Sibu Tales : Foochow Bank - The Hock Hua

 the Hock Hua Bank was the first Foochow bank in the country of Sarawak in 1952. It was wholly owned by the Foochows from Sibu. 

This photo shows the first Board of Directors of the Bank. Interestingly there are two groups of Foochows here, the Kutien and the Minqing. 

Back Row : from left Chang Ta Kang, Wong King Huo, Ting Lik Hung, xx, Tiong Kung Ping xx

Front Row : from left Tiong Wang Ming, Ling Chu Ming, xx Wong Sing Keng, xx

Like any business enterprise, the bank had changes in shareholders. Some stayed while some left for reasons best known to the shareholders behind the closed doors.

However after Malaysia was formed, and many years later, Hock Hua Bank had to close under new government directives, thus ending a very unique bank owned by just a small group of Foochows.

By the 21st century, a ethnic based bank like Hock Hua no longer could prevail in a multi racial country like Malaysia.

Sibu Tales : SUDC

 1958 - 1959

 History Of Sibu Urban District Council  

Council Chairman :		Ting Lik Hung
Councillor :	1.	Abang Haji Abdul Razak
2.		Alhaji Abang Kiprawi
3.		Chang Ta Kang
4.		Chew Geok Lin
5.		Chieng Hie Kwong
6.		D. C. Walker (District Officer)
7.		Kong Chung Siew
8.		Lau Hieng Ing
9.		Lee Yu Yong
10.		Ngu Thian Eng
11.		Peter Jong Kuet Siong
12.		Teng Kah Eng
13.		Tieu Sung Seng
14.		Wong Ngi Chang
15.		Yao Kheng Sui

Mother's Stories : The Head Man's Rifle

Household Security at the Lau Mansion, Ensurai.

In the 1930's my Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii was a powerful Foochow headman in the Rajang. He was recogized by the Rajah and was considered a River Chief (Kang Chu) second man to be recognize as such after Wong Nai Siong. However it was not a salaried or official post.

The photo of the rifle is just representative of the rifle our Grand Uncle had to protect his household in Ensurai.

My mother's uncle, Lau Heng Chiew came to Sarawak when he was already married with 8 children, to be the "security chief" of my grand uncle and to protect the Lau Mansion which was the grandest house in the whole of Rajang at that time.

As chief security, my grand uncle Heng Chiew carried and looked after the peace and security of  the house and area for many years. Children like my mother, her siblings and cousis were terrified of the Security Chief who went around doing his work very seriously. No running on the plank walks was allowed for example. And very importantly no running on the stair cases to go up stairs or downstairs.

In those days, Grand Uncle Heng Chiew was the only Foochow security guard who carried a rifle. So he was very committed to his role. He would station himself by the main entrance to keep every one quiet for example when my Grand Uncle Kah Tii was having his afternoon nap.

That was the " No Disturbance" time. And kids kept their social distance at that time.

The rifle also deterred many robbers and unwelcomed visitors.

Grand Uncle Heng Chiew decided to retire in 6Du (Fujian) when he became older. And Grand Uncle Kah Tii gave him a handsome retirement gift for his old age. It was very typical of Grand Uncle Kah Tii because he loved his siblings, cousins, nephews and nieces very much.

Memories : Japanese Language School and Transport Company

 In 1942 when the Japanese started to run all the businesses in Sibu, the local Foochows, Malays and Ibans were strictly forbidden to do any free trade. As all existing trade relations were stopped and only Japanese could do any transaction regarding importing of goods and selling items, Foochow traders who dealt with Singapore trading houses felt the strain and stress of Japanese monopoly. In fact many had to over come the situation by going back to barter trading. 

Furthermore only Japanese ships could ply between Singapore and Sibu.

A coupon system was started to the dismay of the locals.

It was a very restrictive kind of economy and civil society was very much affected.

Schools were closed while Japanese classes were opened . My aunts and other school going age children had the options to go to Japanese language school run in Tung Hua Secondary School while Yuk Ing Girls School was completely closed. 

Only Tung Hua School was opened and those very few Chinese teachers who were selected to teach Japanese stayed on to teach. In fact some were forced to teach by the Japanese. (These teachers were forced to take up training for the teaching of Japanese language).

Classes were opened in the afternoon so many children were able to do farming or to forage for vegetables in the morning.

Mr. Tiang Kwong Poi was a an exceptional talented linguist and he was asked to teach the Japanese language in Tung Hua School. He held a degree from China and was actually a very learned man. He was to be a very good Chinese language teacher in the Methodist Secondary School from 1949 onwards.

Many (including my aunt) remember him as a very likable teacher who was kind and very knowledgeable. In fact he also taught Chinese literature and Chinese Calligraphy, besides Japanese handwriting and Oral Japanese. After three months, according to my aunt, most of the children were able to read, write and speak the Japanese language, because of the way Mr. Tiang taught them.

Students who had to board in Tung Hua School came with their own food and even kerosene stoves. Those who did not have kerosene stoves had to look for firewood at the back of the school. The students cooked their own food while studying Japanese. That was the kind of school life in those days.

My aunt remembers that they were very scared of getting sick as medical services were minimal. The Lau King Howe Hospital was taken over by the Japanese and services were given to the Japanese soldiers and personnel. Local people had to see Chinese sinseh like Methodist Pastor, Rev Yao Shao King privately and quietly.  Parents would bring their sick children to see Rev Yao who would pray for them and prescribe some medication, often free of charge. Several of my relatives were treated for fever especially. Another Chinese doctor was Dr. Chiu Nai Ding, also a Methodist.

My mother then living in the rural Nang Chong area, said that it was God's will that most children were healthy. From her, I learned that in those days, coughs were treated by herbs grown in the backyard, and fevers were treated by brews made from mugwort. Most women were able to help each other by giving traditional medical advice. Luckily there was no epidemic.

