Bound Feet Aunty: The Rajang Took Away a Beautiful Life

This story is written with a great deal of respect for my Uncle Lau Sing Chiong and his children.

I have grown up with my cousins and never knew about the aunt who drowned in the Rajang River until much later.

As a secondary school student, I was happy to know my cousins better. I visited their down river house and enjoyed playing in the village shop run by Uncle Sing Chiong. In those days, clan relation was very strong. My mother and Uncle Sing Chiong shared the same grand parents and that made them siblings in the Foochow sense. I got along very well with Cousin Yen, uncle Sing Chiong's only daughter. She came to stay with us in Sibu for a while, and so did Cousin Tim, who studied in Sacred Heart School

Uncle Sing Chiong was a student in Fujian, and was supported by Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii, his father's brother. He married at the age of 18, and later joined Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii.

When Uncle Sing Chiong's wife came out to Sibu in 1937, my mother was 10 years old and it was a happy occasion for every one. By that time, the Lau Mansion was already built and was the most beautiful mansion in the whole of the Rajang Valley.

Her name was Wong Hung Kiew from 6 Du, Minqing. She was not a child bride, nor an adopted girl. Aunty Hung Kiew had married uncle Sing Chiong in 1928. He was 18 . They had their eldest son Kung hui in 1929 and second son Kung Hoon aka Tze Cheng in 1931. In 1933 they had a third son Kung yew( who passed away because of polio when he was about 3 years old).

Uncle Sing Chiong chose to bring her and their two sons out of China. the boat journey took more than a month.

She was another bound feet lady but fate was cruel to her.

In April 1937 she arrived with her two sons Tze Cheng and his brother, Kung Hui in Sibu to join Uncle Uncle Lau Sing Chiong who had been brought out to Sarawak by his uncle Headman Lau Kah Tii.
In those days, uncles looked out for their nephews and their well being. It was quite a common practice for a migrant to work hard, earn enough and then send for their wife and children much later.

She was a very hard working woman who would wash all the laundry by the Rajang River. It must have bee very daunting for her because the Rajang was such a big river. 

The Min River in Minqing is just a small river by comparison. Even today, like before, it is very safe for Foochow women to wash clothes by the clear creek. My 21st century visit to 6D enabled me to see the lovely Min river and the Plum Creek or Mui Keh. Ducks swam in the creek, and washing was still done by the creek!!

As a new comer, she must have been quite scared of the big river and probably was quite unaware of the big waves created by the motor launches. Each morning she would wash all the clothes on the pontoon. One day, a huge wave from a motor launch rolled up and swept through the floating jetty and she lost her balance. As she had bound feet, she was not steady. She fell into the Rajang and was drowned. She could not swim. 

She was only 26 years old on June 18th 1937 and her son, Lau Tze Cheng ( Lau Kung Huong) was barely 6 years old.

May she rest in peace.