Over 500 family members reunited after 60 years

LIMBANG, Sept. 13: A feeling of excitement and joy surrounded the gathering of more than 500 members of Awang Salleh and Dayang Damit families from Sarawak, Brunei and Labuan who had not met in over 60 years at the Family Love Walk Meeting today.

The organisers' chairman, Abdul Hamid Kamis said the idea of hosting the meeting was born from a desire to bring together family members from first to sixth generation who had never met face to face.

According to him, it took a Brunei family two months to complete the program titled 'One Heartbeat, One Far Away'.

"This theme reflects a shared desire to strengthen family bonds, bring the distant closer together and ensure that younger generations recognize their family traditions.

"The feeling of excitement, excitement and joy to see the presence of generations from children to golden citizens makes this event more meaningful", he said as it was held at the Brunei, Sarawak and Labuan Family Charity Meeting in the Flower Hall today.

The meeting was attended by Co-Chairman, Tamil Radin and Program Advisor, Kamarudin Ali.

Abdul Hamid said a family database system was also created to identify the lineage of Allahyarham Awang Sulaiman and Allahyarham Dayang Damit.

Based on family records, Awang Sulaiman and Dayang Damit are two siblings who each have three children, with most of their descendants settling in Brunei and Limbang.

After their deaths, the relationship between descendants from the first to the sixth generation became more and more separate and no longer had a chance to meet.

Thus, efforts to reunite the great family were realized through the program's sponsorship.

The ceremony was also accompanied by the reading of the analysis, meeting of acquaintances, blessing prayers, good luck drawings and various other activities.