the time the war broke out There is a well known story that just before the British surrendered to the Japanese, he had on his own initiative burnt all the British notes in the Treasury For this and other services, he would in due course be made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by His Majesty King George VI It appears that he was before the war already well established in life, for he owned a modern brick-and-concrete bungallow at 10 Ceylon Road This house was totally destroyed by a direct hit during a Japanese air-raid There is another true story that while everything was reduced to rubble, a picture of the Sacred Heart which he kept always lighted in the house was the only item found completely unscratched Letchimy adds the following note: “the Picture of the Sacred Heart my father venerated for decades is a Miraculous Picture On the day of his passing in T.T.S.H the perpetual light at the picture went off until the police came to deliver the bad news After the family received the bad news, the perpetual light for some miraculous reason came on again.” It is presently in her home in Perth, Australia, and continues to be lighted Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore Before his moved to Singapore, M T Pillay married Balamba, who was a cousin of Nonya, Kechik, Lembek and Pusong and who like him was also adopted into the family of Vellu Susu M T Pillay’s family has always been closely associated with that of Achi Manga This is not surprising as Achi Manga was married to the uncle of Velu Susu, and so both M.T Pillay and Balamba were her nephew and niece respectively by marriage Achi Manga was the doyen of the large settlement of the Chetty Malacca community at Kampong Pantai 1, bordering the sea at Tranquerah, Malacca, and was famous across all local communities for the legendry quality of her cakes Her daughters were Bulat and Berat Unfortunately, M T Pillay’s first wife died early, leaving behind only one surviving daughter, Sivagamy @ Rose M T Pillay had a property in Kampong Pantai at that time For this reason, he was also known both in Malacca and in Singapore as “Baba Pantai” In Singapore he married, a second time in 1935, to Papathe, daughter of Madam Avirami, also known as Nenek Jambol, who in turn was the sister of Mr Apoo Pillay, also known as Topey or Mama Dollah depending who was addressing him (see separate entry below) Resident at Ceylon Road, they had four daughters and one son, in the following order of seniority: Letchimy, Marimuthu @ Marie, Tayna Sellam @ Chelong, their only son Muthu Krishnan and their youngest daughter Sarada Sarada was for a while adopted by Achi Manga M T Pillay also had a legally adopted son, Khoo Teng Gin @ Johnny Pillay During the Japanese Occupation, the M T Pillay family lived with another Chetty Malacca family, that of the late Mr Sababathy at Kovan Road After the war, M T Pillay resumed his career with the Account General’s Office But in 1946, it was found expedient for the family to move to Malacca They lived first on Velu Susu’s farm at Bachang, and then moved to their own premises at Dato Manila Lane By all accounts this was an unsatisfactory period of separation By 1948, M T Pillay had settled his affairs and purchased a large new bungallow at Teo Kim Eng Road, off Jalan Eunos, and the family returned to Singapore to live there M T Pillay continued at the Account General’s Office until retirement as Account at in 1958 At that stage he was literally the kingpin of Singapore’s financial administration; it was well known that every paycheck and voucher in the country had to be passed by him before payment could be made He passed away on Sep 1960 M T Pillay was a loyal Hindu all his life and supported the causes of the “Sri Poyatha Venayagar Moorthi Temple, Melaka”, the Trustees and Management Committee of which held and managed the many Hindu temples and shrines belonging to the community in Malacca He was a staunch supporter of the Ramakrishna Mission in Singapore, and worked closely with Dr Chota Singh, a distinguished leader of that mission He donated generously both in time and money to both It was also well-known that he had a strong devotion to the Christian religion, as evidenced by the picture of the Sacred Heart he venerated He was baptised a Catholic before he died, taking the names “Mathew Terrence” for “M.T.” B The Senior and Current Generations We may conveniently summarise M T Pillay’s children and their children, who form the current senior and current generation of the family, as follows:  T Sivagamy Pillay (1928) @ Rose She married A Visvanathan Pillay @ Amby, son of the late Mr Arunasalam Kanagasabai Pillay This second generation family is followed up under the latter’s family history, (see separate family listing) Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore  Letchimy Pillay (1936).@ Lorraine She married Alfred Netto, a second generation Singapore non-Chetty Malacca Indian, in 1969 Letchimy became a Catholic, with the baptised name of Lorraine They have a daughter (Sharon) and two sons (Terence and Ashley) Alfred worked for Societa Commissionaria, Associated Motor Industries and Air Express International, and Letchimy with the CPF, before the family migrated to Perth, West Australia in 1989 All their three children are now settled down with a total of four children of their own (a) Their eldest daughter Sharon was born in 1970 She obtained her degree in Western Australia, majoring in Asian Studies & Politics She had a scholarship to study in China for one year, furthering her education in Mandarin She later found a job with the Australian High Commission in China for a couple of years and appeared on National TV in China promoting Australia, speaking in Mandarin She then joined multi-national interior-design and furbishing giant Haworth Inc USA She was transferred to Hong Kong and then Canada, is and now in Michigan USA Sharon is happily married to a German, Steffen Lipsky, (b) who is a design engineer in Haworth; while she is the manager of the H.R Department They have just had a baby girl, Sophie (c) Terence was born in 1972.He studied environmental