When the Foochow pioneers first arrived in Sibu, they had three choices of water : river water, rain water and well water. Wherever there were opportunities to dig for well water, they would not hesitate to do so especially those who lived further away from the river banks.
Government supplied water only existed after 1958 after widespread occurrence of cholera which took many lives.
" Cholera has been in existence in Sarawak for many years and since 1873 many major epidemics have occurred. The epidemics usually occur during the dry months of May, June and July and the population affected are those in coastal areas. As in other outbreaks the areas affected were those which had poor environmental sanitation, poor water supply, poor refuse disposal and indiscriminate disposal of faeces. "( Yadav H1,Chee CM.)
Many older people can still remember using well water in Sg. Merah, and Kwong Hua area.
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| This well has been recently "refurbished" for church use in Kwong Hua area. It was probably dug in 1903 when the Foochow pioneers first arrived.d caption |
Well water is often considered cleaning and tastier than river water. When the Rajang became very polluted this well continued to give forth good clean water.
Today if well water is still available, it is not a bad idea to continue to use the water for some domestic use.
We continue to believe in a God whose grace is sufficient for us.
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