Sibu Tales : Scrubbing

One of the first sounds in the morning we kids would hear would be the scrubbing sounds made by my mother. She would scrub the cement floor of the bathroom and washing area after she had done our laundry. She never failed to do that every day.

The steel wire brush, which was originally BRASS, was an important part of our life in Sibu. It was an item that was always in the laundry area. Brass is TERN in Foochow, hence mum would always call out to us if it was missing. "Who had taken the TERN sok?" She did not like to see it missing from the washing area.

I loved to hear the simple, gentle sounds of metal against the cement. It was a very soothing sound. Mum was always careful about her scrubbing because she did not want anyone to slip on the cement floor!! Another reason she kept her cement floor well scrubbed was because of her own high standard of cleanliness.

To scrub the floor one had to bend down and squat or kneel until the entire area was scrubbed. No mossy green should be seen at all. That was the household standard (ISO) of that time. Mum did not want anyone to cluck their tongue when they visited. Housewives were very conscious of how their mother in laws would talk about their scrubbing skills.

Mothers in law would fold their arms and watch their daughters in law "Cheng (brush quickly) or sok (brush meticulous, bending or kneeling on the floor with brush in hand)" . Some daughters in law scrubbed all the cement and wooden floors three times a week under the watchful eyes of their mothers in law.

One of the blessings she had my mum would say was she never had to be supervised by a mother in law from the day she was brought home as a bride by my father. She lived with a very benevolent grandmother in law who chose to live with my father. My father's step mother and father lived in their big house in Sg. Merah. The social distancing was good for every one. There was a great deal of respect among all of them according to my mother.

 I would think it very daunting to bend down on the knees and scrub for hours with a mother in law doing the supervision.

My own Ngie mah, however lived with two daughters in law (they had their own seperate untis under one roof). I had too seen how hard they worked to keep their wooden floors white. All the scrubbing with the steel brush keep their floors absolutely clean from dirt and dust.

It was like a festival for the ladies, I remember, when the flood came, and everyone would be scrubbing the wooden floors with the river water which was on the rise. 

There was this kind of cleanliness in the air!! Grandma, would be fanning herself in the balcony, enjoying the river breeze and the subsequent fresh aroma of newly scrubbed floors. There was no need for any floor cleaners. Indeed this was the kind of scenario I remember before Chinese New Year, for Foochow women loved to get their house cleaned from top to bottom. The scrubbing would also coincide with high tide.