Sibu Tales : Road Construction

Road construction was a small government activity in the 50's and the Colonial government did not see that it was an essential utility.

By the 60's when Malaysia was formed, it was deemed a necessity to have some roads connection the different towns in Sarawak. However road development was again slow.

The Public Works Deparment had a few more engineers who were locals, graduating from overseas and local universities. And perhaps more machinery were acquired to help the development of roads.

Then came the time that the PWD decided to hire daily paid workers who were willing to stay in the remote parts of Sibu. They could not commute from their homes daily. One of the daily paid workers was my uncle from Nang Chong.

He had to suffer living in very poor conditions by the road side,in the huts quickly put together by the PWD.

At weekends he would return to Nang Chong to see his family.

He told us that he had to wash his dust caked hair at our house before going home. He would then leave his work clothes at our house. As he was very considerate because he would first wash them and dry them, ready to be brought back to his work site at 30 mile Oya Road.

When he came back from the village, he would have some fresh vegetables from his wife and a lot of cooling teas.

It was a difficult period of his life. But later, he and his brother in law started to become road construction contractors and they became quite comfortable.

Wedding Invitations

Chinese wedding invitation cards have to be well prepared by learned elders.

They must have certain phrases which would not offend the invitees and the elders.

The typical Chinese wedding invitation is red, placed in a red envelope(slip your angpow into the envelop on the  wedding day), vertical wording, read from right to left. Groom's information presented first before the bride's.

Normally in recent years, the wedding banquet is fashionably combined event for both families. In the past, the bride's family sent out their own invitation card.

The card also includes the Chinese calendar dates for the wedding banquet,names of bride and groom, names of the parents, dinner venue, church wedding venue (if applies) , a Bible Verse (if applies).

The double happiness symbol/Christian love symbol/etc are usually found somewhere on the invitation.

As a guide, it is always easier to ask the restaurants to prepare the wedding cards (complimentary) for one's wedding, with approval from both sets of parents.







Some wedding cards designed by some wedding planners have been disastrous. So be careful.

When it comes to Chinese weddings, some traditions are still best to be kept.

Clay Pot Ginger Duck Soup

In the city of Fuzhou, a famous dish is the clay pot braised ginger duck which is served to many a 

Photo from Google.

distinguished guests at banquets.

This dish can boost the immune system in traditional Chinese medicine. The tasty ginger duck is braised with sesame oil, ginger, rice liquor, dried chili, sugar, veggies, among other ingredients

In the opinion of our elders,ducks have to be cooked with a lot of ginger  and rice to improve its delicate flavour . The Foochows do not use galangal (blue ginger) or lemon grass. Besides when a whole duck is cooked with its head, it indicates authenticity (whole duck means head and butt).

Is it a custom to serve whole ducks at banquets? Or is it a culinary style?

Foochows love to cook ducks whole, that is, without chopping up into pieces because it is said that the flavours and texture would be better. I remember my maternal grandmother was always touched when my mother served her with whole duck soup. She would have a good bowl of soh mien, with the duck soup...and extra servings of red wine.

Thoughts of her and all the nice Foochow duck soups make me wish that grandmothers can live forever.

Family : Fuqing Die Bian

The Fuqing Die Bian is very different from what we know in Sibu. Since coming back from Fuqing I have been wondering if my Grandmother Chong was ever taught to make this by her own mother, Great Grandmother Chong (Mrs. Chong Kim Swee).

My father used to tell us how significant peanuts and soy beans were in his childhood. These two items were the cheapest food available and very often they were made into soups so that the children would fill up their stomachs. Some times the whole evening meal was just soy bean soup. Those were the struggling days of my Grandfather Tiong Kung, my Grandmother Chong Ching Soon and their 9 young children in the 1910's to 1920's. They had 9 children together, born between 1910 and 1926.

The Fuqing die bian has several iconic peanuts on the top and the fillings are very awesome, consisting of



slices of belly pork, garlic, and chives.

