Sheer nostalgia at Mid Valley Southkey Mall

 

If you asked my friend, Wei Leng, who was with me at Mid Valley Southkey Mall that day, she can confirm that it was the sight of chickens – yes, complete with feathers – that drew me closer to look at the decoration set up in the Center Court concourse.

 

The concourse in the Centre Court of The Mall,
Mid Valley Southkey was transformed into a 
charming village scene this festive season

Throughout the Mall, the theme, A Joyous Chinese New Year, was evident from the auspicious Red lanterns and ornate paper kites that resembled plump fish, a shape that symbolizes good fortune, wealth and abundance.

 

As we approached the Center Court, I was about to bypass the elaborate décor and head on to do my grocery shopping but it was a glimpse of the chickens that caused me to detour into the tableau that opened into a humble village scene reminiscent of a bygone era.

 

While most of our city malls were elaborately decorated with Chinese structures like moon-gates, pavilions, gazebos and arched bridges with water features, the décor here was in stark contrast to other décor that screamed Red colours and cherry blossoms, wealth and abundance.

 

Doorposts and lintel are pasted with
auspicious couplets written on
Red paper

The Center Court in Mid Valley Southkey Mall was transformed into a Chinese village courtyard with sections decorated as a sitting room, a kitchen and a bedroom, and an outdoor area that featured free-range ducks, chickens and even a pair of geese.

 

While the space was limited, I was pleased that the Mall took a bold step to showcase a slice of nostalgia to modern generations of shoppers and their families, who probably never had any experience of life in a typical Chinese village such as this.

 

This tableau gave me a flashback to experiences documented in, Travelling with Dad, published in My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, and The Legacy of New Villages, published in My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now.

 

These stories documented my experiences while exploring the nearby villages and kampongs around Masai, long before Johor Port was developed in Pasir Gudang.

 

The kitchen has a woodfire stove;
Spot the ceramic medicine pot!

When my parents were based in Masai for their work with the Government Health Sub-Centre, my siblings and I had the opportunity to experience a laid-back lifestyle in the staff quarters within a compound for the health clinic and quarters.

 

After dad retired, we revisited Masai every now and then. And when a larger health centre was built further up the road on Jalan Sekolah, the health clinic next to our former quarters was demolished.

 

While these modern brick quarters were equipped with piped water and electricity, I remember that many of the homes in the villages and kampongs still drew water from wells.

As I admired the well thought out details that went into the décor of the tableau set up inside the mall, I was pleased that much of the design elements reflected an authentic scenario of a humble family home in a bygone era.

 

While the arrangement was rather cramped – due to the lack of space – I can understand how the design team tried to include as many items into each of the scenes.

 

Another view of the simple kitchen

The heart of every home is the kitchen. Unlike present day stoves where flames leap up at the touch of a button or a turn of a dial, back in those days, stoves were operated by burning firewood where it took a special skill to control the flames to cook food.

 

Early Chinese settlers who arrived in the new land brought along their traditional cooking implements and utensils, one of which would be the clay pot with a long spout used to brew traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

 

The Chinese who were involved in physical work, mainly outdoors in our tropical weather, may often suffer from ailments so their trusted traditional medicine recipes would be brewed and taken regularly to soothe and fortify their bodies.

A handy mortar and pestle to
pound or grind ingredients

While we have electricity powered food processors now, back then every kitchen was equipped with a handy mortar and pestle to pound or grind ingredients. Even in our modern day, many still agree that ingredients prepared using the mortar and pestle, tasted much better.

 

One of the most useful items in the home must be the traditional hot water flask where people can reach out for a quick supply of hot water instead of having to start a woodfire to boil some water.

 

This hot water flask is so portable that it can also be used in the bedroom and the metal cup that topped the flask doubles up as a handy cup to drink from.

 

In the courtyard, fowls ran free in typical free-range style for healthy chickens, ducks and geese. There were also woven baskets ready to ‘trap’ the fowl when necessary.

 

The free-range chickens that
first caught my eye...

Back then, people reared fowl from chicks according to a well calculated calendar so that they would be ready for the slaughter – and dinner table – during the festive seasons. [Yes, people used to slaughter their own chickens!]

 

For the working-class, eating meat was reserved for special occasions like weddings while festivals for the Mid-Autumn and Spring were the most important seasons in the Chinese calendar where celebrations were marked by feasting on festive food.

 

The courtyard was also a communal space for the family while they did chores together or where a table was set up to feast together.