science, but half way through went into the coffee business with his brother, Ashley, for 10 years He then studied to become a pilot and has a pilot’s license, but without a job Later, he decided to finish his studies in environmental science He has now graduated and is prospecting for a job in this field He is happily married to an Australian lady, Holly Crosswaite, a professional photographer, who is at the moment a part-time student at Murdoch University, majoring in Business Management They have daughters, Sansia & Ajda (d) Ashley was born in 1973 He first worked for Hayatt Hotel, and then went on, with Terence as his business partner, into the coffee business called Infusion Later he became a Manager with Sun Glass Hut Then he decided to go into partnership with the Defensive Driving School as a Driving Instructor He is engaged to a Dutch lady, Esther Levi, who lectures at the University of Western Australia in Zoology They have a daughter, Noa Maya, born on the same day as her cousin Sophie (9.Mar.2012)  Marimuthu Pillay (1938) @ Marie She married Pakirisamy Pillay, son of the late Murugah Pillay, who was the brother of Velu Susu of Bachang, (see separate family listing) The progress of this second generation family is recorded under Murugah Pillay’s family  Tayna Sellam Pillay (1939), @ known as Chelong, married Sinnathamby A Pillay, also known as George, son of Ardy Pillay The progress of this second generation family is recorded under Ardy Pillay’s family (see separate family listing) On conversion to Catholicism, Chelong adopted the name Sally  Muthukrishnan Pillay (1941), @ M C Pillay, @ Christopher Pillay, married Norah Chia, a Singapore Peranakan lady On conversion to Catholicism, he added the name Christopher as his middle-name He served as a career officer in first the Singapore Police Force and then the Singapore Armed Forces before retirement in the rank of Major They have one daughter, Tanya, who is married to Murali Nair The latter couple in turn have one son, Nikhil Nair Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 10  Sarada Pillay (1942) married Chandra Marimuthu Mudaliar, Achi Manga’s grandson She had a lifelong career in the service of the NTUC in administrative duties before retirement They have a daughter Savira Lyani Mudaliar  Johnny Pillay (1933) @ Johnny Khoo Teng Gin Legally adopted son of M T Pillay, Johnny married Peggy Lee Mei Ching The have a son and a daughter The former, Terrence, married Amelia See and they have three children, Natasha, Alicia and Eliza The latter, their daughter, Bettina Khoo, married Adam Ho, and they have on son, Caleb, and one daughter Danielle Family of Apoo Pillay As near as may be estimated the late Mr Apoo Pillay would have been born in the 1880 if not earlier It is also surmised that he was born in Malacca, but he can be placed in Singapore early in the next century He may in fact be among the pioneers of the Chetty Malacca community to migrate to Singapore We know that he was educated in Malacca Again, he might well have been among the first five or six cohorts of Chetty Malacca children to go to school with the set up of English schools under the British He worked in Singapore in a legal firm before retiring Mr Apoo Pillay’s familiar name was “Dollah”, and he was known throughout the community as “Topey Dollah” (granpa) or “Mama Dollah” (uncle) depending on the juniority of the person addressing him; there were none senior to him We know that he was married and had no children, but nothing else of his married life We were equally unable to find information, within the limits of our search, about his parents, but it must be available But we know that he had a sister Madam Avirami Pillay, who was better known as “Nenek Jambol” (grandma) Her daughter, Pavathe, became M T Pillay’s second wife After the war, Nenek Jambol and her brother lived at the latter’s residence at Teo Kim Eng Road Both have since passed away Mr Apoo Pillay had a brother, by the name of Gonathan Pillay He was married to a Chetty Malacca lady, and they had a daughter, also named Avirami The latter became the wife of the late B S Naiker or “Embong” as he was known.) He had a mistress by the name of Veronica Wee Guat Choon They had a daughter Rosie Pillay who married Noel Santa Maria from Malacca and they settled in Australia many yaears ago Mention must be made of Sandy Gurunathan Pillay He is reported as the brother in law of Mr Apoo Pillay He became the first person from the community to attain professional status, as a lawyer based in Singapore It is reported that Apoo Pillay helped finance his legal studies He married an Irish lady, had two daughters, Joan and Terry, and settled in Britain Family of Murugah Pillay Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 24 In Kuantan KD Bok worked in the Customs & Excise Department for over ten years before moving to the Pejabat Setiausaha Kerajaan, the Pahang State Sec- retariat In this he followed the footsteps of his father as did most of his brothers, in government administration The territorial army that he participated in earlier gave him a love for guns and hunting Hunting the wild boar of Pahang became a lifelong hobby until his retirement Because of his hunting interest and expertise he was appointed an honorary game warden of Pahang with authority to arrest poachers and trappers He was called on to hunt the occasional man-eating tiger or the big game elephant KD Bok and Perachee had four children: Devastry Parasurama @ David (1948) whose story is narrated separately as part of the Singapore story Sithambaram Kalastri (Boy) (1949-1974) followed his father’s footsteps in his love for hunting He died by drowning during a hunting trip to Sungei Lembing in 1974 Lena Periachee (1951) was the only girl, studied dentistry in Bombay, and later married Joseph Tan (1941-2001), an art lecturer with MARA, first in Dungun, Trengganu and then in Shah Alam, Selangor Lena became a government dentist and finished her lifelong government career supervising the government dental services in Pahang, before retiring and living in Kuala Lumpur Her husband (-2002) became a famous