The cake is very round and it puffs up well because of the fillings. Fried crispy the soy bean flour is very tasty.

Pingnan - Mandarin Duck Noodles

I was intrgued by the name. It is not noodles with duck soup.

I was brought up in Sibu, far away from Minqing, Fujian, where my ancestors came from. And we do not have mandarin duck noodles in Sibu.
Mandarin Duck Noodles  is produced in Pingnan County. The noodles are made from hawthorn fruits. The fruits are slightly astringent taste, taste delicious, cool detoxification, contains amino acids necessary for a lot of iron, calcium, and the human body, regular consumption of arteriosclerosis, reduce cholesterol, anti-aging and other significant effects. There is a way to process hawthorns to make flour and then this brown noodle. This noodle has kept many Pingnan people alive during the years of famine since the Tang Dynasty.
Hawthorn tea is lovely.

It is also known as Kuzhui Noodles, at the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The dish includes dried and cooked hawthorn which is cut into strips. From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the 1980s, people in Pingnan county survived almost entirely on Kuzhui Noodles, but they now eat it as part of a more varied diet.Kuzhui Noodle, rich in amino acid, iron, zinc and other trace elements, is often prepared with pork – which has transformed it into a more expensive delicacy.

As Kuzhui Noodles is the specialty of the county that is famous for its mandarin ducks, the dish is now referred to as Mandarin Duck Noodles.

Government Quarters

This kind of government quarters (Class 3) is on the way out of our social scenario in Sarawak.

In the olden days, government servants who were not graduates, thus "lowly classified" were given accomodation like this. Rental was a mere 30 dollars, around the late 1960's and early 1970's but that was quite a big some to some families.

I have a lot of good memories visiting friends,during my early teaching days, who stayed in this kind of quarters.

I remember particularly the late Mr. Christopher Ngadan, who served as District Education Officer, in Limbang in1970's. He was a good cook and very friendly.

Usually when he came back from his travelling, he might have a small packet of wild boar or deer, he would send messages to his friends to come and share his food. He was also bringing up 2 nephews at that time. As he did the cooking, we would be helping him with small chores and we made sure that we did the washing up. It was good to offer to arrange the table, wash the pots, sweep the floor and pour the drinks. Most serving men teachers were quite handy in the kitchen but some arrogant ones were just too proud to move a finger.

It was also the done thing, to bring a packet or two of peanuts, or some cakes, or may be even another dish. A few bottles of beer would always be welcome. We must never forget to go empty handed, unless we could not help it.

However we were all gracious enough to enjoy a well cooked dinner, prepared by our Education Officer.

It was so nice to drink the local coffee made in a large pot which helped us have great conversations into the long hot nights.


And sometimes we would go to Brunei for our weekend ice cream. That was the nice thing about living in Limbang in those days and when you earn just a small salary.

One teacher remembers him, a bachelor, giving a talk on family planning in Lawas many years ago.
"Have small families so that you can provide quality life and quality education."

Sibu Tales : Cuttlefish and Pork Leg

If food can talk, it would be full of love in all (Foochow) conversations.

But we Chinese have a saying that we should allow our food to speak on our behalf.

One of the best food that my maternal grandmother would make for the whole family would be cuttle fish boiled with Chow Yi Char or the Smelly Root (Wild Pepper Roots) which was then considered poor man's ginseng.

Dried cuttlefish in the 60's was cheap and plentiful. My grandmother would always have a tin full of it in the kitchen, ever ready for a good soup.

Once every few weeks and especially during the school holidays we would have this soup, with fresh pork leg bought from Sibu. My grandma would leave early in the morning by motor launch for Sibu and then return by the noon motor launch.

By evening the whole kitchen would be filled with the fragrance of the health giving and truly nourishing soup.  The pork leg would be chopped up into small bit sizes pieces and the dried cuttlefish cut into small slices and softened. In those days, grandma would put into two or three cuttlefish just to add more fragrance to the soup. It was my grandmother's way of showing her love for her hard working son, Pang Sing, who would return to work in Sibu was a wharf labourer, in between periods of smoking rubber sheets.

