Singlets in Sanba

Photo taken at Ah Nang Chong, outside my youngest aunts kitchen, an extension of the big house.

When the tide was high, we used this plankwalk to go into the house. The  main front door towards the right faced the river bank and the front yard was often flooded, especially during the rainy season(Landas).

The big house was like a two storey terrace house. There were four units (one each for my grandfather's four sons). When my youngest uncle left for China in 1954, his unit was rented to Uncle Dien Ching who started a sundry shop and rental was collected by Grandma. Our youngest aunt rented on unit (belonging to Second Uncle). Oldest uncle and Third uncle lived in their own units. Grandma had the whole upstairs with several rooms and a big space to store padi.




A whole ERA has passed. Grandma is no longer around and many of the uncles and aunties have passed on. The cousins in this photo are in their 50's and 60's. And they will soon go into their 7th decade. I am a few years older.

Before the arrival of T shirts and especially the black t shirts with swanky designs and slogans, the white sleeveless singlet was worn at home and even in the sports fields. They were not at all considered men's underwear.

Today the sleeveless white singlet has made a come back. Both men and women weare them as casuals, and some even wear them to supermarkets and even for a night's outing!!

This memorable photo shows my male cousins all sporting the white sleeveless singlet.  It was taken  in the late 60's after Malaysia was formed as the little boys sitting in the front row are now in their 50's.

The older cousins were born in the 50's.

when we visited Ngie Mah in this house, we would enjoy the airy spaces of the two balconies and the extension platform (chiak bang) where clothes were dried when the river overflowed the banks. Third Uncle and aunty would play host and they would make lots of baos for evening snack and cook a lot of chien mien gang for breakfast.

It was convenient for all of us to swim in the Rajang River, wash our clothes on the jetty and even go fishing at night. We never heard of or saw any crocodile.