Malaysian artist and acting director of the Malaysian National Art Gallery Their only child, a girl Tan Ghaik Hoon, is married to an Australian in Melbourne Devasingam (Singam) (1952) studied mechanical engineering in Melbourne and married an Australian, Marjorie Denney He started a company that provided fireproofing services for Melbourne high-rise buildings Their two daughters Jessica and Jasmine are the only grandchildren of P Babok Pillay to have the original family surname Pillay as part of their names As a matter of interest, the unique name Kalastri was bestowed three times by Babok Pillay, twice in KD Bok’s family and once in CD Bok’s family (see E) The only other time it appears anywhere in Malaysia and Singapore, from all information received, is in the family of Ponnosamy Kalastree It apparently came from a place of pilgrimage in Andhra Pradesh, India, from where Ponnosamy’s great grandfather the Telegu came The other interesting name suffix that recurs in this family group is Deva (Sanskrit for god) We have Deva-varam, Deva-singam, Deva-naigam, Deva-stry, names which not occur in other Indian communities Devasingam (lion god) occurs four times in this family group Family of Chelum Devanaisam (Bachik) (deceased) Uncle Bachik, the fourth son of Babok Pillay, worked as a bus driver in Malacca before moving to Kuala Lumpur to stay with Thamby, his eldest brother who got him a job in the CEB He married Hew Lee Moi (Susie) and inherited two children from her two previous marriages (Elizabeth and Ah Seng) They in turn had two children before they divorced: Peter Devanaisam, who married Marianne and became a Catholic, and Charlie Kalastre who married Rosalind, also a Catholic Peter and Charlie have three and one children each and live in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya Family of Adi Devanaigam (Kopi) ( -1981) Kopi was the fifth son of Babok Pillay He married Chong, a Chinese Catholic and worked for many years in the government’s health department in Pahang moving from Cameron Highlands Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 25 to Raub to Temerloh , and finally to Kuantan where he died after retirement They have three daughters: Maria, Anne and Marion Maria is married to Allan George, an Air Asia pilot with two children, while Anne and Marion are divorced and live in Australia Anne has a son Daniel Their mother lives in Kuala Lumpur with Maria’s family Family of Letchumi (Chemi) (deceased) Chemi had an abortive marriage to Kanagasabai Letcumanan Chitty (see Lateral Connections) that resulted in a son Annamalai Chitty (Joe) (1948) Joe married Cynthia (deceased), a Catholic and they have two sons: Aaron and Adam Aaron is studying to be a Jesuit priest while Adam is an artist In the mid 60s Chemi married again to Lingam and had a son Boy who later married a Chinese orphan brought up in Mother Mangalam’s orphanage in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur Families of Babok Pillay’s second wife, Guru Amal Tolasie (1926-early 90s) was P Babok Pillay’s first child by his second wife She married Thangavelu, a Tamil not from the Chetty Malacca community and lived in the family home in Tranquerah until her husband died when she moved to stay in Kampong Chetty, Gajah Berang with her five children: Visalachee (Achi), Ami, Lena, Devi and Amal Two of her daughters have since passed away Devarajah (1931-2002) had a local reputation as a tough guy and a rolling stone who remained unmarried until he died in the Kampong Chetty home Visalachee Guru Amal (Lachee) (1936) was trained as a nurse and worked in Lady Templar Hospital, Kuala Lumpur in the early 60s There she met and married Mohamed Tahir (Joe) an Indian Muslim businessman After the marriage she moved to Tanjore (Tanjavur) in South India, her husband’s home and took on the Muslim name Wahida Begum She has been out of touch since then Devasingam (David) (1941) trained and worked in government agriculture in Pahang until he retired He married Ah Choo from Malacca, and they have two children: Sharaswathy (1972) who worked in banking and is now doing her Master’s, and Rick Jason (1977) married to Dan Lee Peng The whole family became Christian in Kuantan and now all live in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur C The Third Generation The Singapore Story Devastry Parasurama Bok @ David (1948) Devastry Parasurama (David), the oldest son of Kalastri Devasingam Bok was born in Kuantan and studied at St Thomas Primary and Secondary School, run by the Catholic educational order the Marist brothers He then finished his secondary education at Sultan Abu Bakar School, which was the only school then to have a sixth form In his mid teens David became a Christian, was initially associated with the Methodist Church and then later with the Brethren Protestant denomination, the Gospel Hall Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 26 He studied English Literature at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, then the only university in Malaysia after Singapore’s exclusion from Malaysia in 1965 He finished his tertiary education with a diploma in education, then taught English at Suleiman Secondary School in Bentong, Pahang in 1972-73 In 1973 David left the government education service and started a lifelong career with the Navigators, the Christian organization that nurtured him in his university years He went for crosscultural training in Australia and New Zealand in 1974-75 Through the organization’s international links he married another equally committed Christian from Singapore, a Hokkien Chinese, Annabella Tay Chin Chin in 1977 He then became the Malaysian National Director of the organization from 1983-88 After that he was involved in the Asia region, including a year in the international headquarters in Colorado, USA, covering staff responsibilities like organizational change, cross cultural missions and leadership development In 1994, the family moved to Singapore where David became active in cross cultural training, Bible study development and Christian-Muslim dialogue in Singapore and Malaysia Since 2010 he has become active in the