Love in a paper box full of Mangoes

The mango tree which once stood in our house compound blessed many people. It was as tree planted by the previous owner of our house.

The tree left behind by Mr. Lau gave us plenty of sweet mangoes. We never wanted to sell any. Once it gave us more than 200 mangoes and we gave them all away to those who loved mangoes. We loved mangoes too. A thief did come into our compound one day and took away a gunny sack of the mangoes, ripe and unripe. We came home just in time, but he managed to escape with the gunny over his shoulders while his friend drove away in the escape motor bike. We had wondered why there was a motor bike under the trees in the small lane leading towards the empty lot. then we saw a man running away while we were waiting for our gate to open. He managed to jump over the fence.

Every time I see mangoes I would think of all the paper boxes we Foochows use to bring mangoes or anything, to our loved ones when we travel by train, plane or bus, or even boats.

I used to pack mangoes, fruit by fruit, wrapping them in newspaper into a paper box up to 15kg. While my own personal belongings would be in a small back pack, I could bring our sweet mangoes to Kuching.

Some one had said, a paper box, coming out of the luggage carousel, would definitely be owned by a Foochow!! I smiled. Yes I would be one of the owners.

Love is a paper box full of mangoes, coming out of the luggage carousel, at the airport terminal. It is a very Foochow thing, if I may say so.

Now the mango tree is gone. And mum has left this world more than a year ago.

Sibu Tales : Fish Heads

 In the olden days, fish heads were considered very tasty parts by the Foochows, so fish was always served with the head, and the tail.  However most foreigners serving in Sibu were very afraid of seeing fish heads in their soup!

"No fish head for me!!" an American missionary once said. Many Foochow students were intrigued. And they tried to coax her into eating the fish head soup. But she politely refused. This was the kind of cultural shock that many frugal Foochows would come across. It has been known that we Foochow could eat anything, except tables and aeroplanes.

Today tastes have changed, the younger generation love burgers, fish fingers etc. Only some enjoy the traditional Foochow dishes.

However I still like to think that most Foochows love WHOLE fish fried, steamed or boiled.

At banquets in Sibu, sweet and sour whole fish was considered a good dish, but the best would be a whole steamed White Pomfret. That was a first class dish.

Sea fish from the deeper seas would be bigger and often the heads would be sold for less, while the steaks would be sold off piece by piece.

fish used for fish balls would also be cut up and the heads and tails sold off separately.

And then housewives would come to buy fish heads for their cats too. We also learn that fish heads are collected by people who make fertilizers or those who grow orchids.

At one time, there was a nasty man who almost had a fight with us. He was always throwing fish heads along the road next to our house. He used that small lane as his dumping ground and he paid no attention to our house which is only about 50 m from the small lane, at right angle to his fish heads. Later we asked the Council to put up a signboard for no dumping. Some people are really inconsiderate. So inhuman.

Bigger fish heads from Pa Tiek Poh, Red Snapper, and other fish would be snapped up by restaurants to make fish head noodles or bee hoon or just make fish stock for their various fish soups.

I wish I can buy salmon fish heads more often in Miri. Salmon fish heads are also sold very cheaply overseas because westerners do not eat fish heads.

Fish heads have also recently become very popular in many parts of Malaysia because of Fish Head Curry, Fish Head Masak Assam Pedas, and Fish Head Tom Yam. As the foodies become more influential, people's tastes also change over the years. Fusion food is all the trend and fancy now.

My favourite way of eating fish head is fish head bee hoon. Another good fish dish is chow chai hoong ngang which traditionally has some fish heads but today the new recipes call for easier ingredients like chicken slices, fish balls, and tinned oysters. 

Fish heads are not easy to prepare.

Sarawak People : Ling Siu Ing

Uncle Ling Siu Ing, a photo by my father, Chang Ta Kang

Sarawak People : A Foochow Man in the Rajah's Court

I was told by many that Uncle Ling Siu Ing did not like to have his photos taken. probably my father was the only one who took a few good shots of him, both official and unofficial.

Both of t hem passed away in 1965, he of old age, while my father was still in his prime, at age 56. Uncle Ling was born in 1881 in Gutien and was 20 years older than my father. According to my mother, t hey two got along very well. Both of them were scholarly and did not look at money making as the most important thing in life.

In 1912, Uncle Ling left China to teach in Java, where there were many Fuqing and Minhou people who have established themselves in Java. He probably thought he could open a school or do mission work. But Sarawak called him and he arrived in Kuching the following year after gaining a job as a school teacher in the government school. He also doubled as tutor to the Rajah;s family and that probably was an added attraction. His English was impeccable, having been taught by foreign missionaries in Fuzhou. He could have been a degree holder but he never let any one know about that. May he had at least a college diploma.

