Three men decided to get an ice making machinery with Rev Hoover's help and set up the first ice making factory in Pulau Kerto. They bought the land for a very small sum from the government paying a very small premium. And being related, the venture was a 50:50 joint venture, Tiongs had half and the Wongs the other half. The Tiongs and Wongs were related by marriage as my great grandfather was married to a Wong.
The three men who put the money together were Tiong Kung Ping and the Wong brothers, Liing Kwong and Hung Kwong.
They named the business venture Hua Hung meaning Chinese Bountiful Harvest. My learned great grandfather Tiong King Kee purportedly came up with the name for the business venture. It was very much the kind of business venture Jack Welch would approve of. No1 in the business.
The machinery was put together by Tiong Kung Ping with the help of his English educated wife from Java, Chong Ching Soon who read the manual and translated for him. And not long after the machinery parts which came in to Sibu ( by ship in huge boxes )were put together by my grandfather every one waited for ice to be made. Could water turn into ice?
Initially, it must have been quite a sight for every one to see the machinery working. Prayers were said and all the families were blessed.
There was also a tale that Rev James Hoover waited for the ice to form on the first day and it was reported, " Hoo Rinang jing huan ngi...Kang xia JUO". My grandma spoke with a Hook Chiang slang, my grandfather was Minqing. Rev Hoover spoke Kutien while Mrs. Hoover spoke Minqing.
Many Minqing or Ming Chiang people could not understand Rev Hoover's Kutien accent. (lots of jokes).
The ice made by the factory supplied the much needed commodity to the local Malay, Melanau and Iban fishermen. Ice blocks were sent to Sibu coffee shops by the factory's "ice boats" regularly in the morning before seven. The Rajang was quite a wide river between Pulau Kerto and Sibu, and the confluence of the Igan and Rajang was just a stone throw away.
A morning business would be done very early in the morning The young Mr. Lo was an employee then and he had this story to tell.
Mr. Lo, who later became a famous timber man started his life carrying ice blocks, with this bare hands. The people called this job "Boh Bing" or hugging ice. The ice blocks were big measuring 2 feet long and 9 inches thick. The ice blocks were carried into the waiting ice boats. When the tide was high the boats were at the same level as the jetty and it was easier for Mr. Lo. If the tide was low, then the ice blocks had to be carried along a plankwalk to the boats, an extra burden for Mr. Lo and the ice carriers.
When the ice boat was full, the engine would start and Mr. Lo would then go home, have a bit of rest and start his office work or tend to the ice factory. The ice boat man would also run errands for the employees, buy vegetables and other groceries and daily necessities.
Another employee, the factory clerk Mr. Lee was a trusted man who was a kind of Purchaser for the the whole complex. In 1950's my parents' shopping was all done by him.
Interestingly his son went to school with one of my sisters who later married a cousin of ours!! Today we are still a very close knit group of friends and cousins.
Furthermore, an added point of interest came from Mr. Lo who told one of my aunts that throughout his later life he suffered from cold chests and a bad cough. Working in an ice factory had its occupational hazards.
The ice factory then provided Sibu coffee shops and fishermen with ice blocks until 1958 when my grandfather and the Wong brothers sold the business to another Foochow man who went into the frozen food export business.
The small complex of the factory, living quarters and offices was a whole complete Foochow residential cum commercial site was probably quite American in design according to an aunt. More than 100 people lived here for more than 40 years. Folks had seen older generation die, and their grand children born in Pulau Kerto. It was quite a patriarchal outfit.
This first business was inspired by Rev James Hoover who was very innovative and far sighted. My grandfather was blessed by a brilliant mechanical mind because he was good in assembling many machinery brought in by Rev Hoover.
Do you know that in local dialect Kerto means mosquito larva?
1 comment:
very interesting. In Sibu town area, a bit near RC's mission road area, there was an ice factory. My grandma used to live there. When we went with a container and bought the ice sticks at a discounted price.
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