Blacksmith Road Hock Chu Leu

In Dec 2023 the heritage Foochow Restaurant at Blacksmith Road finally closed its doors after more than 70 years of business. The older family members called it a day and the old chefs retired.

Even the waitresses cheerfully bade farewell to many of their loyal customers in the last few months of 2023. They would not consider joining the new outfit which will move to Alan Road in Upper Lanang.

At the time of writing I have not been able to visit Sibu. So I cannot say anything about the new restaurant.

But I will always remember the siew muai, the Foochow char chii mien, the moon mien...and the sweet and sour fish. But most obviously they had the best Steamed Tapah fish..all hot and fresh...The restaurant was the first one to seve sizzling tofu too.

The restaurant actually is older than I.

 

Pulau Kerto : Swampy Land

 Pulau Kerto was an island created out of sedimentation brought down from the source by the Rajang River for thousands of years.

When the Foochows were allowed to come as agriculturalists by an edit from Rajah Charles Brooke in 1901, the island of Kerto was probably not even named it.

I was told that the island was named by the Rajah when he came to visit. He asked a local Melanau what that island was famous for. The Melanau replied, :Kerto."

Kerto means mosquito larva. 

The Rajah thus named the island Pulau Kerto.

in the 1920's my grandfather wanted to buy a piece of land with lots of good water supply. Since Sg Merah had red water, he looked at Sg Bidut. and he finally chose Pulau kerto. a short boat ride across the Rajang River would not incur much financial expenditure. So he about land on Pulau Kerto with the Wong brothers. He started the Hua Hong Ice and Rice Mill with the Wongs. In time, they added crepe rubber processing to the huge complext.

He fixed rails from the jetty to the factory and he bought an boat to transport ice to Sibu town.

By 1930, the factory was making profits. He was right about the free use of river water and he had pipes and pump fixed to the jetty to supplly the river water for making of ice.The whole factory utilized lost of machinery which my grandfather fitted together with the help of my Grandmother Chong Chin Soon who was educated in English.

My grandparents were always grateful to the generosity of the Hoovers and their help. When my Grandmother Chong passed away, all my 5 aunts went to the Yuk Ing School as boarders where they gained a very good education. My youngest aunt Grace was the first Foochow girl from Sibu to graduate from an American univeristy (Kansas). She came back in 1958 and became the first woman Dean or Assistant Principal of Methodist Secondary School. Sibu.

A swampy land mass or small island caused by sedimentation brought down by a river , in Foochow is called Duong Njiu. It is a geographical feature.

Quiet Sibu Kapit and Tua Pek Kong Wharves

 In January my siblings and I visited Sibu for the first time after the long MCO caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. 2019-2021.

Sibu has changed a great deal to say the least.

One of our must visit places is the wharves along the Rajang River stretching from Khoo Peng Loong Road to the Tua Pek Kong Temple.

It was sad for us to see so many express boats berthed alongside the wharves. They looked forlorn in their old age, with paints coming off their bodies. They were like old folks sitting in a park waiting for some action to happen.

No young boys were seen jumping from express to express trying to sell some kompia or plastic packed noodles to earn some pocket money. This was the sight we would welcome when we were younger, waiting for boats to come in bringing our Ngie Ma or maternal grandmother to Sibu. And then their would be the sirens piercing through the air announcing the arrivals of boats from Kapit, Song, Kanowit, and down river!! For some of use we could recognise the familiar sounds of Sin Hai Hong, or Malasan.

With the passing of time, we are getting forgetful. We are losing the names of the down river boats in our memory bank. We need help from friends to revise, or to help remember. But alas many of our relatives have changed their their address and have made heaven their new home.

Even the touters were missing from the scene! 

And together we reminisce. Yes, we shared the memories of  one most unforgettable man. He was missing from the scene. Our hearing and speech impaired Chiik Gung from the Hii family. Bang Nga (not so politically correct) chiik gung was missing from the wharf. He was a wharf labourer who would always be their to help Ngie mah alight from the boat. He would call a trishaw for her. But after 1976 my red Colt Lancer would be waiting for her....

So much "water has flowed under the bridge"...as the Chinese saying goes...

These two white speed boats in my photo belong to the Riverine Board and they too look quiet and seem to be ready for some action.

The brown water of the Rajang add age to the scenery and the heaviness of sadness.

The Rajang is getting old and sluggish just like so many of us are getting on in our years.

Sibu Tales : Canola Island (Yew Chai Doh)

 Sg, Bidut was settled by the Foochow migrants from 1902 onwards. Some had come with the first three batches of the pioneers while others were later arrivals.