My aunt went to the Japanese School with my uncle who was much younger. They considered the Japanese language school some kind of holiday school. She said that quite a large number left after one year or even six months with the excuse that they were too poor and had to do farming. But the Japanese managed to get the school going for three years. Mr. Tiang helped many students to leave school with good excuses. My aunt and uncle left the Japanese Language school and went to plant padi in the rural area to help support the big family. They were quite glad to leave the school. Today very few of her peer group can hardly remember any of the Japanese language they learned.

At that time, students from around Sibu used the Japanese run transport company bus and had to pay a few cents for their bus fares. The made in Japan bus had a short body which could seat about 12 people. (My aunt said that when the Allied Forces came to Sibu, the Japanese burnt all their vehicles before they left Sibu by boat for Kuching.)

The bus driver was a local Foochow who was a bit arrogant because he had a gainful employment. Not may men had driving license in those days. He was one of them. The license was like a kind of international driving license.

The students resented taking the bus from Sibu town to the school but they had no other choice. That bus apparently was the only bus running in Sibu at that time. Almost all other vehicles like lorries, jeeps and saloon cars were Japanese owned.

Mission Children : Dr. Ding Lik Kiu

When the Hoovers lived in Sibu (for more than 30 years) they did not start an orphanage. Mrs. Mary Hoover was into educating girls in her well run Yuk Ing Girls' School while Rev Hoover was busy managing the Foochow settlement and the various churches built in every Foochow village in the Rajang. By the time of his sudden death in 1935, there were 41 churches built on land donated by the Foochow villagers themselves. Many of the churches were probably designed by him, hence the American style of the cross, or the steeple, and the various shapes of the windows and general wooden outlook. 

Today many of the old wooden churches have been demolished to make way for concretized and very 2lst century modern buildings.

The couple however, received orphans and destitute children, especially boys, who they accommodated in their mission house, some for a few short years, while others longer. As most of the boys were still "little" they were placed in the classes with the girls in Yuk Ing. The older boys were sent to the Agriculture school in Bukit Lan and other schools which had hostel facilities by the 1930's.

One boy stood out in particular, and he was Ding Lik Kiu, whose father had died young and very tragically. His mother, then suffering from ill health, came to beg Mrs. Hoover to take the boy in. Mrs. Hoover thus took over the bright boy and had him study with the girls.

He stayed in the room on the ground floor according to my Aunt Tiong Chiew Sieng and he had his meals with the girls in the girls' school.

He was to be sent to the United States for further education by the Hoovers.

All rice were brought individually by the girl boarders. Mrs. Hoover saw to the making of meals in the kitchen . The cooks were the senior girls of the school. So Yuk Ing Girls' school was very sustainable in a way.

The rice was wrapped in a handkerchief and boiled into a round ball in the huge kuali. My aunts all studied in the school, and were boarders. The trip across the Rajang to Pulau Kerto would be too problematic so my grandfather had them board in the school and he happily supplied the rice. My aunts said they learned a lot of domestic skills from Mrs. Hoover, who was a good disciplinarian.

The older girls cooked, while the younger girls carried water and did other chores. All girls were trained to be extremely neat. At times they learned to do patching of clothes, and making their own underwear. The most important sewing they did during the sewing lessons was making their own graduation suit. They could not graduate if they could not complete the suit.

My aunt Tiong Pick Sieng remembered one of the very important duties every girl must perform from young. That was to pour the urinals  (pang pang) every morning and have them washed. The girls lived upstairs so it was quite a task to carry the urinals down stairs especially on rainy days. 

 Mrs. Hoover taught the girls to be light footed. No one should storm around like a spoilt brat.

To this day, my pretty aunts Chiew and Pick, are still very sure and light footed, graceful and well spoken like Mrs. Hoover. Both my aunts are younger than Dr. Ding Lik Kiu (born 1921).

Ding Lik Kiu thus grew up under the loving care of Mrs. Hoover in Sibu, along Island road. He was sent to Singapore for his secondary school education.

When my aunt Tiong Chiew Sieng moved back from Singapore in 1963 to live in Sibu, Dr. Ding lik Kiu had already left Kapit, and they never met .  

My aunt Tiong Pick Sieng visited Mrs. Hoover in Perth very often when she was studying there. Mrs. 

Hoover  updated her about Dr. Ding and his achievements. When my aunt's husband, Dr. Fan, graduated as a medical doctor in Australia, he came back to Sarawak to work at Christ Hospital, taking over from Dr. Ding. That was really a small world for the Foochow students of Mrs. Hoover.

Moreover, aunt Tiong Pick Sieng met Dr. Ding quite often in Kuching when he came back to visit or for conferences because Dr. Ding and Dr. Fan had become good friends. Dr. Ding was a kind and soft spoken man. 

The Hoovers' life and example impacted their students and foster children. Today my aunts still talk very fondly about Mrs. Hoover as their second mother, strict and firm but kind and good.

Mrs. Hoover spoke with a Minqing accent, while Rev Hoover spoke with a Kutien accent. (Ref : Wong Meng Lei)

The First Cathay Cinema of Sibu

 Sibu actually had a Cathay Cinema built in the 1940's along Blacksmith Road. It belonged to my grandfather Tiong Kung Ping . In 1950, he sold the cinema to Dr. Chiu Nai Ding and partners who wished to collaborate with Shaw Brothers, so that they could earn money by showing Hong Kong Movies. In the 60's Sibu had a new Cathay Cinema, operated by the Cathay Organization of Singapore.

My grandfather sold the building lock stock and barrel. It was also because he wanted to buy two more shop houses for Grandma and their youngest son, according to a relative. He also built a new mansion in Sg. Merah, which we called House on the Hill Top, Kwong Ann Crescent. My grandmother held the property for years until she passed away in 1987. My Grandfather passed away in 1963. 

