Nang Chong Stories : A Family Educated the Girls

During the late 60's and early 70's many Nang Chong families were still too poor even to pay for their children's school fees. The Government then did not have any specific programme to help poor families in the Chinese villages.. Aided schools were partially funded by the government and in the Chinese areas, at best there was Text Book on Loan program. Even though with hostel facilities, had to require their students to pay for food at least. Most students would choose to walk an hour to and fro school, or even row their own little boats across the river, than stay in the hostels.

In the early days many older teachers were even using Foochow to teach their subjects! As a result most students could not even read in Mandarin properly. English was a killer subject, and Bahasa Malaysia was not well taught. Learning then had many obstacles.

For a long time in government aided schools like Chung Cheng, the board of directors , at the most,could provide some remission of fees for the extremely poor but bright students. Usually poverty would thus force the poor students to leave school,tap rubber or learn a skill in Sibu or elsewhere. Many villagers had to beg from the Board of Management to keep their children in school.

Students from those days remember some very stressful school practices. Whenever parents could not pay the monthly school fees, the usual practice was to forbid the children from taking the school exams. This would be recorded in their individual report cards. 

Thus a few of my cousins were often in a dilemma when they could not find the extra cash to pay their fees. Cousin Ah Leng remembers that her mother, my aunt,  had gone to ask the wife of a motor launch owner , Ah Lang (owner of Sin Hai Huong Motor Launch) for a loan of $3.00 so that her three girls could sit for their exams, as the fees were only $1.00 a month. 

Unkind villagers would comment "If you have no money to pay for fees just withdraw your girls from the school."

Cousin Ah Leng remembers that many of her fellow students and herself who could not pay their fees would have their names posted on the school notice board. This embarrassment would stay in the minds of these poor kids for ever.

Leng's family then decided that the older boys must go to work after her second brother reached Primary Six. The oldest had to work in a bicycle shop in Sibu where he learned to repair tires and bicycles. The second boy went to a timber camp to learn to be a mechanic after he passed his Primary Six.

Old photo of Chung Cheng Primary School, Sibu at Nang Chong.

My aunt insisted the girls must study hard as the boys would be bringing home some earnings. The boys also agreed that the girls being brighter should continue to study. This situation became the most unusual social occurrence at that time. People started to ask why the Lau girls stayed in the school! 

Cousin Leng was injured in the eye while swimming in the River Rajang. As a result of her loss of one eye and lack of medical treatment at that time, she suffered for a long time socially, physically and emotionally. She was called names, "One Eye Girl", "One Eye Monster" etc. Children followed her and laughed at her and she had no courage to fight against them. 

But she studied hard and suffered in silence, while her mother coaxed her to complete her studies and never give up. She is the eldest among her daughters.

The determined mother encouraged the girls to study hard, as it was the only way out of poverty and to independence. She had more vision than most Foochow women in her days. Thus in this Lau family all the girls were educated, while only the youngest son finally reached university level . 

Another memory Ah Leng had of her early days in Chung Cheng School was how her mother was willing to pay teacher Lau Nai Meng $1.00 a month for tuition in English. Mr. Lau said that Ah Leng must have tuition to raise her chance of passing her Common Entrance Exam as her other subjects were all good except English, which she was scoring like 9%! So after three months, Ah Leng was able to raise her English marks to 60% and her chances of passing the CEE were raised much to the delight of her mother.

Ah Leng went on to become a pastor, and even trained in the UK. Today her sermons in English are excellent. Now in her 60's ,  she is ever ready to help people when they need her in and outside her church. Besides she is quite a linguist, being fluent in Bahasa, English and Chinese.

The family left Chung Cheng School area one day after her Form Five Exams because of the Communist insurgency in 1973. She remembers that day very well, how she became a town girl after Form Five. 

The Communist Insurgency in Sarawak was still at its height and folks were still living in fear. Rubber prices had plummeted and villagers flocked to towns like Sibu, Kuching, Bintulu and Miri.

She was then very courageous as she immediately started a tuition centre for children around  her new area of abode. She converted  the living room of their rented apartment, an upstairs floor of a shop lot in Lanang Road, Sibu. She worked 5 days a week, morning, afternoon and night. She was able to help keep her family together with the $400 she earned every month which was a good income and her parents were so proud of her.

She operated her tuition business for 10 years but in 1983 she became a Church worker with an allowance of $50.00 per month.

Today she, as a pastor, has testimonies to share with all who know or don't know her.

God blessed the family because all the boys prospered as well as the girls in so many ways. At the end of 10 years of t heir moving to Sibu town, the family started to prosper in more ways than one.