Category: People

Turning adversity into strength

Down with polio at three and orphaned at five, Too Hing Huat sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
By Foong Pek Yee
At 82, Too Hing Huat still rides a tricycle and tends to his vegetables and fruit trees daily.
Having to support himself with a walking stick does not stop him from moving around and being  productive.
A typical day for him  revolves around his village – his vegetables and fruit trees,  his home that double up as a sundry shop and the coffeeshop to meet up with friends.
Hing Huat from Raja Hitam New Village in Manjung, Perak says he  sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
Never give up:  Hing Huat’s life motto 
Born in 1940 and growing up in a turbulent era, he learned survival at a very young age.
“I woke up one morning and cannot  walk.
‘The day before I had fever .”
Hing Huat who regained his mobility but with a limp, has likened it to a new lease of life.
Youngest among nine siblings, they lost their mother during World War Two.
In 1945, Hing Huat ‘s ailing father who wanted to seek treatment in China wanted to take him along.
Barred from boarding the ship  when they found him limping, his father went ahead, and that was the last time he saw him.
“Until today we don’t know if our father had arrived in China.”
Without formal education, Hing Huat took up odd jobs when he turned 13.
He was 16 when he landed  a job at a Foochow pau shop in Ayer Tawar town.
It was at the shop that Hing Huat  made some friends, including Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh, who is three years his junior.
“He (Dr Ting) used to ride a bicycle from his village and parked it  at the back of the shop before taking a bus to his school in Sitiawan.
“We did chat a bit when he returned to get his bicycle after school,” Hing Huat  recalls  the good old days, and a friendship that has remained over the decades.
Hing Huat married Tin Chon Heong in 1968, and they returned to his village the following year to set up their Foochow pau shop and raised their five children – all sons who are aged between 52 and 41 now.
 
Old faithful: The tricycle that serves Hing Huat well over the decades
Choice location: Raja Hitam New Village is conducive for living and doing small business since the old days.
Community first : A well kept garden and playground for the villagers.
Education a priority:  The village’s Chinese primary school SJKC Pei Min Kg Raja Hitam.
Hing Huat’s wife passed away about
eight years ago, shortly after the couple retired and closed down their pau business.
Two of his sons settled down in Johor, one in Singapore and one in Pantai Remis, Perak.
Hing Huat stays with his youngest son,  Too Song Yee and his family in their shop house in the village.
Song Yee and his wife Joan Law have two children.
Orphaned at age 5, Hing Huat has come a long way.
“Three generations living under the same roof is a blessing.
” Due to my physical disability, I dare not think of marriage  initially for fear of not being able to provide for my family.
 “It is my wife who gave me the confidence that we can together raise our family.” 
Perseverance runs in the family.
Song Yee, 41, works about 15 hours a day, six days a week running his sundry shop.
A typical day for him starts at 5.00am.
He will be in Ayer Tawar town, about 10 minutes drive from his village,  to get fresh vegetables for sale in his shop.
His shop opens by sunrise and closed at 8.00pm daily.
Returning to his village from Singapore for good 12 years ago, Song Yee never looked back.

Where chickens are free to roam

A day in the life of a healthy free range chicken.
By Foong Pek Yee
The chickens need to eat, move and sleep well.
Three meals a day,  exercise and a good night’s sleep is a must .
Free range chicken (zou di ji in Chinese) farmer Ling Kok Seng also known as  Chicken King, says customers can tell the difference when chickens are well bred.
The Chicken King : Ling Kok Seng is synonymous with quality free range chickens in Manjung, Perak.
The chicken meal  comprises corn and  chopped vegetables mixed with chicken feed.
He fenced up two acres 0f his four-acre oil palm holding for his chickens to roam all day long.
The chickens are released to  the fenced up area in the morning.
They are rounded up to a secured section in the evening to protect them from predators like wild boars at night.
While a two months old chicken is ready for the market, Kok Seng says he keeps his chickens for another month.
According to him, a three  months old chicken is at its prime – in terms of meat texture.
“An extra month of exercise enhances the meat texture,” he shares.
Healthy : A good diet makes a difference
Kok Seng who learned chicken rearing while working for a relative says passion for the job and experience is important.
“I am happy when my customers are happy with their purchase,”  says Kok Seng from  Jering Village in Ayer Tawar.
His customers are mostly regulars  from Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan in Manjung, Perak.
Kok Seng will be in the market in Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan thrice a week to sell his chickens.
On market days, he will wake up 4.00am to make his way to the market early.
He says he enjoys market days – mingling with traders, friends and customers.
Kok Seng had taken up different jobs before he became a chicken farmer six years ago.
He was a construction worker in Singapore for four years  before he returned to his village for good in  2004.
Kok Seng, 40 and his wife Ting Ping Ping, 38,  have  a five-year-old son Ling Ke Yong.
While his zou di ji (free range chicken) business can be hectic, Kok Seng says it is not stressful and that he has time for his family and friends in between work.

