This is a studio photograph of Kathai Ammal Chitty, the wife of Ramasamy Suppiah Naidu. She was also known to her family as Nenek Ki or Ma Kecik. She is wearing baju panjang fastened with kerosang. The backing card bears the studio mark 'Kunming Photo Studio, 951-B, Upper Serangoon Road'. Ramasamy Suppiah was born in Malacca at the turn of the 20th century. In 1920, he and his Chitty Melaka (Peranakan Indian) wife, Kathai Ammal Chitty, moved to Singapore where he joined the police force, rising to the position of Detective Sergeant-Major.Peranakan Indians (also known as Chitty Melaka or Chetti Melaka) are descendants of South Indian traders (particularly Tamils) who settled in Malacca during the 15th to 16th centuries and married local women of Malay and Chinese descent. They trace their roots to Kampung Chitty, in Gajah Berang, Malacca, and there is a small community numbering approximately 5,000 in Singapore.
