Tag: foochows

The secret behind good food

Red and auspicious:  Of Chinese red wine, Foochow delicacies and fine tradition.
Feb 2, 2023
By Foong Pek Yee
It is a sunny morning and people are queueing at the entrance of a corner shop in Sitiawan, Perak.
This is nothing out of the ordinary though.
The people – locals and tourists- are waiting to buy gong pian (a traditional Foochow biscuit).
All time favourite: Gong pian became an iconic item for tourism in Sitiawan today . The Foochows brought them along when they first arrived in Sitiawan in 1903.
And after tasting the hot, crispy and savoury gong pian, I know why people are queueing for it rain or shine.
“It tastes best when eaten hot,” says Ling Leong Choong, a Foochow from Sitiawan, during my visit to Sitiawan recently.
Foochows take pride in their culture and traditional delicacies, and often go the extra mile to introduce them to their friends and guests.
Topping the list is gong pian and ang jiu mee (Chinese red wine rice noodles).
Delicious : Chinese red wine soup can go with rice noodles or rice.
And the delicacies certainly made good conversation starters and introduction to Foochow culture.
It is about perseverance and pride in their work, including slogging away in the wee hours of the morning to deliver fresh and good quality food by sunrise.
In Sitiawan- a Foochow stronghold-  gong pian shops and eateries specialising in Foochow food especially Chinese red wine noodles are tourist attractions.
Over in Kampung Sitiawan, a little cafe – Seng Jee Chan –  has already made inroads into Kuala Lumpur with its Chinese red wine which are used in many Foochow dishes
The owner, Ling Cheng Chooi, 57,  says the cafe which specialises in Foochow dishes opens on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The other days in the week are spent preparing the Chinese red wine  which they also supply to shops in Kuala Lumpur.
He says Chinese red wine has been his family business since his grandfather’s generation in the 1940s.
Proud of his roots:  Ling Cheng Chooi  with photos of his four generations on display in Seng Jee Chan Cafe in Kampung Sitiawan in Sitiawan, Perak.
His  grandfather had migrated from China to Sitiawan in then Malaya.
While the first and second generation sold jiu bing (fermented yeast rice, an ingredient for Chinese red wine) for a living, Cheng Chooi and his  wife Teng Siew Leng, 51, went on to open a cafe.
Their three children who are  in their twenties are in the family business.
This year is set to be another milestone for them when their franchise business kicks off in major cities.
He says they started preparing for the expansion six years ago,  in tandem with rising interest and demand for Foochow food outside predominantly Foochow areas.
He says they have been researching and experimenting on Foochow specialties to make it palatable to the masses while retaining its good taste.

 

No ordinary community

The destination: This is the place in Sitiawan in Sept 1903  where 363 Foochows from China  landed after surviving the perils of sea and a cholera outbreak.
Jan 15, 2023
By Foong Pek Yee
THE year was 1903 in Malaya, against a backdrop of erratic weather conditions and plunging rice yields.
And a rice growing community in Foochow, China, became the colonial government’s target- recruit them for a rice growing project in Sitiawan, Perak.
The Methodist Episcopal Mission (MEM) was tasked to bring in the Foochows, and Rev Ling Ching Mi and Rev HLE Dr Luering went to China for the mission.
And  in Sept 1903,  363  Foochows landed in Sitiawan – the pioneer batch of Foochow settlers.
But the rice growing project never took off.
The land and facilities like irrigation and drainage for the project as  promised to them were not there.
They were instead made to trek about six kilometers  into the jungle where they stayed in seven longhouses for the next six months.
While  Rev  Dr Luering was stationed in Ipoh about 80 km away from Sitiawan, Rev Ling Ching Mi also  got a transfer back to China in Dec 1903.
Ling Ching Mi got his nephew Ling Ti Kong to take care of the settlers.
And Ling Ti  Kong also roped in Ding Chin Seng (husband of his father’s sister) to help him.
Ling Ching Mi, Ling Ti Kong and Ding Chin Seng were Foochows.
By Jan 1904, the Foochows  had set up  a day school under an attap shed with 22 pupils and a Foochow speaking teacher Ling Ding Jug for an eight hour class daily including an hour long break.
This is true to the Chinese  who subscribe to: ” Education for and the wellbeing of the children must never be compromised due to poverty.
 The shed also doubled as a church on Sundays.
By  early 1904  each family was given a three-acre- plot for them to build their own house and reared pigs, poultry and plant vegetables and fruits for a living.
The Foochows also went into rubber planting not long after.
Forever grateful:  Ling Leong Choong, 62, says this was one of the three wells that fed  the villagers for decades until piped water came to Sitiawan in the 1970s. The wells are in the compound of the house for Pioneer Methodist Church pastors  or “Muk Su Lao” in Chinese. 
Showcase: Set up in 2003, Sitiawan Settlement Museum was  formerly the ” Muk  Su Lao”along  Jalan Lin Chen Mei  in Sitiawan. It provides a glimpse of life in Sitiawan in the good old days and the missionary work in then Malaya. 
One-stop-centre:  The” Muk Su Lao” was the place for the Chinese to go for help in the old days.
Great job:  Shih Toong Siong who wrote the book “The Foochows of Sitiawan ” is a Foochow born and educated 
in Sitiawan.
 Hall of Fame: Some of the prominent figures in Malaysia and Singapore who are descendants of the Foochows in Sitiawan  and documented in the  book – The Foochows of Sitiawan.
While the Sitiawan Settlement Museum  gives a glimpse of history,  the book ” The Foochows of Sitiawan” by Shih Toong Siong is most enlightening.
 Rev  B.F. Van Dyke who became the first resident missionary in Sitiawan together with Ling Ti Kong and Ding Chin Seng  were credited for building a church costing $900( to replace the attap shed) and an orphanage in Sitiawan in 1905
Rev Van Dyke – an American of Dutch origin- was a missionary school teacher from the Anglo Chinese School, Singapore in 1900 before his posting to Sitiawan in March 1904.
Unfortunately Rev Ding Chin Seng passed away in 1906. He was 41.
Ours is 289:  Ling Leong Choong who was born and bred in Sitiawan  says the rubber tappers had labels engraved on to the latex sheets to prove ownership. And 289 was the label for his family, pointing to the samples on the wall.  
Way of life:   Bicycle was the most common and only mode of transport for the poor  in the old days.  The equipment used by rubber tappers are among items displayed at the Sitiawan Settlement Museum.
Simple lifestyle:  A typical kitchen of the Foochows in the old days.
With their farming background, the settlers were also among the first to go into rubber planting in 1905.
And that perhaps is also one of the reasons for many Foochow oil palm smallholders in Sitiawan today.
This pioneer  batch of Foochows may be  small in numbers but they definitely had earned an important place in history.

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.