A brilliant career spanning seven decades

He never allows distractions to get in his way.

By Foong Pek Yee
It was the 1985 world tin crash that literally crushed the mine workers and the economy.
Massive unemployment, business shutdowns  saw many left their hometown in droves looking for a living.
It was a picture of grim in Kampar-a rich tin mining town-but all is not lost.
A tin miner in Kampar was determined to revive the town.
He is Tan Sri Hew See Tong who envisioned a modern self- contained town built on ex mining land.
True to the Chinese saying: “We rise from where we fell”, he built Bandar
Baru Kampar meaning Kampar new town.
Today, the town is  an education hub  complete with a private hospital.
An icon’s journey : On May 25, 2022, the hearse carrying Tan Sri Hew See Tong along Jalan Universiti in Bandar Baru Kampar where UTAR,  UTAR Hospital and Westlake International School are located.
It has the trappings of a modern township.
 Hew’s first and big breakthrough was in 2003 when the Kuala Lumpur based Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) opened its Perak branch campus in Bandar Baru Kampar.
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The township got a major boost when Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) opened its main campus there in 2007.
TARC was set up and owned by MCA in 1969, while UTAR is a not for profit private university  owned by UTAR Education Foundation.
Both institutions  were built by public donations, and they were well known for their affordable fees that make tertiary education accessible to the middle and low income groups.
 MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik ( 1986 – 2003) is credited for expan
ding TARC and getting government approval to build a private university (UTAR) in 2001.
Dr Ling and a group of MCA  leaders including Hew took the lead to raise funds for TARC expansion and  building UTAR.
Hew , three-term Kampar Member of Parliament (1995-2008),started  Westlake International School (WIS) in Bandar Baru Kampar in 2013.
And  last month (April) marked another  milestone for Bandar Baru Kampar when UTAR Hospital opened its 100-bed  traditional and complementary medicine department.
Its  250-bed Western Medicine department is scheduled for opening next year.
A fund raising campaign for the hospital is ongoing and Hew was actively raising funds until a few days before he breathed his last.
To complete the story on Kampar, Hew single- handedly designed the Kinta Tin Mining (gravel pump) Museum in Bandar Baru Kampar.
And the scenic lake in Bandar Baru Kampar which is an ex mining pond is testimony to the town’s origins
Picture perfect: The lake is surrounded by development, with the Hew residence fronting it.
A life of dedication that makes a difference to the lives of many, Hew passed away last Sunday (May 22, 2022).
He was 91.
An education icon, Hew is a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a great friend to many from all walks of life.

The place to connect and recharge

Coffeeshops is an integral part of life in a new village
By Foong Pek Yee
They easily chalked up a total of 24 hours of work daily.
The couple are up by 4.00am daily in time to open  their coffeeshop an hour later.
While they close for the day after lunch, they still have the cleaning up to do as well as planning for the next day.
At 68, Chang says she and her husband, Chiew, have been in this routine since they got married 33 years ago.
The shop in Merbau New Village in Manjung, Perak , also double up as their home.
Their three grown up daughters  are having their own career – marking an important milestone for the proud parents.
A daily  routine: Chiew (right) taking orders from a customer
Chang from Pantai Remis says the village is her world since her marriage.
“We only take off  in the first week of Chinese New Year,” says Chang, adding that they occasionally take a day off to run errands outside the village.
Coffeeshops is very much an integral part of life in a  new village.
For many, that is the first place they head to upon waking up.
Chang says the villagers who mostly work in their oil palm small holdings nowadays  start work early morning.
This was the same in the old days whereby majority were rubber tappers, she adds.
They have breakfast at coffeeshops before sunrise and off to work.
This is followed by mid morning coffee break and lunch in coffeeshops.
“It is also a way for them to recharge  and relax as manual jobs can be taxing physically,”  says Chang.
Most of them are owners of small holdings who continue to work  alongside their workers.
Retirees also thronged coffeeshops daily to keep each other company and get update on the latest development at home and abroad.
Face-to-face interaction and chit chat in coffeeshop also gives villagers a break from  social media addiction – something many urbanites are still struggling to do.
 While Chang and Chiew may be busy serving their customers,  they  also  enjoy their company .
Sharing and caring: Chang (left) with Phang who is a regular in her coffeeshop.
That perhaps is part of the driving force that keeps them running their business  rain or shine for over three decades, and  still  going strong.

