Sibu Tales : Give to All equally, or Don't Give at all

When buildings go up,Foochow towkays and contractors all had to be very careful in whatever they said and did to prevent any workers from putting a curse on the work or even on the building that was going up.

This was a common belief in China which was carried to Sibu.

Thus the Foochows in Sibu in the olden days were always very careful when they were building their houses. There were so many things they should not say. A moral story came to mind a few days ago.

This guy who wanted his house to be built was not exactly a fair man and the workers he hired had noticed it. Usually some tea and biscuits were offered in the morning and afternoon to the workers. However this guy only asked the senior workers to rest and have a break. As a result after a few days, one of the less skilled workers made a comment, "To be fair, every one must have together or not at all." In Foochow his comment was " Wu jeh jeh wu, moh jeh jeh moh."

The troubled started the next day. Every one wanted to use the toilet at the same time. This went on for a few days until a wise man came to solve the problem.

Hence we today know the moral story.