Storytelling and the Chetty Melaka Associations of Singapore David and Annabelle have three children, all born in Singapore with their early childhood in Malaysia, then back to Singapore for their secondary education: Jabez and Jared, who are at various stages in their PhD studies in the USA, and Jihan who is working in Singapore Norkhasmawati Bok (Yati) Yati is the sixth child of Devavaram Bok, and the first by his third wife She grew up in her family home in Section 5, Petaling Jaya until her father retired and moved to Kuala Sungai Baru, Malacca She moved to Singapore in 1982 and worked as a marketing executive with Readers’ Digest from 1982-85, during which time she started the Readers’ Digest office in Kuala Lumpur In 1986, with a friend, she started Boutique D’Beauty that did facials and sold cosmetics Then from 1990 to 2005 she worked with Hans Hofer and the Langenscheidt Group producing the Insight Travel guides Yati married Dirk Paulsen a German who came to Singapore in 1971 Dirk founded the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and was a past president of the German Chamber of Commerce He currently holds the dealership of the luxury watches Patek Philippe, Raymond Veil and Breightling, and Steinway Piano They have a daughter Camelia * * * Completed 20 Nov 2013 Updated 30 Nov 2013 Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 27 PART Family Group of Ramasamy Suppiah Naidu Co-Authored with Ponnosamy Kalastree, only son of Kalastree Suppiah, and President of the Association of Chetti Melaka (Pernankan Indians) of Singapore, and Devastry Parasurama Bok @ David Bok, the eldest son of Kalastri Devasingam Bok (Baba), who is in turn the fourth eldest son of Pasurama Babok Pillay He is a distinguished gospel educator He is married to Annabella Tay Chin Chin and they live in Singapore They have two sons and one daughter A The First Generation Ramasamy Suppiah Naidu Ramasamy Suppiah Naidu was born in Malacca at the turn of the last century He was the first son of his Telegu father from Andhra Pradesh, India He married Katai Amal Chitty, also known as Mak Kechik, from the Chetty Malacca community in Malacca After finishing his studies in Malacca, Ramasamy took a boat to Singapore with his wife around 1920 He therefore represents the first generation and head of this family In Singapore he joined the police force, rising to the position of detective sergeant-major He was decorated with a medal for gallantry by the then Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Cecil Clementi After the police force he became the contracting supervisor that built Frankel Estate in the immediate post-war years His last enterprise before he retired was to own a fleet of 10 taxis that he rented out He passed away in May 1967 Ramasamy and his wife had seven children The four sons were Raju, Kalastree, Narainasamy and Radhakrishnan Raju and Narainasamy converted to Islam when they married Muslim wives, and became assimilated with the Malay community Radhakrishnan was given away at birth to an non-Chetty Malacca Indian family who lived in Cuff Road It is their second son, Kalastree, whose story we shall follow below Ramasamy’s three daughters were Letchemi who married Selverajoo, Janaki Bai who married Sativail (and stayed at Ceylon Road), and Krishnavainy whose first marriage to a Chetty Malaccan failed and who subsequently married a Sikh gentleman With their marriages to non Chetty Malacca persons, they passed into mainstream Indian society Chitty Road Our enquiries into Ramasamy have given us a glimpse into the early Chetty Malacca settlers in Singapore, of whom little is known It is mentioned in several places that, from the late 19 th Century, there had been a quiet but steady exodus of Chetty Malaccans to Penang, KL and Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 28 Singapore, mostly the latter We may reasonably infer that this followed from Malaccá’s inclusion in the larger Straits Settlements (in 1867), the increased safety and mobility of travel, and the employment and commercial attractions of the new larger centres Thus, we find that, on migration to Singapore, Ramasamy and his wife probably first resided with a Malacca Chetty colony that had settled in the Chitty Road area of Little India There was in fact a thriving community there, for we find that Ramasamy wife’s elder brother, Subramaniam Chitty, had already come over from Malacca and settled there It is not hard for us to surmise that Ramasamy and his brothers-in-law, Subramanian and Sangra, knocked about together quite a lot in the coffee shops and side-streets and were active members, even leaders, of the community Living members of the family recall visiting their grand-uncle and grandfather in Chitty Road Given that the city was still expanding along Serangoon Road and Jalan Besar, the Chitty Road area was probably on the frontier of growth, and therefore a naturally attractive location for new immigrants This was more so for the Chetty Malacca community because their needs were amply available from the traders of Little India and there were at least three Hindu temples in the area to pray in - an essential ingredient of their life They would have felt more “at home” here than anywhere else More research needs be done to determine the point, but it is likely that the Chetty Malacca cluster there was the largest in Singapore at that time - the local Gajah Berang so to speak - and the focal point of the community’s social life Mr Doraisingham in his book states that many Malacca Chetty people settled in the area between Serangoon Road and Jalan Besar, viz the Chitty Road area According to him the latter road was named after the Malacca Chetty community, and we quote him: “It is significant that a road, Chitty Road (off Serangoon Road) has been named after the Peranakan Indians” Mr Mazelan Annuar, Librarian, the Lee Kong Chan Library, in his “Behind Street Names” has this to say: “Chitty Road is named after the Chitty Melaka or the Peranakan Indian community who migrated from Malacca to Singapore during the late 19th century and settled in the "little India" area In the