Over 140 descendants of Muthu Ramalingam Pillai and Marimuthu Ammal gathering for the fifth time to celebrate their ancestry and strengthen ties.
DESCENDANTS of the Muthu Ramalingam Pillai-Marimuthu Ammal pioneering couple, who were recognised by Malaysia Book of Records for holding the largest family gathering in 2000, held their fifth get-together on Dec 10 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
In 2018, the family group, referred to as Bandham, went a step further and became an association, calling itself the Muthu Ramalingam Pillai & Marimuthu Ammal Family Association (MRP&MMAFA).
Although its activities were hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, under the leadership of its president Datuk Kumaran Karmaygan, the show went on with over 140 descendants attending the second annual general meeting (AGM) and dinner themed “Legacy Continues”.
Kumaran, who was re-elected at the AGM-cum-dinner, promised to set up youth centres in the places where most of the family members live such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Penang, and Negri Sembilan. A large number also reside in Singapore.
The pioneering couple who hailed from Karaikal in south India, landed on Malayan soil in the 1870s, first in Kedah, before settling permanently in Taiping, Perak.
They were involved in the construction industry and were one of the contractors of the first railway line from Port Weld (now Kuala Sepetang) to Taiping that was built in 1885.
Marimuthu Ammal, the matriarch whose family spans seven generations in Malaysia, was one of the contractors for the first railway line from Port Weld to Taiping. — Filepic
The tombstones of Marimuthu Ammal and her two sons still stand today at the Taiping Hindu Cemetery in Tupai.
Descendants of the couple now span seven generations in Malaysia with the eighth on the way.
Among prominent family members are Olympic hockey player M. Shanmuganathan, national-level Tokoh Guru Datuk Seri Dr NS Selvamany and their grandfather philanthropist K. Malaiperumal Pillai, who is the founder of SMK Sultan Yussuf in Batu Gajah, Perak.
Among the elderly members who were honoured during the dinner were association patron A. Thanabalan, former MIC vice-president Tan Sri S. Veerasingam and Mejar (R) Raj Kumar Guruswami.
Thanabalan, 89, also wrote about the saga of Muthu Ramalingam Pillai and Marimuthu Ammal in a new book titled Roots Living Heritage – a compilation of heritage stories of Malaysians. The book was sold to family members during the gathering.
The seventh-generation youngsters put on an entertainment show of songs and dances including several beat box numbers.
Lucky draw winners went home with a variety of prizes.
