According to an aunt, my father and my two other uncles studied for a few years in Shanghai to brush up their Chinese and a few other subjects. Their education in Sibu was considered Junior Middle School Education.
The First World War and the general economc depression had created chaos in China and the world. Many of the undergrads had to work for several years before applying for places at the university.
Needless to say the Nanyang Chinese were also affected by the world depression.
However most students from Nanyang did enjoy the special education offered by Yenching University. My father paid the minimal fees as he was a "recommended student" from a "missionary settlement of Sibu". Rev. James Hoover, my grandfather and Lau Kah Tii, the Foochow Kapitan, were delighted by the academic opportunities and the remission of fees for Nanyang students.
My father, being from equatorial Sarawak, was in awe of Ice Hockey. He related to us , his children that when the opportunity came, that was the one game he took up quite seriously. However he would not ski if he could help it, although many of his friends took up the sport. Most of his course mates from the northern part of China could skii well. He thought that skiing was a very dangerous game.
He liked the winters of Beijing and would often tell us stories of his escapades in the city, looking for roasted hot chestnuts.
In later years in Sibu, he would request my maternal grandmother to put exptra chestnuts in his zonghzi, or nik chern which my grandmother would most be happy to do so. Chestnuts give zhonzi a natgural sweetness.
Thus for his sports during his undergrad days, ice hockey was the game my father enjoyed for a few years.
He used to tell us that he would also swim but he did not take part in any swimming competitions.
He enjoyed some tennis but he also did not take part in any competitions. In later years he did play some tennis in Sibu, but he found that he was getting too unfit in his 40's.
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