My aunts remembered that immediately after the war, the local young men organized a few troupes to come from Miri and Singapore. The troupes performed very well and many people came to watch . some of the tickets were only 50 cents. These were the mid 20th Century theatrical performances of South East Asia, with shits, costume plays, magical shows, songs and dances.

Photo shared by Chua Chong Hian, showing Cathay Cinema in the background. Boys Scouts of Sibu for the 50th Anniversary of the Sibu Foochow Settlement .

These shows were called Ren Xi (Human Show) 人戏 by the local Foochows.

The well made up actresses and actors attracted a lot of people. Singers and dancers were especially popular with the younger crowd. Sibu being a very small traditional and conservative town, such shows attracted a lot of attention.

Apart from the real live shows or performances, Hindi and Japanese movies were show. This was all before the Shaw Brothers and Cathay movies from Hong Kong.

When my parents were first married in 1948, they lived in one of the apartments on the left side of the building. A staircase rose from the ground floor to the first floor, next to the coffee shop named Liu Huong which is on the right side of the ground floor. For years my grandfather would drink his coffee at that coffee shop as he was very friendly with the towkay and the towkay neo.

When my grandfather thought that he was not making a lot of money from the rentals, he decided to sell off the property.

BMA and Clothes Donation

 The Allied Forces bombed Sibu in August 1945. The atomic bombs had been dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although not many people knew about the horrendous its aftermath. Few Sibu people had radios by then as most radios had been either destroyed or taken away by the soldiers. It was too dangerous to have a radio. My father's radio was confiscated by them so he stopped listening to BBC or the Voice of America after his inprisonment.

In fact according to several accounts, the Allied Forces had landed in Kapit and Kanowit areas and had killed many Japanese soldiers. When finally it was time for the Japanese to surrender, a group came by boat from Kanowit area (Ref : Ling Kai Cheng) 

Lau Tze Cheng mentioned in his writing that " on 17th September, 1945, a few Allied armed men came by jeep from Lanang Road to the Belian Bridge (may be Khoo Peng Loong Road now). It was at that point, the Japanese and the Allied Representatives signed the Japanese surrender of Sibu. It was a very quiet ceremony on the bridge." 

There was no welcoming in the streets of Sibu. After the signing ceremony, the Japanese left by boat towards the river mouth in the night. 

The Japanese soldiers were recalled to Kuching . As they sailed down the river, they fired a lot of bullets into the air, probably to frighten the Allied forces and the locals, as some people remembered. Not many people dared to come out to see them.

The British Military Administration was set up in Sibu, but it was the Australians managed Sibu and brought some kind of order and calm to the town for about a year, after which the British Colonial officers took over.

During the BMA, many events happened and the economy of Sibu slowly recovered.

One of the first events the people of Sibu remembered then was the donation and distribution  of used clothes to the civilians. The villagers came in their boats or the then motor launches and every one was given one set of clothings. The women and girls were given dresses and the men mainly western trousers.

A few uncles found the westerners' trousers too big and had a good laugh. 

During the war, no one could buy any textile to make clothes. Babies were given repurposed clothings, made roughly, often by hand, and young girls who were growing fast, wore over sized clothes. some men were even said they wore sirats like the Ibans, or just some cloth to cover their essential parts.

An aunt who married at 15. just before the Japanese arrived said that she was given a few yards of materials for her wedding, as her family was quite poor. She had the materials made into her maternity blouses and luckily she did not put on weight. When her child was born, the maternity blouses were used to wrap up her baby. She did not have any sarong at all, although she longed for one to carry her baby. In later life, she would always give a new sarong to friends who were expecting babies!! She also queued up for a dress and a baby shirt for her eldest. She was barely 18 and she had a two year old child.

Definitely, clothes were so hard to come by for a few years after the war.

Photo showing Unconditional surrender of
the Japanese to the Australian Forces in Kuching

My mother received a good and pretty 3/4 sleeved dress which fitted her very well. She wore it for many important occasions for a few years. And for years she would mention to us how beautiful the dress was. It had lapels, and she felt very comfortable in it. It was quite a change for her as she was dressed like a young boy for 3 years and 8 months, and she was darkened by the sun as she was a hardworking farmer.

And there was Movement Control Rules too. Chinese traders had to have a permit to bring goods up and down the Igan River, for example.

Medicines were short like during the time of war.

Lt. Colonel McCarthy was the man in command and he gave permission to raise funds for a Charitable Home to be set up in Salim. The Roman Catholic priests and nuns were invited to look after the paupers, the poor and the homeless. The Building thus allocated came to be known as the McCarthy Lodge.

It was said after BMA period, no paupers were seen in the streets of Sibu.

Generally life was not that easy.

Headman Lau Kah Tii's Official Visit to Fuzhou City

The Foochow headman Lau Kah Tii brought a large delegation from Sibu in 19    to visit Fuzhou City. By that time many of the local rubber planters had prospered.

Dressed in their best, these Nangyang visitors were given rousing welcomes in their own villages. My Headman brought them to Bang Dong, 6D where Wong Nai Siong and he came from.

Then the group was able to meet up with Lin Shen, the President of China.

This memorable photograph of Foochow headman of Sibu, Lau Kah Tii bringing a delegation to meet up with Chinese President Lin Sen (5th from right, bearded) in Fuzhou city was lovingly kept in his own personal album in Sibu and was later used in a publication by his family.

It was a cold day on 2nd Dec in 1936  when they met the President Lin Sen, a Fuzhou..In the photo, Lau is 4th from the right in bow tie.  Some were dressed in coats, especially those from overseas, while some were dressed in the local best, warm long gowns. President Lin Shen was a very well dressed man.

Headman Lau also arranged for the group to meet up with all the Sibu young men who were studying in Fuzhou and Shanghai.

It is good to mention that Headman Lau brought his wife along for this official trip. She too was very well dressed for all the official functions.

It was a very good home coming and a fact finding tour for the group.

