December 25, 2015

Nang Chong Stories : Midnight Carollers

Christmas of yesteryears in Sibu during my childhood was very different because of the social, historical, cultural and religious backgrounds then.

While waiting for the carollers to arrive, even after midnight, we would sit by the river banks and enjoy ourselves, watching the stars in the skies if it was a clear night. And from a distance we could hear angelic voices singing all the carols. Sound travels faster over water.

One of the stories we heard and shared all those years ago was this story...it could be a man-made story, it could be a local gossip, and it was never verified as a teacher probably told a class of her students and then her students brought the story back to their families....and I heard it from my cousins one Christmas..by then I already knew about the Methodist Bukit Lan Clinic but I was not too aware about Animal Care...

However now I can tell this story to my grandson and my friend's children about love for animals and relate it to Bible stories...(Suitable Photos to illustrate later)

Carolling at midnight is now an element of a by gone era....

An Unusual Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, in Ah Nang Chong,a village by the banks of the Rajang River lived a poor mother and her children. Her husband was away working hard to bring back a small income.
One day the mother fainted by the river side while she was trying to draw some water for her old mother in law to bathe. She was so exhausted.
All her children were in school, about l hour's walk away.
Then came along an old, thin dog and she started barking for help.
This arouse the suspicion of a nearby neighbour who came down to see for herself and soon raised the alarm to save the woman.
More neighbours came and they rowed a boat to Bukit Lan where they could find a nurse to save her.
The woman was saved and she was given rest and some extra food.
When she was well, she took the old dog into her home and looked after her very well. In time, the dog was to help the family in many ways
The woman started to tell all the children in the neighbourhood not to hit old dogs but to give them food to eat. The dog continued to be the body guard of the woman and her children.
And the woman, her children and the old grandmother lived happily together, ever after.
God wants us to be humble and recognise each other's values even if we were the lowest of the animals.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

your story reminded me about a news several days ago in sin chew daily about a dog, which barked and brought attention to a woman about an abandoned newly born baby at the road side. the baby was saved (but no follow up news in the newspaper since then)

Ensurai said...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Just hope that she and the baby are ok...Prayers and Hope, Love and caring and neighbourliness are values we need to have more in these turbulent times.

God bless.

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