The Foochow headman, Lau Kah Tii found him a good partner in many endeavours. They set up schools in Sibu and with his close contact with the Rajah, he was a good intermediary. The Reverend James Hoover also was friendly with him. In fact, Uncle Ling also lived in Ah Poh during the Japanese War, and was head of the church there. He was a confidant of Headman Lau Kah Tii. In fact the two of them set up the Chinese Chambers of Commerce together.

He was officially a court interpreter for many years, hence he travelled a bit throughout Sarawak.

But by all accounts, he was a government servant. He was awarded an MBE for his loyal services in 1952.

He helped establish the Sibu Foochow Association and was its chairman for two terms, 1950-54. He was known as a Foochow man who wore the front buttoned Chinese suit for all formal and informal occasions, a tradition he brought from Fujian. It was also rumoured that he never made a western suit.

He wrote two books, "The Chronicles of Sarawak" ( aka A Brief History of Sarawak) and "Foochow Colloquial Phrases in Sibu".

He passed away in 1965. He was well loved, well respected and was an extremely humble person who spoke well and was very eloquent in two languages, Chinese and English. He was also a well know calligrapher and had a great mastery of the Chinese language.

 

Sibu Tales : Ngor Ngii (Manchong)

When the Foochows first arrived in Sibu 1901, they had brought with them in little cloth bags seeds of fruits and rice to start their new life as agriculturalists. They even brought cuttings of bamboo to plant (according to my then 18 year old paternal grandfather, Tiong Kung Ping). It was also very possible that some even  brought banana suckers.

Bananas were called Hiong Jiu (Fragrant banana) in Fujian and my Ah Kung always said that he loved Hiong Jiu better than the Chang Nga Jiu in Sibu. Chang Nga Kiu is Cavendish and later known as Lau Hieng Ding Jiu. (Another post, to be continued)

My maternal grandmother had stories about eating salted fish every day because during the Monsoon, or Landas of several months, they had to depend on salted fish and rice. Rubber prices were some times down and there was rubber restriction in the production. The Rajah even had an officer to check the tapping of rubber!!

Sundays were often off days so that the Foochow tappers produced less rubber. Those were the Sundays when the Methodist Churches were full of worshippers.

And then my grandmother would be eating different kinds of salted fish with her rice. She told us that for many days they would just be having rice with salted fish and salted vegetables and whatever vegetables which could grow during the raining season. Even foraging for midin was hard because of the pelting rain. 

Salted fish was part of the Foochow life, when they had to tighten their belt.

But today salted manchong is way too expensive for most people. Fresh manchong is one of the top fresh fish in Sarawak.

It is not just a fish loved by the Foochows, it is a fish loved by all races in Sarawak. Some machongs can weight up to 200 kg!!    Manchong (aka ikan kurau in West Malaysia is recognised by 5 "whiskers" or threadlike rays just underneath the pectoral fins)

Ikan manchong or Ngor ngii is also known as Indian threadfin cod. Hai lien or ikan senangin is the more common threadfin cod, which is usually smaller.

Ngor Hu (ngii) is of great value to many Chinese because it is served as a suitable food for new mothers in their confinement. Ngor Hu Soup is excellent with mee sua and is popular in the Straits Settlement and especially Singapore.

Teo chiew porridge is often served with slices of the two types of threadfin.

I used to laugh when Hokkiens said the Indian Ngor Ngii was Wu Ngor (black) and Senangin was Peh Ngor (White).

Indeed the senangin is fairer than the manchong. But do we have to be politically correct too about fish?

 

Sibu Tales : My Aunts' Favourite Elder

 1930's Sibu was thriving and bustling. The rubber tappers were enjoying the rewards of their hardwork. My grandfather's rubber and rice mill, together with the ice mill were making some profits in Pulau Kerto. He had bought land quite cheaply to set up the factory complex with two other partners.

Relatives around Sibu often came to visit, usually by rowing their own little boats or taking the covered sampan, called Du Roong in Foochow. Usually the relatives would have something to ask from Great Grandfather, or to mill their rice. Great grandfather was quite a leader, with great knowledge about management and herbs. He was also known for his calligraphy although he was basically self taught.

A favourite visitor according to my aunt was Nguong Nguong Moo (my generation would call her moo oh ie Moo Poh in Mandarin)

She and my great grandmother got on very well, so my aunts would also enjoy her visits. She would bring a basket of clothes, her comb and an umbrella. The children would be jumping for joy when they sighted a covered sampan coming from the direction of Sg. Bidut, which was along Sg Igan.

Grand Aunt would bring news of other relatives from Sg. Bidut as she was a very eloquent Foochow lady. And she was also full of legends and fairy tales, a walking library.

The kids enjoyed her visit so much that even after a week they would not allow her to go home. They would hide her comb, and umbrella and even the basket.

By the end of her visit,the children would have heard lots of stories, and finished eating the biscuits and sweets she brought.

