How Bananas Alleviated Starvation in Sg. Teku during the Japanese Occupation

 My grandfather started a brick factory in Sg. Aup and my father and his siblings together with my grandfather were great friends with the Hin Hua people of Sg. Teku. Eventually one of my uncles married a pretty lady from the Hin Hua group .

The population in Sg. Aup, Sg. Teku and Sg. Merah was small and so every one knew each other.

As a young child I noticed the hardworking Hin Hua ladies in the farms: they could really clear the gardens and even carry bananas on their shoulders! I saw them loading rubber sheets onto their bicycles which they would push for a few miles to Sg. Merah. Those were the days.

Then I moved to Miri where I met several lovely elderly Hin Hua Ladies who welcomed me to their homes. I was very touched, as I listened to their stories. All of them came from Sg. Teku and they have moved to Miri to be with their children who are doing well in transport, tyres and other businesses. They are enjoying their senior years here, and are still with friends from "own kampong"!!

I took photos of them when they met but they were shy and refused to be written about in the papers.

Here is one of their stories. Yes, no names mentioned......

The stories of how Sarawak bananas helped the Hin Huas during the Japanese Occupation.

These two ladies came to Sarawak in the same year, from the same place, just a few days before the Japanese landed in Sarawak . They were 5 years old then

Today in Miri, they continue to meet and have fellowship. They are very strong Christians.

Now into the 8th decade, they have lots of children and grand children to share their joy.

"It is the Grace of God that we can gather here today...we could have been killed by the bombs in Sibu..." During and after the Japanese occupation , the sight of bananas growing on trees meant a full stomach for a few days!!

Bananas are still very precious to these two great friends.

They remember that they were the same age, coming to Sibu in the same boat out of China. They remember eating bananas during the Japanese Occupation. Today they still enjoy eating bananas in Miri.

As child brides, they lived in Sg. Teku, faced the same struggles of life, having to work hard and later to reap and taste the wealth their husbands and children brought to the family.

Today they are 80+ and continue to have the same mutual friends and remain the best of friends.

"Now our hair is white. Yes we have been friends from black hair to white hair. It has been a long time."

During the fellowship they ate bananas and laughed a lot sharing oft repeated old stories which they were never tired of telling and retelling.

May God bless them with good health.

Sg.Teku

The old Sg. Teku has almost completely disappeared. In the 1960's there was only one bus going to Sg. Teku to serve the teachers, students and people there. Most of the Sg.Teku villagers cycled to Sg. Merah and then they would take the bus from there if they had to do some official business in Sibu.

My classmates and I cycled to Sg. Teku to visit our classmate Ling Teck Chung in 1968. It was quite a thrilling cycling feat. It was a ride of 8 miles.

Life was not easy when the political situation was bad in the 1970's. Rubber tapping came to a complete stop and pepper farming was minimized. Many people moved to Sibu or elsewhere.

The Sg. Teku was settled by the Heng Huas in 1912.

The Heng Hua Methodists came 10 years after Wong Nai Siong brought 1000+ Foochow pioneers to Sibu. They settled in the northern banks of Sg. Merah and later moved further inland to Sg. Teku. They started a small settlement with probably less than 20 families.

The Heng Huas also started one or two wooden shop houses, servicing not only their own people but the neighbouring Ibans who started to call this place Pasar Teku. In fact Teku is the name of the river flowing past it.

The Heng Huas however called it Abu Garng, meaning At the Back of River. Interestingly, Abu Garng in Foochow is Ah Guok Gern (Lower Part of the River) 

It probably started with just one or two wooden shops and Ibans would come here to buy salt, sugar, flour, canned goods after they sold their rubber sheets. It later became two rows of wooden shops.

Thus the Teku Area owed its origin to the Foochow Methodist Church leaders who impacted the Heng Hua group led by Rev Brewster. Today it is quite a thriving community with shops, new residential areas,clinics etc.

The late Rev Ling Kai Cheng wrote in his book (1964), "I cycled 8 miles to preach in the church there on Sunday circa 1930's. After church we had fellowship and every family took turn to host the fellowship and a small meal. We were really blessed." He would cycle the 8 miles back to Sibu in the afternoon. It must have been a lonely ride but he was a very brave man. 

Sibu Tales : Sg. Teku Methodist Clinic

Miss B. Apple (Ling Teck Hui)came from China to serve in Sg. Teku in the then newly opened Methodist Sg. Teku Clinic. She was a Heng Hua Speaking missionary and she took the Chinese name of Ling Teck Hui.

