Soh Mien on First Day of Lunar New Year

 Today 10.2.2024 is the first day of the New Lunar Year of the Dragon. Yes I have cooked the chicken and made the soh mien. Happy New Year!! Praise God we have come this far in our life.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Foochows originating from Minqing, Fujian, living in Sarawak would always prepare SOH Mieng or longevity wheat noodles with a chicken soup. A generous amount of red rice wine would be added to the bowl of noodles besides chicken  meat, shitake mushroom and a whole hard boiled egg.,

The hard boiled egg is a must because it will symbolise peace. Eggs are always held as an auspicious food by the Foochows. Egg in Foochow sounds like LONG or WAVE. so when you eat an egg or two, or you bring hard boiled eggs when you travel, you are actually indicating you are controlling the waves in the sea or river.

In the early days hard boiled eggs were even sold to travellers at the Tua Pek Kong Wharf. Relatives would buy the eggs and give to the travellers, remarking..."Eat eggs, control waves. Peace."

Today many people have forgotten this symbolism.

Grand Uncle and Aunty No.10

This is the big Tiong family, the descendants of Tiong Kek Cheh of Wun Chieh of 14 Du near King Sar, Minqing, Fujian. Tiong kek Cheh had 3 sons, King Siang, King Sung and King Kee. My grandfather's father was King Kee who had three sons and 2 daughters.

The line up of all the males or sons of the three brothers  is as follow:

1. Tiong Kung Nguong (Sg.  Bidut)

2. Tiong Kunng Ping (Sg Merah)

3. Tiong Kung Mee

4. Tiong Kung Eng (Sg Merah)

5. Tiong Kung Lung (Sg Bidut)

6. Tiong Kung Jian (Fujian) dued in infancy

7. Tiong Kung King

8. Tiong Kung Kiu (Sg Merah)

9. Tiong Kung Ching (Tiong Toh Siong) b. 1908

Mt and Mrs Tiong Kung Nguong. No 1. Grand Uncle and Grand Aunty. Our family spokes people for a long time when I was young. Later their job was taken over by Grand Uncle Tiong Kung Kiu.

And then we found out that we in fact also had a Grand Uncle No. 10 was Tiong Kung Toh who lived in Bukit Assek, Sibu.

Most of my Grand Uncles lived in Sg. Bidut.

These are all my Chii Gung (in Foochow). 

Foochow Bridal Gift : Spittoon

The Foochow customs call for a spittoon and two candles to be given to the bride on her wedding day.

Just out of curiosity. How many boys or men do you know who are first born, and had parents who practised this custom?

The spittoon comes with a special bundle inside it which will consist of a packet each of red dates, dried longans, lotus seeds, and other sweets.




The spittoon was a must for the Foochow wedding in the past as a special ritual must be performed when the bridal chamber was opened to visitors in the evening after the evening dinner. A special boy would be selected to urinate into the pot. He would receive a big angpow for doing that ceremony. This ritual would bring in the birth of a son soon according to Chinese beliefs.

The last time I saw this practised was when a cousin's daughter was married off in Miri and the knowledgeable aunties were busy with all the preparations. Indeed her first born was a boy. And family of the young boy was given another big angpow by the happy baby boy's family.

Most people would say that it is just coincidence. But then it is really up to you.

More mee suah for every one!!

Foochow Wedding Customs : Second Wedding Dress

In the olden days, the bride wore two important dresses, the formal white wedding dress (influenced by the Rev James Hoover and Mrs Hoover), and the second formal dress to give toasts to relatives and well wishers.

For those without the budget, the second wedding dress would be simple and home made. Those with better budget might even get the material from Singapore, or have one specially tailored or ordered from Singapore in those days.

The Ni Toh Yee (Second suit) could be a brilliant design which would show the beauty of the bride. However it would also cause a lot of tongue wagging - the level of the education of the bride or her social back ground. She could be so rustic that the dress was not even properly cut, or she would be so well turned out that the dress was very much talked about for quite a few years.

So much for gossipers to talk about. I pitied the bride who came from a simple background who could not afford a good second wedding dress.

Today Bridal Salons or Wedding Dress Galleries do rent out two dresses for the bride at a price.

Sibu Foochow Bridal Gift : Sewing Machine

After the Second World War, the rubber prices plunged and many Foochow families had to seek work in  other industries like timber, shipping, and road and housing construction. Times were bad and more over post war children (baby boomers) all needed extra cash to continue their education.

