Month: April 2022

Proud to be Foochows

It is more than good taste
By Foong Pek Yee
foongpekyee@gmail.com
A bowl of red wine chicken mee sua  is not just another dish.
This authentic Foochow noodle dish brings to mind the community wherever and whenever it is served.
The Foochows from Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan in Perak arrived from China in 1903.
A close-knit and resilient community, they are proud of their culture, and would make it a point to introduce their food to their friends or guests.
Their love for their culture is evident in places like Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan  where they first set foot in then Malaya.
Authentic Foochow taste: Red wine chicken mee sua 
Wholesome:  This dish with a mix of vegetables, meat and seafood is popular as a one-pot meal.
In Ayer Tawar, about 65 km from Ipoh,  Restoran Sin Han Seong serves good Foochow food since the 1930s.
Old and strong: Sin Han Seong Restaurant has many loyal customers 
The restaurant owner Ling Hing Kuai is his family’s third generation.
At 70, he went about his work in zest,  and that speaks volumes of the restaurant.
Located along Ayer Tawar’s main road, the ambience in the restaurant is reminiscent of the good old days.
(Note: When we google, the name of the restaurant is Sun Hon Siong. It is the same place).
Many Foochows including those who have settled down outside Ayer Tawar, will patronise the restaurant when they visit their hometown, and among them is Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh.
A Foochow, Dr Ting, a former Housing and Local Government Minister and current Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) council chairman was from Merbau New Village in Manjung.
Other new villages in Manjung which are predominantly Foochow are Ayer Tawar, Jering, Rajah Hitam, Changkat Kruing, Simpang Dua, Simpang Tiga, Simpang Lima, Kampung Koh and  Kampung Cina.
And the Ayer Tawar town centre along the main road is the meeting point for villagers to run their daily errands.
Meeting point: The main road in Ayer Tawar
The Siew Hua Biscuit Factory in Ayer Tawar which is over 70 years old continues to be famous for its traditional Foochow biscuits like the “gong pian”.
Hall of fame :  Ayer Tawar Heritage House chairman Ling Sze Hing says the  plaque has  the names of all donors who contributed to the setting up of the  Manjung Kutien Association. The plaque is displayed in the Ayer Tawar Heritage House in Ayer Tawar.
The landmark in Ayer Tawar is the Manjung Kutien Association majestic building along the main road.
The association was set up in 1956 in an attap house,  and its present building was opened in 1994.
Ling says the association’s more than 2,000 strong membership are all Kutien, one of the 10 sub dialects of Foochows.
Janice Ting Hsia Sung says the association holds major festive celebrations like Chinese New Year and  Parents Day.
At 42, and a mother of five, she says the association’s activities are tailored for all age groups; and its focus are on good values like filial piety, cooperation, harmony, kindness and education.
She and her husband, also a Foochow,  decided to settle down in Ayer Tawar- their hometown-  after a short work stint in Kuala Lumpur.
Both of them are active in the Manjung Kutien Association.
Janice’s  father Ting Kong Liong, 76, who is a former president of the association continues to be active
Youngest among four siblings, Janice recalls following her father to the association’s events when she was a kid.

