Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-11-12 01:15
My Family in the British Colonial Malaya - 1858 to 1960 (5)
109. I become a tin mine worker - 1959/1960
讀書志在聖賢,---Du2 shu zhi4 zai4 sheng4 xian2,
為官心在君國.---Wei2 guan xin zai4 jun guo2.
The aim of studying is to become a man of sage and virtue,
To become an official is to serve one's country and ruler.
A Chinese Saying
-------------------------------------------------------------
During the Emergency, the policeman in the Pusing Police Station would hit
the rim of a lorry wheel suspended in front of the Police Station on the
hour. If it was 5 o'clock the policeman would hit 5 times. In the evening,
when the residents heard the gong 7 times it meant it was the beginning
of the curfew. The next day morning, when they heard 6 times it meant the
curfew had lifted for the day. However, when they heard the policeman hitting
the rim non-stop for one minute or longer it meant (打亂鐘 hitting the gong
in confusion), telling the people that there was emergency in town and
all the residents should return to their houses or temporarily stay in friends'
houses. This tradition discontinued after all the Hill people were dead,
captured or surrendered. The curfew was lifted for good.
Since there were no Hill People to support in the district the Min Yuen
(民運 Masses Movement) was secretly dissolved. Ironically a few of the members
went to Taiwan to study. Father recalled me back to live in Pusing. While
living in Pusing, I went to school with best friend, Wong Kon Nam (黃官南
), by bus. Sometimes we discussed our school works together because Kon
Nam was also preparing for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examinations.
On the first Monday of December in 1958, Wong Kon Nam and I sat for our
final examinations. All the papers were set from Cambridge University in
England and all the answers were sent back to Cambridge University for marking.
The results would not be published until February the next year in the
Malayan English newspaper, The Straits Times. Within two weeks the examinations
were all over. Kon Nam and I were free from studying for the time being.
As Wong Kon Nam and I had no worry about studying, we played hockey in the
morning and badminton in the afternoon at the badminton court at Yi Zhi
Chinese Primary School (益智華文小學). During weekends we organized fishing
and picnic near one of the mining ponds near Father's tin mine. Since the
restriction of food had been lifted Father set up the kitchen in the mine
for the workers who did not have to go to Pusing for breakfast, lunch and
dinner. I borrowed pots and pans from the cook to cook the fish we caught
from the pond. There were plenty of firewood in the bush. We fried the fish
and cooked fish porridge and boiled red beans soup with sugar and ate with
bread that Kon Nam brought from his father's grocery shop. It had become
a very popular outings and many school boys from Pusing joined us but the
girls were too shy to come. Our friend Chong Chin Kam, who loved to admire
beautiful girls, invited a few girls from Batu Gajah Convent School to the
picnic. The news of the picnic spread like wild fire among the school girls
in Convent School. Since then there were many girls from Batu Gajah joined
the fun on weekends. Sometimes there were not had enough food to share because
there were too many boys and girls turned up. They swam in the pond. Fortunately
none of them were drowned since not all of them knew how to swim. The girls
from Convent School sang songs and danced. They all really had a good time.
The picnic continued until the Overseas Cambridge School Certificate results
came out. Kon Nam did very well and was allowed to continue to study Form
Six. However, I did not do that well just managed to get through but was
not allowed to continue to study Form Six. The picnic was all over.
Father asked me what I should do. I said I wanted to become a surveyor and
Father disagreed with my idea because it was a very tough job as I had to
work in the bush and swampy area. Then I wanted to open a bookshop in Batu
Gajah. Again Father disagreed saying that he would not make much money by
selling books in a small town. Eventually, Father told me to work in the
mine and learn from him how to become a tin miner. I agreed. Thus I became
a tin mine worker because I had to follow the Kepela (工頭 the head of the
worker in a tin mine) to learn how to do various kind of jobs.
I worked as a mine worker in Father's tin mine. Each week, I took Saturday
and Sunday as my days off so that I could see my friends and go swimming,
fishing and picnicking with them. However, I was not interested in becoming
a tin miner. Whenever I was free I would sit quietly under a tree to read
my books. I enjoyed reading so much that the mine workers called him a bookworm.
I did not pay much attention to Father's instructions and he was disappointed.
In August of that year, Chung Guomin (鄭國民), who lived in Kampar and a
distant relative of mine, came to Pusing to visit me. The previous year,
Guomin and I lived together in a flat that belonged to the Public Works
Department (PWD) of Perak State. It was a one large bed room, one lounge,
one kitchen, one bathroom and one toilet flat which was allocated to the
family of a man by the surname of Ye (葉), who had been working for PWD for
a long time. This man was the father of a classmate of Guomin. Since it
was too small for the Ye family it was rented out to Guomin who invited
me to stay with him so that they could study together preparing for their
final examinations in the coming December. I stayed with him for three months,
that was one school term, before I was recalled back by Father to live in
Pusing.
The purpose of Guomin's visit was to ask me if I wanted to go with him to
Australia to study. He stayed in Pusing with me for two days and two nights.
He gave me a lot of information about studying in Australia from the Australian
High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. He encouraged me to go as he had decided
to make application to the Education Department in Australia. I was tempted
to follow him to Australia but I was not sure if Father would support me.
I asked Guomin to talk to Father trying to convince him to support me and
also to tell Father, who was illiterate, the advantages of obtaining a tertiary
education. Actually, Father did not know much about the important of education
as he himself had never been to school. Father told Guomin that he could
not make up his mind and he had to talk it over with his wife, my stepmother.
Guomin went back to Kampar without a definite reply from me.
Several days later, I overheard a conversation between Father and Step-mother
who told Father that he should allow me to go to Australia to study. Step-mother
reminded Father that his first, second and third sons had all dropped out
from schools. Father's eldest son did not want to study and went back to
China and ended up fighting in the Korean War, the second son was a primary
school dropout and the third son was a high school dropout. She told Father
that the only one who had a chance to obtain a tertiary education was me
and after all the monthly expenses for studying in Australia was only about
$200 Malayan dollars. It was not much and the tin mine could support me
in Australia. She also told Father that to let me showed a good example
of going to university so that my younger step-brothers and sisters could
follow my example and going to universities too. After listening to Step-mother
Father realized that it made sense and agreed with what she said. Father
told me that he would support me to study in Australia.
Immediately, I applied to the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur
saying that I wanted to study in Western Australia. The Australian High
Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur replied me by telling me to apply direct to
the Education Department in Perth. Several weeks later, I received a reply
from Perth that the 1960 Academic Year had closed, but the Department would
enroll me for the 1961 Academic Year if I could confirm that I would definitely
wanted to study in Perth. The Perth Education also informed me that June
30th of each year was the closing date for new application. I replied and
made my confirmation to the Perth Education Department that I would definitely
turn up in 1961. Thus I was late by three months as it was in early of September
1959. There was nothing I could do but to work as a mine worker and wait
for 1961 to come.
Note:
Wong Kon Nam graduated as a civil engineer from Malayan University KL. In
later life he designed the Penang Bridge from Butterworth to Penamg Island.
Posted to Overseas Chinese Forum at asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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