This tableau showcased a useful space where a bicycle was parked and a clothes line was hung across to dry clothes and a quilt.

 

Traditional wooden clogs

On a lower shelf outside, I spotted pairs of wooden clogs.

 

Back in the days before plastic footwear was common, wooden clogs, popular in Southern China where the weather was rainy, was also the footwear of choice to wear in wet conditions here.

 

Known as terompah in Malay, these wooden clogs provided an elevated height to keep feet dry and are non-slip so they were usually used outdoors, in the bathroom and the wet kitchen.

 

Carved from whole logs of lumber, the clogs were designed in male and female versions: clogs with straight sides for men while clogs with curved sides were for women.

 

I had the pleasure to share a bit about Wooden Clogs documented under Glimpses of Old Johor published in My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now.

 

Mosquito net hung over a bed
covered by patchwork sheet;
A hot water flash conveniently
nearby for a hot drink.

Hands up…all who have ever slept inside a mosquito net… Yes, this is what that net hanging over the bed is called because its function was to keep the irritating mosquitoes away while you sleep.

 

If you ever had the experience of the annoying nuisance of mosquitoes, the use of a mosquito net was a very welcome retreat when all you wanted was uninterrupted sleep.

 

Back in those days before window netting, mosquito repellents, closed windows and air-conditioning, the trusty old mosquito net was the solution to a better night’s rest.

 

In that era of hardship, it was common to save any excess fabric so that the ladies may sew them together in a patchwork quilt for use as a bedsheet or blanket.

 

My earliest memory of such patchwork handicrafts was in the blankets sewn by our great-grandmother, Lau Ma. [A Teochew tradition to address her as such.]

 

Framed up photos on display in
the sitting room

In those days, sewing skills was one of the positive traits for young ladies of marriageable age and our great-grandmother, who was skilled in embroidery or sulam (colloquial Malay), enjoyed doing patchwork even in her advanced age.

 

Readers may be familiar with our great-grandmother because she was documented in my story on, Family Ties, published in My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People.

 

Throughout this humble dwelling, the furniture was made of wood, cane and bamboo, with the luxury of a stuffed chair only in the sitting room.

 

Back then, it was trendy to capture photograph mementoes of family and friends and to frame-up for display in the sitting room or family hall.

 

A grandmother's clock and a
kuda calendar on the wall!

The design team did well to select a collection of sepia-toned photos to assemble within large photo frames to hang up for display on the wall.

 

In another section of the hall, two important items in Chinese family homes must be a grandmother’s clock [that needed to be wound regularly!] that will strike on the hour and every half-hour, and a what is fondly called, a kuda calendar.

 

The kuda or horse calendar earned its name from the Race Days illustrated with pictures of horses and it remains a useful, one-glance calendar to check for Public Holidays as well as dates in the Lunar and Muslim calendar.

 

Pasted on the doorposts and lintels, Red paper written with auspicious Chinese couplets are aimed at ushering in auspicious blessing for the family.

 

The courtyard is a communal space

To usher in auspicious blessing for the New Year, traditional Chinese decorate their homes with Chinese characters like Fook (Cantonese for ‘blessings’) written in Black ink on Red squares of paper. 

 

I learnt that some Chinese may deliberately paste these Red squares upside-down on their front doors so that the Chinese phrase will read as, Fook Tow, meaning ‘blessings have arrived!’

 

So I must congratulate the team at Mid Valley Southkey Mall Johor Bahru and Mid Valley Mall Kuala Lumpur, for working together to create such a nostalgic yet meaningful display for this festive season in Johor Bahru.

 

For your experience of Chinese nostalgia in a humble home of yesteryears, head on over to Mid Valley Southkey Mall where this charming village scene will be on display for a limited time, until February 9, 2025, only.

 

Don't miss the clothes line hung across the 
courtyard, outside the bedroom

Also enjoy the range of Chinese New Year attractions arranged in an exciting calendar of events that include Lion Dancing, Drum Shows, Chinese Orchestra and traditional Chinese Dance performances.

 

While in the mall, take time to join workshops available to learn more about Chinese Calligraphy, creating Lacquer Hand Fans and Red Hydrangea Flower Balls.

 

The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey is at No. 1 Persiaran Southkey 1, Southkey, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor. Open daily from 10am to 10pm.

 

Note: My Johor Stories books are available from MPH bookstores nationwide and online from mphonline. In Johor Bahru, my books are available from JARO.