My maternal Grandfather was called Lau Kah Jui. But every one in the Rajang Valley called him Moh Moh Jui. His older brother was Lau Kah Tii a prominent Foochow Community leader. The two brothers were brought out to Nanyang, Sarawak, by the Foochow pioneer leader, Wong Nai Siong.
Three batches of Foochow agriculturalists arrived in Sibu from 1901 to 1902, to make Sibu a rice producing agricultural centre, by an agreement with the 2nd Rajah Charles Brooke and Wong Nai Siong.
According to local legends my maternal grand uncle Lau Kah Tii, reared a lot of ducks, mainly females which laid lots of duck eggs and in turn the duck eggs hatched into more ducks. He was so fond of rearing ducks that soon he gained the nickname Moh Moh (duck mothers). And probably there were a few men named Jui..and my grandfather became know as Moh Moh Jui. the brother of Moh Moh.
In fact another legend was also attributed to him. It goes like this : What is the difference between a rich man and a poor man? Two men were given a duck egg each. the one who wanted to cater to his immediate needs, cooked his egg and ate it. The second man was more far sighted. He gave his egg to a sister in law and asked her to allow her mother duck to hatch the egg. Soon he had a mother duck and he was delighted. In no time, he had a brood of ducks. Slowly he built up his farm. Lau Kah Tii was the man who did not eat his duck egg.
My Ngie Goon (maternal grandfather) Moh Moh Jui was a kind man, who was well loved by all who knew him.
As he was a builder and an extremely skilled carpenter (all his wooden windows fitted perfectfly for example), he built a big wooden house with four units for his four sons. The photo shows the house in the 1960's. It was washed away by riverine erosion in the 80's. My third uncle Lau Pang Sing, built a smaller three bedroom house further inland.
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