Japanese Occupation : Enforced Food Production

Rice was running short during the middle of the Japanese Occupation. The local people, including the Chinese and the Malays around Sibu were eating more sweet potatoes than rice. Some had hardly anything to eat and were even cutting down sago palms to make sago flour, or just eat the pith. My mother and her siblings had to tighten their belts to let the elders and the new born have white rice and they ate the lesser staples. They had to forage for jungle vegetables to put some food on the table. And cash was no where to be seen or even earned.

Even the Japanese soldiers were facing shortage of rice.

This could be due to the fact that farmers were scared to go to the fields and the Ibans were hiding in their longhouses,seldom appearing to do any trading with the town people. Generally food production was almost at a stand still

At the beginning of 1944, the Japanese started a grand plan to have enforced farming. The empty land on the banks of the Igan and the Rajang were allocated to the Chinese to grow rice.

(According to a historian in Limbang, the Japanese had given instructions to the people of Limbang valley, namely the Ibans and the Lun Bawangs to grow rice in order to supply rice to the people of the town and the Japanese soldiers, at a special price which was not really acceptable. But with guns in their hands the Japanese were able to force the Iban farmers to bring out baskets of unmilled rice . One Iban family remember seeing Japanese soldiers visit their longhouse rather unexpectedly because it took  two days of marching or walking in the jungles from Limbang to reach their longhouse!!)

My young uncle, Lau Pang Hung, and his siblings were given an allotment in Sg. Ayam, under the jurisdiction of 8th district. His father, Headman Lau Kah Tii g Hung) was in charge of the 8th District, They thus obtained new land to plant padi. There were 10 groups of Foochows. Each group consisted of 20 farmers and they lived in attap houses called "factories"

Lau Pang Hung's leader was Tang Yew Sung. His siblings, Pang Soon, Pang Shu, Pang Ding, and Pang Heng were in the group. Several youngsters around 10 years old were also brought along to do the cooking. The rustic "factory was about 70 feet square with 10 beds on each side with wooden boxes in the middle. The wooden boxes formed their work tops and tables for meals.

The marshy land was difficult to travel on, and small branches were used to create some kind of foot paths. Most of the time the farmers were caked in mud.

Mr and Mrs. Lau Pang Hung 2014 in Sibu.

As they were short of nails or wires, they depended on rattan and other twines to tie pieces of wood roughly together. One day the roof (which was tied together very roughly by rattan) of their  hostel collapsed while the farmers were waiting for their lunch. Every one jumped up  and took cover in the swamps thinking that it was an earthquake. Luckily no one was hurt but lunch was completely destroyed. They had to go hungry that afternoon.

The Japanese soldiers had put up a toll station at 24 acres and any one passing through from the allotments or farms had to give 30 per cent of their harvest. So many farmers would secretly mill their rice in the hostel (using the wooden rice huller which they had taken apart and put together again) and carried the small packets of rice under their clothes. the Japanese soldiers were not any wiser.

Lau Pang Hung had in fact  rowed a small boat filled with milled rice from the allotment in Sg. Ayam to Ensurai, which took him 4 hours to row. In that way, he probably smuggled more than 100 kg of rice safely home.  If he had been caught, probably he would not live to write this story.

In fact Sg. Ayam is nearer the present Bintangor than Ensurai.

(Translated from Chinese article written by Lau Pang Hung, "Commemorative Book on Headman Lau Kah Tii)

Early Morning at Hua Hung. Pulau Kerto

Three men decided to get an ice making machinery with Rev Hoover's help and set up the first ice making factory in Pulau Kerto. They bought the land for a very small sum from the government paying a very small premium. And being related, the venture was a 50:50 joint venture, Tiongs had half and the Wongs the other half. The Tiongs and Wongs were related by marriage as my great grandfather was married to a Wong.

The three men who put the money together were Tiong Kung Ping and the Wong brothers, Liing Kwong and Hung Kwong.

They named the business venture Hua Hung meaning Chinese Bountiful Harvest. My learned great grandfather Tiong King Kee purportedly came up with the name for the business venture. It was very much the kind of business venture Jack Welch would approve of. No1 in the business.

The machinery was put together by Tiong Kung Ping with the help of his English educated wife from Java, Chong Ching Soon who read the manual and translated for him. And not long after the machinery parts which came in to Sibu ( by ship in huge boxes )were put together by my grandfather every one waited for ice to be made. Could water turn into ice?

Initially, it must have been quite a sight for every one to see the machinery working. Prayers were said and all the families were blessed.

There was also a tale that Rev James Hoover waited for the ice to form on the first day and it was reported, " Hoo Rinang jing huan ngi...Kang xia JUO". My grandma spoke with a Hook Chiang slang, my grandfather was Minqing. Rev Hoover spoke Kutien while Mrs. Hoover spoke Minqing.

Many Minqing or Ming Chiang people could not understand Rev Hoover's Kutien accent. (lots of jokes). 

The ice made by the factory supplied the much needed commodity to the local Malay, Melanau and Iban fishermen. Ice blocks were sent to Sibu coffee shops by the factory's "ice boats" regularly in the morning before seven. The Rajang was quite a wide river between Pulau Kerto and Sibu, and the confluence of the Igan and Rajang was just a stone throw away.

A morning business would be done very early in the morning  The young Mr. Lo was an employee then and he had this story to tell.

Mr. Lo, who later became a famous timber man started his life carrying ice blocks, with this bare hands. The people called this job "Boh Bing" or hugging ice. The ice blocks were big measuring 2 feet long and 9 inches thick. The ice blocks were carried into the waiting ice boats. When the tide was high the boats were at the same level as the jetty and it was easier for Mr. Lo. If the tide was low, then the ice blocks had to be carried along a plankwalk to the boats, an extra burden for Mr. Lo and the ice carriers.