Girls who completed primary six were often married off to lesson the fathers' burdens.especially when there were three or four generations (tiers) living together. Subsistence farming was inadequate to feed the whole family.

The Foochows even had a term for marrying girls off, which now would seem very unkind, "Selling a daughter off".

After a cousin matched made my mother to my father, my maternal grandmother who had just come back from China, was reluctant to marry off my mother who was then 24 years old already. At that time, mum was considered "old already". Would any one want to marry my mother who would not have many bridal gifts?

Due to the poor economic situation in those few years my widowed grandmother could not bless mum with the usual bridal gifts befitting a beloved daughter. She had lost all her well earned fortune (from rubber) in China because of the war.

Mum said it pained her a great deal that she was not blessed with a sewing machine. My father was very understanding and redressed her anguish by buying her a good Singer machine  after a few months It was not easy to buy sewing machines in those days as shipment had to come in from \Singapore by special order too. Thus the sewing machine has always been a symbol of my father's love for my mother.

It was always a loving act when mum mended a dress or or blouse, or sewed a pajamas for us. We never had to buy clothes because she could roughly sew something for us to wear. I made my first machine sewn school apron with it and I was so proud of myself.

My children also enjoyed using the machine to sew whatever they loved.

But my second sister is the best dressmaker in the whole wide world. She had learned sewing from our aunt, and can even draw paper patterns.

This sewing machine is kept in tip top condition (since 1948) and 

is now in Kasuma, Petrajaya, Kuching. The sewing machine has been moved from Pulau Kerto, to Sibu town, to Airport Road and finally to Kuching over the years.

70 or more years ago, daughters who were able to work as hard as sons were retained longer, some up to 26 years old. Whereas those who were dainty, lazy, and often tired of working (e.g. carrying of water) were quickly married off, probably to get a man who could be able to provide her with bowls of rice to eat.

A family with some money would give as many as 9 bridal gifts to a daughter. Hence a  daughter who was skilled would be endowed with a sewing machine so that she could continue with her seamstress job in the village. Many cousins of mine continued to work as seamstresses until they were too old to see.

A friend was recruited to sew and repair army uniforms in a home based "factory" during the Confrontation working more than 10 hours a day. Another was recruited just to sew the edges of materials in a tailor shop. Her husband's family had moved to town and they lived in a two room apartment. Life was not easy. During her off days, she would sew pretty dresses and she collected small tailoring fees of 3 dollars in those days.

A sewing machine is thus considered a life long investment by the bride's family to start a girl off in her new family.

Many Foochow girls were advised to take a year's sewing course in Sibu before they were "qualified" to get married. Indeed match makers had a kind of assessment for brides to be.

Earn extra bride points if you could sew with a sewing machine!!

But in my mother's heart, Love is a Singer Sewing Machine.

Foochow Bridal Gift : Wardrobe

When a Foochow girl was getting ready to be married in the 1950's she would be most worried about how many bridal gifts she would bring to her husband's family.

Her gifts would placed her in a position of security if she had more. If she had very few she would be often criticized and may be even abused.

Most would get more than three gifts.

Today I would describe the first gift. The Gift of a Wardrobe . It was for her to keep her valueables, especially when the wardrobe had a drawer with a lock.

On the night of the wedding day, the relatives would come to see what she had. She would have to open the wardrobe and on the shelves would be materials (textiles) which were small gifts from her cousins, siblings, in laws) and may be a few sarongs. Every one would come and have a good look at her belongings. And for days the village would talk about the bride's gifts, and especially her new clothes and materials. Textiles , after the war, were rare and highly valued.

There would also be a few new frocks, pajamas, underwear and pillow cases.

An aunt told me that during the Japanese Occupation she was married off quickly and all she got was a piece of material which was not long enough to make a pair of long pants, or enough to make a dress or samfoo. So she sewed herself a simple blouse and a pair of short pants for herself to wear throughout the first year of her marriage. This was her "new clothes after the wedding". She also wore that during her first pregnancy.

Her bitterness about her quick marriage marred her outlook for the rest of her life.

Foochow Wedding Ritual : The Chamber Pot aka Spittoon

Before 1970's, the spittoon was a very significant and symbolic item which the Foochow bride would bring to her husband's family.

Most importantly, the spittoon would have the double happiness Chinese word printed on it. This kind of spittoon can easily be bought in any of the Chinese bridal shops, even today.

