Travelz And Eatz!: My Memoir - by Har Poh Pheng (my late mum) Part 2

Note : After she broke her right wrist in 2018, her handwriting in this book is different, without the usual cursive style. She continued writing in 2019. Mother's story was copied in-verbatim from her notes.

Say Cheese (Sei Kua Tian Pu Tian)

Every second day of Chinese New Year, father would bring all of us to Bee Fong photo shop at corner of Penang Road for our family photo. The photographer would comment Wah! another addition to family. After that we will walk to Leong Nam biscuit shop to exchange greetings and get our 10 cents angpow. Father knows them well cause father gives tuition to the son and sometimes given freshly baked long bread. The son is now a well-known dentist in Penang Rd.

Nearly Drowned Incident

When staying at the attap roof house near the hotel, father would bring us to swim at seaside every Sunday. On this Sunday I stayed home. Only Sis Fong, Choong, cousin Hung went. While swimming suddenly father stepped into a deep end and was struggling holding Sis Fong and Goot in each hand above water. Choong was holding a bottle filled with water for putting fish she caught. Choong was already under water and swallowed some water. She could see an ugly creature nearby. Luckily a shout for help and suddenly they were able to get out of deep end and escaped from drowning. After that, later in the day father went to the same spot and noticed a sudden deep hole in seabed. He took some joss sticks and prayed there thanking God. After that, no more swimming.

Turkey Eggs

At age 7-9 Siew H*** accused You F*** of stealing her turkeys' eggs and selling to the Indian boy neighbour. Some relative gave her the turkey to keep. That girl is clever at making up stories and accuse You Fatt (her target) of stealing her money and turkey eggs. When father hears this he ran into a rampage cause he's very strict (did not want us to steal, gamble and drink) and caned Fatt, forced him to kneel in air well and hang a placard around his neck and no food or drinks for him for a few hours. Because of this incidents, F*** vowed not to marry for life (scared of marrying a girl such as Siew H***). All of us especially Mum want to rescue Fatt but to no vail. Tears, even welled up in my eyes. That girl has caused us much pain because she is pampered by grandma and her mother. Pitying them as she lost her father and husband is no great deal. There's no peace and happiness in our house because of these 2 i*****. Mum lead a very miserable life because of them. She even want to commit suicide asking us to buy sleeping pills for her. She eventually lead a happy life after thee two i***** got their own house and separated from us.

Fruit Season

Two grand uncles had a fruit estate each. So every fruit season (durians and rambutans) we had lots to eat. Those durians attacked by bats were given to us by the sacks. So much so that we can make durian cake with them. And the bats always attach the best durians in the estate. These 2 uncles mortgage their rambutan trees to another person. When the rambutans were plucked for selling those hard to pluck will remain and the uncles will call us to pluck all we can. So we also had sacks of them and those sourish ones we salt them for a few days and we had pinkish sourish and saltish rambutans to eat. We had nutmegs also. Sometimes one of the uncles will give us bamboo shoots too. I will shave and clean this shoots, slice them and boil them in salt water. Then cook them in curry with santan. Taste lovely. If we can pluck some nutmegs, I would shave off the skin and slice them, put salt to soften and press out the juice, then put them in jars and then add sugar. Lovely also.
Firewood

When there is an old rubber tree in the estate, this uncle will tell my father. Then during the school holidays, each of us will cycle to the estate with saws, parang and ropes. My father will saw down the old tree, cut them in short pieces. We'll carry them to our bicycles, load and tie them and bring them home. At home granny and us will saw them and I will chop them into smaller pieces, dry them and use them as firewood. No need to buy.

