Sungei Teku Tales : The Little Noodle Maker

The mother of Tian Tee, Ling Koh, was an amazing Heng Hua woman who lived in Sg. Teku and left a glorious inspiring life story as a legacy to the descendants of the Heng Hua people there. She was illiterate, born in China and extremely poor. Her father simply named her Koh,

糕 which means cake in English. Ling is her family's surname.

From a very young age Ling Koh arrived on the shores with  the Heng Hua pioneers from Heng Hua country to Sibu under the guidance of Rev Brewster and they settled in Sg. Teku. That was 1912.


Ling Koh, Tian Tee's mother, was a very hardworking girl and married fairly young, and brought up 8 children. Tian Tee is one of her younger daughters. When Tian Tee was five, her father passed away. After that, Ling Koh raised her children all by herself.



In those long ago days, every Sunday she would clean  the Rubber mangle or rubber sheet rolling machine with soap and hot water to knead her dough for her hand made noodles. This was a very awesome and creative thing to do and the neighbours in Sg. Teku were really amazed by her quick thinking. Even by today's standards, very few people could do the same.

After drying the machine she would use it to roll out


 her home made noodles Every week she would make more than 10 katis of noodles . She would use the eggs her hens laid to make her noodles. The soup would come from the vegetables she grew in the back yard. Even though she was tired from rubber tapping, pig rearing and animal raising, and looking after her many children, she did not find it at all daunting to prepare a huge basin of Pan Mien for the worshippers who came to worship in the Sg. Teku Church built especially for the Heng Huas.

This is a photo of Putien Lo Mee taken from a media article. This mee is really very delicious. How would you like to get a free bowl of this on Sunday, and by the road side, made and served by a rubber tapper? Wouldn't your heart swell with gratitude?

Her daughter Tian Tee is similarly amazing. She was able to finish 6 years of education (she was taught in Heng Hua language in Sg. Teku)  but she did it remarkably in a very unique way. For every year of education, she only went to school for six months. The other six months she was helping her mother to look after her brothers and sisters

The little Heng Hua lady , Ling Koh, wanted to make sure that those who came to worship God on Sunday would not go home hungry. She placed the huge basin of noodles by the roadside and as the church goers left the church to walk home, they would stop and have a bowl or even two bowls of her very delicious noodles. This was her way of giving back to God, to appreciate God for what He has done for her. Many people would remember her as the Noodle Maker.

Today,  10 of her  grand children  (and in laws) are serving God as full time ministers. Two of them are Tian Tee's daughters  and one son-in-law. Praise God!!