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| A framed photograph of Wong Ah Fook has a place of prominence in the Heritage Gallery |
As a carpenter-turned-builder and successful entrepreneur, Wong is credited for building the magnificent Istana Besar or Grand Palace, Istana Zahariah, Balai Zahariah and the Johor Baru Prison.
For 40 years, Wong held the position as president of the
Johor Baru Kwong Siew Wai Kuan, the Cantonese clan association in JB which has
its clan house at Jalan Siu Nam. Built
in 1906, this double-storey shop-house donated by Wong was the traditional
transit point for early immigrants who arrived in JB to get help with work
opportunities and its upstairs was used as JB’s first Chinese school, a
hospital and retirement home for immigrants who did not have families here. At their demise, these elderly immigrants
were given traditional wakes in the funeral parlour on the ground floor of the
next building.
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| Entrance to the Heritage Gallery |
As the immigrants settled down in JB, the clan house changed
its function to a meeting place and association office of the Cantonese clan
here. Over the years, a vast collection
of artifacts was accumulated in the clan house and in 2008, Dr Cheng Chean
Chiang, the current president of the association, initiated the setting up of
the Johor Baru Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery there. With the help of Datin Patricia Lim Pui Huen,
the great-grand-daughter of Wong Ah Fook, they opened the gallery to give visitors
a better insight into the social life of Chinese immigrants and their role in
the development of JB in the 1800s from virtually a jungle into a thriving
township.
Datin Pat, a professional historian, is the author of
several historical books including, Wong
Ah Fook - Immigrant, Builder and Entrepreneur (Times Editions 2002) and Johor – Local History, Local Landscapes
1855 to 1957 (Straits Times Press 2009).
From her research and private collections, valuable information on maps,
photos, posters and priceless artifacts were prepared and put up for
display. In 2010 the gallery was
officially declared open by former Johor Menteri Besar Dato’ Abdul Ghani Othman
and with plans to showcase more exhibits, the adjacent corner unit of
shop-house is currently being renovated to expand the gallery.
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| The entry tickets are interesting souvenirs |
There is a certain charm about visiting a heritage gallery
that is housed inside its former clan house and if the walls could speak, you
can imagine what tales it would tell. The
front hall feels like a traditional ancestral hall as an entire wall is
occupied by a Chinese altar and the air is filled with the fragrance of burning
joss sticks. A portrait of Wong Ah Fook
occupies a place of prominence on the wall and a section of the floor is
preserved with the original floor tiles that were laid down in 1907.
A flight of wooden stairs leads to the upstairs gallery
where you can see twin ancestor portraits of Wong and his wife, Chew Yew,
dressed in ceremonial robes or koon phow
and on another wall, an old map outlines a special land concession granted to
Wong for his services to the State. Datin Pat said she had the help of Hj Ismail
Nyeh Osman to read the Jawi writing and learnt that the plot encompasses an
area between present-day Jalan Sawmill to the start of Jalan Tun Abdul Razak
near the former Komplex Tun Abdul Razak and bordered by the Segget River but
the British later reclaimed the land up to Jalan Station. Traditionally known as Kampung Wong Ah Fook,
this plot has side roads named after Wong’s three oldest sons, Siu Koon, Siu
Nam and Siu Chin and English writer, Florence Caddy (1837 – 1923), even dubbed
it the “Asian Monte Carlo.”
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| A section of the original floor is preserved in the Gallery |
As Chinese immigrants prospered, Kampung Wong Ah Fook became
the centre for leisure and entertainment, with clubs, restaurants, gambling
houses, opium dens and brothels – vices that invariably follow immigrants
wherever they settled – and secret society activities also flourished. At that time, gambling houses and opium dens
were regarded as forms of investment and sources of much needed revenue in a
developing town like JB. Opium smokers depended
on the drug to work as rickshaw pullers or plantation workers to earn their
fortune in JB, a new land traditionally known as, sun san (Cantonese) or sin
sua (Teochew) which means, “new hill” and to send money back to support
their families in the homeland.
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| Ceremonial items traditionally carried by the legendary Eight Immortals are kept inside the showcase |
Among the interesting artifacts are a range of ancient
musical instruments to play traditional Cantonese music, large ceramic bowls or
phoot that were used to serve food to
patients in their hospital, a collection of opium smoking paraphernalia and you
can’t miss a huge urn used as an incense burner, that was donated by Wong Ah
Fook’s opium company in 1891.
In glass
showcases you will see ceremonial items traditionally carried by the legendary
Eight Immortals that were once paraded annually in the JB Chingay procession
and also an ornately decorated traditional costume or kwa that Cantonese ladies used to wear on their wedding or grand
birthday and kept aside to be worn for their burial.
The early Cantonese community in JB, who were
mostly involved in trades like goldsmiths and carpenters, certainly knew how to
enjoy their leisure as seen from the priceless collection of old ticket stubs to
Cathay and Broadway movie theatres and the infamous Tai Thean Kiew Circus.
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| Nostalgia in a collection of traditional calendars, paper bags and trays |
The gallery also records details on Yok Choy School, the first
Chinese school in JB exclusively for the Cantonese community, founded by Wong
Hee Coo and Luo Yu Sheng in 1907 that led to the founding of Foon Yew School in
1913 which was then opened to students from other dialect groups. Wong Ah Fook was appointed as Head of the
School Board with Lim Ah Siang as his deputy while Wong Hee Coo held various
important roles in the Board over 40 years.
The school’s name, Foon Yew, is maintained in the Seiyap dialect in honour of Wong who was a Cantonese of Taishan
origin and this school developed from such humble beginnings into a renowned educational
institution that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.
The Johor Baru Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery, located at No.
24 Jalan Siu Nam
A version of this article was published in The New Straits Times, Streets Johor on 11 February 2014
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