The Teku Clinic was built after the church people saw the needs for a clinic for women and children. Many Heng Hua women had died in child birth after the community's arrival in 1912. Rev Ling Kai Cheng and Rev McGraw, and Wong Tong Sing approached the Bishop Amstutuz for funds. Soon it was approved in the first Methodist Clinic in Sarawak was established in 1950.

Later Miss Emma Palm also known by her Chinese name, Miss Pang Teck Chung came to serve in this area.

The Clinic helped saved a lot of lives and helped mothers and babies to be healthy.

This Methodist rural health clinic became a role model for the Government to set up their own Klinik Desa later when Malaysia was formed.

By the 2000's, funds became low and the Teku Clinic had to close down. It was also because the Government has set up many clinics in Sibu.

Sungei Teku Tales : Heng Hua Pak Mee

A group of Heng Hua aunties gathered together in Miri recently for a fellowship and to demonstrate their Heng Hua Pak Mee.

It was a very interesting session for me because I have never ever eaten that noodle before even though I grew up with many Heng Huas and later lived with several families as neighbors. I remember most my good friend Siew Chuo who  sent over many great Heng Hua dishes when we were living in Airport Road, Lane 1, Sibu. Siew Chuo is an excellent cook.



However most of us know that with our modern technology and off the supermarket instant noodles, very few Heng Hua ladies actually make Pak Mee from scratch because of time constraints. Besides it might even be rather pointless to make the traditional noodles for a generation which appreciate KFC or Pizzas more!!






Heng Hua Pak Mee originated in Putien region of China and perhaps even earlier than that when the original Heng Huas lived in Henan region before moving south. Hence the use of wheat flour.

The ingredients for the noodle dough is very simple:
1 kg good wheat flour (minus a few spoons for dusting)
2 eggs
some salt
some water

Knead the dough until smooth (Hence a lot of hitting or pak).
When done, flatten the dough into thin layers and fold and cut into small threads, as narrow as your knife skills allow.

Soup base
1 tin of oysters
some braised pork with sauce (cooked the preveious day)
pepper
onions, garlic and ginger
moringa leaves
spring onions,
eggs (made into omelette and then shreaded)
any other ingredients you may like to add.

What a nice dish to make for new year!!

(Sharing recipes is always a joy in my life's journeys. I thank so many friends who are passionate about their own culture, relatives and who go all out to bring people together. The more we relate to each other the better will be our mental health. But however, there will always be certain social restrictions and sensitivities we must take care of.)

Sungei Teku Tales : The Little Noodle Maker

The mother of Tian Tee, Ling Koh, was an amazing Heng Hua woman who lived in Sg. Teku and left a glorious inspiring life story as a legacy to the descendants of the Heng Hua people there. She was illiterate, born in China and extremely poor. Her father simply named her Koh,

糕 which means cake in English. Ling is her family's surname.

From a very young age Ling Koh arrived on the shores with  the Heng Hua pioneers from Heng Hua country to Sibu under the guidance of Rev Brewster and they settled in Sg. Teku. That was 1912.


Ling Koh, Tian Tee's mother, was a very hardworking girl and married fairly young, and brought up 8 children. Tian Tee is one of her younger daughters. When Tian Tee was five, her father passed away. After that, Ling Koh raised her children all by herself.



In those long ago days, every Sunday she would clean  the Rubber mangle or rubber sheet rolling machine with soap and hot water to knead her dough for her hand made noodles. This was a very awesome and creative thing to do and the neighbours in Sg. Teku were really amazed by her quick thinking. Even by today's standards, very few people could do the same.

After drying the machine she would use it to roll out


 her home made noodles Every week she would make more than 10 katis of noodles . She would use the eggs her hens laid to make her noodles. The soup would come from the vegetables she grew in the back yard. Even though she was tired from rubber tapping, pig rearing and animal raising, and looking after her many children, she did not find it at all daunting to prepare a huge basin of Pan Mien for the worshippers who came to worship in the Sg. Teku Church built especially for the Heng Huas.

This is a photo of Putien Lo Mee taken from a media article. This mee is really very delicious. How would you like to get a free bowl of this on Sunday, and by the road side, made and served by a rubber tapper? Wouldn't your heart swell with gratitude?

Her daughter Tian Tee is similarly amazing. She was able to finish 6 years of education (she was taught in Heng Hua language in Sg. Teku)  but she did it remarkably in a very unique way. For every year of education, she only went to school for six months. The other six months she was helping her mother to look after her brothers and sisters

The little Heng Hua lady , Ling Koh, wanted to make sure that those who came to worship God on Sunday would not go home hungry. She placed the huge basin of noodles by the roadside and as the church goers left the church to walk home, they would stop and have a bowl or even two bowls of her very delicious noodles. This was her way of giving back to God, to appreciate God for what He has done for her. Many people would remember her as the Noodle Maker.

