Papa grows up

Life in the rubber plantation was harsh, but not unbearable. Papa wakes up at 4 A.M. and followed an older worker out to the trees. He learned to tap the rubber trees in shallow V-shaped cuts in the barks, so the rubber (latex) sap can flow out. He would go from tree to tree, until he finishes tapping all the trees that were assigned to him. Then, before the sun comes out, he goes around the trees and collects the sap into a big bucket. When the bucket is full, he brings it to a cart and comes back with an empty bucket to continue collecting the sap. He has to finish collecting his trees before the sun comes out, because the sun's ray will harden the sap, and the juice will stop flowing. That means he will not have collected his quota of sap.

The sap cart is brought to a shed, where the buckets were emptied into a big tank. When the sap is hardened, Papa cuts out chunks of it, and puts in th

rough a wringer, to expel the water in the rubber. At that point, the rubber sheet began to take shape, and when most of the water content has been extracted, it is put under the sun to dry out.

This done, he would pick up the dried sheets, and brings them to the smoke house, where they are smoked and dried further. By sunset, he is done for the day.

After supper, when most workers goe

s to bed, Papa would stay up and ask an older worker to teach him how to read and write. He could write in beautiful, flowing, Chinese calligraphy.

Papa worked as an indentured servant in the plantation for years. He grew up in the plant

ation, and became a handsome young man. He would regularly send money back to China to his father and mother, as is the custom of the day. He tried to save some money, so he can buy himself out of the plan

tation some day, but in reality, that would not have been possible.

As luck would have it, the Japanese invaded Malaya during the Second World War. This must be some time around the early 1940s. When t

he landowners got wind of the Japanese invasion, they all ran back to the homeland - England, leaving the plantations unmanaged. Papa was freed by default, and moved to Penang. There, he was able to get a job as a shipping clerk for a Chinese grocery store called Weng Chan. It wa

s during this time that he befriend a young man, a Mr. Choon.

During the war, the Japanese occupied Malaya, and that included the Penang island. Mr. Choon told Papa he should meet his sister, m

y mother. They set a date, and met at a restaurant. When they met each other, they instantly fell in love with each other, and started dating. Very soon, the decided to get married.

Now my aunt Choon Choy Siew (whom we called Ah Yee - which means auntie in our dialect) was a very good seamstress. We ask everyone to look for some materials, and s

he m

ade the wedding suit and jacket for Papa, and the wedding dress for mot

her. So, even though it is wartime, and even with the shortage of everything, Papa and Mama were able to have

a splendid wedding ceremony. At the time, because of the war, the entire family (my grandmother, her clan including my mother, and Papa) were evacuated to a remote village called Relau, in the middle of the island. In those days, Relau is a very remote area, and very far from the city. Of course, with modern transportations nowadays, it does not seem far at all. Siew Seng lives not too far from Relau now.

The war ended in 1945. My eldest brother Siew L

oon was born that year. Siew Kai was born in 1947, and I was born in 1948. Following the three boys, Papa finally had a girl, Sui Fun, in 1952. Then it was Siew Cheong in 1954, Sui Laun in 1956, and Siew Seng, a late comer in 1962.

In this picture, you can see Papa on a day off with his family. They went to the Espl

anade, near the sea. This is not very far from our house, about seven or eight blocks away. The broad walk along the sea shore is nicely paved in cement. A short dyke gave some protection for falling into the sea. A

long the sea, there was a little food court, and some tables and chairs. There may have been a fountain there as well.

The picture showed Papa sitting in the middle.

To his right was Sui Fun (standing in the back), Mama and Siew Seng sitting next to Papa. To his left was Siew Cheong, and partially hidden was Sui Laun.

Papa remained at the grocery store for many years, until 1960. A year later, he and two other friends (Fat Man Sung, and Ah Snake) opened a restaurant - Tai Tung Restaurant. Dad was at the helm, doing all the finances, and taking reservations, etc. He was very good at using the abacus ( a kind of Chinese manual calculator.) He can talk to a customer and flip on the abacus while talking, calculating the customer's meal cost. It was very impressive to see him do that. Here is a picture of Papa sitting at the restaurant reception counter. The counter has a glass top, and the front side is also glass. Inside the counter is a display of cigarette cartons. You can buy cigarettes by the carton. On top of the counter is an accounting book, and a receipt book. When you come in to order something to go, Papa would write the order on the receipt book, tear off the page, and send it to the kitchen. Sometimes I was the runner for Papa. I would bring the paper to the kitchen, and give it to the chef.

To the right side of the counter is a cash drawer. When he pay the bill, Papa would take the money, and toss it into the drawer, or get change from the drawer. He is not very careful with money, so the bills were just all tossed in willy-nilly into the drawer.

Behind that, against the wall, is a small table with a telephone on top.

So this was Papa's little world.