Chapter 17: Sungai Lembing & My Grandfather

Not long ago, my sister told me that my maternal grandfather, prior to coming to North Borneo (now renamed Sabah) in fact first went to work in a mine in Malaya. According to what my mother told her, the mine he worked at was a very "deep" mine. She was however unable to pin-point the exact location of the mine.

When my wife heard this, she has no hesitation to tell me that the mine my sister talked about is the tin mine in Sungai Lembing.

Sungai Lembing is an old mining town situated at about 40 Km northwest of Kuantan in the state of Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia. A river traverses across this town which eventually discharges to the sea not far from Kuantan. According to the local Chinese, the name Sungai Lembing (林明) was named after an Indonesian Chinese who after knowing the abundance of tin in this location decided to come and to invest in its extraction. Until 1970, it was the biggest tin producer in the world and also held the record of  deepest mine shaft (Read here).

Sungai Lembing: 3⁰54’ 46.44”N, 103⁰ 1’ 57.94”E

A British company Pahang Consolidated Company Limited (PCCL) was given the right to extract tin in 1891. This tin mine was in operation from 1906 until its closure in 1986 when world tin prices collapsed. Tin was mined via deep tunnels stretching a total length of 322 Km with depth of between 610 m (2,000 ft) and 700 m (2,300 ft).

In the early 20th century, PCCL went to China to recruit Chinese from the southern part of China to come and work in the mine. I believe my grandfather was one of those Chinese who were recruited. These Chinese probably landed first near Kuantan and then moved by boat along the river to reach this mining town. At its peak, PCCL had a work force of close to 1,500. The company also built quarters and cinema for their workers.

My grandfather however did not worked in the mine very long. His reason for leaving Sungai Lembing for North Borneo was sadly unknown.

Today, Sungai Lembing is in decline since the mine's closure in 1986. People who stayed on are mostly the older folks who are the descendants of the early Chinese who came from China. Most of the new generations have chosen to move to bigger towns.

These days, many tourists come to Sungai Lembing to see some of the remaining 100+ years old buildings, long suspension bridge, old trees and to taste some of the well known dishes and delicacies.

Recently, Astro featured a documentary about this town. I managed to capture some of the old photo's shown.

I hope to visit Sungai Lembing in the not too distant future, to explore and to taste some of the much talked about food and delicacies. Who knows, I may be lucky to find out some information about my grandfather!

Sungai Lembing yong tau fu: made from stream water that originates from untouched jungle

100 + years old tree (百年老樹): Then and now


Suspension Bridge

Chapter 16: My Uncle - A Controversial Man

My uncle, who was the only sibling my mother had was born in 1930. He was two years younger than my mother. In his native village, Kampong Pulutan, he was known by his nickname "Ah Tai" rather than by his Chinese name, Yee Tshan Fah.

15.11.1930 - 7.9.1992

He must have been a "good" boy when he was young judging from the positive comment we heard about him from Aunti Stelli Benggon when we visited her during early February this year. They grew up together in the same village.

He was of medium height, a bit plump with a fairly high forehead. His presence was always felt because he talked with a loud voice. As a child of mixed parentage, he was being referred to as the "eleven o'clock kid" (十一點), a common term used to describe this group of people in those days. His wife was also of mixed parentage. In the early years, he was a good husband, a good father and a good son. He worked hard as a carpenter to raise a rather large family: a mother, a wife and eight children. They all lived in a large bamboo house in Kampong Pulutan.

Marriage photo with the 1st wife.

The one thing I remember about him most was when he made three wooden tops for me and my older two brothers when we visited his family during one of the school holidays. I was probably 8 years old then. He took time off and made two slightly taller ones for my older brothers and a shorter one for me. He didn't make any for his own children at that time! Because of the special tools he had as carpenter, the tops were really well made. The envious looks of our neighbouring boys when they saw the tops made us real proud of the gifts from this uncle!

Typical top.