She was always conscious of the fact that she must help her hardworking son replenish his energy.

We could eat the cuttle fish and pork leg soup in two ways, one with rice and the other with soh mien or longevity noodles.

I love the soup with lots of garlic and Foochow red wine.

Somehow I remember the pork leg to be especially big, and the family would make the dish last two or three days with lots of reheating in the huge Chinese kuali on the Foochow Stove.

It should definitely be considered our Foochow way of showing love and family bonding through a soup.

On the other hand, I have a very lovely story about my own paternal grandfather who loved a pork leg every now and then.

Most Foochow household budget would be controlled by the man of the house in Sibu. And sometimes by the very capable wives.

Once my grandfather came to visit us without any notice. We had just moved to the wooden house in Kung Ping Road/Brooke Drive, Sibu.

And he brought a pork leg as a present. My mum was not surprised because grandfather loved good food. He had a good reason to stay with us as he said as he wanted to help my father repair the big Foochow wood stove, which was actually constructed by him.

My mother used an enamel pot to double boil the pork leg with cuttlefish and a bit of Foochow red wine.  The dinner that evening was very special as father and son spent a long time eating and chatting. It was often said that my grandfather and my father loved talking to each other. My mum and we children would be away doing our chores and homework.

After reflecting on my mother's cooking, my grandfather the next day, took the huge kuali to clean in the backyard,scrapping away the soot.That was how I learned about keeping the kuali's bottom free of black soot and how to get the kuali hot quickly. Grandfather also cleaned the chimney very meticulously. He then slowly repaired the small cracks of the stove. By the time he left, our stove was functioning very well and mum was most happy about it.

His parting remark was ," Hung Chuo , try to cook another pork leg and see if it is easier for you..."

Sibu Tales : Mother-in-law's Favourite Dish

When I was teaching in Sibu, many women tend to talk about their mothers-in-law and usually quite negatively.



They usually related how difficult it was to serve food properly without being criticized.

But I was most impressed by one lady who told a special ancient story, about one of her ancestors in China:

"There was once a mother in law who liked keng chai or salted vegetables very much. One day she would ask for geng chai and beef soup and another day she would ask for geng chai fried with belly pork.

And her daughter in law would tell every one how good her cooking was. She would tell people about all the dishes she cooked for her mother in law.

And she even told people how well she managed her difficult mother in law with this tale :The daughter in law got rather tired of her mother in law's whims and fancies.  Every now and then, she would ask her mother in law to leave her  house and eat at the house of another son. It sort of worked for a while.she would send her pot of geng chai and beef soup at about lunch time. Her brother in law was very frugal and he would dilute the soup so that they would have the soup twice in one day.

Do you know? This mother in law would beam and said the soup was excellent!!"

" Now there was another time when this daughter in law sent a pot of belly pork fried with geng chai to her other sister in law's house. She also sent a chicken cooked with special herbs. Her mother in law said the two dishes were very good.And she came home very happy. But after staying a week or so, she started complaining about her cooking. The daughter in law often cried out because she had such bad fortune having such a bad mother in law...."

But several years later, the mother in law and her relatives got together pulled the daughter in law to have a public magistrate hearing . In fact according to the magistrate, this daughter in law never cooked properly and she would just throw in some pork bones to cook soup every day."

Moral of the story : never tell people how well you can cook for your mother in law. One day your mother in law will tell the truth.

Sibu : Old Photo Cock Fighting

Cock fighting is a game for men from all walks of life and from all races in Sarawak.

Here is a group of Chinese men enjoying a cock fight in olden day Sibu. Photo by Hedda Morrison.

Sibu Tales : Chendol, Cincau and Jagung

Years ago in Sibu, we could eat Chendol in the Chicken Market, and some stalls in the old Bus Terminal. No coffee shops served chendol or what we call ABC now.



