The 9 Layered Kui (Kow Tiing Kui)

Photo by Sarawakiana. June 2008

Early in the morning one can buy a few pieces of these delectable Chinese folk food in Sibu. Many of these kinds of traditional or folk delicacies have lost their original authentic tastes and exquisite touches because of economics and profit margins.

In the past,a housewife would be proud to show her skills of making this sweet delicacy. She would make sure that all the little Q's (tips) were followed to reach excellence.

Here is a checklist - the right temperature, the almost there measures,timing, when to add this or that ingredient, etc......many would keep these secrets to themselves so that they were like the Kung Fu masters who need to keep a few "chou" in order to survive and strike down their enemies.

My grandmother would make her nine layered steamed cake in the following way.

First she would soak a few cups of glutinous rice overnight and then early in the morning she would have it hand ground by her stone grinder or mill. The rice flour would then be weighted down and soon she would be able to stir in coconut milk to make a wonderful batter. Of course today one can buy a packet of glutinous rice flour imported from Thailand any time in the supermarket. So one can skip the soaking and the grinding steps.

Coconut milk would be squeezed out from a grated coconut (using a very old kitchen tool - cannot be obtained nowadays. I believe I can still take a photo of one such tool in Marudi. So watch my blog.) Today this step is made easy by the usage of packet coconut milk.

Add a little sugar and a bit of salt.

This batter would be divided into two portions, one to be coloured red.

An wooden steamer would be prepared and she could steam her layered delicacy in no time.

In those olden days even if she had to multi task, she would be ever so patient in turning out even layers of white and red in her steamed cake.

And furthermore even without any absolute scales of measurement she could turn out a tin of steamed layered cake which would be so delicate, sweet and delicious to bit into.

A wonderful breakfast treat.

Note :Today many young people do not know how to make it. One can buy it any where in the coffee shops or market. But some people do bother to make this kuih out of love.

Old Food Safes or Puong Dieu or Wan Dieu

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lspeng1951/1230397877

A long time ago, when we were kids we were told that we must never open the doors of the food safes unless we were told to do so. If did not adhere to this rule,we would end up marrying a hopeless, good for nothing man.

Whenever an elder heard the creak of a food safe door opening,she would say,"Someone's peeping at the food again!!" This would deter the culprit. Those were the days when we had very little pocket money. And the next door little village shop would only have the least of sundry goods for sale. With training like that, we never ever did open the doors of the food safes. It was too embarrassing to be caught red handed.

So how did we contain our hunger? We would try to open the huge tins of soda biscuits or the hard Osborne biscuits after getting the permission from our mother or grandmother.

Actually this old saying helped discipline us, so that at no time, we would go and pick the food. Picking the food from the bowls would mean that one would be getting more than his fair share of food and mum would have nothing to cook for the next meal. Most afternoon meals would have left overs which would be just enough for the evening meal. In this way, the budget would always be well managed.

There is another Foochow saying, "Calculate carefully and you would have enough for 9 meals!!" Thus we Foochow girls were brought up to be very careful with our housekeeping money. And no wonder we have some kept away for the rainy days.

These two pictures are some of my favourite pictures of Foochow life in Sibu.

And looking at a Foochow food safe would just make me more homesick for my hometown than ever. Memories of childhood days would just come flooding!!

Sarawak Centenary Celebrations in Sibu August 8-9,1942

(Adapted from The Methodist Episcopal Church in Borneo 1931-1950 by Sarawak methodist Centenary Celebration Volumes, Chief Editor : Wong Meng Lei, Published by SCAC, The Methodist Church in Malaysia.)

The Sarawak Centenary Celebrations of the Brooke rule were held in Sibu on August 8th - 9th 1942. In connection with the celebration, a committee was set up, and at the same time, they took the opportunity ti raise funds for the British War Effort Fund and the China Relief Fund, under the leadership of the District Officer, Mr. J.C. B. Fisher. They raised more than $45,000.

