August 31, 2009

Chicks from Another Era


Post card from Old Malaya showing a Chinese Coffee Shop with two-tone bamboo chicks or blinds. The post card scenery hasn't changed much over the years. It is a beautiful sight to reflect on : different races inter-mingling with each other. I love the small stalls which sell Malay original lekor or pisang goreng alongside other Chinese or Indian foodstalls on the five foot way. It is a harmonious way of life.

This post card inspires me to write my posting today.

I must say today the word chicks can conjure up different meanings to different people.

Guys would laugh when they see this word. Children would think that it is just a word for baby chickens. But this word brings me to another world and another era.


A very old( probably from the colonial days) shop in Penang advertising chicks and furniture. I took this photo while wandering in the old part of Penang one night with good friends recently. Haven't seen this kind of advertisement for a long time.


Pretty bamboo chicks or blinds to enhance a luxurious and airy balcony.


A nice way of maintaining privacy when it is desired.


Bamboo chicks or blinds have been around for centuries.

The first bamboo blinds that caught my youthful attention were those in the Sibu Recreation Club which shaded the club room from the evening setting sun in the 50's. Then there were many blinds for the Residency where the late Mr. Ignatius Angking and his family used to live. The Sibu Government Rest House also had long blinds protecting the rooms from strong sun light.

In my childhood's Sibu beautiful bungalows in Sibu had names! "Rumah Merah" for example or "Rose Cottage". "Lee Ling" and "Jasmine" the two houses for Methodist Missionaries also had bamboo blinds. My own house in Brooke Drive and later the flat we had in Lanang Road Lane 2 also used blinds to protect us from the sun and the rain. My mother was also fond of bamboo blinds. After we shifted from the shophouse she rolled the blinds up carefully and we put them up in our new home again.

Almost all government Third Class and Fourth Class quarters in Race Course Road and Upper Lanang Road Sibu would have a bamboo chick to cover their small balcony. Some people would like to use the bamboo chicks as a screen from their prying neighbour's eyes and to have what ever little privacy they could have. Some would like the coolness the chicks can provide.

Many people believe that the original idea of a blind came from the Egyptians. But as bamboo has its origin in China many attribute the origin of bamboo chicks to the Chinese who promoted the idea of blocking the sun rays. And because of their huge trade in the old Silk Road and the maritime sea routes bamboo chicks became a household name in most countries including European nations and later American southern states.

For a while the British colonial power garnered a lot of trade for themselves and one of their trading items was architectural materials for expansive and luxurious homes in the hill stations especially in India and Malaya. Even many of the British country homes in the UK boasted materials from the Far East.

Today the bamboo chicks or blinds have become part and parcel of good sensible green living.

Made very affordable the blinds can be rolled up and down conveniently and is truly a great invention. They may gain even more popularity in the near future.

Buah Salak : Wild Snake Fruit



Buah Salak is a Borneo fruit. Some people call it Snake Palm Fruit. This can be grown well if there is plenty of land which is between swamp and hill. Many salak palms are found in Bekenu and Niah area. In fact our state should also do R and D on this fruit since it is popular and fairly valuable commercially.
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The buah salak is a popular fruit being sold at the Niah Junction. The sellers are usually Indonesians.

Daun Lirik for Kelupis

Image may contain: one or more people, plant, tree, outdoor and natureImage may contain: foodNo photo description available.

The indigenous people of Sarawak depend a lot on leaves for food presentation.

Leaves are useful to wrap rice for example. And food need to be taken to the farms where it cannot be heated up over a fire. So food must be wrapped up to prevent it from becoming stale.

The nicest way of preparing glutinous rice is to make small little finger like tubes and have them wrapped up neatly by leaves.

These little parcels of rice are called kelupis.

Daun lirik or daun long is used. Sometimes when this leaf is not available, banana leaf is used.

Mobile Grocer in Kuala Lumpur



This is a  very pleasant encounter right in the middle of Kuala Lumpur.

What a nice service they can render to housewives who are having lots of constraints now.

Mobile Grocers should be the trend now.

August 30, 2009

Sibu News : Bukit Lan or Hill of Cassia



Photo by Meng Lei - showing a holiday hut in Bukit Lan by a pool.

Bukit Lan has a lot of historical significance for the Foochows. The Second Rajah granted a large tract of land to the Foochow community in the hope that an agricultural school would be started and the well known Foochow agriculturalists would make that area very progressive. In a way the Rajah also hoped that the Foochows would influence the Ibans in the growing of vast tracts of rice like in China thus creating first British rice bowl in South East Asia.