past, it joined Kampong Kapor Road with Jalan Besar Some of the Peranakan Indian immigrants found jobs in the public sector working for the colonial government while the others worked as merchants Some of the merchants were engaged in money lending activities.” Being for centuries without educational opportunity, the Chetty Malacca community eagerly sent their children to the English schools opened by the British in Malacca For the majority this was their passport to government employment, as Mazelan points out, and to the business world The last part of the quotation is included on purpose Mazelan is wrong, when like many others, he confuses the Chetty Malacca with the Indian money-lending community, the chettiars, who were and are settled in the Market Street area Besides Chitty Road, the community resided in the surrounding roads up to Jalan Kapor, and settled in other parts of the city as well Over time, these included Waterloo Street, Bencoolen Street, Selegie Road, Dalhousie Lane, and as far as Ceylon Road, Kovan Road and Jansen Road Samuel S Dhoraisingham -“Peranakan Indians of Singapore and Malacca” ISBN 981-230-346-4, ISEAS 2006, Page 18 “Peranakan” means locally born The term Peranakan Indians is in common use to describe the Chetty Malacca, distinguishing them from their Chinese counterparts, the “Peranakan Chinese” httts://gpxsvr3.np.edu.sg/apps5/lib/reference/refenq.nsf/c0ccd7 b5848a4643c8256686000eea16/ca6703a8dc8b8d9e4825756e000acf55/ $FILE/Behind%20Street%20names2.pdf Lee Kong Chian Reference Library Behind Street Names Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 29 It is believed in the family that, while intended to recognize the community, Chitty Road was named specifically after Subramanian Chitty At this point, the information is not verified, and more research needs to be undertaken into the official records to determine this B Second Generation Kalastree Suppiah Kalastree Suppiah, the second son of Ramasamy Suppiah, was born in Singapore in 1923, and heads the second generation of this family His first wife passed away early, with no issue He then married Chandramal Saku Bai Although she came from Burma, she spoke Hindi, and although not a Chetty Malacca, she became localized enough to wear the sarong kebaya regularly Her nationalistic spirit saw her becoming part of the Rhani of Jansi regiment in Singapore This was the women’s regiment of the Indian National Army in Southeast Asia in World War II, commanded by Subas Chandra Bose, to secure Indian independence with Japanese assistance Kalastree completed his secondary education at Paya Lebar Methodist School in 1940 During the Japanese Occupation, he was a detective in the police force, following the footsteps of his father , but later he worked as an hospital assistant, continuing as a police volunteer for almost 30 years until retirement Kalastree and Chandramal had one son, Ponnosamy, named after his great granduncle, whose story we follow further on The couple also had five daughters, four of whom married Tamils, not from the Chetty Malacca community: the eldest Meerabai (a widow and retired school administrator), next Shantidevi (who married Selvaraju), then Katai Amal (who took her grandmother’s name), and the youngest Padmini (who married Subramaniam) Sarda, the fourth daughter, was given away to a nonChetty Malacca Indian family who eventually settled in India.) C Third Generation Ponnosamy Kalastree @ Ponno Ponnosamy was born in Singapore on 15 Jan 1947 He studied at St Gabriel’s Primary and Montfort Secondary, and completed his secondary education at St Andrew’s School in 1965 – the year of Singapore’s Separation from Malaysia Among his school achievements, he is proudest of being the non-Malay national Malay-speaking champion for two years The national media however missed the wry comment made by a smart-aleck Malacca Chetty friend of his, “Big deal! My mother could have beaten you anytime.” After a stint at the People’s Association’s National Youth Leadership Training Institute, Ponno joined the army as a regular in 1966 He became one of the first batch of officers graduating from the newly formed Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) in 1967 His early army career included a company command, a camp-commandant tour of duty and a brigade staff officer appointment He was in due course sent to and graduated from the Singapore Command And Staff College (SCSC) in 1971-2 Posted to the st Singapore Infantry Brigade (SIB), he was the Officer Commanding of the Officer Cadet Training School at SAFTI In 1974, he resigned after 10 years, to pursue a career in the private sector However, he continued to serve as a Reservist Battalion Commander for a further 20 years, finally relinquishing his responsibilities in 1994?, retiring in the rank of Major after an illustrious career Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 30 In 1983, Ponno married his wife, Dora Woo Bee Cheng, a Chinese lady from Singapore She helped him raise his two children from his first marriage: Sheila and Shirley both married to Indians and living in Perth, Australia Dora supports Ponno in his corporate operations They have no children of their own In 1974 Ponno founded Mainguard Security Services (S) Pte Ltd Starting with physical security services, the company enlarged its scope to comprehensively cover all aspects of the security industry, including investigation services as a major arm In 1983 Ponno established SEATRO, which has become a leading regional security training institute The strength of the company lies in its world-wide professional expertise and sharing of resources Ponno has successfully created this through his international leadership and networking In 1983 he was accepted into the World Association of Detectives In 1992 he was admitted into the premier international body of security professionals, the USA-based Council of International Investigators (CII), and in 2001-2 he was elected by the CII to be its World President Earlier in 1976, he was responsible for the formation of the Security Association of Singapore (SAS) Ponno has received many awards from these