Life in a small commercial complex like Hua Hong Factory was very limited. There were about 100 factory workers , mainly Ibans, Melanaus and some Foochows. Then there were only three managerial families, including our family.

Grand Aunty Nguong Nguong Moo (Grand Uncle Kung Nguong was older than Grandpa) was a treasured teacher who provided a lot of informal education for my aunts and uncles before they went to school in Sibu, the major town opposite the Pulau Kerto. Her repertoire of stories would include Chinese legends, Bible stories, famous Chinese Confucius quotations, and other moral stories, good deeds, and even bandit stories. Kids loved to hear about how the bad people were gotten rid off or killed and how the good triumphed. 

My aunt said that all these oral stories were so good that they are still clear in her mind and at age 90 she would gladly retell them to her grand children.

But unfortunately today, technology has changed our life style. Young people do not behave in the same way any more nor do relatives come to visit riding on a covered sampan.

Grand Aunty Nguong Nguong was born in Fujian, so she had a lot of stories my aunties would love to hear. And because of her eloquence, the girls were mesmerized by her story telling.

Her daughters inherited her eloquence, but unfortunately all have passed on by the time I was a teenager. The youngest one passed away about 10 years ago. I was not in time to do all the recording of their stories.

Sibu Tales : African Swine Fever

I often visited my grandmother who lived in Nang Chong or Southern Village where my aunts and uncles grew green skinned oranges, rice and reared chickens, ducks and pigs.

Mum used to tell us about how she helped with the farm work and how she especially loved to rear pigs.

Her work in the pig rearing was mainly to collect the water lettuce to boil with rice left overs and sago husks. In her days, pig food was always hot from the kuali, and not the present scientific food.

She often had to forage for yam leaves in the wild, meeting a snake or two. But she enjoyed seeing her pigs growing fast. She enjoyed her work very much. The family slaughtered a pig for sale when there was a festival. She was most happy when a mother pig was expecting and she would take good care of her. Losing some piglets due to the carelessness of the sow was a sad part of her life and she would grieve as if she lost a dear one.

My ngie mah loved to eat pork leg and whenever the family slaughtered a pig, a large portion would go to her. That was part of their filial piety.

Now we are facing a lot of diseases related to our livestock. Ducks and geese die mysteriously and it is a sad financial loss for any one raising the animals. The African Swine Fever has struck many farms in Sarawak. Many people are scared to buy pork in the market. And butchers are shaking their heads. Business has done down by 30 %.

Times are really bad with Covid 19 still raging on.

May God bless you and keep you safe.
 

Sibu Tales : Extra Wantan Skins

Whenever I look at wantan skins I would have a great picture of my siblings and I enjoying a lovely soup. made by my mother, which was two portions of wantan and cast off want skins from my mother's cousin. who owned a mee stall in Kampong Nyabor, Sibu. It was just a stone throw from our Brooke Drive home. We kids would walk to the stall with our soup container, order two portions of wantan soup and wait by the side road. Yes we never expected any priority service.

Mum would always send one of us to pick up two bowls of wantan with extra wantan skins from Aunty Ting Huong.

Aunty Ting Huong was a lovely cousin of my mother's and they got along very well. She actually married into a family who lived in a house opposite us. The in laws were long term tenants of our paternal grandfather.

When mum developed the land inherited by my father, she was given a share of a shop lot, Aunty Ting Huong and her husband moved into the first floor flat and we carried on being neighbours.

Mum would never sit in a coffee shop, and it was something she never did when she was young. Later when she was older she would accompany her sister Aunty Yung to have kampua mee, and only in shops she knew.

So for us, we would have her special container from Thailand to tapau the "special order" or take away from Aunty Ting Huong.

It was two portions of wantan with extra skins in soup.

she would also pack extra skin cast offs for us to bring home. Mum would keep these in the fridge and make another meal with them.

Our frugal mother was able to keep us nourished and we never lacked good food on the table.

May God bless Aunty Ting Huong's family. May her soul rest in peace. We will always remember those extra wantan skins.

International Women's Day

 

This year, my city is celebrating Women's Day by hosting the State Level Women's Day celebration at Pullman's Hotel.

The focus will be on women in research. A book has been published on that topic, based on 51 women in research in Sarawak.

However we need to celebrate the day together with the largest women's population in the world - the women of Republic of China - around 680 million.

Qatar has the smallest female percentage of population in the world at 24.7% 

We also remember all those women who were tortured for their thinking, for their courage to bring about equality, and many  modern amenities to make women's lives better.

Miri : Bubuk ,Times are changing

 

Times are changing.

Krills used to netted by a triangular net called PAKA in the shallow waters of the Luak Bay. For more than 20 years I watched fisher folks, usually husband and wife  go down to the shore and net the krills.  It was an annual joy for me. Taking a walk to the beach in the early morning was refreshing.