His good carpentry skill was sought after by more and more contractors and he had to work at places further and further away from home. I recall him telling us that at one time, he had to spend weeks away at Mt Kinabalu when he was involved in the building of the transmitting tower at Mt. Kinabalu. He was really fired up and proud of telling us the thrill and the excitement of travelling in a cable-suspended gondola daily from the foothill to the work site somewhere along the hill slope of Mt. Kinabalu.

This outstation work assignments proved to be a turning point of his life. Stories of his fondness for women began to circulate. He came home less and less frequently and he hardly gave money to his wife for the upkeep of his family. To steer him back to the right path, his wife and his mother had used both kind words and harsh scolding but sadly they fell on deaf ears. I recall that my mother had also been asked by my grandmother to talk to him and if necessary to reprimand him. She did as asked but that too failed to stop his adventure. Finally, his wife left him and his eight children were left under the care of my grandmother. The fact that almost all his children failed to get good education could be attributed to the lack of financial resources and parental care.

Besides the first wife, my uncle also had relationship with at least four other women who bored more children for him. One was a divorcee and three other unmarried ladies. Contrary to what people normally perceive, these women were not monstrous home wreckers. I got to know at least one of them who was his second wife: a divorcee with two girls by her first husband. She turned out to be a kind, gentle lady who was later on also well liked by my mother and other relatives when they got to know her better. My uncle also had a relationship with one of his workers, a Kadazan lady who later on gave birth to a girl who turned out to be the classmate of my daughter Serene in St. Francis Convent. Her name is Alice Yee. What an irony that my daughter was the classmate of her aunty! The sad thing was that he did not exercise his paternal role for the kids fathered by him with these other women. Many of these women and kids were left to fend for themselves.

In spite of his philandering character and his tendency to abdicate his paternal role, many who knew him still spoke fondly about him. They found him helpful and generous. My uncle, Hj. Mandamin told me that he picked up his carpentry skill when he was employed by my uncle as one of his workmen. He later on set up his own small time contracting practice. He was still grateful to my uncle for the skill he has learnt. Similarly, Uncle Wesley Pai also has kind words about him because he too had at one time worked as one of his workmen. He too learnt the carpentry skill which he later on used to build his current house where he now stays. Uncle Wesley also recalled that "Ah Tai" supported his education - thus enabling him to get a decent job as a clerk in the National Registration Office.

In a sense, he was special to me because he was my firs boss (Read here) whom I worked for during one of my school breaks when I was 15 years old.

My uncle worked as a contractor specialising in graveyard construction and tombstone restoration. He did this almost up to the end of his life. In his late fifties, he suffered from high blood pressure and was not of good health. In September 1992, he passed away at the age of 62. He is buried next to his parents in the Roman Catholic Church Cemetery at Mile 1.5, Jalan Tuaran.

Chapter 15: Fun Games & Happy Times

School holidays were time of the year that was eagerly looked forward to by the kids in the village. During this period, kids could temporarily be free from getting up early, free from daily home work and school tests.  Besides doing the usual chores designated by parents and elders in the families, kids could look forward to spending time and playing all sorts of games together.

 

There was never a shortage of idea and creativity in coming up with games that thrilled and caused excitement among the kids. Some of the common games we played: the marbles game, rubber bands game,  rope jumping, 7-pebble game, 2-stick game, top spinning, stilts walking, tin can stilts, "aeroplane" jumping game (跳飛機) and the police & the thief game.

Sometimes, we also searched the streams and creeks for small fish, shrimps and crabs.  If we desired to catch snake-heads and cat fish, we would go fishing at ponds using home-made fishing rods.

A favourite past-time among boys was kite flying. The most preferred spot was the hill now occupied by the Istana (governor's house). At that time, the hill had just been levelled and was ideal for kite flying because of the strong wind and total obstruction-free open space. Kite flying was made more exciting when the fine thread attached to the kite was coated with glue mixed with finely grinded glass. The idea was to move your thread with an airborne kite close to that of your "opponent" and then tried to "saw" off his kite. We had this neighbouring boy nicknamed “Ah Yiam” who was most aggressive in "sawing" off your kite. Any time we saw him making a move, we would run as fast as possible away from him to avoid a disaster! What a fun time we had!

