Washing Bottles : Aerated Water Factory

When my cousins came to study in Sibu, they were very hardworking, for they not only studied hard, took extra lessons in English, but they took on part time work. 

In order to earn a few extra dollars in the afternoons, after school, they would wash empty bottles for the aerated water company called Chuong Liu which belonged to the wealthy Ting family from Sg. Sadit (Kwong Hua).The logo of Chuong Liu is a Horse Head. So down river people would also say that they bought "Horse Head Aerated Water", or Horse Head Brand.

Interestingly, the Kutien and Minqing groups were often at logger heads in business. Many more sensitive Foochows would stick to their own kind. So most Minqing people would buy the soft drinks from Ta Fong (owed by Lau Pang Kwong and family), while the Kutien would buy from Chuong Liu. Later on, the rivalry became less strong when other brands came to Sibu like 7Up, Coca Cola, etc.

Back to my story, my cousins would enlist  themselves with the supervisor who would give them a spot in the shophouse to wash bottles. They joined other young girls in the afternoons. They  would be gathered together around the basins on the first floor of the building and after washing the bottles, they would dry the bottles in the sun. 

According to my cousins, washing the bottles with the bottle brushes was fun and it was not very hard work. Besides, they got to know more people in the town. They were country girls and they learned more about town life.

This photo of the Horse Head brand and the shop front is on the book cover of this book published in Sibu, entitled, "Old Sibu Bazaar" which is a compilation of many memorial photos of old shops and streets of Sibu.

Chuong Liu was a good company my cousins worked for in the 60's. They earned extra money so that their parents would not be burdened. Fees were low at $1.00 for building fund per month and school fees were $3.00 per month. Those with better results could ask for remission of fees but they have to pay the mandatory $1.00 per month. Some of my cousins who could not pass Form 3 remained working for Chuong Liu for several years until they found some good men to marry.

Another friend of mine took a sweeping job at the girls' hostel in the school, so that she could have free food.

 Bottle brushes would always look the same, bristles are twisted together by two wires. The brown glass bottles would always remind me of the bottle washing girls of Sibu. And among them my cousins from down river.

They had gone from rubber tapping to bottle washing.

A little bit of hard earned money was so important in our daily lives in those days. I earned 30 dollars from tuition and it helped my widowed mother a lot.