We had our special Chendol hawkers and for only 15 cents we could have a good thirst quencher. I never knew how chendol came about in Sibu, but chendol is definitely not Foochow in origin.

the old fashion glass used for chendol in Sibu.

Then slowly, new ingredients came into the mixture, first cincau or grass jelly and then corn.

I have always liked the ORIGINAL chendol, which is red bean, chendol and sago pearls. I will not usually order any other ingredients, although having ALL of them would not cost you more.

The other choice is Evaporated milk or Santan (coconut milk).

Oh yes, you can also have another choice, gula apong (nipah sugar) or plain cane sugar syrup.

Perhaps we really learned how to have great taste buds from this local dessert.

Sibu Tales : Long Beans or String Beans

Most Foochow families would grow beans and simple vegetables in their backyard.

My grand aunt, Chang Yuk Ging, whom we called Goo Poh was a very frugal primary school teacher. She lived in the 50th Anniversary Methodist Building on Island Road, within the Methodist Primary School almost the whole of her teaching career, spanning more than 30 years of her life. She lived there even after her retirement until the building had to be demolished.



Behind the building was a small plot of land, which the teachers shared and cultivated some vegetables. I remember Goo Poh loved to grow long beans because they did not take much space and every day she could harvest enough for either lunch or dinner. In order to save more money, she also dried the long beans partially and then had them pickled in red wine lees.

I would always remember how cleverly she cooked long beans in so many different ways . Foochow Curry with Chicken and mixed vegetables, Fried Long beans with Tou Cheong, Fried long beans with some belly pork like in the photos, fried preserved long beans, long bean soup and plain boiled long beans.

As a young student, I really felt that everything cooked by Goo Poh was nice.

Sibu Tales : Bean Sprouts

Most families in Sibu could make bean sprouts but only a few sold their product in the central market in the 60's. Those who sold bean sprouts also sold tofu, tou kwa (touwan) and soy bean milk, and other small vegetables like Chinese parsley, celery and spring onions.

Word got passed around about how a certain rich lady got more cash in the bank than her husband and the story became a legend. Perhaps it was not true, or it might have come from Singapore.

But it was a good story.

It went like this: The businessman had a beautiful wife who claimed that she was smarter than him and to prove it, she had a secret method of beefing up her personal bank account. Now in a small town, almost every one knew who was rich and perhaps some people even knew how much money a person had in the bank! That was rather frightening.

But any way, this towkay neo budgeted her family expenditure well. She would buy bean sprouts every day, and other cheaper vegetables. She then billed her husband with sharks' fins, abalones, birds' nest from time to time. The rice she bought for her family was poorer quality, and of course the bill for rice was three or four times higher.

She did "rig" the accounts so to speak. After all she was a very good accountant.

After about 20 years, with her children receiving a lot of "bonus" from her and her husband's joint account with her, she ended up with a huge sum, unknown to her husband. She indeed had more cash than her husband.

Word went around saying that if your family ate bean sprouts every day, you would end up having a lot of cash.

Family : Fuqing

I was fortunate to be able to join a Church group to do some field work in Fujian in May 2015. The weather was not too good as it was the rainy season but we had a careful driver who was able to manage all the twists and turns in the mountain road. We did not get car sick at all.

The visit to Fuqing was amazing. My father used to tell us just a bit about his mother - how she could read English and how she helped grandfather operate machinery. Though born in Java, her ancestors came from Fuqing, not like Grandfather who was born in Minqing, more upland, in more difficult terrain.




There are actually not many Fuqing migrants in Sibu, as most of them had migrated earlier than Wong Nai Siong and the 1118 Foochows to Sibu in 1901. According to records, some Fuqing (Foochows) had reached Java in 1800!!

My recent trip to Fuqing enabled me to understand my Grandmother's ancestral land, a tiny little bit more.

We stayed the night at a good hotel and visited Shizhu Mountain early in the morning. It was a rainy day again. Shizhu Mountain is located in Honglu County in Fuqing City of Fujian Province. It is one of the 10 major tourist attractions of Fujian Province and has recently been officially listed as an intangible cultural heritage. 