When the ice boat was full, the engine would start and Mr. Lo would then go home, have a bit of rest and start his office work or tend to the ice factory. The ice boat man would also run errands for the employees, buy vegetables and other groceries and daily necessities. 

Another employee, the factory clerk Mr. Lee was a trusted man who was a kind of Purchaser for the the whole complex. In 1950's my parents' shopping was all done by him.

Interestingly his son went to school with one of my sisters who later married a cousin of ours!! Today we are still a very close knit group of friends and cousins.

Furthermore, an added point of interest came from Mr. Lo  who told one of my aunts that throughout his later life he suffered from cold chests and a bad cough. Working in an ice factory had its occupational hazards.

The ice factory then provided Sibu coffee shops and fishermen with ice blocks until 1958 when my grandfather and the Wong brothers sold the business to another Foochow man who went into the frozen food export business.

The small complex of the factory, living quarters and offices was a whole complete Foochow residential cum commercial site was probably quite American in design according to an aunt. More than 100 people lived here for more than 40 years. Folks had seen older generation die, and their grand children born in Pulau Kerto. It was quite a patriarchal outfit.

This first business was inspired by Rev James Hoover who was very innovative and far sighted. My grandfather was blessed by a brilliant mechanical mind because he was good in assembling many machinery brought in by Rev Hoover.

Do you know that in local dialect Kerto means mosquito larva?

Great Grandfather Chong Kheng Swee - Hock Chiang Nern

 My great grandfather Chong Jin Swee(Kheng Swee) , the father of my paternal grandmother Chong Ching Soon was a  big sized Fuqing man who originally came from Shatang Village of Fuqing.

He migrated quite early to Java first, where he and great grandmother had three children, Chong Jin Bok, Ching Soon and our grand aunty Java (or Ho Soon). According to several stories he might have been a Church man, or a Bible reader, or even a teacher. He was a devout Methodist, probably baptised in Fuqing before leaving China to settle down in Java.

Like most Fuqing man, he was very hardworking and must have made some money to educate his three children in English schools in Singapore. My Grandmother Ching Soon for example went to Nind Home for Girls, where she received an English education. And so did Grand Aunty Java. 

Grand Uncle Jin Bok was educated in English and married Ms. Ng (Mrs. JB) who was also English educated, and a Singaporean Nyonya. Both went back to Java to teach for about 12 years where they had three children, Chung Sing, Chung Eng and Chung Hian (who became professor Chong Chung Hian, and State Medical Director of Sarawak). Professor Chong later served in WHO, in New York. (NewYork has a very large Fuqing Overseas Chinese Population!)

My Great Grandfather Chong Keng Swee, father in law of my paternal grandfather Tiong Kung Ping.

Rev Hoover was instrumental in matching my grandfather Tiong Kung Ping with Grandma Ching Soon.

My English educated grandmother Chong arrived in Sibu from Singapore in 1909. When many of the Lau relatives first saw her, they described her as a dainty Nyonya (or Doll). She was pretty and very fair, like most of the Fuqing people. 

When my father was born, he was known as "the fairest baby any one had seen" . My Tiong grand uncles from Sg. Bidut used to say that.

 Rev James Hoover later engaged both Grand Uncle Jin Bok and Grand Aunty JB to manage the Anglo Chinese School for boys in Sibu. When the ACS moved to Bukit Lan to form the Agriculture School for boys, Grand Uncle JB became the assistant principal of Yuk Ing Girls School , teaching mainly English.

Grand Aunty JB then moved to teach in Chung Hua School, and she opened a private tuition centre for English. According to my aunt Chiew, that was the first"foreigner's Tuition Centre " for English language.

Great Grandfather Chong was very enterprising and together with his son in law, he opened up land in Binatang, and Sg. Merah. He was good with household chores as he managed his home in Sg. Merah and his grand children, soon after Great Grandmother passed away (stories collected from relatives). He was known to be a good cook and a very intelligent man.

We have a few photos of Great Grandfather, especially the most treasured one of his 60th Birthday when all three of his children were together in Sibu. His rubber plantation formed the background. It was quite possible Rev James Hoover took the photo for them.  My father then was around 14 years old.

He passed away in 1942 and was buried in the Methodist Cemetery in Sg. Merah during the Japanese Occupation, His beloved son Jin Bok passed away in 1940, two years earlier.

The Sg Merah land has been developed and there is a road named after Grand Uncle Chong Jin Bok, running through the residential area.

(We are still trying our best to piece together the history of my Grandmother Chong's family. I would love to hear from the Chongs in Java, Australia and elsewhere)

Sibu Tales : Tung Hua Primary School as a Japanese School

During the Second World war, many students were encouraged to attend school, either as day scholars or boarders in Sibu. Their parents who did not want their children to have interrupted education were quite willing to send them to school, while those who were afraid, made their children stay in the farms and worked in various capacities. Girls who were of marriageable age were forced into marriage, some as young as 14 or 15.

The Tung Hua Primary School , along Queensway,was opened up by the Japanese. A few of the original school teachers remained on the staff, like Mr and Mrs Tiang Kwong Poi (who later taught in Methodist School)..

One school teacher trained in China, related to my mother did not want to continue teaching, but instead worked as a bus conductress. She was very courageous as she continued to wear her loose cotton cheongsam. She was not afraid to be employed by the Japanese. But on the other hand she did not want to learn the Japanese language and to teach it. After the war, she went back to teaching in the village, and remained single all her life.

All the teachers were trained to teach basic Japanese. I know two of my distant uncles learned Japanese and taught it in the village schools. My youngest maternal aunt went to school to learn Japanese  as she was still in primary school, not on a regular basis. My mother being older, went to study for a year, on and off and finally, because my grandfather was very ill, she had to stop studying in order to plant padi. However even though she had an interrupted education she managed to pass her Junior Middle Three exams and became a primary school teacher after the war, in the primary school built by my maternal grandfather.