 

Another common game among boys was to compete who had the hardest rubber seed. To start with, the kids had to seach for rubber seeds that fell to the ground within the rubber trees estate. Then we formed into pairs of two each to decide who would first do the first pounding in the competition. The winner would place his seed on top of the loser's seed and pound. Of course, it was not necessarily the case that the loser's seed at the bottom would crack. It could happen the other way if the loser's seed turned out to be harder. This competition would go on until the very last seed remained unbroken and the owner would be declared the winner. The winner likes a cock fight champion would treat his winning seed like precious diamond and keep it safely in a special container!

 

Of course, not all happy times ended in a high note. Occasionally, when we over-indulged and forgot to go home on time or forgot to complete a designated task (laundry hung on lines that should have been collected but were wetted by rain), punishment was sure to be expected when we reached home. Caning with rotan or waist belt as punishment was something not uncommon!

But still, growing up in the village was fun!

Chapter 14: Money Mattered

Getting enough money to feed the family had always been the main concern of my parents. In those days, my father who worked as a tailor did not enjoy the statutory minimum wage. His income was solely dependent on the number of pants or shirts he made each month. Every month, it was a challenge to make sure there was enough food on the table to feed a family of eight (beside my parents, there were my grandfather and five boys before my youngest sister was born).

 

The pressure was even more evident when all the boys started attending school. To supplement the income, my parents had to take on additional jobs. Every morning after getting ready the breakfast for the boys, my parents would rush off to tap rubber at the nearby rubber plantation. After the tapping, my father would clean up and rush off on his bicycle to start his tailoring job. That left my mother alone to do the latex collection, filtering the latex milk, adding chemicals to initiate the coagulation process and finally rolling them into sheets. By the time she came home in late morning, it was time to prepare lunch for the boys who would soon be back from school. 

During week-ends, the boys also joined in the rubber taping work. The kids were however not allowed to do the delicate task of removing a thin layer of the bark along a downward spiral direction on the tree trunk using a special sharp knife. We were only allowed to help in the latex collection plus some less demanding duties. We would call it a day once the sheets were rolled and hung up for drying.

 

At times, my mother also took up odd job as house keeper for the expatriates who lived nearby in the government quarters. In those days, the British colonial government liked to build quarters on Signal Hill which commanded good view of the South China Sea.

 

My father literally worked non-stop 24/7 all his life. Everyday after dinner, he would immediately proceed to do his tailoring of the items taken from the tailor shop where he worked or items ordered by friends and acquaintances. My parents worked very hard.

 

As a young boy, I understood the need for more money. I took up my very first job at the age of 15 when I was in Form II. My uncle (my mother's brother, Yee Tshan Fah) took me as a helper during the school break. My uncle then was a contractor doing construction and restoration of graveyards and tombstones at cemeteries. My main task was to trace the Chinese characters or calligraphy onto the tombstones and later painted them using gold paint. I was paid 4 dollars a day. I remember at numerous times, I was left alone in the cemetery during lunch break when my uncle went out to buy packed lunch. I do remember sleeping alone on some of the covered burial chambers during those times. Surprisingly, there was no "fear" then!

After completing my A-Level Upper Six in Sabah College, I also worked as a trainee draftsman in the PWD Structural Section for almost one and a half year from early 1972 to March 1973 before going to University Malaya to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering.

P/S: Looking back, one of the satisfactions was when the expatriates whom my mother worked for turned out to be my colleagues or co-workers after my graduation as a Civil Engineer. In 1978 - 1984 when I worked as an engineer in the KK International Airport development project, this expatriate whom my mother had worked for worked as an M & E consulting engineer for the same project.