organisations, but the two he treasures most are the CII’s International Investigator of the Year Award in 1998, based on a word-wide assessment of nominated candidates’ performance, and the Security Professional of the Year Award in 2011 from the World Association of Detectives Having achieved recognised excellence in the security industry, Ponno has now led the company to involve itself in the discharge of corporate social responsibility As a member of the Lions Club of Singapore Goldhill, he has led the company to participate in the Corporate Social Responsibility project for youth, the only private security organisation to In 2013, his company was conferred the Distinguished Award by SME ONE ASIA The Awards were created to recognise successful Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in ASIA that are socially responsible The citation for the award8 reads “The Distinguished SMEs Award is open to enterprises that have been in operation for many years, and have established themselves as the exemplar model for successful small and medium-sized businesses in the country” Association of Chetti Maleka (Peranakan Indians) of Singapore Ponno was a member of the organizing committee that launched the Association of Chetti Meleka (Peranakan Indians) of Singapore on 19 Jan 2008, under the patronage of the then President of the Republic of Singapore , Mr S R Nathan He was elected the second President of the association in 2011, following the charter president Mr M Lethmenon, and has been elected for a further term of two years as from 10 Nov 2013 Under his dynamic leadership, the association has successfully projected the image of the Chetty Malacca as part of the local Indian community and held joint functions with the Chinese Peranakan Association of Singapore Ponno has personally inspired this project of capturing the diaspora families of Singapore before all disappear into forgotten history His latest move has been, under the auspices of the association, to call for an academic symposium on the Chetty Malacca, to gather and make available all research that exists on the community at the present time, identify further areas of research and study and hopefully rally funds and resources to launch these programmes The symposium is targeted for November 2014 * * * Completed 25 Nov 2013 Updated 30 Nov 2013 http://www.mainguard-intl.com.sg/ http://www.sme1.asia/awards-categories Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 31 PART Family of Dasuah Sangra Chitty Co-Authored with John Pillay, 9th child of Sangra Chitty, who is married to Joan Gomes with two children, and settled in Singapore The late Dasuah Sangra Chitty @ Sangra Chitty came from a family of the same surname in Gajah Berang or Tranquerah, Malacca He married a Chetty Malacca lady of Thai extraction and migrated to Singapore before the war He had 12 children most of whom were born in Singapore The family residence was as Geylang Lorong 40, Siang Lim Park After the war, he worked for the British Army and was allocated quarters at No Haig Road where the family lived and grew up until he retired Information on his children is brief and incomplete, and may be summarised as follows:  Eldest Daughter, who passed away No Information  2nd – Choe @ Mary, who married Joe Pillay, eldest son of Aarunasalan Pillay, head of another first generation diaspora family (see separate listing) Details of this second generation family are recorded thereat  3rd - Chih – Chih @ Agnes, who married Kalidas Anamalai @ Dennis, son of Anamalay Pillay, head of another first generation diaspora family (see separate listing) Details of this second generation family are recorded thereat  4th - Boon Tat @ Vincent., who worked with the Penang Port Commission and married a Chinese lady, Sally Loh They had three sons, one of whom is a Catholic priest (Fr Nelson Chitty of Penang), and one daughter The family is settled in Penang He was always well-known for his badminton  5th – Chitty, worked with the Board of Currency Commissioners, Singapore He married a Chinese lady who has passed away He became a Muslim He was well known as a footballer  6th – Puteh, who married T Anamalai, another son of Anamalay Pillay (see separate listing), who was a teacher and seconded to the Singapoe Armed Forces Details of this second generation family are recorded thereat This family has migrated to Perth, Australia  7th - Information not available  8th - Information no available Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 32  9th - John, (1938), who married Joan Gomes, a Portuguese Eurasian Lady from Malacca John worked with the hotel industry, the RAF and SingPost, before retiring from the last They have two children, first Marion who is married to a Chinese gentleman, and Robert who is married to a Chinese lady  10th – David, who became a Muslim, married a Muslim lady and emigrated to Kuwaitt over 20 years ago The have no children  11th – Pearly, born after the war She married Chandra, a non-Chetty Malacca person, who has since passed away They have two daughter, Jayasharre and Asha, both married  12 – Tahir, born after the war, who married a Non- Chetty Malacca Indian, and have two sons, the first named xxxx and the second Mahesh Sangra had two sisters, one of whom married the grand father of Ponno Kalastree, separate listing of the details of this major diaspora family * * * First Completed Apr 2012 Updated Oct 2013 Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 33 PART Family Group of Nenek Kathai Co-Authored with S Sundrum Sanasee It was in Mar 2011 during a visit to him that S.Sundrum Sanasee, first cousin of my father, suggested I write out the history of the family and the community He then proceeded to relate as much as he could recollect He was my inspiration and co-author for writing the Story of Odiang (my Dad)* which has led to this project to the diaspora families in Singapore He passed away soon after that on 18 Jul 2011 May he Rest In Peace; The grand old lady of the family was Nenek Kathai, who would have been born in the late 1870s, about the time of the formation of the Straits Settlements, and whose abode was at