September 29, 2013

Nang Chong Stories : Terong Iban and Salt


A dear cousin of mine was shocked recently when he went to buy some Terong Iban to prepare for his favourite dish - Asam Fish Head Curry. His wife had told him to buy four for their evening meal. They were 12 ringgit per kg. 4 terong cost him 16 ringgit.

He had the following tale to share.

The Ensurai and Nang Chong Villages were set up by the pioneering  Foochows who arrived in the early1900's. Land was allocated to them by the Brooke Government, which expected these agriculturalists from China to grow rice and form a rice bowl in the Rajang Delta , and grow enough food for the whole kingdom of Sarawak.

 After the Second World War, food was scarce and so was cash.

My cousin grew up in Nang Chong village, tapped rubber part time as a primary school student and caught fish in the evenings.

Staying in Nang Chong, many Foochows could walk to Tulai via the rubber gardens to visit relatives or to look for herbs and "loi ling", a kind of poisonous plant which was fairly valueable and could be exchanged for cash.  There were many longhouses towards the Tulai area.

According to my cousin, very often the Ibans would bring their vegetables in large baskets to the Foochow villages. He remembers that  he saw many Ibans would make trips just for barter trading right until Malaysia was formed..

A photo from Google.



A pot of boiled terong in Ulu Medamit. Terong is a favourite dish and can be eaten wih rice and nothing else.


According to my cousin,he had a special and memorable incident related to Terong Iban. He was still a little boy and most Chinese did not know how to "eat" terong Iban in those early days. Actually there were limited cross cultural exchanges with the Dayaks, Malays and Melanaus due to linguistic and social barriers.

 "We co-existed in the Delta, and actually we had very necessity to inter act. We were like different moons revolving around the earth in our own orbits" my mother used to say.

 In fact my grandmother Lien Tie ,born in the era of the Qing Dynasty in Fujian, China, used to say that "the Rajah was very careful to ensure that the different races were separated, the Malays worked in the town, the Ibans were kept or placed in the rural areas and the Chinese were asked to grow rice. This was similar to the Qing dynasty and the dynasties before. We Chinese were used to being classed socially as traders, scholars and servants, and even soldiers" Marriages were mainly within the classes.

She had never entered a classroom in her life, having learned only to memorize Bible verses, Chinese sayings by "listening and memorising". She was sold to my grand uncle for Five Silver Dollars as a child bride for my grandfather, many years her senior. But then she grew up to be a very wise woman in her own right.

To my cousin and many of his Foochow relatives the Terong ban as a vegetable was just a wild fruit, sourish in taste and even hard because the skin was very thick.

One day an Iban family came to my cousin's house. They wanted to barter trade with his parents who could not speak Iban or Malay. There were rather frightened because just two years previously, they had heard tales of head hunting during the Japanese war.

In order to quickly get the Iban family out of the area, his father used hand signs to wave them away. But the Ibans who also tried to communicate with sign language looked fairly ferocious to the timid farmers.

The Ibans wanted salt (garam) in exchange for the terong Iban. His father,my uncle, nodded his head and went to get a packet of white salt. Salt in those days were rough sea salt. When the Ibans saw the large packet of salt, they were very happy. and they shook hands with my uncle and left.

After the salt was passed over to them, the Ibans left the terong and the basket on the plank walk and went away as peacefully as they came. For days and weeks the whole family was terrified by the basket that was left behind. Perhaps they did not know how much the Iban family had appreciated the salt packet.

My uncle was dumbfunded because there was so much terong in the basket!! He did not know what to do with the terong. My aunt , according to my cousin, did not cook the terong but instead gave the terong to the pigs , ducks and chickens to eat.

Soon many terong plants grew near the pig sties. And more and more terong Iban could be seen. No one harvested the fruits.

But my cousin remembers until today that when a fruit was unknown to a people it was fairly worthless, but worth a packet of rough salt only.

Today,more than 60 years later, with inflation and better knowledge, he has to pay through the nose for a kilo of terong Iban.

The Chinese have learned to eat terong Iban because restaurants and celebrity chefs have promoted the vegetable. Malaysian Food Festivals, cross cultural exchanges and Inter marraiges have also given the vegetable more publicity.

Terong Iban has been sold in Harrods in London, served during Open Days at Universities and embassies for example,all over the world as a special Borneon Delicacy/

But more importantly at home in Sarawak more people from different racial backgrounds are planting Terong Iban in their own backyard alongside kangkong, ensabi, mustard greens and tomoatoes (Terong Orang Putih or Ang Moh Gior)

But I am quite sure that my grandmother would love the soup that I make from Terong Iban. My cousin agrees with me too. 













Limbang : How much is a durian worth?