After the Chinese wedding banquet, a series of auspicious activities must be held in the bridal room.

Most important would be the ceremony of a lucky boy child peeing into the spittoon.

This ritual would auger well for the newly wedded couple for they would have lots of male offsprings.

The little lucky male child would be well selected before the wedding for this purpose and a large angpow would be given to him. He must come from a family of males who are still alive, from great grandfather, if possible to his own very successful father. I suppose it was not very difficult to find in those days.

I wonder how many Foochow men remember that very public peeing act when they were asked to do the ritual. Have they really brought all that luck to the couple?

A Frugal Mother

Coming from a frugal Foochow family I know all about stretching the dollar to feed the family. There are people who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. There are folks who are fated to be poor and down trodden. A life is always valuable, and respect is due. No one should be lesser than another in our human race.

If you can empathise with the down and out, the down trodden and those who have sad fates, here is a story for you. This is a post about a very frugal Foochow friend who passed away about 10 years ago. I still think about her and remember some of her gimmicks, wise cracks, and joy of life.

Her frugality was legendary. Hence she made a name for herself and garnered a lot of respect. However she did not have a long life as she passed away when she was not yet even 60. When I was told the news of her sudden passing I was very sad. Many good people do not have long lives.

How do I remember her?

When I peel off the outer leaves of my Chinese cabbage I would remember her. She used to go around the vegetable market and asked for the cast offs. The vegetable sellers were kind and gave her as much as they could. She took them home, made pickles, cooked them for lunch and the worst ones would be given to her ducks. She never owned a car, and she would always take the bus, until there was no bus service in the city.

When I go to the fish market, I would think of her too as she never would buy the best of fish. She liked the small fish to make salted fish, to sell them to neighbours. Her yard would always have two or three rattan trays of fish drying in the sun. The fish looked like jewels in the sun. Whenever I visited, she would give me a small plastic bag and said, "I cannot give you too much. Don't want to raise your blood pressure." Since I knew this would always take place, the giving of whatever she had in hand  as a parting gift, I would never visit her empty handed. I always brought a good bag of indigenous rice for her, saying,"This is for your mother in law's porridge."

And one day she called me to give her a lift. I saw her running out of the house even before I reached the gate. She quickly got into the car and said, "Don't have to drive to my house, you have to make so many turns, waste your petrol. I will come out to the main road." She was barefooted. She had called me from her neighbour's house phone. After that I would call her neighbour to say that I was almost near her house. The neigbhour was a good woman.

That was a very special mission for me: to buy a pair of Japanese slippers in the market. She was not embarrassed to go around town barefooted.

"I have seen TV shows. The Americans in Miami go around barefooted."

That day we bought a lot of Ikan Kepala or Mak Git. We cooked together, asam ikan pedas, and we had enough for the next day. I took back one container for my evening meal.

And again the fish monger gave her extra Mak Git..."these extras are for your cats..." The fishmonger was the kindest I have ever met. He would give her free mak git equivalent to more than 25 % of her purchase. In those days mak git was only about RM3 per kg.

And I smiled because her children and I were her cats.

Nang Chong : Wine Jars of Yesteryears

Traditionally Foochow women who brewed their rice wines would look for a red piece of cloth to wrap the wooden stopper of their wine jars. My grandmother would take out some of the red cotton cloth she received from attending funerals for this purpose.

Right up to the 60's in Sibu, when a relative attended a funeral, she would present a piece of cloth ir Wang Lien, to the bereaved family, measuring 1 chien, 1 suk or 1 1/4 chien, a measurement in those days together with a white packet containing some cash. In return, she would be presented a piece of white cloth, measuring the same length for her to put over her shoulders, or tie around her waist. When she returned from the cemetery, she would be presented a piece of red material to take home. These pieces of red materials were collected and kept in the cupboard to be taken out for many different kinds of uses, e.g. bathing sarong (my grandmother found the red cloth very absorbent and two pieces would just make a nice sarong for bathing).

The white materials (belaju cloth) were used to make shirts, underwear, etc.

A red sarong for carrying babies was also a common sight in those days.

The red cloth to cover a wine jar as shown in the photos has been a traditional custom to help the brewer to repell any evil spirit which could turn the wine sour.

Sometimes a 6 inch nail might even be placed on top of the red cover top to add strength of the custom.

A 6 inch nail is a strong repellent of evil spirit.