Meringu Lane, Tranguerah, Malacca She had two daughters The elder of the two, whose name is regrettably not known, married one Sangaran Pillay, a gary-operator They were the parents of Francis Joseph Pillay @ Odiang, their only child, born on 23 Dec 1900, see immediately below Nenek Kathai’s younger daughter was called Periachi @ Letchimy She married Suppiah Sundrum Pillay whose family lived at 10 Meringu Lane across the road The couple had a family of five boys and three girls, see further on Nenek Kathai never came to Singapore as far as we may probably surmise, but both her daughters founded Singapore diaspora families Family of Sangaran Pillay/ Odiang @ Francis Joseph Pillay Co-Authored with the late S Sundrum Sanasee, eldest son of Suppiah Sundrum Pillay, and first cousin of Odiang Pillay The elder daughter of Nenek Kathai married Sangaran Pillay at the turn of the last century Nothing unfortunately is known of Sangaran except that he was a gary operator A gary was a four-wheeled passenger carriage drawn by one or more horses They plied fixed city routes until after the Second World War when they were replaced by the town bus services So, we may say that he was part of Malacca’s pre-modern urban transport system The couple had only one child, a son, Odiang Pillay His mother passed away when he was a small boy and nothing has been remembered by the surviving family of what happened to his father Odiang was brought up by Nenek Kathai at Meringu Lane, and sent to school at St Francis’ Institution Upon her decease which we estimate to have been around the first decade of the new century, Odiang moved across the road to No 10, where the young Sundrum Pillay and his wife were setting up home By then Odiang was near completing secondary school Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 34 After completing secondary school, Odiang joined the Government Clerical Service, and in due course became the Chief Clerk of the Malacca Volunteer Corps (MVC) On Apr 1931, he married Janet Thomas, a Eurasian lady She was a teacher from the CHIJ convent in Johore Bahru Odiang became a Catholic and took the names of Francis Joseph, thence becoming familiarly known as F J Pillay or Francis On Dec 1934, they had a son, Gerald Francis, who would be their only natural child They stayed at Garden City F J Pillay participated in the defence of Singapore After the War, he successfully applied for transfer to Singapore, historically the last civil servant to so, and was absorbed into the Executive Service The family duly migrated on 13 Apr 1949 His first appointment was as Deputy Shipping Master in the Marine Department He was subsequently posted to the Education Ministry, where he retired as Higher Executive Officer, after extension of service, on 23 Dec 1957 In 1955, the Pillays were blessed by the adoption of a baby girl, namely Elizabeth Anne Pillay born on 21 Apr 1955 Victor, the son of Sundrum Sanasee – see Family No below) continued to reside with them, completing the family They lived first at 167 Bukit Timah Road, and from 1956 at 46 Crowhurst Drive, Serangoon Gardens, bought on retirement F J Pillay passed away on Nov 1975, and was followed by his wife on 18 Jul 03  Gerald Francis Pillay (1934) - Upon graduating from the University of Malaya in 1957, then in Singapore, he joined the Administrative Service and in 1971 became Deputy Secretary (Technical) in the Ministry of Education In 1974, he transferred to the Industrial Training Board, and retired as Deputy Director in its successor organisation in 1989 In 1962, he married Mabel Narayanasamy, a non-Chetty Malacca Indian lady who would become one of the pioneers of the conference industry They have two boys, Leslie Francis and Carl Jeffrey (a) Leslie Francis Pillay (1963) – A graduate of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, he has been a well-known media celebrity He is married to Deirdre Goh Chee Hoon, and together they are partners of MLA Pte Ltd, a media and events management company with an international clientele They gave no children (b) Carl Jeffrey Pillay (1964) – A graduate of the National Institute of Commerce, Carl is the Senior Operations Manager of MLA Pte Ltd He is also known for his prowess in rugby, having represented Singapore internationally He is married to Sharon Loh, and they have a son, Christian Lowen Pillay (2006)  Elizabeth Anne Pillay (1955) - Elizabeth Anne belonged to the first generation of Singapore Airlines’s “Singapore Girls” who so successfully promoted the country She married Jackie Rodrigues, a Police Officer, by whom she had a daughter Brendan She subsequently re-married Detlev Truernit, a German They live in Bali, where he is the General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Resort Hotel and she carries on a successful practice as a spa consultant with an international clientele * * * Completed Aug 2012 Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 35 Family of Supiah Sundrum Pillay @ Mamat Nenek Kathai’s younger daughter, who was called Periachi @ Letchimy, married Suppiah Sundrum Pillay in the second decade of the last century He was the only son of Mak Bola who lived at 10 Meringu Lane, which later became the ancestral home of his family for nearly the next century –until it was acquired for redevelopment in 2009 The couple had five sons and three daughters By civil occupation, Supiah Sundrum was a steam roller driver But in private life he and his family owned and operated a dairy farm and discharged the overwhelming community responsibility of delivering the daily supplies of milk in bottles to babies of the surrounding neighbourhood Not surprisingly, the family also ran a parallel business, namely as haulage contractors They possessed an open backed bullock-cart which was drawn by the bull of the heard These were hired by the population for sundry purposes Sundrum Pillay however occupied an eminent position in the community for another reason - by virtue of his vocation as the local doctor and healer He served the people without payment He discharged his the service as a duty He held clinic once a week on Friday evenings There was