Funds were raised from football and badminton tournaments prior to the Centenary Celebration. A Land and Water Sports and a Regatta were also organised. School students keenly competed with each other. There was even a duck catching contest which gave a lot of enjoyment to the on lookers. however, the boat races provided the best entertainment of the day. Ten long boats with sixty paddlers each for one race was considered the best event of the day. The shouts of the Dayaks provided a lot of excitement.

On 24th Sept 1942, the centenary was also celebrated in Sbiu. Methodist Schools played an important part in the day's activities.

At a Police Guard parade in the Government Grounds, the Distrcit Officer, Mr. S.G. hansom, representing the Resident, presented a Long Service medal to the Tua kampong of kampong Puloh, Haji Salleh.

The Methodist Schools studnets went out to sell Sarawak Centary Badges for the British War Effort and the China Relief Fund. They raised quite a bit of money.

A very successful lantern parade was held at night with six schools participating. Although there was a slight shower, the spirit of the public was not dampened. The Methodist Boys' School led the parade. Ong Poh tong, a Standard VI boy was the artist behind the three lanterns which featured the likeness of the three White Rajahs.

All the Methodist Churches made special efforts to hold special Centenary Services on the Sundays before or after the Centenary.

So in a way, the Foochow church leaders and members of the Methodist Churches and staff and students of the Methodist Schools, and Sacred Heart School, played a dominant role in the Centenary Celebration of the Brooke Rule in Sibu.

touch me not

One of the best times we had when we were children was to run in the school compound and make a lot of noise. We liked to play catch and we could scream with delight.

And when we were tired we would go and tease the "touch me nots".

Our science teacher Mr. Tiong had taught us about mimosa and how sensitve the leaves were. So we incorporated the term touch me not into our game of catch.

It is so strange that so many years later I can still remember the girls (and a few of the more daring boys) who would play with us and we screamed "touch me not". To stop any one touching us we would squat down and this made us untouchable. It was just such child like pure fun.

Today any kind of touching might even bring a young boy to court!! Teachers are also sensitive and are always on the look out for ways to punish and condemn boys who pinch girls. But they do not realise that some girls are worst bullies than boys. Many girls have indeed turned out to be more gangsters than their male counterparts.

But the availability of touch me nots in the school compound gave us one of our best science lessons we ever had. It was so hands - on and practical. Thanks Mr. Tiong.

Native to Brazil, this short lived evergreen sub shrub is usually treated as an annual. It is grown for its curiosity value- the fern like leaves close up and droop when touched, usually re-opening within minutes. It has prickly stems and small, fluffy, ball shaped pink flowers in summer. It grows to a height of 5 ft and spreads around 3 ft- a perennial plant, it grows to a height of 0.5m with a spread of 0.3m. In some areas this plant is becoming a noxious weed. The stem is erect, slender and branching. The leaves are bipinnate, fern like and pale green- closing when disturbed. The flowers are pale lilac pink, occurring in globose heads and appearing in summer. Indigenous to the northern hemisphere, it is adaptable to most soils in an open, sunny position, and is drought and frost tender. Due to its ability to fix nitrogen from the air it does well on poor soils. "Sensitive Plant" folds up its leaves when touched or exposed to a flame. This plant requires a medium light exposure, an evenly moist soil, and temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees. One should use caution when handling seedlings because the plant dislikes root disturbance. Mimosa may be difficult to grow and is sensitive to over watering.
Photographed in Manipur

Rattan Clothes Basket

A photo by Stephenlnc.

We used this kind of clothes basket to keep clothes in for repair or for recycling. A pair of scissors would be in the basket with other things like threads and needles.

In some families, this kind of basket was for keeping babies' clothes. Sometimes the basket was hanged up so that ants would not crawl into the clothes. That is why you can see a smaller handle on the bigger handle.

Apart from these two uses, I would not know what else it was used for.

This kind of basket was very sturdy and hardy because the best rattan was used. That is why it can stand the test of time.

What did your family use it for?