Today Sg. Bidut has another name because of the large amount of vegetables the area produces every day. It is known as the Canola Island or Yew Chai Doh.

Many of the residents have the surname Tiong, Wong and Lau, among several others.

When the settlers grew wealthier they built churches and schools, jetties and better foot paths. Being one of the nearest villages to Sibu, there are several ferries running from Sibu to Sg. Bidut, and from different points too.

Sg, Bidut was originally a rice growing area but later rubber took over. In more recent years when the urban population of sibu exploded, Sg. Bidut became the centre of market gardening. Vegetables grow well here and they are easily transported to Sibu for sale. Cabbages, sweet potatoes, brinjals, mustard greens, petola, long beans,turnips, lettuce and other vegetables grow abundantly.

Chickens and ducks, eggs are also the farm products from Sg. Bidut.

Wong Meng Lei - vegetables growing under protective netting.  Looks like a mile square of vegetable plots, but these plots are actually made up of little poly bags supporting individual vegetable plant.

While the land is rather low lying, the farmers are able to sustain their farms and produce well by using newer varieties and methods of cultivation.

Some farmers rent the land from the owners, while others are owner farmers. Today they have formed a farmers' organization to protect themselves and to remain united as a stronger force. They also share knowledge, and learn about the latest farming methods and increase their scientific knowledge.

More than 100 years after the first pioneers opened up the land in Sg. Bidut for agriculture, floods and pests continue to be their greatest challenges. Today, 300 of the farmers are members of the Sibu Vegetable Planters' Association. They have applied to the government for more land and also help from the Agriculture Department.

Sibu : Swimming Pools

My family moved to Sibu in 1956 when Sibu did not have any swimming pool . Although my father was an avid swimmer and was even in his college swimming team, he was not able to teach us, his children to swim. We actually learned our swimming from our aunts and uncles in Nang Chong. The Rajang River was our swimming pool.

My mother was a great swimmer too when she was young.

So when SUDC proposed to have a swimming pool built in Bukit Lima he was very excited. He thought that it was truly modernization of Sibu. And he excitedly told us that he would teach the rest of us to swim. My younger sister, eventually became a swimming coach for her school.

in November 1963 the Sibu Swimming pool at Bukit lima was completed at a cost of RM0.5 million and handed over to the Council for maintenance after its completion.

It was warmly welcome by the Sibu public and it became quite a place to be seen. Many courting couples went there for outings and even newly engaged couples used the swimming pool as their venue for pre wedding photography, besides having a dip in the pool.

A very faded photo of the Bukit Lima Swimming Pool

In 1964 the Council added a canteen building for the needs of pool patrons at a cost of RM50,000. For many years the Methodist School tried its best to groom swimmers but the best swimmers came from Sacred Heart School. Some of the selected swimmers from Sibu became Sarawak representatives and we were so proud of them.

From 1963 to 1975, many British soldiers and Gurkhas swam in the pool. So girl students were scared to go. Probably because of that, many of us did not advance in our swimming prowess.

Those were the years when some women wearing bikinis and tiny swimming suits paraded up and down the swimming pool, and enjoyed themselves at the canteen.

There were tales of ghosts at night since the swimming pool was quite near the cemetery.

The swimming pool was closed  in 1993 for major renovation. It was open much later.

The swimming pool at Delta Estate, the second swimming pool in Sibu was completed in April 1993 at a coThe first olympic sized Swimming Pool at Bukit Lima was completed by the Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR)st of about RM5.1 millions, which came in the form of a grant from Ministry of Social Development.

Sibu Tales : Clouds and Labaan Bridge

Sibu, Labaan has always been a nice place for many foochows to visit. One very interesting feature which young people would like to see was the whirlpool which was very legendary there in the 1960's.

According to local oral history there, it was this whirlpool which brought a lot of good luck to the settlers here in the past. Many rich people originally came from Labaan or Lor Ma Ang  e.g. the late Datuk Seri Wong Soon Kai.

Labaan is now famous for a bridge which was built recently. Jambatan Lebaan or Batang Lebaan Bridge is a major bridge connecting Sibu and Tanjong Manis. It is 1.24 km or 1 mile long and is the fourth longest bridge in Malaysia across a river and also the third longest bridge in Borneo. The longest bridge in Borneo is the Tayan Bridge in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, Indonesia (1.4Km)

Sibu Tales : Railways in the Kong Thye area

Spending a weekend visitng Tien Jing Primary school with my grandmother was a treat. I was frequently asked by my ngie mah (maternal grandmother) to accompany her when she visited her children and relatives because I was outgoing and fairly fearless. Besides I was able to take good care of her at my age. Perhaps it was because I was fairly street smart.