always a full attendance of people with diversified disorders, from a headaches and stomach-aches to sprains and broken bones He never turned anyone away .He was renowned for re-setting and healing disjointed and broken bones .He was widely known in Malacca among all communities by his familiar name, “Mamat” The family and descendants of Periachi and Suppliah Sundrum may be summarised as follows:  Papathe, eldest daughter (1920 - ?), who married Ramasamy, a water works technician in and about 1944 They had four children, the eldest of whom was their son Chindran The couple are now deceased Their family has remained in Malacca  Sanasee (1926 – 2012) Eldest son, who married Lechimmy Pillay, grand-daughter of Ardy Pillay The couple migrated to Singapore in the year following in 1950 and started one of the major diaspora families in Singapore The details are recorded separately under Family No further on  Inchi (1928 - ?) Second eldest son, who married Jumna?, daughter of ? The couple had 5? Children Their eldest was their son, ?, who in turned married ?, daughter of ? Inchi took over the family business He passed away in ? The family remained has in Malacca  Ponuoy (1929 – 1950?), Second eldest daughter She was a homely and kindly person with not a strong constitution, and she died soon after the war in Malacca She never married  Kandasamy @ Kandan (1930 – 2010).Third son, he became a survey technician and was posted to Kota Bahru, Kelantan, where he married a Chinese lady Of their children, one daughter took up a scholarship award to study medicine in Russia, and is today a practising doctor in Malaysia Kandan passed away In Malacca in 2010?  Batak (1931 - ) Third daughter She married a non-Malaca Chetty Indian gentleman from Singapore by the name of ? They have four children Their eldest son, Kumar? Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 36 established his own building maintenance and security firm, The family were resident in Singapore but migrated to Johore Bahru in 2009, in pursuit of better financial prospects  Krishnasamy @ Krishna (1932 – 2001) – Fourth son He migrated to Singapore in the 1950s and enrolled in the Government Messenger Service, in which he stayed until retirement He was weak of health and never married He died in Singapore in 2001  Maniam @ Banyan (1935 -) Fifth son, and youngest He supported Inchi in the running of the family businesses, and otherwise worked as an odd-job person He never married, and still resides in Malacca * * * Completed Oct 2013 Family of Sundrum Sanasee S Sundrum Sanasee was born in Malacca in 1925, the eldest son of eight children, to the family of the great Suppiah Sundrum Pillay, who was in turn the scion and only son of the grand old lady Mak Bola Sanasee’s mother was Letchimy @ Periachi, who was the younger sister of Odiang Pillay’s mother, both being the daughters of Nenek Kathai The seat of the family was 10 Meringu Lane, Tranquerah, Malacca, which they occupied for nearly a century before it was acquired for re-development in 2009 Sundrum Sanasee Pillay moved to Singapore from Malacca, immediately after the Japanese Occupation and soon secured a job as Tally Clerk with the Singapore Harbour Board (later to become the Port of Singapore Authority [PSA]).From 1949, he lived with the family of Odiang Pillay He returned to Malacca in 1950 to marry Letchmee @ Letchimy, grand-daughter of Ardy Pillay and daughter of Nonya and Inchi (see separate listing) The couple moved in 1953 to their own place at Trarfalgar Street and in 1976 acquired their own flat at Everton Park which has remained the family home since He worked with the PSA until his retirement Sundrum Sanasee passed away on 19 Jul 2011, after surviving his wife who passed away on Jun 2007 Due to readings according to the Hindu horoscope, Sundrum Sanasee and his children were not allowed to take on “Pillay” the family name This was not uniformly followed Sanasee Sundrum had children  First Son – Arunasalam Pillay @ Victor Pillay (1951) Victor married a Malay Muslim lady, Zahara, and converted to Islam, taking on the Muslim name, Mohammed Zani They have children, Nur Sharon, Irni Karen, Aaron Irwan, Nurmi Loren and Nani Ellen Victor has mapped out a highly successful career in music, both as a jazz instrumentalist (keyboards) and solo lounge entertainer, and as a Music Educator From 1985, he was a Teacher and then Principal of the City Music School, and in 2002 he established his own school, CP Music Centre Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore 37  Second Son – Sanasee Philips-Roy (1952) Philips-Roy has pursued a life-long career as a technical trainer, and is currently a Lecturer in Precision Engineering with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) He is married a non-Chetty Malacca Hindu lady, Sushila They have daughters Prasantti Philips Roy, a Masters graduate, is married and settled in the USA and Arathi Philips Roy has just completed her university studies  Third Son – Stephen Vija Sanasee (1954) Stephen is married to a non-Chetty Malacca Indian Catholic lady, Catherine Joseph They have a son, Jacob Pillay They migrated to Melbourne, Australia in the 1980s Stephen works in Plant Operations for Toyota, and Catherine is a member of the administrative staff of Murdoch University  Fourth Son – Sundrum Sanasee Kailasbathy (1955) Sundrum Sanasee Kailasbathy was a career Prisons Officer before his retired He is currently works for a security firm Kailasbathy is married to Rukmuni from Malacca She is from the Ramasamy family in Tranquerah Malacca, near Gajah Berang They have sons, Surindran Pillay and Sashidra Pillay  Fifth Child - Sanasee Jayashree (1956), a daughter, who is deceased  Sixth Child - Sanasee Jacqueline Rajeswary (1960), a daughter, who is unmarried She is a Clerical Officer in LTA * * * Completed Dec 2012 Updated Oct 2013 Chetty Malacca Families in Singapore Families still to be completed Family of M Letchmenon The Annamalay Family (Maggy’s family) 10 Family of Sabapathy Pillay (Tiger, Kovan Road)) 11 Family of Nenek Becha ( Rashid, Bapsy Durai) 12 Family of Govindram Pillay (Vejaya Syers) * * * 38