Being Bullied by SIL

After serving in Kedah for 4 years after training in Seremban from 1966-1967 and being engaged to Tee Yong I asked for transfer and was sent to SK Kem Terendak in Malacca. I stayed in Tee Yong's house then an old zinc roofed house in Kampung Hailam where about 50 Hailam families lived. I travelled in colleague's car every day for 4 years. I was in morning session and Tee Yong in afternoon session at one time. When I reached home, the door of the house was just closed, not locked. Push it open and nobody was in sight just the baby sleeping in sarong cradle. So I had to eat, then feed the baby, cook and bathed. Ah Lan and Ah Meng as well and fed them too. At six o'clock, when Tee Yong arrives home, the SIL would come home from gambling at the other end of the kampung with everything done by me. Cook, bathe and fed the children. Some of the neighbours especially an old woman we call Ah Ma would come and inquire where SIL is. This went for a long time until I bought a house in Klebang Besar. The house costs RM19,000 (expensive at that time) cause no one wants to buy one there just after May 13 1969. Paid RM13,000 and took a bank loan of RM7,000.

When SIL knew about this she was very angry because I'll be moving out and there's no one to look after her kids and has to cook while she continues to gamble. Her husband didn't know about all this cause he's working in Melimau and only comes home on Saturday evening and goes back to Merlimau on Sunday. Alas when I got married on Dec 24 1972 Tee Yong & myself moved out and stayed in our own house. Even Ah Mai & father-in-law prefers to stay with us. When Oui was born on 24 Sept 1973 we went to look for a baby sitter everywhere, even the Convent's orphanage we approached. Ah Mai went to K.L to work as a tailor. Sis-in-law refused to help temporary. And worse to spite us. She looks after Boh Kim's son and later on Ah Mai's son when Ah Mai got Yong Yong. See how I was bullied and treated by this i****.

In 550 (to be corrected as 105) Tanjong Bungah I have two grandmothers staying in the same house. One is my mother's mother who is blind because she was stung by hornets when she was young. When her husband passed away, she has no one to look after her. So my father carried her on a bicycle and she stayed with us until she died. The other grandmother is my father's mother who is very hardworking. She grows vegetables and bananas to earn some pocket money for her. This granny is okay but bias to us. She pampered Siew Heng and her mother. She passed away at the Adventist Hospital after an appendix operation but doctors found she is in an advanced stage of cancer when they operated her. Sis Yong married Lee Kong E** and cousin Sum Kim H*** married Chee Poay L*** in this house. Goldsmith uncle and Ipoh chef uncle cooked the wedding feast held in our house. Sis Fong & Tan Kim S*** also married here but no feast. Reception only at Long Say Building in Burmah Rd. Dinner only at boy's side - only Mom & Dad invited. I myself also married in the house. My wedding dinner (girl's side) at Burmah Road and Tee Yong's wedding dinner in Melaka.

Voluntary Work

At aged six or seven helped Mom to wash all the dishes before dinner. Helped grandma to go and see if (Payang Ship) come ashore so she can buy fresh fish from these ships when come ashore. Once there was an abundant catch of 'terubuk fish' at 10 cents per big fish or can be exchanged with an ice loly. Once also a basket of gelama fish for less than a dollar. We would descale the fish fry and just eat like that. Once father caught a lost of 'Chai Yee' with his fishing net. We would descale, deep fry, fish, put in a glass jar. Prepare tumeric & chlly and vinegar and pickle fish. Very nice. Can be eaten anytime.

Sis Fong and myself would wash the whole family's clothes. Every Saturday, after lunch, use the coal iron - no electricity then put the red hot coal in iron, tear a piece of banana leaf to smoothen the iron before ironing our starched convent uniform, brothers' uniform father's working clothes, mother's clothes. Every Friday after school, we will bring all our school shoes to wash in the river behind our house. After washing, we will use the free chalk at riverside to whiten our shoes. Sometimes we will catch fish or prawns before coming home. Teong Aun will catch catfish with an iron spear cook with groundnuts or black beans. At one time there are so many fish father would boil the fish with sauce, peel the flesh and make 'bak hu' with the fish. Tastes very nice - like pork bak hu.