Creating meaning in life to live well

Growing up in a turbulent era 
By Foong Pek Yee
THE soldiers came knocking on their door one night.
They were told to pack their bags before they got shoved into an army truck.
Huddled in darkness, she and her family members feared for their life throughout the journey from their home in Chemor, Perak to an undisclosed destination.
Recalling the ordeal, Phang who was only 13 then, says stories of  villagers went missing after they were taken away by soldiers  were real.
It was in the  early 1950s, and a turbulent era  in then Malaya.
Phang says she and her family were considered “dai maeng” (literally translated to big life in Cantonese – a term to denote someone who cheated death).
They were taken to Merbau New Village in Manjung, Perak – a  barb wire settlement under curfew – about 80km from Chemor.
It is among the 452 new villages set up by the colonial government to cut contact between the Chinese and the communists.
(The colonial government deemed the Chinese as supporters of the communists)
“It was a long journey before the truck came to a halt. We were told to get down and get inside an attap shack,” she says pointing to the village  community hall next to a coffeeshop where she was having her lunch .
“It was just an attap shack then,” she recalls.
This place certainly has a special place in her heart.
Good old days:   Once an attap shack that gave shelter to the temporary homeless 
Phang says they stayed in the shack for a while before each family was  given a plot of land in the village to build a house and do whatever they can to survive.
She recalls planting vegetables, tapioca and rearing animals for a living.
Phang  took a walk down memory lane when I met her at the coffeeshop recently.
Phang and Chang, the wife of the coffeeshop owner, came across as close friends.
Moments in life: Chang finds time to catch up with Phang (seated) 
Villages are basically close knitted communities.
Phang who got married and stayed on in Merbau has five children. Her husband passed away several years ago.
She says her eldest sister, in her 80s,  her only surviving sibling, stays in Chemor.   Phang is the youngest among four siblings.
Phang is taking care of her youngest child – a daughter in her 50s- who is not well.
A hard life, but all is not lost.
Growing up in the turbulent years has made her resilient to any challenges life throws at her.
“I live each day well,” says Phang when asked what  a typical day is like for her these days.

Looming food scarcity

Tan Tean Chee says food security for the people is important
By Foong Pek Yee
The supply of some 60,000 kilogram vegetables from Chemor daily risks disruption when the farmland is taken over for development, says Chemor Modern Farmers Association.
Its chairman Tan Tean Chee says Chemor in Perak is one of the major suppliers of vegetables daily, producing some 60,000 kilogram of a variety of greens like spinach, kangkung, choy sam, brinjals, chillies, turnips, spring onions and maize.
These are sold to wholesale markets in Ipoh, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Selayang.
“Climatic change is already threatening food supply worldwide, ” notes Tan, adding that any other disruption like shrinking farmland should be avoided.
On that note, he expresses his concern as some of the farmers toiling on about 1,200 acres of farmland in Chemor had received eviction notice last December.
About half of the 293 members in the association were affected, he adds.
Tan, 60, who is a third generation farmer in his family says the soil and environment in Chemor is conducive for vegetable farming.
According to the elderly villagers, vegetable farming in the area is dated back to the 1920s.
Tan says vegetable farming is labour intensive, crediting the farmers in Chemor for their hard work and resilience in ensuring steady supply to the market.
He says all is well until 2005 when some of the farmers who do not have legal documents to use the land had to evict to make way for development.
Two years later, in 2007, the association was set up to help the farmers.
Tan says the farmers want to pay to lease the land so that they can continue to farm and contribute to the food supply in the country.
Meanwhile Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj who has been helping the farmers says the authorities concerned should look at farming as food security for the people in the long term.
He points out that climatic change and  food scarcity which  is already happening worldwide is set to escalate, and this is something that needs the authorities’ urgent attention.
Dr Jeyakumar suggests the existing farmland in Chemor  be preserved instead of making way for mega projects.
While mega projects are important for the economy, the  Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) chairman says the farmers who have been working hard for a living and contributing to the food supply for the people is also doing something important for the country.

