I know very little about my maternal grandfather, Yee Chen Kong (余振光). He had already passed away by the time I was born. The only photograph I've ever seen him is the one engraved on his tombstone.
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| Yee Chen Kong 22.6.1882 - 25.5.1950 |
My maternal grandfather came to North Borneo - later renamed Sabah - from a village in China called Guangtong XingNing (广东兴宁碑下村).By the time he left China, he was already married and had three children. He was likely in his late thirties or early forties when he arrived in Sabah.
I later discovered that he didn't come directly from China to Sabah. His journey first took him to Sungai Lembing in Peninsular Malaya. (Read here).
Back then, countless young men left China, travelling thousand of miles across Southeast Asia in search of better opportunities, hoping to escape poverty and build a more secured future. My grandfather was one of them. His plan like many others, was to work hard in the new land, earn enough money, and eventually return back to China to reunite with his family. But for reasons unknown, that never happened.
Back then, countless young men left China, travelling thousand of miles across Southeast Asia in search of better opportunities, hoping to escape poverty and build a more secured future. My grandfather was one of them. His plan like many others, was to work hard in the new land, earn enough money, and eventually return back to China to reunite with his family. But for reasons unknown, that never happened.
Instead, he stayed on in North Borneo, married a Dusun girl, and started a new family. He was 45 years old when he married my grandmother, who was just 14 at that time.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the main economic activity for immigrants like my grandfather was clearing land for agricultural use - primarily coconut plantations in the north, rubber in the west, and coffee in the interior of Sabah. While I am not certain whether he worked in any of these sectors, my mother once told me that he had worked for one timber company, manually sawing logs into boards for sale. At the time, sawmill was non-existent - every plank of wood had to be cut by hand. It was grueling, backbreaking work.
He worked tirelessly and grew old in this adopted land, never having the chance to return to China or see the family he left behind. He passed away at the age of 68 and was laid to rest at the Roman Catholic Church Cemetery in Mile 1.5, Jalan Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu.
Sawing a long timber log into boards required more than just physical strength - it demanded a solid understanding, precise coordination, and a strong sense of rhythm and chemistry between two sawyers working together.
My grandfather also had a younger brother who settled in North Borneo. He served as a pastor in Basel Church. I knew him well, as he and his family lived in the same village along Harrington Road. His story, however, deserves its own chapter - and will be told later.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the main economic activity for immigrants like my grandfather was clearing land for agricultural use - primarily coconut plantations in the north, rubber in the west, and coffee in the interior of Sabah. While I am not certain whether he worked in any of these sectors, my mother once told me that he had worked for one timber company, manually sawing logs into boards for sale. At the time, sawmill was non-existent - every plank of wood had to be cut by hand. It was grueling, backbreaking work.
He worked tirelessly and grew old in this adopted land, never having the chance to return to China or see the family he left behind. He passed away at the age of 68 and was laid to rest at the Roman Catholic Church Cemetery in Mile 1.5, Jalan Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu.
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