Today,  10 of her  grand children  (and in laws) are serving God as full time ministers. Two of them are Tian Tee's daughters  and one son-in-law. Praise God!!

Sungei Teku Stories: Its Small Beginning

When Dr. Brewster, in Putien, heard about Wong Nai Siong bringing a group of Foochow agriculturists to Sibu, he was inspired to bring his Heng Hua brethrens to follow this plan. He travelled to Sarawak to make a petition to the White Rajah with the help from Rev James Hoover. Soon,he brought the Heng Hua people to Sibu to join the Foochow settlers in 1912, which was 11 years after the first batch of Foochows arrived . The new immigrants were allocated land north of the Sungei Merah which extended up to Sg. Teku.

Here is a recent photo of the beautiful Sg. Teku which I took on a memorable trip to the area where many of my school mates grew up.

One of the loveliest "apparitions" I managed to capture a few years ago in Sg. Teku. These are weeds floating down the Teku River. On dry days the river is almost gone.

The Heng Hua Migration story was captured in a book written by Wong Meng Lei to coincide with the Heng Hua's  Centenary Celebration in Sibu. What a fantastic migration story!!   A small group of 100+ Heng Hua people started their farm land and prospered in the last 100 years in an almost uninhabitable land, in a small dot in Borneo island.

One man was truly the catalyst to fire the enthusiasm of the Heng Huas. A Heng Hua himself and a Methodist, he was none other than Rev Ling kai Cheng. He noted that a small church was already built on top of a hill. Going up the hill was tough for the people every Sunday and Rev Cheng who was asked to help with the Church service every Sunday asked the people why they should build the church on top of the hill. The Heng Hua farmers said that was the only piece of land available.

So Rev. Cheng asked if they would like to have a piece of land he could donate  if they on their part, help build the road and build the church and school They happily agreed. This was the beginning of the Teku Methodist Church and the Methodist Kian Hin Primary School. Rev Ling donated a piece of land which was 6 acre big and that formed the foundation of the Kian Hing School and The Methodist Church of Sg. Teku.

Below is the 21 st Century version of the Methodist church property, part of the land donated by the kind and generous Rev Ling Kai Cheng.





Sg. Teku today is a far cry from the sparsely populated farm land of the early 20th century.

A small satelite town of Sg. Teku today. In the 1960's there were only two shops and one bus stop, a Methodist Church Clinic, one Methodist Church and a primary school. The Parsonage was a centre for many activities!!

This should help you think of those difficult days.....

1910-1920 - Rev Ling Kai Cheng cycled to Sg. Teku to preach

1930 - 1940 - Most people walked

1950 - One bus only

1960 -  A few buses , a few taxis and some cars
Many students cycled to school in Sibu.

1970 = motor bikes, taxis, cars and lorries


N/B When I started teaching in the Methodist Secondary School in 1976, Rev Ling continued to cycle to the school to meet up with the Principal, and for other occasions. He was a man who had a great heart for the development of the Methodist School, which in fact owed him for the significant moment too, for deciding to acquire that piece of property for future Methodist Church work.

Rev Ling was always the gentle, grand old man who rode his bicycle slowly, from the town to his home at Hose Lane, some times dropping by at the school.

Later on many students were humbled when they realised that he was a millionaire who rode  an old bicycle.

"True Love and true wealth cannot be hidden...." And indeed in his life, Rev Ling who knew many Ibans in Kapit,  Sibu,  Teku showed his love for the indigenous Christians by proposing churches for the Ibans in Kapit, Sg. Tutus etc. His wealth was indicated by the number of churches he helped to conceptualize and built.

We indeed saw his love for people and the true wealth, not only in terms of money, was also obvious to people who knew him. He was a man who respected people of all races and religions.

He was truly a man who was brought by the grace of God to Sibu.

Heng Hua Pioneer Ling Ah Siew"s original home

In 2012, I had an opportunity to visit Putien, to trace the history of the Heng Hua Pioneers from China to Sarawak. We visited many places which were the home village of the pioneers.

One of the lovely places is Pioneer Ling Ah Siew's original home. Dr. Ling who was born in Sibu but returned to Putien to study after the WW2 and became a doctor, took us on a guided tour, and looked for the original homes of the Heng Hua Pioneers.




This was the road the 110 pioneers took from their home villages to the sea coast in 1912.

the photo shows Dr. Ling who led our trek up the hill towards the home villages of the Heng Hua Pioneers of Sibu.