Chapter 13: My First Home

I grew up in a small house built on a rented plot of land in Harrington Road (now renamed Jalan Istana). My father had it built when he moved to Jesselton from Beaufort after marrying my mother. Rental then was 8 dollars a month.

 

The house was of a very simple design: a typical rectangular layout. The only bedroom (approx. 12ft x 15ft) occupied one end, and adjoining it was the so-called living room (approx. 15ft x 15ft). The wall was made up of pieces of 6in wide by 3/4in thick timber planks nailed together vertically side by side. The floor was similarly finished with timber boards. A cloth curtain hung at the door opening at the partition wall between the bedroom and the living area. In those days, it was common to hang a piece of cloth rather than a lockable door like what we have nowadays. Next to the living room was the kitchen cum dining area built at an elevation approx. 5 steps lower. The floor was just simply dirt floor. Bathroom was a simple enclosed space next to the kitchen. The whole house was covered with an attap roof.

A detached hut of 10ft x 10ft was built about four feet away from the bedroom end which was occupied by my paternal grandfather.

 

The house had no electricity, no piped water and no gas stove. Water was "piped" from a creek nearby using split bamboo connected all the way to the bathroom. Water flowed non-stop to a metal tank which was once used for containing petrol or diesel. However, at time during dry spell, water source from the creek would become dry. Under such circumstance, we had to dig into the creek bed to source for more ground water. Water at that level could not gravitate to the house along the bamboo duct due to level difference, we had to manually carry water back to the house using two buckers slinked at two ends of a pole. There were also occasions when even digging deep into the creek bed yielded no water. We had to go even further: a kilometre or more away to look for water. These sources were usually wells dug deep into the ground and situated at the foothill. Since carrying water from such far away place proved too burdensome, our solution was to take the dirty laundry to the water source and to do the washing and bathing there. We only carried the very essential amount in buckets back to the house for cooking and drinking purpose.

 

Lighting was only available from 6pm to around 10pm. The light source came from the kerosene lantern which was activated every night at around 6pm. The lantern was hung in a wall opening in between the living room and the kitchen area. With the lantern's light, the kids did their homework soon after dinner around the dining table. Dad would then proceed with his extra tailoring work to earn extra income. The lantern would only be switched off after dad decided it was time to sleep normally at around 10pm. For the bedroom, a dim light was made available by the kerosene lamp. As there was no "entertainment" liked radio or TV, the kids would have long gone to bed by then.

 

Firewood was the only "fuel" used for cooking and boiling. I remember one of the main tasks during school breaks was to gather firewood from the nearby hill. We normally had to gather enough stock to last for 2 to 3 months. Gathering firewood was no easy task. The first thing was to chop down all sizable trees and trimmed off all unwanted branches and leaves. Then, we had to drag or carry them back to the home compound; cut them into lengths of 2 feet a piece, split them with parang or an axe into smaller pieces to dry. Finally, we stacked them neatly after they had been sufficiently dried.

 

Over the years when my younger brothers and sister were added to the family, another room was built at the back of the house to accommodate the growing number. I stayed in this house for over 21 years and we finally moved away to a new place in 1972. One obvious thing I remember most about staying in that house was the non-existence of theft and house break-in. The whole family could go out even with the door left unlocked! Those were the days!

Cruise: Shanghai

Anyone who visits Shanghai would not miss to take a tour along Nanjin Road: Just to be "lost" in a massive crowd of people.

This is a photo taken in Nanjin Road which I like very much. This aptly illustrates the emerging generation of China: They are increasingly communicating less, deeply immersed in cyber world but yet very particular about look and fashion!

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Madame Tussaud Wax Museum, Shanghai.

Face to face with Mdm. Tussaud.

Yao Ming is much bigger than I envisaged !

Shanghai World Financial centre is the third skyscrapers we visited in less than two months. The last two are the Tuntex Sky Tower in Kaohsiung and Taipei 101.

Of course China would not be outdone by Taipei 101. Shanghai Tower soaring to a maximum height of 632m is now under construction and will be completed by 2014.