My Teaching Life

Passed out from Day Training Centre Seremban (1966-1967) started teaching in Alor Star Kedah on January 1968. 1st school was Sek Inggeris Alor Star, next to Sek Iskandar, right behind Sek Sultan Abdul Hamid, the famous school of Kedah. My school is the Teacher's Training College in Kedah. During that time there is enough teachers so this college close down and turned into Sek Inggeris Alor Star where there are 6 classes only and all Standard One. The headmaster is Ariffin b. Ibrahim an old Malay man who loves to eat steamboat. So every end of year dinner is steamboat. Our rival school is Sek Iskandar which is nearby Kedah state has a public annual Std 3 exam and when our school reach Std 3 our result was better than theirs so started the rivalry. And my class has the best and most pupils with the best results so I was in HM's good mood. He calls me Ha Har. I was selected to start Express class where we teach 3 years syllabus in 2 years. In the evenings we play badminton and have competitions with other schools. I was praised for my back hand smashes. My school was the runner-up in the NUT games and I got a tiny trophy. Alas after 4 years I was engaged to Tee Yong and I asked for a transfer to Malacca. I didn't complete teaching the express class until Std 6. Other teacher has to take over. I used to go back to Penang every Thursday and come back to Kedah on Sunday morning just in time for school to start.

After school hours I would walk to the bus station to take bus home, a 1.5 hrs journey. I would admire the scenery and the flat rice fields and the Wan Saman mandmade canal on the way. The bus would stop briefly at Bedong and than to the Sungei Petani bus station to drop or pick-up passengers. Then I would gaze at Auntie Heai's goldsmith shop in Kepala Batas before reaching Butterworth. Then take a ferry to Penang Island. Take a bus to Hin Bus Company to take bus to Tg. Bungah. This went on for four years until I get SRK Kem Terendak in Melaka. Also taught there for 4 years before I applied for a transfer to town school. Every morning travelled in Chong's car or Boon's car, showed our pass before going into the army school. What I enjoyed most is to buy genuine things at NAF, where only wives of the army can buy those goods. After payday, Boon, Tay, me, Mrs. Simpson, Mary Tan would walk from the bank to NAF, to choose our goods, pay the price to Mrs. Indran whose husband is an army office and we got our goods. Jam, soap, even my pram.

After 4 years applied to town school and got TES. Worked under 4 headmasters and also where June O**, T*** and H*** got their primary school education. The headmasters are Mr. Chin Yik Keun, Mr. Nonis, Charles Curier and then En Baharom. Taught there for 10 years, got praises for my Std 5 school exam result. Even got a paid for picnic by the PTA school board for the good result with Cikgu Zabedah. After that got transferred out because teachers cannot teach more than 10 years in one school and I got SK Lereh. Taught there until I retired in 2001. It was in S.K Lereh that I have thyroid and my left leg began to swell and later on my neck swelled and had to remove the other half of my thyroid and the right leg swelled too. I have to take Oroxine 100 mg for the rest of my life. Now 2019 I have difficulty in walking, have to walk with walking stick.

----------

After retirement went to teach in MRS English Class in Melaka Baru for 3 years and then stopped when Chloe was born in 2006 (to be corrected to 2005) came to Shah Alam to take care of her until now - 2019. Took care of Curtis too when he was born in 2008.

--------

The Soul Returns

According to Buddhist beliefs a dead person's soul returns to visit the family on the seventh day after death. This is true in the case of my grandmother. She came back as big moth and stayed on the door curtain for a long time. My mum could hear playing with the kuaci put on the table and big footprints on the floor the next morning. My mum also came back. She was seen sitting on the bed next to my father by Chee (Goot's husband) and also F*** who grabbed her and cried. Tee Yong's father also came back and Tee Yong saw him in his room and also in his own room.

We must also offer some food when we pray. In the case of aunt Loke who undergone a Christian funeral (no food offered) Ah Soo dreamt of her sitting at the table saying there's nothing to eat. So Ah K*** cooked some food and drove all the way to Penang collumbarium to pray to her

- The End -