Sungei Merah Tales : Tea Time

My grandfather was a stern disciplinarian and he was a man who had very fixed times for everything he did. He was methodical, probably because he adhered to a lot of practices followed by the Methodist pastors and church members of his time. He was a close friend of the Reverend James Hoover and Mrs. Hoover.

He sent all his daughters to Yuk Ing Girls' School as he believed that girls must be well educated besides sending his sons to the Anglo Chinese Boys' School. His daughters , my aunts did particularly well in school, especially the eldest, Aunty Lily and the second, Aunty Phyllis who both became teachers in Singapore.  Aunty Maggie, because of the Japanese Occupation was lucky to escape from Sarawak during that time, became a nurse. My fifth aunt and ninth Aunt went to the USA on scholarships and did very well. However my 10th Aunt was the best because she was one of the best students in Sarawak and later became the Principal of a Hong Kong College.

My Grandfather visiting his daughters in Singapore.

All the other aunts were professionals in their own right.

Having educated all his children well, Grandfather enjoyed his old age. And one of his greatest joys was to have some cakes and tea about 4. We kids must never disturb his napping time which was followed by his tea time. Fresh cakes from the Sg. Merah bakeries would be purchased by Aunt Ah Hiong who would ride her bicycle from Kwong Ang Lane to the small bazaar.  Life did give him a lot of blessing, the young boy who was told by a fortune teller that he must cross a sea to gain a lot of wealth.

My grandmother Siew made sure that he enjoyed his tea especially with his thin tea and all his boisterious grand children far away from the kitchen.

We would all know the time was four o'clock because these two items, pong biang and long kor,  would be placed on the dining table for him.

He would then drink his tea slowly and ate the biscuit slowly, making sure that he did not drop any crumbs on the table. Grandfather was a very refine "eater". A very nostalgic image I have of him savouring his "pong biang" slowly as the evening lights fell upon the hill top.  He ate daintily and slowly and with a lot of satisfaction.









































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