In Sibu town, my two paternal aunts and uncle, then school going age became boarders (because Yuk Ing School closed with Mrs. Hoover in Australia)in Tung Hua School. My paternal Grandfather insisted on their going to school, which was good because later they were able to go to Singapore to study for having the "school attendance record".

1941

A maternal uncle told us that Tung Hua school had a skeletal staff and all the lady teachers continued to wear cheongsams which was like the official wear for teachers and well educated ladies, while the men wore simple white shirt and European styled trousers. He came back from China just before the war because he was rather ill and as a result during the Japanese Occupation, he stayed at home and "read books". My maternal Grand Uncle, Lau Kah Tii continued to bring scholars to the Lau Mansion, where they have private tuition to the young grand children. They were a lucky lot!

The teachers in Tung Hua Primary school were strict and taught some Chinese according to the then syllabus. But the Japanese language and culture filled up most of their lessons which were taught by specially trained local teachers like Mr. Tiang Kwong Poi.

During the week, the boarders would be in the school full time. They cooked their own meals. My aunts remembered they had to collect their own fire wood. One of them being only 13 or so at that time, found collecting firewood difficult because she had to go to the rubber garden to pick up the dry twigs, both big and small. She had to go quite far into the rubber garden and it was more than frightening because she was afraid of meeting Japanese soldiers.

The Characters for Cheongsam

My older aunt would wash clothes and cook, just a small pot of rice and may be a soup. Probably it was this difficult times which discouraged her from continuing to Secondary School after the war. She was the only aunt who did not complete secondary school and married early. My grandfather also blessed her with a big dowry of 10 acres of rubber garden.

Photo is grabbed from blogger Alan Cy Kok's blog to illustrate a teacher wearing loose cheongsam in the 1950's era. It was not easy to ride a bus wearing a cheong sam.

The siblings would go home to Hua Hung Ice Factory on Friday afternoon to eat better and return to school on Sunday.

On Sundays they would take the Japanese owned bus from Sibu town. They remembered the bus driver very well. They would ring the bell for the bus to stop. If they rang the bell a bit too late or a bit too early, the driver ( a burly and hot tempered Mr. Wong, from Sg Merah) would scold them and stop the bus abruptly making all the students fall from their seats, causing their food supplies to land on the floor of the bus. Each week the same scenario would take place. So the students hated Mr. Wong, the bus driver.

My aunt said that it was not difficult to study Japanese because within a few weeks the students were singing Japanese songs and reciting some sentences for the Japanese military supervisor to hear when he came. They also studied basic Japanese culture and literature.

School was very intermittent and the two years passed very quickly. But they did receive a school attendance certificate for them to continue their education after the war.

Life was simple, though a bit tough, but the small band of primary school kids were united and shared the life well. Luckily when the Allied bombs were dropped they were already told by the teachers to go home and not come to school. Their education was interrupted but their lives were saved.

Tung Hua School was partially bombed.

(Note : A cousin of my father used to tell us that at the end of the Japanese Occupation, she could hear the bombs exploding in Sibu. She also saw the smoke rising up from burning of Japanese uniforms and other materials across the river from Sg. Bidut. The Japanese soldiers were obviously in a hurry and they were shouting very loudly. At that age she felt that it was such a pity that clothes were burnt while so many Foochows were in fact having difficulties in covering their bodies!!

Luckily the Allies did not bomb Sg. Bidut. They aimed at the bigger buildings for they felt that the Japanese soldiers were all in them. She also said that luckily the Masland Church was not bombed.)

Lau King Howe Hospital during the Japanese Occupation

 The 3 years 8 months of Japanese Occupation in Sibu saw the Lau King Howe Hospital being completely taken over by the Japanese Kompetai.

The local people were not able to enjoy medical care and had to resort to barefoot midwives for childbirth and home remedies for any illnesses. Those who could afford could see the few private doctors and Chinese sin seh in town.

As a result many died from lack of medication especially those who needed urgent medical attention. One of them was my maternal grandfather who was suffering from a inguinal hernia (hernia which caused a weak spot in the intestines). It was often said that my grandfather suffered from this ailment because when he was young, and as a carpenter he lifted too many heavy items by brute strength. Grandfather was known as a man of great strength, a local weight lifter.

The Chinese especially suffered more from beatings, inprisonment and public humiliation during those days.

British Borneo was named Kita Boruneo under the Japanese. Sarawak was divided into Kyuchin-shu (first and Second Divisons, Sarawak), Shibu-shu (Third Division), Miri-shu (Sarawak fourth and Fifth Divisions)

In fact, under the Japanese occupation British Borneo were divided into five provinces (shūs):

• Kyūchin-shū (久鎮州): Sarawak First and Second Divisions, Pontianak and Natuna Islands.^{[note 2]}
• Shibu-shū (志布州): Sarawak Third Division
• Miri-shū (美里州): Sarawak Fourth and Fifth Divisions, Brunei Town.
• Seigan-shū (西岸州): Western North Borneo of Api, Beaufort, Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, Keningau, Weston and Labuan.

• Tōgan-shū (東岸州): Eastern North Borneo of Elopura, Beluran, Lahad Datu and Tawau.
• 
  

Each of the five shūs had a Japanese provincial governor, or the administration remained in the hands of the local people with Japanese surveillance.

Each of the provinces constituted prefectures or ken (県). And many places were given Japanese names e.g.^] Jesselton and Sandakan were renamed Api and Elopura respectively. ( Wikipedia)

The Lau King Howe Hospital of sibu was a joint venture of the Sibu Foochow People and the Sarawak government. Lau King Howe himself a Foochow, before he left sibu for home in China (he knew he was sick), donated a sum of money to build the hospital for the people of Sibu. The hospital was built in the 1920's and started operating in the 1930's, "to serve all communities living in the Rajang Valley".

When the Japanese arrived, this modern, concrete Lau King Howe Hospital was still new and very modern.