Due to some economic changes this grandiose plan never took off. Instead the Foochows prospered by the growing of a new crop : rubber.

However the Rev. James Hoover did start a boys' school and an agricultural school in Bukit Lan. Later he and a few Foochows started a rice mill. My grandfather was part of his committee in the setting up of the machinery for rice hulling and milling. Very much later Rev. Ling Ung Choong was named principal of the boys' school if I am not mistaken.

The agricultural station was set up by Rev Davis and later missionaries like the Wiants and the Heaths took over the running of the agricultural school and station. A Methodist mobile clinic was also based in Bukit lan to provide home nursing and clinical services to farming folks and the Ibans in Bawang Asan and Tutus and the Foochows in Bukit Lan.

As for me I was fortunate enough to be able to serve as interpreter for a few months when Miss Mona Pengelley was the nurse there. One fabulous moment was when I looked through a window I saw this small man flying down the slope of Bukit lan on his bicycle. He was actually too small for the huge bike.

Miss Mona knew what he was in a hurry for. She grabbed her medicine bag and ran down the stairs all ready to deliver a baby - I cannot remember how many children this man had now but I can still remember Miss Mona saying that he had many many babies then. He then offered to put Miss Mona on the saddle of his bike and he would pedal her to his house which was in the "ow san" or land behind the hill. But any way Miss Mona decided humourously not to be "lumbang" (riding on the bike) and the two of them rushed away. I was not asked to go with her or else it would have been my first delivery of a baby!!

Another remarkable memory of Bukit lan was the house owned by Mr. Hii King Hing who was the Assistant Principal of Methodist School Sibu for many years. I remember his family and especially his mother who scrubbed their stairs with a steel brush until they were sterile and white!!

The Hiis were very friendly and warm people. And they too had a very big family. They had twin boys too! The girls were all very helpful Christians and they were really generous and kind. Their brother Charles Hii King Lee was my classmate and he has become a very successful banker in Australia. God has really blessed their family bountifully because of their faith in Him.

Later as we grew up and got married we lost touch with each other. Like the motor launches which used to ply in the Rajang river we have all been berthed here and there and perhaps many of us in different parts of the world.

Miss Mona Pengelley is now residing in Cornwall which is at the south western tip of England. And I am sure many Foochow and Iban mothers would remember her kindly ways.

Lan in the Iban language means leprosy. Lan to the Chinese is the word meaning orchid. But some how Bukit Lan remains a name and the Hill of Cassia is the other often quoted name.

Today Bukit Lan continues to be part of the Methodist Church property and is now a retreat for pastors and missionaries and church members. It is a beautiful place 25 minutes and 25 km away from Sibu. I have yet to go there.

Home Made Mint Tea - a slice of Morocco?




I was not feeling too well the other day because of the haze and the heat. A friend called me to have tea with her as a way of helping me change my mood. Bless her heart she has different kinds of tea in her cupboard and I could choose whatever I liked.

I settled for Earl Grey as I did not fancy other other brands. Some were from South Africa and others from Australia. And then we had a nice carrot cake and a great pie. What are good friends for? We drank our tea and had our cake right into the evening.

Soon our talk went to Morocco where another friend is now living and working as a volunteer. The heat over there is 100 degrees! And in her email she wrote that she was having only mint tea every day to soothe her nerves.

Actually my friend and I have been growing lots of mint in our recycled little polysterene boxes from our vegetable seller in Tamu Muhibbah. We decided to make some to try.

When we drained our last drop of our imported tea we decided to crush some levea and then added them to a pot of very hot water. We allowed it to brew for a while.

When the water turned into a yellowish colour it was ready to be served.

We waited for the tea to cool a little before adding some honey.

It wasn't bad at all.

According to my friend a leaf or two may even help ease some nausea or even stomach upset. So it isn't a bad idea to grow mint at all.

Mint tea is definitely a tea for the hazy season.

Special Coconut Stand found in Brunei



Look what I found....during the fasting month coconuts are very popular.

I think the welder must be very happy to create a stand like this. Besides the strong wraught iron stand each shelf has a ring on which a coconut would sit nicely. Very unique and I am sure because he is from quite a rural place in Brunei no one has really asked him to make more.

But I must commend him for his innovation. Great job!! A pat on your back!

August 27, 2009

Dried Wong Dang / Buah Asam Kundung

A long time ago my grandfather Tiong Kung Ping (who passed away in 1963) had a Wong Dan tree at the end of his garden. And being naughty kids we would climb the tree and eat the fruits even before they were really ripe!

