Said Peng Huat, a taxi driver: 'Back then, my neighbour was constantly cleaning the corridor outside our flat, wetting the floor and making a lot of noise. Sometimes, his children would also turn on the television set really loud.

'Occasionally, his children would taunt my kids, calling them 'monkey's kids'. They were referring to my wife, who had dyed hair at that time.

'Once, things got so bad that I scolded him and we fought, and some neighbours called the police.'

He and his family moved away two weeks after the fight, and the two neighbours lost touch.

But when the two men met again three years later, any trace of hostility and enmity melted away as the brothers embraced.

Peng Huat had been given away at birth because his family was too poor.

Now, almost five decades later, he has finally reunited with his mother, Madam Tan Geok Poo, 79, and 11 siblings.

Peng Huat had approached non-profit organisation Crime Library for help to look for his biological family.

Said Peng Huat: 'When I saw my second brother walk through the door, I just slapped my forehead in shock because I recognised him as the neighbour I fought with three years ago.

'But there is no resentment or blame. I'm really happy that I found my family. He's my brother. It was all a silly misunderstanding.'

Koon Seng told The New Paper sheepishly that three years ago, he beat up Peng Huat after the latter passed some insulting comments about his family.

He said: 'We didn't know we were brothers, so when he insulted my family, he didn't realise he was insulting his own family.

'But all that is in the past. There are no hard feelings.'

Peng Huat - the seventh child - was among three out of 13 children who were given away at birth.

Their father was then a hawker and their mother, a housewife.

The couple's ninth child, Boo Hwa, 44, a taxi driver, was also given away but they were reunited three years ago.

Missing sister

The last missing sibling - the fifth child, Ms Lim Sai Cheng, 50 - is yet to be found.

Said Peng Huat: 'It's been a wish of mine since I was a child, when I found out I was adopted, to find my biological parents.

'A Serangoon Road address was stated on my birth certificate, and I made several futile trips there previously to try and track them down.

'But my foster parents treated me well and I didn't think it was right for me to reunite with my family until after they were gone.'

So when his foster father died about three weeks ago, he approached Crime Library. His foster mother died in 1987.

It took volunteers from the organisation less than a week to track down the Lims.

Prank

Sales manager Joe Lim, 43, the 10th child, said when they got the call early last week, they thought it was a prank.

But when they were sent copies of Peng Huat's birth certificate, they realised their long-lost brother had been found.

Said Joe: 'My mother had been looking forward to the reunion since we told her the news last Wednesday.

'The whole week, she has been weeping tears of happiness.'

The good news prompted four siblings to fly back from a holiday in Macau for the reunion.

Joe arranged for it to be held at his Pasir Ris Drive executive apartment.

He ordered a catered buffet and, at his mother's request, one of his older sisters made tang yuan (glutinous rice balls that symbolise reunion).

Before the meeting, Peng Huat was so nervous that he waited at the void deck for 10minutes to calm himself, reported Lianhe Zaobao.

He went with his wife and three children.

When he walked through the door, he immediately grabbed his mother's hands and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Madam Tan hugged her long-lost son, tears streaking down her wrinkled face.

As Mr Lim looked around the room, he said: 'My heart is beating so fast.'

Madam Tan told The New Paper in Teochew: 'For the past 50 years, there is not one moment when I do not think of the children I had given away.

'I have been hoping for the day I will see all my children again.'

Peng Huat has one regret - that he did not get to meet his father, Mr Lim Whee Kim, who died of cancer in 1981.

The family now hopes that they can be reunited with the last missing sibling, Sai Cheng.

She was given up for adoption when she was about 5 and was last known to be living at Tanglin Halt.

Her foster father is believed to be an artist, while her foster mother is a housewife.

She is said to look like her younger sister, Sai Lung, 49.

Anyone with information can call Crime Library at 62935250.

This article was first published in The New Paper.