月度归档： 2022年8月

Once upon a time in Petaling Street

The Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur.
By Foong Pek Yee
HAPPILY he hopped on to a bus to go home,  only to realise that his schoolbag was missing.
The teenager dashed back to the stall where he had his favourite Indian rojak earlier.
And his schoolbag was there, recalls Jerry Ng, 69, who was born and bred in Kuala Lumpur.
A walk down memory lane:  (front row from left) Jerry  Ng, his wife Jeanie Yap, Maggie Yap (Jeanie’s sister) and Eugene (Jerry’s son); and Don Lim (Maggie’s husband)  in Petaling Street. 
Don Lim, in his early 70s,  remembers the taste of his favourite beef noodle soup at the Lai Foong Coffeeshop in Petaling Street.
Growing up in Pudu which is nearby  Petaling  Street, he was a regular at the coffeeshop.
Really good:  (from left), Don, Maggie, Jeanie and Eugene enjoying  their lunch at Lai Foong Coffeeshop.
And last Thursday , Jerry and Don got to enjoy their favourite food in Petaling Street.
They  and their family returned from Australia for a holiday recently.
Local delights:  Fruit stalls are popular in Petaling Street.
Buying experience: Visitors enjoy browsing and bargain hunting 
Once the pulse of  Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Street used to be the landmark and meeting place with Puduraya – a station for outstation buses- just a stone’s throw away.
And Petaling Street was  the place to have a cheap and nice meal like street food, and do some shopping for traditional Chinese snacks.
The place was simply vibrant all day long.
And those were the good old days .
Retro: A traditional Chinese sundry shop specialising on dried food stuffs for Chinese cooking.
In the mood for celebration: Traditional lanterns on sale in the run up to the  Mid – Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar  ( September 10 this year). 
Today Petaling Street is still an attraction during Chinese festive seasons like Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn  Festival.

A life grounded on destiny and love

Actions defines a man (1928-2022)

By Foong Pek Yee

The teenager survived the perilous journey and landed in Singapore.
First trip out from his village in Ipoh, Perak, Tung Sam Chee – my third maternal uncle – was only armed with the determination to survive.
That was shortly after the end of World War 2 in 1945 and, life was simply harsh and unpredictable.
His parents decided to send him to Singapore after losing  two older sons in the crossfire between the Japanese and communists earlier.
But the end of  World War 2 only saw civilians  caught in the confrontation between the British colonial government and communists in then Malaya.
That was life in a turbulent era.
Last goodbye:  Leaving Ang Mo Kio, Singapore on July 29, 2022 –  his home for about five decades.
The 17-year-old never looked back after landing in Singapore.
Perseverance, hard work and,  encounters with good people saw him settled down in Singapore.
He met and married the love of his life, Wong Wai Kwan, and they were blessed with three children; sons Kum Choon and Kum Cheong and daughter Sow Mun.
By then he already had his company on tooling business.
Life was a bliss for the family until fate dealt a cruel blow.
His wife passed away from kidney failure in 1974.
She was 34.
Third uncle stayed strong for their children – a promise he made to his wife- and to love them no matter what.
In 2005, he  lost his second son, 39-year-old  Kum Cheong, to brain tumour.
Again he remained strong for his children, and had kept a brave front as Kum Cheong battled with the disease.
Seventeen years later, on July 25,  third uncle who was 94, passed away peacefully in Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, leaving behind Kum Choon, Sow Mun, their spouse and five grandchildren.
And his loved ones found consolation that he finally reunite with his beloved wife and Kum Cheong whom he missed dearly.
They were laid to rest side by side in the columbarium in Kong Meng San Buddhist Temple and Monastery in Bishan, Singapore.
Rest in peace: Prayers at Kong Meng San after the cremation on July 29, 2022
A proud son of Singapore, third uncle was forever patriotic and grateful for the opportunities he got as the nation evolved from a struggling post war island to a major global financial hub.
A  filial son and a  loving and caring  husband and father, he had stayed strong whatever challenges life threw at him.

South Koreans look foward to Chuseok

A typical traditional market in Seoul which offers one-stop- shopping for anything Korean.
By Foong Pek Yee
SURGING inflation saw the South Korean government releasing its reserves for 20 major food items into the market to ease the people’s hardship beginning next week.
Ahead of the Chuseok Festival  on Sept 10, the move, under a Livelihood Stability Package, also brings some relief to South Koreans who are hit by massive floods in Seoul this week.
According to Arirang News today, topping the list of the 20 items that saw a huge spike in prices this year are cabbage, radish, onion and apples.
On a year-on-year basis, the price of daikon or Korean radish shot up by 43% in July,  followed by cabbage (34%) and onions (25%) –  key ingredients for Korean cooking  and kimchi.
Potatoes and apples also saw a 34% and 17% price increase respectively in the same period .
The release of the government’s food reserves from Aug 18 to Sept 6 is expected to bring the price of the items down to that of last year, says Arirang News.
Seoul is home  to about 10  million South Koreans and, preparations for Chuseok has been dampened by the the floods which have  caused massive damages and untold misery to the affected.
As of Thursday,  news reports said 11 people have died in the floods while another eight still missing.
The rainfall on Monday, the start of the massive downpour for next two days, is reportedly the highest in Seoul in the last 115 years.
Chuseok, celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Lunar Calendar (Sept 10 this year), is the second major festival after Seollah(Korean Lunar New Year)
Celebrated in mid autumn, the  annual Chuseok to thank ancestors for a bountiful harvest, sees South Koreans leaving Seoul in droves for their hometown to celebrate with the elderly.
Apart from releasing the food reserves, the government has also announced USD50mil discount coupons for people to shop at supermarkets and traditional markets.
And this is expected to give shoppers an average of between 20% and 30% savings, reports Arirang News.
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