A wish for his golden years

Liew Wong does not want to burden his children.

By Foong Pek Yee

foongpekyee@gmail.com

AT 56, Liew Wong is four years from the official retirement age.
He is relieved that his two children, in their late 20s, are working and independent.
Having toiled as a farmer for the last 30 years to raise his family, Liew says his wish from now on is to be able to take care of his wife and himself in their golden years.
“I do not want to depend on my children for a living,” says Liew as he gobbled up his lunch when met at Kanthan Baru New Village in Chemor, Perak recently.
His weather beaten face tells the story of a hard life.
He is the third generation of farmers in his family from the village.
Farming is a 365 days job from sunrise to sunset, he says.
As a small scale farmer, you are the boss and you and your family are the workers, says Liew, recalling he started to help his father in the farm when he was 10 years old.
It is all about working hard to survive day to day.
Today, his 86-year-old father continues to work in their farm, measuring about two acres where they planted the umbra fruit  (sar lei in Cantonese) and oil palm.
Make way: The entrance to Liew Wong’s farm. He got a notice to
 evict the land.
Farming and village life has its upside though.
They enjoy a peaceful and simple life in a close knitted community from generation to generation since the 1920s.
All is well until 2005 when land issues started to surface.
For many farmers, they toil on land without legal documents since their forefathers set foot in Chemor a century ago.
Since 17 years ago, development saw some farmers having to surrender their farmland when the area is earmarked for the purpose.
Nevermind that Chemor is known for vegetable farming, producing some 60,000 kilogram vegetables daily.
According to the farmers, the terrain and soil in Chemor are conducive for many types of vegetables –  from spinach, choy sam, brinjals, bitter gourds, chillies to maize.
“All along we are willing to pay to the landowners to lease the land, ” says Liew
According to him,  then Tambun Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah had in 2012  helped farmers to resolve the land issues.
However Liew says the signing of a  deal on land lease for  farmers was aborted at the last minute.
In December last year, Liew says he is among farmers in Chemor who received eviction notice.
“I don’t know where to get a job to survive if I lost my farm.
“Even young people find it hard to get jobs these days,”he says.

A struggle to keep family tradition

Destiny: Ah Thim and his world
By Foong Pek Yee
IT is a scorching hot afternoon.
But it is also any other day for Ah Thim.
From afar, he cuts a lonely figure in the vegetable farm.
At 54,  he has been a farmer since a teenager; with his life revolving  around his family, farm and Kanthan Baru New Village in Chemor, Perak,  where they stay.
As fate has it, Ah Thim was inducted into farming after his eldest brother’s death.
Recalling the tragedy losing his 20-year-old brother, Ah Thim who is second among four sons became the de facto head of his family – by Chinese tradition- in a then conservative society.
He has another five sisters.
As the de facto head,  Ah Thim was expected, if not duty bound,  to become a farmer, taking after his father and grandfather who were farmers and keeping the family together.
He became head of the family after his father passed away.
Fast track to the present, Ah Thim, as head of the family, stays with his 80-year-old plus mother and a younger sister who is single in their ancestral home.
He says the sister and a younger brother helps out in the farm.
Toiling on about an acre of land, planting turnips and spring onions, Ah Thim says that is their source of income.
He spends most of his waking hours in the farm.
“I am here by sunrise and work till late evening. In between I go home for lunch,” he says.
Vegetable farming can be  a back breaking job but Ah Thim is not complaining.
“I will continue to do my best. I am used to this way of life.”
Quiet and peaceful: A man fishing at a lake nearby  Ah Thim’s farm.
According to some elderly villagers, farming was their lifeline since their forefathers set foot in Chemor in the 1920s .
The lack of formal education, exposure and job opportunities saw many villagers continue to depend on  farming for a living despite all odds stacked against them these days.
Topping their list of woes is  land issues which surfaced about 17 years ago.
Farmers who have no legal documents on their farmland would have to make way once the land is earmarked for development.
In the case of Ah Thim, he is now left with about an acre of farmland only.
While he is worried over losing his last acre to development, he says he has to depend on the Persatuan Petani  Moden Chemor (Chemor Modern Farmers Association) for help on land issues.
“The matter is too complicated for me to understand,” he adds.
Amidst all the uncertainties, he is visibly happy when he spoke on his only  child- a son-  who is working in Singapore.
No matter what,  Ah Thim says he is always grateful waking up to a new day. .

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.