This is how I can tell you how difficult it is for some people to collect their durians form the MENUA (land) when there is no road and no bridge in Limbang (Sarawak)...

A family . father and mother taking two kids out on a Sunday to teach them about their social and economic roles....They have to cross the swift flowing river to get to their durian and fruit farm, where their old longhouse stood. They had moved to the other side because the people had wanted to use the road instead of the river as time has changed.






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This is how durians are carried from the farm to the longhouse and then by car to Limbang town. In the past, the bus helped farmers like him transport the fruits, at a high cost.




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The durians have to be cleaned before being sold as they are covered in soft mud after having falling from the trees. The best durians are the fallen ones.



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Some of the durian- producers sit by the roadside to sell their durians in Limbang.

Try not to bargeain with the durian- producer- sellers. They have come a long way to bring durians to you.


September 28, 2013

Hin Hua Lady Bone Setter


Sarawakiana@2: Hin Hua Lady Bone Setter

Grandmother Ling was the most famous bone setter of Sg. Merah.

I would just like to write a little about her so that future generations would remember her and the roles she played in setting bones. Today her daughter in law has taken over her work in Sg. Merah.

When we were young, whenever any one had a broken bone, the parents would take the child to see her and in no time, the broken bone would be healed. She was able to straighten a joint dislocation and re-set bone fractures. Besides she was also well known for healing children who had ailments modern doctors could not cure.

There were hundreds of stories like this  about her in the oral history of Sibu and Sg. Merah.

From 1983 to 1987 I lived near her along the old Airport Road. And years later I wished I had learned from her something about bone setting.

But then this kind of knowledge is God given. She had learned the ways of bone setting from her elders in China.

September 27, 2013

Sg. Buloh - Former Leper Colony now Green Lungs



In the early years of the 20th Century, Malayan lepers were sent to Pangkok Lau and Pular Jerejak, where they could live in isolation.

In Sarawak, those afflicted with leprosy were sent to the Charles Brooke Memorial Hospital to live with other fellow lepers. Many who died were buried in the small graveyard next to the hospital.

Leprosy has been a feared disease.Image may contain: grass, outdoor and nature

However since the 1950's leprosy has become treatable.

The lepers who used to live in Sg. Buloh, a leper settlement, have been growing vegetables and flowers, and especially orchids.

Today Sg. Buloh has a reputable horticultural business and indeed it is considered a horticultural hub.Image may contain: plant, tree, outdoor and nature

It is a place for many gardeners and garden loving people to visit.

People no longer look at Sg. Buloh as a place where lepers can be found.









September 24, 2013

A Monument to Bamboo (Pontianak)

When in West Kalimantan, you cannot miss the Monument to Bamboo in Pontianak.

Monumen Digulis (Bamboo Monument) is not located in the city center of Pontianak but is situated in the roundabout just outside the University of Tanjuongpura. 

This monument has a history related to West Kalimantan youth's struggle (Sarekat Islam)  to achieve independence.





(Wikipedia)
This monument has 11 stakes towering into the sky, every one a different size.  The monument was unveiled on 10 November 1987 by the then Governor of West Kalimantan, H Soedjiman. At one time it was painted white and red and many thought that it looked like lipsticks. In 2011 the colours were changed to the original bamboo colours of yellow with stripes of green.

There is a dark story behind the establishment of this monument. It all started in 1914, when the formation of the SI Party (SI) in Ngabang (aka City of Hedgehogs). Faith-based organizations received a lot of sympathy from the public, until the Dutch government finally issued an order to freeze all activities of the SI.
Image result for monument to bamboo Kalimantan
There was rampant insurgency of SI members in Java and Sumatra. The Dutch East Indies government arrested 11 leaders of West Kalimantan movement. Three of the 11 characters died while exiled to Digoel in West Irian, while 5  died in the incident in the Porcupine District Overseer.

The 11 Bamboo Digulists symbolizes each hero: Achmad Marzuki, Ahmad Bilal Ahmad bin Su'ud, Gusti Djohan Idrus, Gusti Hamzah, Gusti Moehammad Situt Machmud, Gusti Soeloeng Lelanang, Sawang Amasundin Jeranding Sari, H Hj Rais bin Abdurahman, alias Bung Patch Moehammad Hanbal, Moehammad Sohor and Yes 'Moehammad Sabran.

Their names are also enshrined in the street names of Pontianak.  Armed struggle in Indonesia involving the use of tapered bamboo was recorded throughout the history of the county.

After the Declaration of Independence, the general population continued to fight against the Japanese, the Dutch and the Allies. The "tapered bamboo became the weapons of the masses." The Indonesians were able to get hold of the guns of the Japanese when they surrendered. 
Other Bamboo Monuments are found in Surabaya and Genteng.

