My Mother's Vintage Egg Wire Basket 1950's

My mother's egg basket

My memory of having eggs started from the time we moved from Pulau Kerto to Sibu town. Father had a new job at the bank and grandma (Ngie mah) came often to visit. She would come from downriver on a Chinese Motor Launch and instead of stopping at Hua Hong Ice Factory, Pulau Kerto, she would stop at the Tua Pek Kong Wharf in Sibu. There she would take a trishaw to Kong Ping Road (the fore runner of Brooke Drive)where we lived.

When she visited we had hardboiled eggs with our chicken soup mee sua. Grand ma would bring a chicken or two and mum would keep on in the chicken coup and slaughter one for our lunch and dinner.

In those days I did not realise that grandma's gift of chickens from down river was to reduce mum's financial burden. It was quite right for elders to say, "Children know only how to eat." Grandma always told others that Mum had brought us up well because we would not ask for choice parts of the chciken. Father would always get the drumstick and so did grandma. My mother would pick the Bishp's noise. I would get the back boae (which was usually cut into three pieces). 

Frozen did not come to Sibu until the 1960's. Most of the time we were able to enjoy free range chickens from down river. 

Eggs were bought from the Cheng family. Mr Cheng Kuok Gong was my father's buddy from primary school. He had a big chicken farm and sold eggs in the neighbourhood. His two older sons sent eggs on their bicycles. It was one of those home delivery business in Sibu.

When mum received the eggs she would transfer them to her wire basket and we would all be very excited, helping her to count up to 30.

Why are eggs sold in 30's?

As the days went by, the layer of eggs would go down and mum would say, "Need to Hung Nu whcih means send a message" for more eggs. Some weeks we ate more and some weeks less.Mum ran a tight ship but we all hasd good nutritious food.

Father always had  half boiled eggs and his Sunkist orange for breakfast. We the children had steamed bread or bao kosong with butter or margarine and Chivers Jam. From our early days in Sibu, mum learned to appreciate strawberry jam , although she would, later in life, find fresh strawberries very sour (no matter how sweet they could be).

I would aways remember eating lots of hard boiled eggs. And then I would remember counting the eggs as the days went by. And I would always be the one to remind Mum that there were not many eggs left in the basket.

She would send a message through perhaps Aunty Yien Chuo (Tong Yien Chuo) one of the "Pearls" among her best friends. Aunty Yien Chuo was a pig farmer and she would cycle to the town to collect scrap food for her pigs. She lived quite near the Chengs, so she was a good messenger.

And the two Cheng Brothers would soon be at our house, sending eggs. We lost our egg basket when we moved house in 1976 to Lanang Lane 2. But now like every one else, we keep our eggs in the fridge.

The egg basket would always be on my mind.....and mum would always be in my heart.