Wild Torch Ginger or Bunga Kechala

Wild torch ginger is a lovely flower, a single stalk grown from the ground up . And it belongs to the ginger family, yet there is no ginger rhizome below the ground.

The flower is edible and is part of Penang Laksa, assam pedas ikan, and many different kinds of salads from imaginative chefs, as well as ordinary housewives who want to make their meals colourful and tasty.

There is a nice local stir fry made from the young flowers, shoots(upa) and white chillies with ikan bilis. It is a very tasty "extra" dish or side dish.

It is also a nice addition to any floral arrangement for any day at home or in a hotel.

Its petals can be use as a fragrance for one's living room to warmly welcome guests.

They also come in three other colours, pink, white and red.

Red ginger flowers symbolize fiery passion. The general theme running through each species of the plant: strength. Ginger can represent limitless prosperity and diversity in the personality. Sometimes, ginger flowers are given as a substitution for roses. (Kelly Taylor)

2021 - About Letters

 Missionaries, teachers and relatives were model annual letter writers. They would send out by mail, sea or air, in those long ago days.

Today we are well connected by whatsapp, email, telephone etc.

Photo from Google, a lovely envelop from Sibu 1939. What could be the contents of this letter?

Do we still have to write an annual letter to sum up our year? A kind of report card. It can be general, it can be very specific, and the choice is a wide one. 

Warren Buffet now 90 still writes annual letters.

The Reverend McDougall wrote many letters from Sarawak, which were compiled into a book, "Letters from Sarawak". It is a book I haven't read.

At school I read many books by Pearl S. Buck, I was most taken by "Letter from Peking" and I was to read the book several times over the years, and each time I read it, the novel seems different as I have different opinions about China, the USA, love, filial piety and Chinese roots as I age.

In secondary school we were encouraged to write in English and have pen pals. I had two pen pals I corresponded with but we lost touch. Our English teachers even encouraged us to read our pen pals' letters in the class. And then, it was fun waiting for the post man to drop mails in our letter box at Brooke Drive. I remember him riding a bicycle. He wore a brown uniform.

And of course we waited anxiously for Mr. Chong Chung Sing or Mr. Wong Kiing Nung of the Methodist Secondary School to bring the mail to the school in the mid afternoon. During RECESS, they were the most popular guys, with us clamouring for our mails. I used to imagine (with sadness in the heart) some boys and girls who never received letters in their lives.

And then of course there were students in the school who secretly put love letters in the bicycle bags of their chosen ones. Those were school day stories about letters.

And then I started to realise that in 2021, during the Pandemic, we have all become very traumatized by Covid 19. We became incoherent at times, we could not put words down, and worst of all we could not pen a good letter. We respond to questions, sometimes angrily, sometimes very ridiculously. We forget to write gracious words to relatives and friends, and our dearest family members. Worst of all, we feign busyness and forget to reply messages or letters.

Some governments find postal services very essential but challenging during the Pandemic. What would happen to millions of letters not delivered during the Pandemic 2020-2021?

Are we  ourselves leaving gracious letters for our future generations?

It is good to "drop a line" for someone we have met, we have known for years. It may mean the world to them.

But may be it is still good to write an annual letter to tell others about our year. 2021 has gone but we can still recap a little.

Discipline in the Hostel : School Wardens

 "Strong women don’t play victim, don’t make themselves look pitiful, and don’t point figures. They stand and they deal." Mandy Hale

I taught in several schools in Sarawak after I graduated from the university. Three of them had boarding facilities and each one of them had different kinds of wardens who looked after the boarding boys and girls.

Most of them were strict and executed their duties with fairness and firmness.

One particular warden was very strict and the girls did not like her at all. A few of them in fact spoke evil of her and spread wild rumours too. It was totally unfair and we teachers knew about it.

They called her tigress and they disturbed her teaching, which was most unfair because many of the weaker students needed her help. She taught them slowly and with a great deal of patience. Eventually they all passed their Form Three Exams. The girls even called her stupid and slow teacher.....because she was a very slow and gentle speaker.

One day a school girl was in need of blood, so this lady teacher gave her precious blood and none of the student's family knew about it. A doctor had called her up to donate blood and she willingly gave. She was never thanked for the blood donation because she did not want anyone to know except the Principal.

Another time, a student owed the school a year's boarding fees, she quietly offered to pay.

She often visited the school kitchen and she would reprimand the kitchen staff if food was short. She would eat with the students, which made some girls say that she was very bad and stingy. She never took the students' ration. The kitchen staff knew that she brought ikan bilis, chicken and extra vegetables for her meal which the kitchen staff also shared. She was quietly checking on the quality of the food. During the examination weeks, she supplied most of the ikan bilis to give to the girls who had no appetite.

In fact during Mr. Robert Nicholl's principalship at Tanjong Lobang School,for example, he made sure that the staff ate with the students in the dining hall or refractory. This was to ensure that staff and students would eat the same quality of food and the students would have models to look at.

Many students developed gentlemanly behaviour according to one of the seniors I met at one time. He told me that when he looked at his school mates and his teachers, he knew then how some students learned well and how some never learned. He said that his dining experiences in the school helped him a lot when he went overseas. He had excellent table manners.

One of the school wardens' duties was to catch boys and girls for breaking hostel regulations. When they were brought to the staff room for reprimanding and investigation they would tell a lot of lies. So the wardens and other teachers would know who the liars were. 

Many students lie just to get out of sticky situations, and to make themselves look like victims too so that they had people's pity.

Talking bad about others and lying to save oneself are two weaknesses of many students. These are the characters teachers must always help try to set straight. Eventually when they join the work force they are likely to have the same character.

Unfortunately teachers who tried their best to set the students in the right path are given bad names. Bad teachers they would say. Only God would know  these hardworking teachers tried their best.

Hard Times Cooking

A blogger, Laura is one writer who is dear to my heart.....

This recipe is from her (Hard Times Cooking). thank you Laura, you are inspirational.

This is my family’s favorite biscuit recipe!

4 c all-purpose flour
3 T baking powder
2 t salt
4 T canola oil
1 ½ – 1 ¾ c milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Begin with a large bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients into the bowl and then mix it all together well with a big fork. Combine 1 ½ cups of milk with the oil. Pour it all into the dry ingredients at once. Stir until it’s all mixed in and all the flour is moistened. Add the extra ¼ cup of milk if the dough is too dry.
Now, take all the dough in your hands and put it on a baking sheet. Pat the dough into a large rectangle, keeping in mind that you want the dough about an inch thick and you’ll be cutting it into 12 equal pieces.

After you cut the dough into equal pieces, separate the biscuits by about ¼ inch. Then put them into the oven for 15 minutes. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter and put them back into the oven to bake until they’re golden brown on top. Makes 12 big biscuits.

May God bless you as you are making do!

Laura, Hard Times, Making Do and Doing Without....She wrote this about herself -- I am a wife, mother, my children’s teacher, homemaker, friend, and of course a daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.  I like reading, writing, sewing, scrapbooking, talking with my friends, time with my family, Friday night date nights with my Honey, cheesecake and chocolate!

LAURA OF HARVEST LANE COTTAGE

Faith, Family, Thrifty Homemaking, Books and Encouragement

LAURA OF HARVEST LANE COTTAGE

Faith, Family, Thrifty Homemaking, Books and Encouragement