 |
| The Wong family in front of their house at West Coast Road in post-war Singapore; |
She could relate to my story because she used
to go to the South Johor Wong Association’s annual event for students with
outstanding school reports.
I learnt
that students who performed with excellence continue to receive rewards to encourage
them and felt glad that a new generation of people in Senai are still benefiting
from the Wong association’s contribution to the community.
 |
| Linus Wong Tian Ching [Right] with his wife, Alice |
Then in November 2014, I was pleasantly
surprised to receive an email from David T C Loo, who introduced himself as a
retired pastor with the Malaysian Methodist Church and his wife, Wong Ju Nee,
who was a grand-daughter of Wong Piang Nam.
He said while he was doing some online research on his wife’s clan, he came across my story.
He said while he was doing some online research on his wife’s clan, he came across my story.
He clarified that
the Wong clan refers to Wong Piang Nam as “Ping Nam” and I was particularly pleased
with his comment: “The stories we heard, all jive with what you have written
here.”
Then he told me that his brother-in-law, Linus
Wong Tian Ching, published a book with his recollections about grandfather Wong
Ping Nam and his legacy entitled, A
Hundred Thousand Fishes that was launched on his 80th birthday
in July 2013.
 |
| Linus with family members at the launch of his book on his 80th birthday in July 2013 |
I was thrilled to learn that they have a written record of their family history and I wanted to get my hands on that book. From a quick search in Google, I had to be satisfied with a peek of the book cover and some painted illustrations.
Lee Lin graciously shared a
softcopy of, A Hundred Thousand Fishes,
with me and I had the privilege to read it before meeting her with the author and
his wife, in Singapore.
Grandfather Wong
Born in 1867, Wong Ping Nam, a Hakka
who hails from Her Po village in the Guangdong province of China, was sold as a
migrant worker at age 17 to work as a tin miner at Belitung Island in
Indonesia.
It was a rags-to-riches story
where Wong worked hard to ultimately own his own tin mines and in 1926, he
decided to seek his fortune in another land and moved north to Johor in then
Malaya where he and his followers settled in Senai.
 |
| The theatre [centre] still stands between two rows of shops in Senai town today |
Wong, who used the trade name Wong Tack Maw,
was a wealthy entrepreneur who owned 1,000 hectares of land in Senai that was
cultivated with rubber and pineapple.
He
lived in a sprawling mansion built within the Wong Tack Maw plantation while he
developed Senai into a commercial centre.
The theatre and two rows of shophouses
along the main road may have been the earliest brick buildings constructed in
this small town that developed around a network of roads.
Built in 1934, the theatre bears the
inscriptions “Senai Hall” and “Wong Tack Maw,” the trade name of Wong Ping Nam,
and still stands between two blocks of shophouses, designed with similar washed
granite finishing, along the Senai main road.
In 1937 a replica of his plantation mansion was built at Lorong 1 and Wong,
a benevolent entrepreneur, opened it as a shelter for new immigrants who could
stay until they found their footing to settle in a foreign land.
 |
| Steps to the front entrance of Wong clan house in Senai |
Paralysed from a stroke, Wong passed away in his plantation mansion in
1940, just before the Japanese arrived in Senai, in the Second World War.
The other pioneering Wong of Senai,
Wong Ji Song, an entrepreneur in the transport business, prospered the town by
transporting mainly rubber and pineapple products to Singapore.
After the Second World War, he established
the Johor Jiang Xia Tang Mutual Help Association in 1947 which evolved into the
present day South Johor Wong Association in 1970 and members joined from JB,
Kota Tinggi, Kluang and Pontian.
In
1951, the association proposed to buy Jiang Xia Tang and the sale was formally
completed in 1978. These premises are
now used as an ancestral hall for the Wong clan and a clan house for community
events and celebrations.
Written Legacy
 |
| Front cover of A Hundred Thousand Fishes |
Having
read his book and from my own family’s experiences, I can relate to many of the
scenarios he described in pre-war days, their escape to safety during the
Japanese invasion as well as the challenges in rebuilding their lives in the
post-war period.
As the eldest child,
Linus made a great deal of sacrifices to benefit his extended family and
because their schooling was interrupted during the war, he fought hard to
complete his education so as to have a career and earn a steady income to
support the family.
 |
| Linus [Front Left] and his brother, Ah Sen [Right] with grandmother [seated] and their father Wong Siew Chin [Back row Left], aunts and uncle |
He said Ah Kong
owned some 200 shophouses in Senai and his wealth was so vast that it was
believed that there was an entire room filled with gold ingots.
Linus recalls they had a well-stocked kitchen
to provide for the family and Ah Kong would forbid them to buy any outside food
because they already had plenty of food at home!
When the World War II reached Malaya,
schools were closed in Singapore and they moved back to their bungalow in the
plantation which had turned into a refugee camp for hundreds of people who were
sheltered in temporary long houses.
His
father became a hero of sorts as the plantation not only provided shelter but also
food. They planted acres of sweet
potatoes, tapioca and vegetables in between rows of young rubber trees and meat
was usually wild boar meat shot by his father and his workers.
Later in life, however, his father did not
manage their money well and this resulted in the loss of the wealth amassed by Ah
Kong.
 |
| An illustration in the book which Linus drew to show the younger generation the house they built in Bangka Island |
A senior Japanese officer was ambushed and
killed by guerrillas in another plantation and while the Wongs were safely in
Singapore, they heard news of Japanese retaliation with the massacre of
hundreds of lives in the plantation.
Later the Wongs moved to Tanjung Pinang in Indonesia but as it was still too close to Singapore, they decided to shift to their mother’s birthplace, Bangka Island, where they stayed for three years.
Later the Wongs moved to Tanjung Pinang in Indonesia but as it was still too close to Singapore, they decided to shift to their mother’s birthplace, Bangka Island, where they stayed for three years.
In his book, Linus gives detailed accounts of
their youthful adventures and the dare-devil escapades of their brother, Billy
Wong Kee Lock, better known as Ah Sen, short-form of his nickname, Sam Seng (a colloquial word to describe
gangster like behaviour!)
 |
| A few pages of the draft that was hand-written by Linus |
In 1960 he published
his first series of Science books used for the Primary school syllabus. He often reminisced about Ah Kong’s fortune
in Senai and attributed the collapse of his empire to the Japanese invasion,
and when Lee Lin suggested that he write it out as a record, he agreed.
He started writing using his Royal brand manual typewriter but because suppliers no longer stock that typewriter ribbon, Linus completed his draft by hand writing.
He started writing using his Royal brand manual typewriter but because suppliers no longer stock that typewriter ribbon, Linus completed his draft by hand writing.
The draft was
transcribed by his daughter-in-law, Jillian Martens, edited by Lee Lin, with
illustrations by her daughter, Anya Ow Si Ying.
“This book is written not to regret the
past but instead to recognise the successful life of Ah Kong and to learn the
good aspects of his life. It is also to
record the lives of some of the descendants of Ah Kong during and after the war.
It is my hope that the descendants of Wong
Ping Nam, in reading this book, can enjoy it, learn from it and live as
God-loving people, rich in a life of love for the family and close friends,”
said Linus in the closing paragraph of A
Hundred Thousand Fishes.
 |
| It was my pleasure and privilege to meet with the author, Linus Wong and his wife Alice
A version of this was published in The New Straits Times, Life & Times on 22 March 2015
|
No comments:
Post a Comment