Paying respects to Tan Chwee Lam during Qing Ming (Kopi Sua)

We meet a nice gentleman at the end of the tar road at Kopi Sua. He smiled and spoke to me first, curious to find out we we doing here as we were exploring Kopi Sua. The gentleman was Mr. Tan Kian Seng and he was there with his family to pay respects to his father, Mr. Tan Chwee Lam who passed away in 1955. Mr. Tan Kian Seng is the youngest son of Mr. Tan Chwee Lam. They already finished their Qing Ming and was about to head back when i met them and initially i didn't want to disturb them from leaving. I was again very fortunate because his sons (Tan Chee Wee and Tan Zhi Aun) just like their father were friendly and kindly stayed on for a short while allowing me to chat with them. Their cousin, Tan Cheng Lan was also present in the group in demonstration of the family's filial piety. 

Just like some families, they are concerned that their parents are getting older and will have difficulty paying respects in the future. Their concerns are real of course and exhumation to relocate is a personal choice. But what i can say is the Tan's are very fortunate because the tomb of Mr. Tan Chwee Lam is located just a few meters off the tar road and the area is still very accessible and very serene and peaceful. I really hope they will delay any plans to "move house" their grandfather as long as possible, as such a beautiful location is impossible to come by in the future.  

Tan Chwee Lam had 2 wives and from that union had 4 sons and 1 daughter. Tan Kian Seng was from the second wife.  Another interesting point shared with me was the names of 2 of his grandsons - Ah Tu, Ah Gu which translates Pig and Cow. I asked whether this name is reflected in their Identity Card and was told yes !

Tan Zhi Aun at his grandather's tomb

Tomb of Tan Chwee Lam at Kopi Sua 

My sincere thanks to Tan Zhi Aun for sharing with me the story of their grandfather and for helping me with the details of this article.

Tan Zhi Aun (in blue) with his brother, Tan Chee Wee