Kerosene Lamps

It was the duty of my third uncle to fill the lamp with kerosene, which our family would buy by the tin. (Hence the idea of kerosene tin - the rectangular voluminous tin with a hole at one of the corners for us to siphon out the oil.)

Each evening all the kids would surround uncle Pang Sing, waiting for him to light the lamp and then we would sit around for him to start telling us stories . Grandmother would be there too and the highlight of the evening would be her telling tell tales of China.




How many stories were told
under the lights of the kerosene lamp?
How many fears were quelled
because of the warmth of the light and the gentle tones of a mother's voice?
How many beautiful evenings passed
because grandmother was there mending a blouse, with her tiny fingers?
How many girls giggled and shared confidences in the room
bathed by the shadows of the lamp?
How lonely did life become when the light was put aside and the fragrance of old kerosene no longer filled the air?

Some stories to come soon.

Bakau Piling for Housing Construction in Sibu

Luxuriant leaves of bakau trees.

A pretty bakau tree from a distance.


Air roots of the bakau tree can be seen more than a foot above from its mud base. Bakau trees are best found in what we know as mangrove swamps . Today it is popular to call these mangrove swamps wetlands. Bakau trees are found at the river mouths of most rivers in Malaysia.



A photo from Philip Hii which shows bakau being carried from a motor launch in Sibu by a "coolie" or labourer. At the time the crane had not appeared in our wharf yet. This is indeed a very valuable black and white historical photo. This kind of "open" motor launch which looks like a slipper,was made locally. They were very commonly seen in the Rejang in those days for ferrying of important goods like nipah,sago,etc from Mukah,Dalat,Igan or Baligian.




This picture is from Daniel Yiek's blog http://sarikei-time-capsule.blogspot.com


My first encounter with bakau was the day my mother had her shophouse built in Sibu. It was a widow's determined effort to "develop" her land. And it was the right time.

I was very happy when the first lorry load of bakau arrived at the site and what an elation it was, standing there with my mother, after all those years of suffering ,making ends meet, counting every single dollar and spending sleepless nights of not knowing if we had enough money.

But my mother's careful spending,careful housekeeping saw everything through. And we had our five storeyed building - almost cash! This was the first project of Soon Hup.

My mother did pay extra for more bakau piling. The building has very solid foundation indeed and a maternal uncle saw to that. Like in our life a solid foundation is very important. We cannot short change any one. WE have to remember that.

Bakau has a special smell of the sea. It is distinctive and carries piles of memories many of the children who grew up in the slowly expanding days of Sibu.

Many contractors had a bad reputation because they did not provide adequate bakau for piling. Some owners had to secretly or may be openly put in more bakau for a better foundation. Unscrupulous contractors often were cursed for generations. Whenever cracks appeared on buildings or homes, curses started flying. Some contractors even took off to Taiwan after collecting huge sums of money from the landowners. Those were the hazy,semi forgotten days of economic progress of Sibu in the sixties.

However, up till now , in my research, no one can really tell who was the man who started off the idea of bakau piling in Sibu. Bakau piling was not required in most parts in Miri where engineers deem the soil here (as I live in Miri) to be solid enough without bakau piling. However I did see some bakau in lorries a few days ago.

The bakau piling machine is unique too. Just a pulley system with a heavy pounder. Two men are needed to put the bakau trunk into place and one man can move the piling machine next to the bakau and down will come the pounder and the pile is smoothly done.Most of the bakau piling workers in Sibu in those days were Ibans, as were the other menial workers.

I used to watch these movements once in a while and wondered how long these bakau could stay strong as a foundation.

Today, so many years later, many shop houses in Sibu have no cracks and their foundation seem to be as strong as ever.

The answer is in the water table and the uniqueness of the bakau.

Change the water table in Sibu, all the shop houses may have no foundation. Bakau piles will dry up and become perhaps powder.

A few such cases in West Malaysia will provide evidence to my statements.

There is indeed more to bakau than meet the eye.

"Mangrove species are tolerant of salt water and known to produce high- resistance woods commonly used as piling poles in construction. The woods are also extracted for charcoal." (Borneo Post)

I am glad when I read about the following that “We now have 12,400 hectares of mangrove forests under totally protected areas and 16,622 hectares as permanent forest reserves and we are suggesting to add another 25,344 hectares as totally protected areas and 30,390 as permanent forest reserves.”

"....the mangrove projects would be monitored carefully to ensure their success."

“After the planting we will monitor the situation and make sure the mangroves flourish.

“And we have persuaded the local folks to help us. This way, we are also giving them jobs,” he said.


Source : 26/11/ 2007, Borneo Post

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.