So the privileged and the Japanese were given treatment by the hospital during that time.

There were a few private practitioners, like Dr. Chiu Nai Ding, Dr. Chee Ching nang, Dr. Xavier and Dresser Wong Chu Hua ready to help people and save lives. They also made house calls.

Maternity cases were handled by barefoot midwives. Although in those days, several wives of the local Foochows were China trained nurses and midwives, many childbirths caused fatalities especially those with complications. All babies were delivered at home hence mother and infant mortality rates were high. 

There was a Foochow saying, "When bleeding started during child birth, it was only a matter of time for death to take place." Women waited and watched the clock for death to come.

My Grandmother Wong was hard at work, making a pig sty for her new piglets. Probably due to the exertion she started having her miscarriage in the afternoon,. Although my grandfather crossed the river in his small boat to fetch a doctor to the Hua Hong Ice Factory, it was too late and too complicated. Dr. Chiu, gave her some medication and an injection to probably ease her pains but it was too complicated. By 10 pm she breathed her last.

That year our Tiong family lost two members, Great Grandfather Tiong King Kee and Grandmother Wong. The losses were unbearable for Grandfather. 

British Military Administration (BMA) took over the task of management from the Australians on 12 September 1945 

Normalcy came with the BMA and several new and foreign doctors arrived in town, mainly to serve the Lau King Howe Hospital.

(Sibu born medical doctors were my father's first cousin, Dr, Chong Chung Hian and my mother's class mate, Dr. Wong Soon Kai who graduated only in the 1950's. They both served the Lau King Howe Hospital when they graduated and went on to become very prominent people.)

Significance of Baby Boy Photos

Do you know why 19th/20th century Foochow boy babies, or Chinese boy babies, in general,  would take their photos with their "bottoms" showing?

不孝有三，無后为大。This Chinese "slogan" led to families having lots of children, sometimes with multiple wives, just to have baby boys before 1949 in Mainland China and all over the world.

A Chinese man was often asked to marry again just to have a male heir in the past. And this led to a lot of anguish among the women, some fought against the practice, some committed suicide,some remained passive, some even join a nunnery!!

The Chinese concept of having male heirs was so paramount that mothers having given birth to baby boys must get their babies photographed in that way. 

Some of these photos would bring home the father who have left them for another wife, sadly. 

Some would be given as a souvenir to the Nanyang father who might have married again in a foreign south sea island and he would ever acknowledge the wife he left behind. Some would however and later, the half siblings would meet up ..

... Some might be sent to a foreign land and would never be received by the addressee.

These stories have been portrayed in movies and tv dramas.

Many of these baby photos would be the only photo used to claim an inheritance according to an aunt who later migrated to Sabah. 

So the words at the back of the photo are very important. She said this "black and white" may mean an inheritance can be saved.

But today having smart phones save a lot of trouble to let the father and paternal grand parents know about the birth of a baby boy.

However, it must be noted that some boys would grow up and feel very embarrassed.

P/s apologies to this baby boy. I managed to acquire this photo from some one. I am afraid I do ot know who this baby boy is even....Foochow would say, "cannot recognise"...May God bless him...

The Walking Stick from the Rajah of Sarawak

My Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii with the walking stick presented to him by the Rajah Brooke

When we were very young we were told to be afraid of Grand Uncle's (Bah- ung伯 公) Walking Stick and not to be naughty when we were visiting the big Lau Mansion at Ensurai or Wong Su Lai.

At that time I did not know that it was a gift from the Rajah and the other children also were very ignorant.

Grand Uncle used the walking stick wherever he went. The "tap tap tap" of his walking stick often sounded so comforting to kids's ears : the sound of order, discipline, obedience, power, and the coming of a respectable Grand Master.

It represented the power the Rajah had bestowed upon him as the Foochow Leader (should be equivalent to Temenggong to day). The walking thus represented the special power given to him to control the Foochow community. It was a symbol of strength, power, authority and social prestige.

An uncle had told me that indeed he had used the walking stick to hit some very unruly and misbehaving close relatives (e.g. those who were caught gambling or for telling lies).  He was more strict with his close relatives than the public. There were tales of many Foochows who were scared of his walking stick.

In American history, George Washington and  Ulysses S. GRant and Warren Harding also carried a walking stick. (Wikipedia)

The Bible had mentioned that a walking stick was a symbol of office and dignity.

When Grand Uncle Lau Kah Tii walked around to check various villages in the Rajang Valley, especially with Rev James Hoover, he usually brought his walking stick.

There were times that Grand Uncle had threatened some rascally or misbehaving Foochows with beating and called for his walking stick to be brought from his office. 

Indeed there were stories (real or fake) of some Foochow men kneeling down to apologize and promise to repent. His headman office was in Sibu. But all these newsy gossips are now buried in the sands of time.

Foochow Men in White and Cocktails in Sibu

The Foochow Association was the centre of social activities in Sibu . The building at Central Road was completed in 1950 and was declared open during the 50th Anniversary of the Foochow Association.

Many grand occasions were held in this hall, be they government or just community events. Even dances were held here. Cocktails and dances went together especially when it was occasions to welcome a new colonial officer to Sibu. Usually the local headman would host such an event so that the new government officer could meet the local dignitaries.

the Resident however would host such events at the Residency or the Sibu Recreation club.

Restaurants like the Yien King, even advertised that they could cater for cocktail parties. Perhaps the food at the Foochow Association would come from the good restaurants like Yien King and Hock Chu Leu. They were just a stone throw away from the Association building and the staff would just carry the food trays on their heads !!

I remember the restaurant staff cycling with a huge tray of food on their head, held by one hand, and the other hand holding the handle bar.

shopping in Sibu with 2 Rajah Dollars

How much could 2 Sarawak dollars buy in Sibu before the Japanese War?

