To leave or Not to Leave Sibu.

 This is a photo to show our 5th Aunt, Grace Chang's pre flight/departure from Sibu moment, to the USA after she resigned as Dean from the Methodist Secondary School.

She was the first Foochow woman to hold the post as Dean of a large school. Being English educated she was not at ease with many of the older men who were on the board of directors. And being single she had more choices in life. After she weighed all the possibilities she chose to study again.

My grandfather loved her very much as she was the youngest child from him and our Grandmother Chong Soon Ching. When Grandmother Chong passed away at age 38, Aunt Grace was just a toddler. She was brought up by my great grandmother basically.

On the day she left, grandfather called all the daughters in law and sons to bring the young children to the airport to say good bye. Grandfather always insisted that we dressed well and that we must all come as a whole family to the airport. He must have felt very sad as he moved around quietly and getting all of us children for the photo taking. We were like little chicks running around and unable to pose.  He had all the adults standing and the next generation squatting. We did quite a good job finally.

As he always carried an oiled umbrella, he used it to protect my lovely aunt from the sun, for the photo taking. This photo taken by my father impressed me so much that in the next few decades I would always look out for photos showing men carrying umbrellas like that. It has been most interesting.

My fifth aunt must have been one of the earliest Foochow women to think about leaving her hometown for good. It must not have been easy but there were more pros than cons for her to leave. My grandfather was already aging. She was not happy with her job. Sibu was a far cry from Kansas where she had studied, or even Singapore, where her sisters were. Besides she was still single and all her siblings were already married and having children. She had more ambitions than just remaining as a teacher. 

My grandfather had arrived in Sibu in 1902. Aunt Grace was born in 1928,educated in Yuk Ing Girls' School, Sibu. She had a good education in Singapore where she joined her older sisters after the war. Upon graduation from  teacher's training college, she taught a few years in Singapore. She gained a scholarship to study in the USA. She famously crossed the Pacific Ocean by  a freight ship (she was so determined to gain higher education) and we were told stories of her adventures. She was a good letter writer, writing to all her brothers and sisters every now and then, especially at Christmas.

She was probably the first Foochow girl from Sibu to obtain a Masters' degree in Sprecial Education and Psychology.

It must have taken her many months to make a decision to leave a good job and her home town. She was never a Malaysian, as she left Sarawak before 1963, but a British subject from the Colony of Sarawak. She was in the USA to do graduate studies but was encouraged to work in Canada where she met her husband Professor A. Manson. She took up Canadian citizenship.

To leave or not to leave was the question.