Si Iang or Glutinous Rice Balls coated with soy bean powder

the Stone Grinder/mill was an indispensable utility in a Foochow home in the olden days. Every family would have one. It was a necessity albeit heavy and laborious to use.

A few days before the Winter Solstice,my grandmother's house would be busy. First aunt and third aunt would individually in their kitchen start their preparing for the traditional glutinous balls making for the festival. Soy bean would be stir fried (without oil) in the big kuali. when they were cooked, they will be turned into soy bean flour. It became a very fragrant and aromatic powder, ready for coating of the glutinous balls. The flour would be kept in a small tin, ready to be used.

One day before the Winter solstice, my grandmother and third aunt would decide how much glutinous rice to use and how much si yang or tang yuen to make that year. would it be one gantang or rice (suoh tern)? They would use  a bucket to soak the glutinous rice in water ready for an early morning's milling. After milling, with lots of us kids taking turns, the glutinous rice milk would be placed in a flour sack and the stone mill would be used to press and squeeze the water out of the rice flour. This would take quite an amount of time. Hence we had to get up very early to do this work.

Soon the wet rice flour would be of a good consistency to make the rice balls. The processing of making these round balls is called chor (using both hands). the round balls were boiled in the prepared pot of boiling water. We Foochows did not make tang yuen soup or colour the glutinous rice balls.

We coated the si iang in the soy bean powder. And each child would be given a chopstick, pushing the balls like a skewer. That was our happy Winter Solstice breakfast.  Some of us we so good in skewering the glutinous rice balls that we could put 10 through our chopstick.

(Foochow way of eating si iang)

What a happy Winter Solstice morning!! The aroma and the fragrance would be remembered for years to come.

Sibu Tales : Kidney Soup

My grandmother Tiong Lien Tie was a very careful eater and very knowledgeable about new mother's health. When my mother had her confinements for her 7 children, my grandmother was always there for her, to give her all the moral support she needed during the difficult first month, which was also a "confinement month" for Chinese women.

One of the most important soups prepared for new mothers was the kidney soup, spiked with almost half a bottle of Chinese red wine.

She herself said that that was one dish she liked most and she taught several confinement women (those who took over household work and cooking on behalf of the new mothers for a month) how to prepare this dish. My mother learned from her too to make the best of the kidney soups.

In fact, even when no one was having a new baby, my mother would cook the dish - because it was known as a nourishing dish, to help strengthen the kidneys and also the backbones.
During my own confinement I would have kidney soup twice or three times a week. I love the soup actually and would not mind having it every day.

This soup would still be prepared by many Foochow women in the future for the confinement month for new mothers if they know how to prepare it. And especially if the new mothers believe that the soup is good for them.

Clay Pot Ginger Duck Soup

In the city of Fuzhou, a famous dish is the clay pot braised ginger duck which is served to many a 

Photo from Google.

distinguished guests at banquets.

This dish can boost the immune system in traditional Chinese medicine. The tasty ginger duck is braised with sesame oil, ginger, rice liquor, dried chili, sugar, veggies, among other ingredients

In the opinion of our elders,ducks have to be cooked with a lot of ginger  and rice to improve its delicate flavour . The Foochows do not use galangal (blue ginger) or lemon grass. Besides when a whole duck is cooked with its head, it indicates authenticity (whole duck means head and butt).

Is it a custom to serve whole ducks at banquets? Or is it a culinary style?

Foochows love to cook ducks whole, that is, without chopping up into pieces because it is said that the flavours and texture would be better. I remember my maternal grandmother was always touched when my mother served her with whole duck soup. She would have a good bowl of soh mien, with the duck soup...and extra servings of red wine.

Thoughts of her and all the nice Foochow duck soups make me wish that grandmothers can live forever.

Sibu Stories : Wearing of the Black Mourning Patch 戴孝

Wearing a black patch on the sleeve was a mark of mourning. A death had occurred in the family.
While the mourners would wear muslin materials for the first 100 days, and some would even wear black, mourning was not complete until the mourners wore their black patch for 1 or 3 years and the final ritual was the burning of the black patches at the cemetery of the dearly departed.


Funerals in the 1950's and 60's included children kneeling on the floor to bow to friends and relatives who came to pay respects to the newly departed, while the coffin was still in the house.

A wailer would even be engaged, while some came on their own free will, if permitted, to sing mournfully about the goodness of the departed and give recounts of the good deeds he or she had done.