Here is the story of a relative who received two dollars for her housekeeping spending for a shopping trip to Sibu. She lived in Engkilo after she was married and raised six children, many pigs, chickens ad ducks, and tapped rubber for a living with her husband.

To receive 2 dollars for housekeeping and a trip to Sibu was a huge sum of money for a rubber tapper in those days.

Early in the morning she would catch the boat for Sibu and would return to cook lunch for the family.

She used to tell her children how big the Rajah's dollar was. And how she enjoyed a special bonus. And the bonus was the fact that her husband allowed her to keep whatever she could save for her pocket money, or for her own shopping.

One week end she went to the Sibu market with her basket and she had already discussed with her husband what to buy for the family of three generations!!

With so many mouths to feed, she carefully bought all the dry and wet rations and put them in her basket. The dry rations were sent ahead by an older child to the boat.

After calculation she had extra money left and she went to the general store to buy herself 4 yards of materials to make herself a suit, a top and a pair of trousers. It was a wonderful shopping spree for her.

This was her shopping list :

tougey 4 cents (enough for a few days)
pork 50 cents (enough for at least three meals)
vegetables 10 cents (enough for three days at least)
sugar 2 cents (enough for a week)
salted fish 10 cents ( enough for a few days)

She had her own vegetable plots which would give the family enough vegetables until her next trip to Sibu.

She had so much more left and she was happy.

(The Foochows in the olden days, planted their own rice, reared their own chickens and ducks and even goats for festivals. Cooking oil was never bought because they could make their own coconut oil and lard.)

The Motor Launches of the Rajang over the Years

I have often wondered who built the first wooden  motor launch for Sibu, and hence who created the design for such a remarkable vehicle on water in the 1920's in Sibu.





Did James Hoover supervise the building of his own wooden boat and ask his assistant Tiong Kung Ping to fix the American boat engine ?

Several years later, Tiong Kung Ping bought three engines for his own wooden boats to transport agricultural products and passengers between Sibu and Binatang


1950's saw a tremendous increase in river transport along the Rajang. The boats sailed as far as Belaga in the upper reachers and to the river mouths of the river and the Igan.

Wooden boats were purchased by various businessmen in Kuching,  Simanggang, Bintulu, Miri, Limbang, Lawas and other smaller places to transport agricultural products and passengers.



1960's to 70's  The political instability of the Rajang area caused a slow down in the economy of the Rajang Basin and other river valleys. Business was slow and the population started to move to the urban areas like Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu , Miri and Limbang. And the boat building industry almost came to a complete stop.

But after the curfew was lifted ion 1974 for the next ten years the rocket like Expresses came into the scene,and they were faster and built with steel.

Only a few of the useable wooden boats remain functional on the rivers of Sarawak.

However river transportation continues to be important in Sarawak, only the boats are made of steel nowadays. Timber is now scarce and the ship building scene in Sibu has been taken to another level.

The steel version of the river boats as in the 21st century.

Steel is the preferred boat building material and the shipbuilders of Sibu have gone global.

Sibu Tales : Black Areas and Tragedies

sibu was placed under curfew for 24 hours in 1972. Food was scarce and patrol boats plied up and down the Rajang calling people to stay at home.

First the RASCOM controlled food supply to the Communists in the jungle by checking movements of the people. No one could have more than enough food in the house. Every bicycle which passed by the checkpoints must be checked, including the bicycle tires!!

In some places I heard the Police and the Army even gave body checks. People lived in fear.

Gun shots were heard very often as the Army, the Police and the Police Field Force members (then known as the Security Armed Forces) were patrolling specific areas to RAT out the underground guerrillas. Sometimes they slept in temporary camps, or they used the smoke houses, or the jetties like Paradom.

They would bring with them food rations. Sometimes when their patrol was over, they left the tinned food with the villagers who were ever so grateful.

The Police Field Force had grenades, good guns and even machine guns which could kill many at any single time if they found the CCO hideouts. Then they would bring out the dead bodies to the jetties to be brought to Sibu. These could be horrible sights.

But the most horrible sights were those ordinary people who were killed by the CCO. These were those whom they deemed to be government informers who should die terrible deaths.

An example of the torture was to kill the informants by driving a few 7 inch nails into their brains. These dead bodies thrown by the roadside would not be claimed by the grieving families out of fear. The Security Forces would be informed and they would come and bury the dead.

It was truly a traumatic time for the villagers of the Rajang Valley.
But

Sibu Tales : Native Tobacco Trade

Tobacco was a significant cash crop in Sarawak and it was gazetted in the Sarawak Gazettes and various history books.

Chinese traders used to travel up river to buy the precious commodity.

When Sibu became a trading centre in the Third Division especially after the arrival of the Foochow pioneers in 1901, tobacco trading was still very significant. The Reverend James Hoover did not like his Foochow brethrens to smoke either opium and tobacco. He threatened to send them back to China. Slowly opium smoking decreased but tobacco smoking continued discreetly. Some Foochow elders continued to smoke their water pipe.

One of the earliest businesses in Sibu was the buying and selling of indigenous tobacco brought down by the Ibans and Kayans from Kapit area. The trading company was Chop Ching Chiong which was near the Sibu Tua Pek Kong wharf. It was very conveniently sited.

Tobacco plant and flowers, Pa Ukat

The towkay Sia Tiew Kie was a kindly man who would even weigh the small amount of raw tobacco delivered by a Kayan or Iban man himself in his shop. Most Foochows by the 1940's and 50's were very conversant in Iban, but not Kayan.

The " Ching" or daching used was a small one, similar to the one used by Chinese sinseh as tobacco was very light. But a small amount was enough to earn a man a good week's income according to my aunt Chiew.

Chop Ching Chiong was a big trading company with businesses in engkabang, rubber and rattan for example. They also had offices in Singapore.

There was even a Tobacco Fund in Sarawak during the Second World War. Wonder what it was for!!(Sarawak e-gazette)