In the 1960's, at the Methodist Secondary School there was a very good woodwork shop and a good Woodwork teacher who was trained by Colombo Plan, David Eu. The Sarawak State Education Department had a very good syllabus for wood work and many of my school mates earned good exam marks.
During my time, Bobby Ling Tai Peng lost his thumb in the woodwork class. That brought a lot of fears to both girls and boys. Woodwork was mainly for boys and no girl ever took the subject. However if there were too many boys in the class, the selected few would have to take Home Science. A few boys like Tracey Mamora, Cheng Hua Kong and others came under Miss Mamora.
The students from the Woodwork class made beautiful wood crafts and there was a good exhibition of their work in one of the School's Open Days. Local people were very impressed.
It was during this period of time that I became very interested in local art and crafts. I was curious how my uncles paddled their boats in Nang Chong and made their own.
In the olden days, Foochows like my maternal grandfather and uncles often waited for stray logs which came floating past the Nang Chong house and the would paddle to the middle of the river to bring the stray log back. They would saw the log for fire wood, and if suitable, they could make a window frame, or some furniture.
The paddles they made were kept as a life long personal item!
Without many tools most of our Foochow elders were able to make their own paddles from a piece of good wood.
The best wood for paddles would be belian, which is hardy and very lasting. Keranji, selangan batu and meranti would be good too.
And most of our elders had only some simple hand tools to use. We really have to admire them for their ingenuity.
It was very heart breaking for any one if his paddle was stolen or lost by a child in the river. There was thus a policy of having your own paddle, and never to borrow one.
It used to be commonly stated, "Make your own paddle, if you don't have one." But nowadays paddles can be bought online even.
Furthermore, the paddle was used for public beating. It has been known in the Foochow society for elders to beat a rule breaker by beating his buttocks with a paddle.
Note : in western culture a paddling means spanking. And it is a form of corporal punishment.
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