September 21, 2013

Longhouses we visited in Kalimantan

Uluk Palin (Dayak Tamambaloh, very old and genuinely 'long' - location: Kecamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)

This is one of the most visited tourist kind of longhouse in this area.

Sungei Utik is another longhouse that is worth visiting. The longhouse residents are very welcoming.
It is located in Kacamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu.
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The following are names of longhouses which we did not visit.

- Samangkok (Dayak Taman, very old - location: Kecamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Melapi (Dayak Taman, very old structure - location: Kecamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Mungguk (Iban or Maloh, old - location: Kecamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Sungai Utik (Dayak Iban, old - location: Kecamatan Putussibau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Sadap (Dayak Iban, new - bordering Betung Kerihun national park - location: Kecamatan Embaloh Hulu, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Kelawi' (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Batang Lupar, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Kelayam (Dayak Iban, new - Kecamatan Embaloh Hulu, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Ngaung Keruh (Dayak Iban, old - location: Kecamatan Batang Lupar, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Kampung Sawah (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Batang Lupar, Kabupaten Kapuas HUlu)
- Libong (Dayak Iban, old - location: Kecamatan Batang Lupar, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Guntul (Dayak Iban, old - location: Kecamatan Batang Lupar, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Kapar (Dayak Iban, destroyed by fire accident in 2004)
- Sebindang (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Badau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Seriang (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Badau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Tangit (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Badau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Kekurak (Dayak Iban, new - location: Kecamatan Badau, Kabupaten Kapuas Hulu)
- Saham (old: Kecamatan Pahauman, Kabupaten Pontianak)

September 16, 2013

Carton King (Taiwan)

Carton King is a creative park where almost everything is made of corrugated cardboard. The ceilings, the floor, the furniture, the pens and paper, everything!

It was a hot day for the 13 of us in the team. Our first two days were rather damp and extremely wet because of the Typhoon Trami. But when the sun came out, it was really glaring and hot.

There were many exciting sections to visit .There's also a restaurant there where you can sit and have a good meal in the cardboard land but when we were there it was not open, rather unfortunate as we had planned to have a nice lunch there. All the tables and shelves were made of corrugated cardboard.

I did not fancy any of the souvenirs made from paper so I was thrilled to find a Post Shop. The post cards sold there were just what I wanted.


I bought a post card and sent it to my son. I thought it was a tourist kind of gimmick. The postcard did not cost much and the stamp was only 10 Taiwan Dollars. Today, after about 20 days, my son received the card.

That's a real treat for my heart!! i.e. it is heartening to hear from him, that he is happy to receive a card in the mail.

 

 


 There's a zoo, where the animals are all made from paper (carton) and when a child presses a button, the animal will make its noise. Just a small area but very creative and refreshing. (At least there is no smell of foul dung!!)

http://im-chacha.blogspot.com/2013/02/taichung-carton-king-everything-made-by.html(My camera could not function, so I lost a whole day of photograph...I have to grab photos from Goggle)


This place is also known as 纸箱王.

I am thinking of my children as I write this. Wish I can still travel with them all every where I go.

September 9, 2013

Lin Yutang

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I took this photo of his desk - simple, with a Bible.


It was a Monday and our free and easy day during our field research in Taiwan.

My friend and I really wanted to see the Lin Yutang House and to our disappointment, the House in Yang Mingsan in Taipeh was closed on Mondays.


To save the situation, and not go back to the hotel empty handed, we trekked up the Yang Ming San, saw the lava lake and had a good lunch of mountain vegetables and mushrooms.
Not to be disappointed, my friend and I went again on Wednesday, having to sacrifice a day’s exciting team itinerary and broke away from the group.
We took the Metro, then the local bus to our destination. It was a good one-hour ride from our Minsu (B & B). Along the way, we breathed in the Taipeh air, still fresh from the rain brought by Typhoon Trami.
The Lin Yutang house is a splendid fusion of Chinese and Spanish style architecture with indigo blue roofs, a white-washed walled house, built on a ridge, right on the main road and overlooking Taipeh. What a splendid view Lin and his family must have had of the city from the balcony.
Lin Yutang was educated in Gulangyu. He taught at Xiamen University from 1926 -27, long before my father took up undergrad studies at Yenching University at Beijing. My father influenced my siblings and I to read Lin Yutang's books from an early age.

In 1937 my father graduated from Yenching University Beijing and he must have felt very proud of a fellow Chinese who wrote the 1935 best seller, "My Country and My People." My father had a copy of the book on his table and very often, he would tell us at our dinner table about Lin Yutang. Lin was the first Chinese author to reach the top of the New York Times bestseller list and was encouraged by Pearl S. Buck to publish his book,"My Country and my People".
Lin came from a Christian background. His house in Yang Mingsan brings out his strong faith. He was the 7th of a Presbyterian minister's 8 children. He was born in Longxi on October 10th 1895. He enjoyed reading like his father. An Amoy missionary, Abbe Livingston Warnshuis, sent books to the family to help cultivate their intellectual life.

