After two days of meetings with several business groups and Asian American leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first trip to Singapore in his current role took a more personal turn.
On Thursday afternoon (November 15), the 46-year-old visited Fort Canning Park, taking a brief walk across the grounds to the brick partitions on which hangs a commemorative plaque dedicated to his great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Esther Farquhar. Bernard was placed.
She is the daughter of Major William Farquhar, the primary British resident and commandant of Singapore from 1819 to 1823, and Antoinette “Nonio” Clement, a Malaccan woman of French-Malay descent.
Trudeau stared on the board for several minutes before leaning all the way down to record a video of the board, which he sent to his relations.
He received a plaque with a drawing of a kingfisher from the William Farquhar collection of natural history drawings from the National Museum of Singapore and was shown a plaque from one other member of the family – William Clark Farquhar, Major Farquhar’s grandson.
“It was a very moving moment to see my family’s history and appreciate all the intersecting, intertwining links that make up each of our stories,” Trudeau said.
Fort Canning Hill also has a special reference to Major Farquhar.
When he first arrived here with Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, he climbed the hill and raised the Union Jack.
During an earlier conversation with students on the National University of Singapore, Trudeau laughed when he mentioned a historical perspective that suggested that Major Farquhar, who shaped Singapore as a trading post from 1819 to 1823, played a more necessary role within the founding of Singapore.
“I’m not terribly biased, I’ll defend my fifth great-grandfather,” Trudeau joked, recalling how Major Farquhar was dismissed from Singapore in 1823 after a heated argument between him and Sir Stamford Raffles.
“He was exiled by Raffles after a number of years for being too near the locals, allowing gambling and allowing them to retain more of their cultures and traditions than the British and Raffles wanted.
“When he was banished, the harbor was apparently filled with small boats and people lined the banks to bid him farewell in remembrance. It was a beautiful piece of history,” Trudeau said.
He added that it was his mother, Mrs. Margaret Trudeau, now 70, who found the historical connection when she was approached by the producers of a Canadian television program by which famous Canadians trace their genealogical roots, and she or he traveled here to seek out out the small print.
Mrs. Trudeau’s voyage of discovery, chronicled in a 2008 Canadian television program, revealed that Major Farquhar’s daughter, Esther, had married a British Army officer in 1818, but he later left her. The program said she had a tough life in Singapore, raising five children and dying on the age of 41, almost destitute.
In an interview with The Straits Times in 2007, Ms Trudeau said she had at all times felt she had Asian roots, attributable to her interest in Buddhism and Confucianism.
The National Library helped in her research, and her ancestor’s grave was situated.
“We actually know so much in regards to the Sinclairs (her maiden name), but little or no about my mother’s side. And I actually feel that Esther has entered my soul,” she said.
Plans are currently underway to revive the wealthy history of Fort Canning Park. Earlier this yr, 18 trees were planted in the long run Farquhar garden.
When accomplished in June next yr, it’s going to take over the present Stamford Green and include plants originally grown by Major Farquhar.
Source : Times of the Strait
