Hua Hong Ice Factory : High Fever

 My grandfather's cousin, Grand Uncle Tiong Kung Lien was admitted to the Lau King Howe Hospital for a very high fever which could not subside for many days. In those days before the war, any fever was hard to cure. Probably it was before the time when doctors would give an ice bath to lower the temperature (first aid). May be Panadol had not appeared yet.

A common over the counter table was Aspro.

There was only one Lau King Howe Hospital in those days. And most Foochows did not like to be admitted or warded. And after about a week of illness, Grand Uncle became very weak from his fever and he really looked very bad according to one of my relatives who told me the story when I asked him more about life in Hua Hong before and after the war.

In those days, there was only one British medical doctor in charge of the hospital. Another doctor  Dr.Chee, was Foochow and they looked after all the patients including those warded (less than 100 beds).

My great grand father who was a barefoot Chinese doctor insisted that Grand Uncle should be warded because he was already very apprehensive about the illness. His usual herbal cures could not alleviate his nephew's long lasting fever.

The consequences were beyond the imagination of the extended family for unfortunately Grand Uncle's fever was so high that he became delirious and ran away from the hospital.

It was a mystery to the community then. Was he having such a high fever that he wanted some water to cool himself down? Or was he really so delirious that he did not know what he was doing? Or was he so over wrought that he decided to commit suicide? 

There was no security for patients in those days. Sadly, his body was found in the Igan river one day later.

The tragedy made every one in the Tiong family extremely sad. Relatives from Sg. Bidut, Sg. Merah and as far away as Binatang came to pay their last respect in Hua Hong Factory.They lost not only a dear relative but a very good chief mechanic.

It was a traumatic experience for the family. Until today, in my family, whenever someone had a high fever no one could sleep well and tight security was given to the sick child to ensure that he or she did not jump into the river.

My grandfather being a very practical man shook his head throughout the funeral. He just said that a hospital should have guards to take care of the front door and the back door. And in later days, my grandfather never wanted to be warded in the hospital. He would have a private doctor make house calls.

The back door of the Lau King Howe Hospital faced the Igan river and the jetty where long boats berthed.

The doors/gates of the TB wards were always locked by the warden, to prevent TB patients from escaping. As a result we Foochows always said that TB patients were locked up (guong) in the hospital.

In retrospect, I would say it is indeed hard to man the security of a large hospital, even with the help of CCTV.