First of all, her good connections started from even before the Second World War in Sibu. She had raised a family of 9 herself in Nang Chong and she desired to build a family house in Bang Dong, Minqing just like my maternal grandfather's brother. So SHE sold her share of the family rubber garden and left for China.
Together in the same boat going back to China, she was happy to note that Mr and Mrs. Wong Hung Kwong and their two sons , KK and CT, were also on their way to Fuzhou City. She happily looked after the two Wong boys. Uncle Hung Kwong required medical treatment in China. They stayed with my grandmother in Bang Dong while their parents were in Fuzhou City.
Their surname in Chinese character was King or the Three Stroke Wong. Wong Hung Kwong had two brothers Wong Liing Kwong, and Wong Heng Kwong. The three had started good business enterprises in Sibu in the 1920's and 1930's.
By coincidence my paternal grandfather was cousin to the three Wong brothers (my Great Grandfather had married their aunt). they had all migrated to Sibu in 1902, led by Wong Nai Siong. Thus the Tiongs and the Wongs were related by marriage.
This account of my Grandmother's life in China relates why at a very early age, CT and his brother Chii Kiong or Kie Kiong attended primary school in China which was cut short by the Japanese attack on China . When the Japanese war ended , my maternal grandmother was tasked to look after them from Fuzhou to Sibu.
They "came out of China by the first boat out of Fuzhou".
As my Ngie mah had seen to their needs during the time of war they remained close in Sarawak when they returned. Whenever my grandmother came up from downriver by motor launch, she would stop by the Nang Kwong shop at Blacksmith Road to say hello to Grand Uncle Hung Kwong, who after the mainland treatment was completely cured. He was a very humourous man.
CT and KK went to the Methodist School and graduated with good grades. While CT went to England to complete his law degree KK went into the Police Force and became a top cop.
In the 1960's, when there was political unrest in Sibu, KK saved my grandmother and Third Uncle from arrest by vouching for their integrity and their loyalty to the country. For that my mother's family was always very grateful. KK or Dato Wong Kie Kiong was one of the few Chinese Police Officers who rose to the very top in the Police Sarawak Force.
My grandmother had another fear at that time and that was because she had a red IC. She was therefore often queried interrogated by the Police at road blocks but she learned to live with it and answered in good Malay. KK told her that she was going to be alright even though she had a red IC. Although my grandmother never went to formal school, her spoken Malay was excellent. And again KK praised and comforted her and lessened her anxiety from time to time when they met in Sibu.
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| Dato Wong Kie Kiong in wheel chair. |
CT was very flamboyant, friendly, smart and good looking.
In those days Foochows admired him and wanted their children to take up law because of him. The boys were often told to be like CT Wong.
His legal firm became one of the leading firms in Sarawak. As a member of the Board of Directors of Methodist School, Sibu, he was invited to speak to the students in school assemblies and was a very humorous speaker. He really captured the hearts of the students. Not many men in Sibu were like him. A very talented speaker he could hold the audience in a trance for hours.
Whenever there were wedding feasts and funerals and my grandmother met up with CT, he would always be ever so polite and kind towards my grandmother. He would come forward to shake her hands, This kind of Foochow value and respect can be said to be quite rare today. Usually the VIPs and the lowly and ordinary citizens would be separated by status. The VIPS would sit at the High Table and the ordinary folks at the LOW Tables.
I truly believe that my grandmother had a lot of confidence in the 1950's and 60's, even though she was from the village of Nang Chong, because she knew SOME BIG Guns ....However, I must say, Foochow values held by the two boys also guided them all their lives, to be respectful, to be humble, to do good, to help fellow Foochows.
We used to tease her and she would smile that happy smile. My grandmother passed away in 1985.
(In later years my siblings worshipped in the same church with Uncle KK, together with other cousins. He would always be very kind to them and acknowledge the connections he had with my grandmother in China and Sibu. A good Foochow gentleman always does that.He remembers the good old days.)
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