It is named after its bizarre rock formations and beautiful bamboo. While there we spoke with several pilgrims and a few Taoist priests. We were told that the holy mountain welomes more than 500 thousand tourists every year. 

The mountain has 128 scenic spots, including Shizhu Temple and Lion Rock. During the Ming Dynasty traveler and geologist Xu Xia-ke visited Shizhu Mountain. He said, "The Mountain has the most bizarre rocks and is a wonderful place for dream-praying." 

The Dream Praying Hall on the mountain is a major allure for tourists. Many people dream in the hall, in order to get a sign from the gods, and often their dreams come true. The magic power has let the Shizhu Mountain being called the "Chinese Dreamland" 

Shizhu Mountain is a good showcase of tolerance in Fujian as it is home to all three dominant religions in China: Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, although Taoism is the most popular. The Shizhu Temple, first built during the Tang Dynasty, is worshipped widely by Taoists. 

Many famous personalities have been to the Mountain and left their carvings and poems, including the philosopher Zhuxi of the Song Dynasty and Chen Baochen, the teacher of Emperor Puyi in the Qing Dynasty. 

The Shizhu Lake is at the foot of the Mountain. It serves as a reservoir which provides water forFuqing City and is also known as 'Carp Lake', as the island in the middle of the lake is shaped like a fish. 

The Ziyun Tower is built on the Liwei Mountain, which is on the Carp Lake opposite the ShizhuTemple. The tower is a pavilion-like granite building and was constructed during the Ming Dynasty. 

The area of Shizhu Mountain receives support from the large community of Chinese living abroad that originate from Fuqing City. 

Many pilgrims to the Mountain believe it is home to fairies. There is a saying, "No matter how high the mountain is, its name will spread far and wide if there is an enchanting fairy." 

Our team leader was given this book for reference after visiting the Qiao Lian office in Fuqing.

We were so warmly welcome by the government officials.

I wish I can find out more about my paternal grandmother's family and their descendants in China and Java.

Sibu Tales : Smelly Root Soup

Actually the older Sibu Foochows who were China born loved Chow Yi Char /smelly root/wild pepper roots soup which they believed could really replenish their energy.

The roots were not only able  to give good health but to "expel" the tiredness and exhaustion from the body. My grandfather, Tiong Kung Ping, worked very hard at clearing land and building houses in the first decade of settling in Sibu. He was also very good with machinery.

Like his peers in Sibu, he did have pleasure in drinking this soup.  His father, my great grandfather, Tiong King Kee was knowledgeable in the finding of herbs and health roots in the high mountains of Wun Chieh, so as a result the family became very familiar with all the local herbs and medicinal roots. Today in Wun Chieh, my uncles and cousins continue their business of selling dried herbs and vegetables from the mountains.

It was always the practice of elders like my grandfather to remind or advise the younger Foochows like my parents to boil the soup for themselves from time to time.

I also remember that when Foochows got together they would comment on how nice the root soup tasted in China, and how they looked forward to new shipment in the shops like Nguong Choon especially.

I did not like the taste of the soup until I was an adult and appreciated the significance of the soup.

This soup also helps many exhausted mothers to sleep better at night.

Today wild pepper roots can be found in the mountains of Sarawak.

Sibu Tales : Japanese Snails

My grandmother who was born in China around 1898 was a Minqing Ker Tou Buoh woman fromthe Tiong family. She was very independent minded and did a lot of farm work. She obtained some kind of information education when she lived next to a church in China. While the boys went to the one room school, she would listen as she did her chores. She memorized what the teacher said and felt that she could remember better than the boys the following day.

Two years after learning in that way she was taken out of China to live in Sarawak.

As far as she remembered, she said that when she did her gardening in Nang Chong,she never saw these Japanese snails.

Hence they probably came to Sarawak after the Second World War. She thought like everyone else.

She called them Nipuong Loi. or Japanese Snails.