Grandmother Siew and our adopted aunt Ah Hiong would always remind us that eating too many of these sourish sweet fruit would kill the greedy person: " Wong Dan Dan si nerng."

When we grew up and left Sibu we stopped eating the fruit because the property was abandoned as development took place and we even forgot about the fruit which was phased out by more trendy fruits. Today hardly any Foochow can remember the fruit or even own an old fruit tree some where in the backyard.

Today perhaps only the Ibans and other indigenous people carry on relishing the dried fruit in particular. Added to fish soup this exotic fruit is fantastic. Such dried fruits are only found in the markets of Brunei and Kota Kinabalu. Most of the dried fruits are enough for home consumption today. They are dried and packed in platic bags and sent to loved ones living in Kuala Lumpur and as far away as Amsterdam or Oslo!! This is called a slice of love from home.

I have tried cooking Ikan Senangin Soup with a few pieces of the dried fruit. Refreshing and Excellent! Last week I managed to get a few grams of the sour fruit and will keep them for my Christmas cooking when the children come home.


A slice of buah kundong.

Close up of the dried fruits.

A tray of buah kundong drying in the sun.

August 25, 2009

Sarawak : Nibong Palm



Nibong is a palm found quite abundantly in Sarawak.

Its wood is hardy and is used especially in the coastal region in building of houses, plank walks and posts for boats to tie to.

In some longhouses the nibong is used as beams,  floors and even walls.

The nibong is often used by craftsmen to make vases, containers and many other crafts including spoons, forks, photo frames, chairs and bowls.






Fresh hearts of nibong make a good stir fry, soup and also filling for spring rolls. It is not easy to harvest the palm hearts because the nibong is very thorny at its lower trunk. Sometimes loggers would use bulldozers to pull down the nibong palms and they share the palm hearts with the local villagers.

However many food foragers can still harvest some small nibong palms and sell the palm hearts.



Land Rovers in Sarawak

The birth of Land Rover took place in 1947 when  English Maurice Wilks, chief designer of the Rover Company, decided that he could build a good vehicle using ex army jeeps.


The first Land Rover was unvield at the Amsterdam Motor show on 30th April in 1948.No photo description available.

Photo above : Government vehicle driving along the rough roads of Sarawak.


Sarawak, being a Colony started to import many Land Rovers for Government usage.

Later the British Army and the Australian army brought many Land Rovers to Sarawak.

Today Range Rovers are very favoured vehicles in Sarawak.


Pandan Leaves

Image result for Pandan cake

When the Pandan Cake became a common item in any bakery in Sibu, most Chinese housewives became interested in growing pandan. Before then, they were a little bit unsure of this local flavouring plant.

It is called Palang Niok in Foochow.

the local Sarawakians have been using the Pandan since time immemorial.

After the arrival of Pandan Cake in Foochow households, Foochow women began to be more aware of the benefits of the pandan leaves. They started using them to make chang (the bamboo leaves had to be bought) whereas Pandan leaves could be obtained free of charge.

Not long after that, our Indonesian born Pastor's wife introduced a sweet drink flavoured by pandan leaves. Mrs. Chiew Ing Seng boiled Pandan leaves and added some red colouring. That was a very economical drink for our MYFers. AT that time I had a very sweet tooth and her special pink drink was just to my liking.

Pandanus amaryllifolius is a tropical plant and is a type of edible screwpine genus. In Malaysia it is known commonly as pandan and used widely in Southeast Asian cooking. It is an erect green plant with fan-shaped sprays of long, narrow, bladelike leaves and woody aerial roots. The plant is sterile, flowers only very rarely, and is propagated by cuttings.

 The leaves are used fresh or wilted, and are commercially available in frozen form in Asian grocery stores in nations where the plant does not grow. They have a nutty, botanical fragrance which enhances the flavor of Indonesian, Filipino, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese and Burmese foods, especially rice dishes and cakes. The leaves are sometimes steeped in coconut milk, which is then added to the dish. They may be tied in a bunch and cooked with the food. They also may be woven into a basket which is used as a pot for cooking rice. Pandan chicken, or gai ob bai toey, is a Thai dish with chicken wrapped in pandan leaves and fried. The leaves are also used as a flavoring for desserts such as pandan cake and sweet beverages.

You can find bottled extract of the pandan in most supermarkets world wide.

Vanity Cases of Yesteryears

I must have been a fairly normal Chinese girl wishing for a Prince Charming and dreaming of a grand wedding with lovely lace gowns and going away carrying a nice red leather vanity case like the stars in the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers movies.