The added joy was seeing many people enjoying catching the tiny shrimps which came on shore by the school!! The water would be a be pink and fisherfolks knew that it was time, after the Lunar new year.

Some fishermen came from as far as 20 km or more just to net about 15 kg of the shrimps to make shrimp paste or belacan.

2 or 3 kgs of krill would make only 1 kg of belacan. So 15 kg of bubuk would be enough for a small household to use for a year.  Those who would like to sell some belacan would try to net more. So during a good season, the fisherfolk would come every day to net as much as possible. It is not easy to push the paka against the sand. The heat would often be too much for even the very strong.

The Krill season is after the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. In the past the Luak Bay would be full of onshore fisher folks looking for krill or bubuk. Nowadays with the pandemic, few people would come down to the shore to net the krills. Furthermore in the last few years, powerful boats have taken over the simple fisherfolks' joy. Once these boats dot the sea to net the krill, very little of the krill would reach the shore.

Local fishermen with their own boats, and towkays' Indonesian labourers now go out to the sea further away from Miri with bigger pakas and more powerful boats to net the krill. The Paka is attached to the fast moving speed boats. More bubuk can be netted that way. And cleaner too according to most customers.

I miss going to the beach to watch the husband and wife team walking along the shallow water, trying to net their annual catch. Times are really changing.

Like many farmers' wives, t he fishermen's wives are also saying that they can buy their bubuk fritters and fresh bubuk from the market, no need to break their back. They too are accepting the changes of lifestyle.

Sibu Tales : Indian Rojak

Indian (Tambi) Rojak

I remember the first American tourists who came to visit Sibu. It was a very interesting tour of Sibu. My aunt acted as tour guide and took the couple along the streets of Sibu.

 I came along rather by accident. It was interesting how in 1958 or 9, the public would stare at the Orang Putih and talk about them loudly. Some even asked my aunt questions.

Where are they from?

Why are they here in Sibu?

Where are they staying?

The couple (I cannot remember their names) stayed at Hoover house. Sibu then was small enough for a walking tour.

I remember that day in particular because I had my first taste of the Indian Rojak.

We sat at a marble table and the coffee shop owner was most polite, speaking in Foochoow. He helped my aunt order two plates of Indian Rojak (in Malay) and told the stall owner not to make it too spicy hot.

I did not quite like any raw ingredients especially beansprouts. But I enjoyed the Indian dhall fritters and hard boiled eggs.

From then on, I love Indian Rojak.

A few months later my aunt left Sibu, and migrated to the USA where she had studied. This time she flew to her new country. Her first journey to the USA was by a freighter. Later she moved to Canada and married a Canadian professor, and she worked as school psychiatrist. She was the first Foochow, Sibu woman to hold an American masters' degree in education in 1958.

She passed away a few years ago in Canada. 

 

Sibu Tales : Watching the Rajang

After we moved from Pulau Kerto in 1956 to Sibu, my father missed watching the Rajang River from our own Hua Hong Ice Factory jetty.

Thereafter in Sibu, he would bring us kids every evening to watch the sun set from the Government Jetty. Our Sibu wooden house at Kampong Nyabor's Kong Ping Road (now known as Brooke Drive) was actually within walking distance from the jetty. But he would take the jeep out.

 It could be his way of ending the day with a nice view of the river. He was a very quiet man, very taciturn in fact and did not say much to us kids. But we enjoyed his presence with us. It was obvious he enjoyed watching our only brother Hsiung growing by the day. He carried him most of the time in his quiet loving manner.

According to my aunts, my father had grown up enjoying fishing, boat rowing and swimming in  rivers. The family had lived in Sg Merah, Bukit Lan, Binatang (Sg Meradong) and the Rajang at Hua Hong Ice Factory, on Pulau Kerto.

 After moving to Sibu, he could not longer have his dip in the Rajang river every day or go fishing. He enjoyed setting up traps on the muddy banks. When the tide went down, he would love to get his fresh fish from his traps. Even though he was a university graduate (from YenChing), he was basically a very small town boy in his heart. Not many knew that my father was a good ball room dancer, from his Shanghai student days, like his third brother, Hua King.

He must have enjoyed all the nostalgia when watching boats passing by at the Government wharf and us kids (age 1 to 6) jumping around the cannons which were pointing to the Rajang River mouth. Mum would be at home washing the dishes after dinner and folding the day's laundry. My mum never had a maid all her life, as she preferred doing all the chores by herself.

It was much later in life when I went to Shanghai that I realised that lots of Chinese men in Shanghai and Beijing loved to watch river scenes, and going out for a breath of fresh air after the evening meal.

My father and his nostalgia. It was a pity I was so young to understasnd his inner thoughts while he was approaching 50. Was he missing China, the streets of Beijing and the Shanghai Bund?