Lin's sister Mei Kong who was denied a college education gave him forty cents before he left for college. She said to him, "Don't waste your opportunity. Be a good man, a useful man, and a famous man." She later died of the plague and was 7 months pregnant and only 23 years old. Her death haunted Lin who became not only useful and famous but also fought injustice against women.

His grave can be found in the grounds of his residence in Yang Mingsan.


September 6, 2013

Tales from Sungei Merah : Grandfather's Dustpan

My paternal grandfather Tiong Kung Ping was very handy with his tools. He made a lot of things for the home throughout his life time, being innovative, creative and frugal.

I was told that he ever worked as a contractor in his younger days, but being the entrepreneur he was, he only wished to earn money by providing services and good, so he had boats, rice mills and sawmills. He had some smoke houses for rubber. However, he was best with machines of all sorts.

He was a very careful and meticulous worker, and would spend hours in the workshop in the Ice Factory and the Mee Ang Sawmill. Later when he started Kiong Ang Brickyard, he was fond of every piece of machinery in Aup. In fact he was the one who decided to buy the best machinery for making bricks and he was already past 65. Indeed his brick making machinery was the first imported one in Sarawak before 1960.

One of the things he made for his house in Sungei Merah was the recycle tin dust pan, as shown in the photo below. Well in those days, every Wong, Tiong, and Ting made them for their home use. No good Foochow man would go to town to buy a dust pan for his wife. What he could make, he did not have to buy. I believe the only thing he did not make was a basket. But he did make wreath frames from bamboo. Someone told me that Rev James Hoover taught the Foochow pioneers this American skill. As a result most Foochow Christian funerals have been seeing lots of floral wreaths, American style.
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Being a very frugal man, he treasured everything he had. He  also collected many useable, re-useable stuff and fashioned them into useful items.  I remember him sitting on a small stool and cutting away the cooking oil tin. He had a metal cutter which he used very deftly. He would draw a good line with a pencil and ruler. He also had a special tool to cut harder metals. I remember it was not easy for him to fold the edges over so that we kids would not cut ourselves when using the dust pan. He would hammer the edges with careful strokes, and of course, try to make as little noise as possible.

 When he finished his work, he would put everything back into his tool basket and then sweep the floor. And carefully, he would place two new dust pans against the wall. Today he would have been a great member of the local Recycle, Reuse, Reduce Committee!!

When I saw this dust pan in Taiwan (Chang Yung High School) I was moved to tears that people continue to use this idea from  mainland China, where my grandfather was born. I heard from many people that Taiwanese if possible do not plastic items if they have a choice. They prefer natural materials..

We should indeed be thinking of using less plastic in our lives and recycle more. Plastics are made from petroleum. The more we demand  plastics the higher the price of petroleum will be.

So let us start tinkering in our backyard!!

September 2, 2013

International Screen and those who have gone.....


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International Screen started publication on October 1955, almost two years earlier than Southern Screen.

The Cathay Organization's was the lead in the race to modernize the Chinese film industry along Hollywood lines (especially the vertical integration of production, distribution, and exhibition). Cathay had started out as one of the largest theater chains in Southeast Asia, then entered into distribution in order to ensure a steady supply of films for its theaters.

In the mid-50s, Cathay ventured into production (including funding the independent productions of Yan Jun and Bai Guang) and initiated an actors training program. In 1956, it formally restructured its various Hong Kong companies into Motion Picture & General Investment, and the first MP&GI film, Golden Lotus (1957) starring Lin Dai, debuted the following Chinese New Year.

In 1957, Run Run Shaw arrived in Hong Kong  and bought 46 acres of land in Clearwater Bay for the future Shaw Movie Town, and in March 1958 he officially announced the establishment of Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. Image may contain: 1 person

The battle between Shaws and Cathay had begun. One tactic used by Shaws was the stealing of stars, which can be traced on the covers of both studios' magazines.

Lin Dai, was the cover girl for the premiere issues of both International Screen and Southern Screen. In fact, in the same month (December, 1957) that she appeared on the cover of Southern Screen No. 1, she also graced the cover of International Screen No. 26. Throughout the late 50s, she freelanced for both studios, until she finally settled down at Shaw Brothers in 1961.

The competition between Cathay Organization and Shaw Brothers was good for the audiences for we saw better movies and a whole new list of movie stars started to appear on the screen.
Source : Google.

Soh Mien on First Day of Lunar New Year

 Today 10.2.2024 is the first day of the New Lunar Year of the Dragon. Yes I have cooked the chicken and made the soh mien. Happy New Year!!...