The Tien Jing Primary school was near the Kong Thye Sawmill so when a good movie was shown, my aunt, a teacher there, would take all of us to see a movie. That was a really good treat. Besides, it was FREE as my aunt was well connected. My uncle was a very quiet man and he did not say very much. On the other hand, my aunt was a good story teller and we loved listening to her stories, under the star lit skies. She was very sporting.

When we waited for the boat to go back to Sibu, we would have opportunities to look around. If the logs were coming out from the interior I would take time to watch the workers. Grandma would always warn me not to look at the workers just in case I got into trouble.

But as a 12 year old, I was too young to know anything about being molested.  My thinking then was this : if I called the men uncles, would they do anything bad to me?

And there was a mini zoo near the sawmill too.

Sibu's Old Street and Today's Chew Geok Lin Road

New photo of Old Street (Now known as Jalan Chew Geok Lin)

Some recollections of old names and places.

From left,1- Hock Chu Hoe,2-Ah Lo's shop(could be Alex's grandfather ?)3-Chieng Kek Ming shop (nice elderly gentleman who lived in Ek Dee Road),4-Wah Tat Bank(Chew Geok Ling was the founder.)5-Tai Hock's shop,6-Ah Wu/Ah Chai's father's shop(sells refrigeraters and makes ice cream blocks)Malaya Photo shop upstairs, and a kompia shop downstairs.7-Tong Ing medical shop,8-Poh Guan medical shop.(Wong Gee Tai ran the shop with sons, Teck Kong, Teck Tan.)

Sibu Tales : Red Hair Hill

The Red Hair Hill in Sibu was a popular Pioneering Settlement and is known in Foochow as the Ern Moh Long. Perhaps it was because during the Rajah Brooke period, this hillier part of Sibu had a few Officers' quarters. But we are not really sure of the origin of the name. Perhaps the first Roman Catholic priest lived her? I am still trying to find out about the origin of the name.

Many Foochow families settled there and planted pepper and rubber for many decades since 1901. In those days, the Foochows would walk many hours to reach their homes from Sibu town. Later, they had bicycles. Cars arrived in the scene only in the 1960's. Perhaps there was a bus route too in those days, managed by Lanang Bus Company.

However, after the Japanese Occupation the area was most famous as an area where the CCO were active and many of the rubber tappers were suspects of passing food to them , from 1956 to 1974. So surveillance was stringent and curfew actually prevented some of the economic progress of this area.

A few Foochows were shot dead there and the security forces were always coming this area during those years. One of my Methodist School seniors (Madam Hii) became the first woman to be arrested and placed in detention in Kuching . Later Ms Chieng Choon Hua joined her in Kuching . It was a tough time for many families because sympathisers could be detained without trial. In 1974 many of them were released from detention. (Today, there is a Friendship Complex in Sibu built for these detainees and returnees.)
In 1966, the Ern Moh Long became very famous for another interesting happening. It became the centre for the British surveyors who were mapping Sarawak. During the Confrontation period, it was also a place where many Communist Guerillas hid. Many of the Foochows also moved away during that time.

The Methodist Church contributed to this area's development. It built two churches and a primary school. Wang Ming Tong is the earlier one, and Ai Ming Tng is a newer one which used recycled materials from Masland Church . Kiew Nang School was built by the Methodist Foochow Pioneers. In 1996, Mr. Hii Sieh Toh retired from this school as Head Master.

Wang Ming Methodist Church, Sibu

Many of the old scenes have disappeared from Ern Moh Long. And in fact not many people remember even its old name. The pepper gardens are all gone. the rubber trees have been cut to make way for roads , shops and houses and schools of course.

In recent years not many people can recognise the exact site of the older Ern Moh Long because development and progress have change this area completely.

The biggest change is the presence of a huge supermarket, Farley, which is now a landmark in Jalan Salim. 15 years ago, no one would believe that Bukit Lima/Salim Road/Ern Moh Long would have that kind of development. There were only a few wooden houses, and the Sibu Swimming Pool.

Farley Supermarket (Google)

From local knowledge (thanks to some Sibu friends), the young boss of Farley is Lau Siew Huai.（刘守淮）who has 8 brothers and 2 sisters. Another brother is the owner of 天然photo shop in Bintulu,(刘守资）another brother has a hardware shop,（刘守奇 ）. And yet another has a electrical shop（刘守文） all in Bintulu.

Their father,  a Foochow entrepreneur who used to sell eggs along Tiong Hua Road from his bicycle brought Farley to its present height of success with the help of his 8 sons!! That's a fantastic rags to riches story.

(This is still under construction....waiting for more photos...)