In those days a vanity case in hand added status to a girl coming out of a plane. It also added value to a bride who was given such a case as part of her "peng" or bridal gifts. Thus even before her marriage if a girl owned a vanity case it would have indicated she had money and understood good breeding. One could see vanity cases every where in Sibu in the 60's:in the motor launches and in the hair dressing salons and even in the coffee shops. Several of my aunts owned very good vanity cases to indicate their wealth and awareness of beauty regimes.

Sometimes one could even catch a lady of the night (wink++)riding away in a trishaw with a vanity case in hand. Ha....those were the good days...

But all these years later I continue to wonder about vanity cases. Do all the brides end up happily married ever after? Must all girls own a vanity case? Are they really that important? A friend even told me that "Happiness is a Vanity Case" (re: Peanuts) And would a girl with a vanity case make all that difference to a man?

May be many of my friends did not know that I got married in a rented genuine cotton (Swiss?)lacy gown . My bouquet was top of the crop - White Borneo Orchids from Mrs. Ho Kah Moh. My shoes were handmade (yes at that time we had a simple street cobbler who could hand make tiny shoes for the likes of me with tiny feet at around twenty dollars). He was my Jimmy Choo but he had long passed on. I made my own pill box hat for the veil. I did not have a handbag nor did I wear the compulsory gloves. And I did not have a vanity case!

Vanity cases always remind me of the beauticians of Sibu. There are even more now. Like coffee shops they have sprung up everywhere. But beauticians no longer carry these leather vaniy cases. Looking at all the slimming and beauty centres you would like to think that every woman wants to look good and there is a great demand for services of beautician. One aunt told me once that a cosmetician or beautician would never starve but instead get a good catch. I am also thinking of the Helen of Troy who set sail a thousand Greek ships and caused one of the longest wars known to mankind!!

Recently almost all my teeth (not a full set mind you) dropped out as the saying goes when I found that a relative's wife is collecting vanity cases for her exotic treasures!! And so one afternoon last week I was invited to tea with the group of happy women and have a look at cosmetics and other things which can "attract" men!! hahahahaha.....

But three of her vanity cases in particular brought back lots of memories and nostalgia for this old girl who grew up in the 50's and 60's....and dreaming of Prince Charming to help me make a beautiful home on the banks of the Rajang River....The red one is the one I had envied and wanted to own...I believe a few of my Sibu friends still keep their bridal gift of a vanity case.

Enjoy the photos!


This is an Echolac Vanity Case.



this is a Diplomat Vanity Case.

By golly! It's a Coach!

This must be the "original" Coach Vanity Case.

August 24, 2009

An Unusual Collection of Jars


Fluted Jar for Pi Dan (Century Eggs)

Pi Dan Jars depicting Chinese Legends

A mini dragon jar and an unusal blue pi dan jar.

A friend of mine lives for her children and in her spare time she breeds a large number of dogs and collects Pi Dan and Salted Egg Urns or jars from China.

She told me that she used to drive up to Brunei along the old coastal and sandy road and even to Bintulu just to buy the urns whenever some one gave a tip. Sometimes she made losses because some of the preserved eggs were rotten ! But the worst incident was when the precious urn she bought was stolen and the eggs broken on the road! Her car was broken into just as she went to the washroom.

She said that the thief must have thought that she had a real antique jar in her car which was worth stealing. But then it was just a normal urn made in China which could be easily bought with a load of pi dan!!

Another jar was bought in Brunei when she was expecting her youngest son. The road was bad and it was raining heavily. She was driving alone with two kids at the back who were scared of the waves. She pushed on instead. later she met a friendly couple who stopped to chat with the children and gave her some drinks. What a wonderful incident of friendly travellers who lent a hand to help another soul! Her paleness soon disappeared and she continued to drive on to buy a jar in the shop her friend recommended. Wasn't that a crazy way to collect a pi dan jar she asked.

Now thinking back she has a smile on her face. It was many many years ago and memories fade and she can only look the jars and think of those marvellous days which were full of energy and life!

Strangely I myself never looked at those jars in those days! May be I could have started a collection too. But my priorities thirty years ago were different and again I did not have the space at home for even a small collection.

She often tells me that whenever she is a little tired her jars give her a joy she never expected. She would look at them and dust them a little and think of the good old days.

She has seen me working at my computer and told me that she never grabbed the opportunity to go to school and regretted that she never went to learn a skill either. So she asked me what I would write something about her.

I think this is a very appropriate article to write - about her and her jars.

Soh Mien on First Day of Lunar New Year

 Today 10.2.2024 is the first day of the New Lunar Year of the Dragon. Yes I have cooked the chicken and made the soh mien. Happy New Year!!...