Condensed Milk and Milk Powder in Sibu.

Did you know that the Mongolians invented powdered milk in the 13th century?

Marco Polo was a very observant man and a detailed archivist. I would say, he wrote and reported everything he saw. 

In the book of SER Marco Polo, Book 1, he described the Mongolian Tartar troops carrying sun dried skimmed milk as a kind of paste.

Polo traveled extensively with his family, journeying from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295 and remaining in China for 17 of those years. Around 1292, he left China, acting as consort along the way to a Mongol princess who was being sent to Persia.

It was only 6 centuries later that the Europeans began developing their own milk powder.  Osip Krichevsky in 1802 for example, a Russian doctor developed the process of producing powdered milk.

Russian chemist M. Dirchoff in 1832, organized the commercialisation of powdered milk. 

Before 1940,in Sibu there were records of the American missionary Rev Hoover who liked to have his bread and condensed milk after his office hours in the afternoon. Mrs. Hoover made her own bread and served two slices of bread, with condensed milk. He was a man of habit and he loved condensed milk.

During the Second World War, the American milk powder company, KLIM supplied powdered milk to the Allied Forces, the Red Cross etc.

From British author J. G. Ballard, we learn that Klim Imilk spelt backwards) was included in American relief supplies dropped over Shanghai, China, and the surrounding countryside following the Japanese surrender in August 1945. Ballard was then still a teenager, and had been interned for two years and five months in the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre. 

The relief supplies included, cans of powdered milk, along with tinned SPAM, chocolate bars, and cartons of Lucky Strike cigarettes. these are mentioned in Ballard's novel, Empire of the Sun, and 

his autobiography, Miracles of Life.

From the early days of Foochow Settlement till the early 60's, sterilized pure milk in tins and condensed milk in tins were special gifts for Foochows to bring as tokens of respect when they visited each other.  Half a dozen of any of the two would be a most welcomed gift especially by the family with a sick member. Probably a live chicken would be too much of a bother when someone is sick in the family and the mother was stressed.

And in early 1950's Sibu received milk powder donation from WHO. Adults, representing each family queued up at collecting centres like schools to receive what they entitled. I believe this was organized by the local government.

I remember my first taste of milk powder. My father had queued up for handouts at the Methodist Primary School (every family was asked to do so to collect gifts from WHO or rather United Nations) and it was quite a novelty for every Sibu Person. The skimmed milk powder was nice, but it did not quite "melt" in the hot water, as we were later told to make a paste first with cold water and then pour hot water into  the cup.

(According to relatives, queuing was introduced by Rev and Mrs. Hoover to the Sibu Foochows as early as the 1910's. But my father being educated in China did not find queuing troublesome. He thought it was very civilized to queue. First come first served!!)

The taste was not terrific but we drank so that we could have more calcium. My generation and my mother's generation, unfortunately did not have much calcium and most of us ended up with poor dental health. Mum has a whole set of dentures by the time she was 35, and my peers and I acquired dentures when we had front teeth extracted because of bad decay evem before we were in Form Five.