At the back of the living room, seamstresses would be busy making mourning clothes fo the children, widow, and relatives. Some would also be bundling door gifts of towels and handkerchiefs for those who came to "nak ba ging" or white gold, as a token of condolences.
\
My siblings and I wore the black patch for three years because my father died at an early age of 56. It was a decision made by elders of the family.

By the time we could take down our patches and burning them at my father's cemetery, many of the left sleeves were already quite torn from the constant pinning of the patches.

Spartan Foochow Bride's Dowry from Her Parents

There were four items an aunt received from her parents for her wedding. After the Japanese Occupation, every family had very little. Cash was almost non existent. The Japanese currency was worth nothing and people were so poor they could not buy things from each other. Trade was almost at a standstill.

My mother told us that immediately after the war, a man came along and wanted to marry one of her cousins very desparetly because he wanted to bring her to the Ulu, further up from Kapit where he found a job as a cook for a timber company.

My mother's aunt and uncle put together four items as dowry for her young cousin.

Some how her mother managed to keep some red materials in her cupboard over the years.

So the mother hand sewed four pieces of embroidered red cloth

a) A door top curtain - this is to provide some privacy. Normally in the olden days couples do not close their doors in the day time. My photo shows a door top curtain but it is white in colour. the Japanese continue to use this kind of curtain a lot.


b) A small small length of curtain to be hung behind a cupboard and a wall to provide some privacy for the tampoi
c) a top panel for mosquito net
d) A red panel for the base of a Chinese wooden bed

(This photo shows a t raditional Foochow bed, hand crafted. 5 plank bed. The bed posts have been removed. A curtain used to hang from the bed to help cover what was under the bed.)


My mother told us that even though these were very simple gifts, her cousin was very touched and especially her the bride groom.

With so little to start with, without any gold gifts,  the couple did have everlasting happiness and many children. They led a good life.

Mid Autumn Festival Cakes

For two dollars in the olden days we could get a packet of Ching Su bian - the Foochow square moon cakes.

It will always be our iconic biscuit , for its appearance in the market heralds the arrival of the Moon Cake Festival, or the Mid Autumn Festival.

We also have another little crunchy sweet snack called loh chii yang or little rat biscuit. They are sweet and crunchy and we usually enjoy eating them through the lunar month of the 8th Moon.










Moon cakes are often given as gifts to relatives. Among the business people, moon cakes become very expensive tokens of respect and also for endearment, and sealing of business deals.

They can be very elaborate and expensive moon cakes in the market. But traditionally moon cakes are made by the local bakers to mark the Mid Autumn Festival.

Marraige Vows

Wedding Vows Sample 

Male

I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

Female

I, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.


this is a fantastic way to profess one's love...sometime during the YUAN Dynasty!!

Married Love

You and I
Have so much love
That it
Burns like a fire,
In which we bake a lump of clay
Molded into a figure of you
And a figure of me.
Then we take both of them,
And break them into pieces,
And mix the pieces with water,
And mold again a figure of you,
And a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt.
In death we will share one bed.

Kuan Tao-Sheng
(1262-1319) 

Guan Daosheng, also known as Kuan Tao-Sheng, (1262-1319) was a Chinese painter best known for her images of nature and her tendency to inscribe short poems on her paintings. Born to a prominent family, she is considered by many to be China's most famous female painter. Wife of Zhao Mengfu,a respected government official who was also a renowned painter, the story is told that when Mengfu was considering a second wife (multiple wives were not uncommon for wealthy men during that time), Guan wrote this poem. When her husband discovered it, he chose to not to take on the additional wife and remained faithful to Guan from that point on. This translation of Guan's poem is attributed to Kenneth Rexroth. Many other translations are available under a variety of titles including "A Song of You and Me" and "You and I."

Translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung

Foochow Wedding Biscuits - Leh Bian

 When a Foochow girl is engaged, her family will ask the groom's family to provide a sum of money to pay for what we call Leh Bian. Not every modern Foochow family will do this.

But there are still biscuit companies in Sibu which will make these cakes.


These cakes will be made into different sizes. Closest relatives like uncles and aunties will receive the biggest sized leh bian ( No.5) and the next level of kin will receive #3. The smallest are given to neighbours and friends.

Actually these cakes are symbols of an impending marriage.

and they are usually happily distributed and joyously and graciously received. The recipients will then accordingly prepare a gift to reciprocate. Those receiving #5 leh bian may have to make a bee line to their favourite goldsmith to prepare a gift of gold ring or even a bracelet.




