September 21, 2021

Mission Children : Dr. Ding Lik Kiu

When the Hoovers lived in Sibu (for more than 30 years) they did not start an orphanage. Mrs. Mary Hoover was into educating girls in her well run Yuk Ing Girls' School while Rev Hoover was busy managing the Foochow settlement and the various churches built in every Foochow village in the Rajang. By the time of his sudden death in 1935, there were 41 churches built on land donated by the Foochow villagers themselves. Many of the churches were probably designed by him, hence the American style of the cross, or the steeple, and the various shapes of the windows and general wooden outlook. 

Today many of the old wooden churches have been demolished to make way for concretized and very 2lst century modern buildings.

The couple however, received orphans and destitute children, especially boys, who they accommodated in their mission house, some for a few short years, while others longer. As most of the boys were still "little" they were placed in the classes with the girls in Yuk Ing. The older boys were sent to the Agriculture school in Bukit Lan and other schools which had hostel facilities by the 1930's.

One boy stood out in particular, and he was Ding Lik Kiu, whose father had died young and very tragically. His mother, then suffering from ill health, came to beg Mrs. Hoover to take the boy in. Mrs. Hoover thus took over the bright boy and had him study with the girls.

He stayed in the room on the ground floor according to my Aunt Tiong Chiew Sieng and he had his meals with the girls in the girls' school.

He was to be sent to the United States for further education by the Hoovers.

All rice were brought individually by the girl boarders. Mrs. Hoover saw to the making of meals in the kitchen . The cooks were the senior girls of the school. So Yuk Ing Girls' school was very sustainable in a way.

The rice was wrapped in a handkerchief and boiled into a round ball in the huge kuali. My aunts all studied in the school, and were boarders. The trip across the Rajang to Pulau Kerto would be too problematic so my grandfather had them board in the school and he happily supplied the rice. My aunts said they learned a lot of domestic skills from Mrs. Hoover, who was a good disciplinarian.

The older girls cooked, while the younger girls carried water and did other chores. All girls were trained to be extremely neat. At times they learned to do patching of clothes, and making their own underwear. The most important sewing they did during the sewing lessons was making their own graduation suit. They could not graduate if they could not complete the suit.

My aunt Tiong Pick Sieng remembered one of the very important duties every girl must perform from young. That was to pour the urinals  (pang pang) every morning and have them washed. The girls lived upstairs so it was quite a task to carry the urinals down stairs especially on rainy days. 

 Mrs. Hoover taught the girls to be light footed. No one should storm around like a spoilt brat.

To this day, my pretty aunts Chiew and Pick, are still very sure and light footed, graceful and well spoken like Mrs. Hoover. Both my aunts are younger than Dr. Ding Lik Kiu (born 1921).

Ding Lik Kiu thus grew up under the loving care of Mrs. Hoover in Sibu, along Island road. He was sent to Singapore for his secondary school education.

When my aunt Tiong Chiew Sieng moved back from Singapore in 1963 to live in Sibu, Dr. Ding lik Kiu had already left Kapit, and they never met .  

My aunt Tiong Pick Sieng visited Mrs. Hoover in Perth very often when she was studying there. Mrs. 




Hoover  updated her about Dr. Ding and his achievements. When my aunt's husband, Dr. Fan, graduated as a medical doctor in Australia, he came back to Sarawak to work at Christ Hospital, taking over from Dr. Ding. That was really a small world for the Foochow students of Mrs. Hoover.

Moreover, aunt Tiong Pick Sieng met Dr. Ding quite often in Kuching when he came back to visit or for conferences because Dr. Ding and Dr. Fan had become good friends. Dr. Ding was a kind and soft spoken man. 

The Hoovers' life and example impacted their students and foster children. Today my aunts still talk very fondly about Mrs. Hoover as their second mother, strict and firm but kind and good.

Mrs. Hoover spoke with a Minqing accent, while Rev Hoover spoke with a Kutien accent. (Ref : Wong Meng Lei)

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