Journey to the Promised Land

From Grit to Great :  The story of the Foochows .
By Foong Pek Yee
THEY finally arrived at their destination on Sept 9 after surviving the perilous journey.
There were 303 on board, while another 60 arrived a week later.
And that was in September 1903 –  the beginning of the Foochows in Sitiawan, Perak.
Together we progress:  Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh (left) who was then the  Housing and Local Government Minister opened the Manjung Kutien Association Building in 1994.  He is a Kutien and his hometown is Merbau New Village in Manjung.
According to the book “The Foochows of Sitiawan: a historical perspective” this pioneer group were from China’s Foochow rice growing community.
The author Shih Toong Siong said the then Colonial Administration in Malaya wanted to ” transplant” this community in Sitiawan.
The mission was to turn Sitiawan into a rice growing region, and to meet the rising demand for the staple food as more immigrants arrived in Malaya to work in the tin mines.
The Methodist Episcopal Mission (MEM) which was tasked to undertake this “transplant”, had assigned Rev Ling Ching Mi and  Rev. Dr H.L.E Luering to the job.
Of the 484 Foochows who boarded the ship and set sail for Malaya on  Aug 3, 1903, only 363 made it to the promised land.
Four days into the journey saw five deaths which were attributed to cholera and exhaustion.
They arrived in Singapore for quarantine on the St John’s Island on Aug 22, where many either died or went missing in transit.
The final headcount was 363 when they were ready to set sail for  Sitiawan.
But their ordeal was far from over upon arrival – they did not get what as promised to them , and from then they only had their resilience to survive in the tropical wilderness.
True to the Chinese saying ” we get up from where we fell” – the Foochows have proven their mettle the day they step foot on Malayan soil.
United and strong:  The Manjung Kutien Association was set up in 1956, and Ling (right) and the association’s committee member Ting Hsia Sung showing a photo of the historical day.
The place: Ayer Tawar Heritage House in Ayer Tawar, Manjung is a showcase of the Foochows’ way of life in Manjung from the early 20th century and beyond.
Proud descendants: Foochows  at the opening of the Ayer Tawar Heritage House in 2016
Today, the Ayer Tawar Heritage House in Ayer Tawar, about 65 km from Ipoh, will give a glimpse of the life of the Foochows in Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan from the day they landed in Sitiawan.
Ayer Tawar is about 12km from Sitiawan, and the Chinese in both towns are predominantly Foochows.
One of the landmarks in Ayer Tawar is the Manjung Kutien Association Building along the main road of Ayer Tawar
Kutien is one of the 10 sub dialects of Foochows (sub dialects  are  based on their respective district in China) , and the Ayer Tawar Heritage House is under the Manjung Kutien Association.
The heritage house chairman Ling Sze Hing says the artefacts, mostly donated by the locals, are dated back to more than a century ago.
He says the heritage house opened doors in 2016,  and entrance is free and by appointment (019-5582543)
Ling, 56, says he and his committee are coming up with a research centre on Foochows in the heritage house – to make it the place to go to for people who are interested to find out more on Foochows, especially the Kutien.
A Kutien himself, Ling’s passion and pride on anything Kutien a and Foochow  is palpable.
Hardwork:  Mr Ling showing how to operate a traditional grinder
Bare necessities:  Irons using charcoals (top row) and pots used during the old days.

Farmers caught in the crossfire

A tough life clouded by uncertainties.
By Foong Pek Yee
foongpekyee@gmail.com
April 13, 2022.
UKRAINE may be an 11-hour-flight away but the war there is giving farmers in Malaysia sleepless nights.
With Russia and Ukraine being major exporters of fertilisers worldwide,  the price of the commodity has skyrocket since the war erupted in late February.
“A 50 kilogram bag of fertiliser cost RM210 now, compared to RM135 in January this year,” says a vegetable and fruit farmer in Bidor, Perak.
He says the war has dealt  another blow on the farmers who have yet to recover from the covid 19 pandemic.
 The road ahead: A farm in Bidor  Stesyen New Village in Bidor, Perak 
The villagers settled down in the new village during the Emergency (1948-1960).
“We have already scaled down production in the last two years.
“The pandemic which saw a shortage of workers, rise in the cost of farming and uncertainty in demand for vegetables and fruits and loss of income have taken a toll on the farming community,” the farmer who is in his 30s says.
He reckons that farmers will have to scale down their production further if the current situation does not improve.
Perseverance: A farmer harvesting sweet potatoes in his farm in Bidor Stesyen New Village.
According to CNBC.com on April 6, the war in Ukraine could tighten food supplies.
It noted that farmers are seeing prices for fertilisers skyrocket, and that some of them may opt to rotate their crops or use less nutrients, which could reduce crop yields.
A vegetable farmer in Bidor who is in his 20s says he has also reduced his production by half since two years ago.
He cited high cost of farming  and uncertainty in demand for green produce as major reasons to do so.
“I can no longer afford to go for full production based on current circumstances,” he adds.
For a living: A farmer having his lunch at a coffeeshop in Bidor Stesyen New Village.  The place is quiet due to the pandemic.
Green produce:  Bidor Stesyen New Village produces a variety of vegetables like lady’s fingers, sweet potatoes, sengkuang (turnip), radish;  and fruits include guava and jambu.
Old world charm: Bidor town is a touristic spot ,selling fruits from surrounding new villages like Bidor Stesyen, Kuala Bikam and Coldstream which are famous for fruits like guava, jambu and mangoes.
He says the rising cost of living, rising cost of doing business and unemployment will affect consumption patterns.
“People have to cut consumption.
“This will have adverse effects on farmers.
“Our income has already fallen by half compared to pre pandemic days,” he says, adding that cash flow problems is looming.