The girl's grandmother usually prepares a gold chain,if she is very generous because she is top of the list to receive a #5 leh bian. But the family will also reciprocate with an angpow called "Ma Dang" or Grandmother's Share. Sometimes you can make to order a special size like my friend Ivy who ordered a special "2 ft" diameter leh bian for her daughter in law's grandmother. That must be a Foochow Record.

Gone are the days when we practise all these Foochow traditions. But every now and then, people do adhere to a few of our wedding traditions. Whether you are marrying a daughter or receiving a daughter in law, there are some memorable "things" you can do to make the wedding a happy one.

Double Happiness is the best policy for any tradition. But one must not break the bank to hold a happy event.

God bless all marriages on earth!!

Kiin Chai (Chinese Celery)

The Chinese celery or kiin chai is a very valuable vegetable to the Foochows.

We can use it in fried rice, fried mee hoon and in  soups. It helps to dispel colds too and many people believe today that drinking its juice will help lower high blood pressure and cholesterol.

It is pungent and peppery and tastes similar to regular celery.

Any good Foochow backyard gardener would grow a few of these lovely plants.

they are best to use as garnishes with ham and salads.

One stalk is enough to make a lovely egg soup on a cold day. When cooking tofu soup, this is one ingredient which cannot be missed out.

When I make a cold tofu salad, I have a big topping of Chinese celery. It really makes the dish awesome and pretty.

This is one ingredient that we will not miss out when we buy our food in the market for our festivals and especially Chinese New Year.

Japanese Professor Visits My Grandfather's Tomb

This is a prelude to the Ching Ming Festival which is just around the corner. But Ching Ming usually coincides with very fine weather in Sarawak and in China.

My friend Meng Lei brought Professor Hiroshi to study the cemeteries of the Chinese on 11th March 2012 which happened to be the anniversary of the Earthquake in Japan.

One of the graves they visited was my Great Grandfather and Grandfather's "double grave".

The above photo taken by Meng Lei shows Prof Hiroshi taking a photo  of my grandfather's tomb.

The professor noticed:
1. This tomb is unique in size  - it is a double "faced" tomb or two in one (in fact it is a multiple tomb). One side is my Great Grandfather's who was buried with his wife. On my grandfather's lot - he had his own space. Next to him are the lots of my Second Grandmother (Wong) and my Third Grandmother (Siew). In case you might like to ask - My grandmother (Chong) predeceased my Great Grand Parents and my Grandfather. She was buried on a lovely hill opposite the MYM Cemetery. She was 38 only.

2. All words written on this special tomb were by Rev Yao Siew King - my grandfather's good friend and partner.Each tomb has 6 sets of Chinese phrases (Chen Yu) which denote the values of the Chinese. The words/phrases actually signify my grandfather's love for education.

3. The design is very Fujian of China and the coffin is placed above the land level.

4. To prevent damage this double tomb has a big fence with a small gate.

5. Mt  grandfather's headstone has the names of his seven sons ONLY following the traditions of the Foochows. So this grave is very typical of Foochow graves. It is rare to find a grave where the daughters' names are inscribed also.

All Foochows in the past in Sibu would prepare their graves ahead of their own passing. In Foochow this is called "Chok Hung Chui". They would scout for a proper lot and decide on the design. So according to what I learn from some relatives my grandfather took time to design this tomb for his parents and for himself as a very far sighted act.



Having a grave constructed is a very serious matter and many taboos have to be followed so that the younger generation is blessed. And the best person to consult is the contractor who does the construction. He would have all the advice at his finger tips...Other elders' words should also be taken into consideration. The after life house in a way is as important as our own home.....

Decisions on maintenance and upkeep of ancestral tombs are made by the members of the male line only traditionally.

My great grandfather and my grand father's double grave is found in the Mee Yee Mee (or Methodist Episcopal Mission) Cemetery which is the oldest Methodist Cemetery in Sibu and the one nearest to Sungei Merah Bazaar.

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Foochow Visitors' Gifts in the olden days

The best things in life are the people we love
the places we have been
and the memories we've made along the way.
(M.Borskin)

What were the best gifts when we visited relatives in Sibu?

A tin of biscuit, with a piece of red paper attached to it, to indicate joy of giving.


And foochow soh mien.



In the olden days, one or two chickens in cages like these would be brought along when a Foochow visited his/her relatives.

These gifts were called Ming neng and a must too.