Meet-up with Mejar Cina Dato' Wong

 

Under Memories in my 2017 Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, I introduced my family with stories like Where Champions Were Born and The Real Champion, and We are OCBC.

 

Our meet-up with Mejar Cina Dato' David
Wong [Right] and Philip Wong [Centre]

Then in 2018, I continued my family stories in My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People with Our Family Ties where I shared about Grandfather’s side of the family and our link to the Wong Family in Johor through Grandmother’s side of the family, as well as Badminton is in the Blood.

 

While I started working on the manuscript for Book Three in 2019, the global pandemic which reached our shores in early 2020, put us through an unprecedented time of fear and distress, which also put a halt to my work schedule that included plans to meet with the subjects featured in my book.

 

The long periods of lockdowns which started from March 18, 2020, stretched from two weeks to two months and eventually to two years.

 

Dato David Wong and me...

As I stayed home to stay safe, the time was well spent in working on my manuscript and staying in touch with some of my subjects through the marvel of modern technology, video and phone calls.

 

When the economy reopened with travel allowed in 2022, the time was ripe to pick up where I left off in 2019. And I did not hesitate to fix appointments to meet with the subjects featured in Book Three.

 

Under Memories in Book Three of My Johor Stories, I will share more of what are popularly called my grandfather stories like, Growing Up in Grandfather’s House, Badminton Glory Days and another story on our link with the Wong Family in Johor that will feature Mejar Cina, Dato' David Wong Khong Soon.

 

Signing my books for Uncle Dato,
with the Wong family Chok Po
in the foreground

My story on our modern-day Mejar Cina will include a brief historical background of the Mejar Cina in Johor with relevant details of the bond established between the Johor Rulers with the local community and our family link with Mejar Cina, Dato' David Wong.

 

Readers who have read, Our Family Ties in Book Two of My Johor Stories will be familiar with how I discovered our link to the Wong Family in Johor.

 

In September 2020, when His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim revived the title of Mejar Cina in Johor and appointed our Uncle David to the role of Mejar Cina, I documented this in my story, Modern-Day Mejar Cina Wong.

 

Then the Wong Clan Association of Johor Baru was established in October 2020, and Mejar Cina Wong was honoured with the role of Honorary Chairman.

 

While he was decorated with the Darjah Sultan Ibrahim Johor Yang Amat Disanjungi Pangkat Ketiga Setia Mulia Sultan Ibrahim Johor or SIJ award by the Johor Sultan in 2017, Mejar Cina Wong received the DMIJ or Dato’ Mulia Sulatan Ibrahim Johor award in November 2020, which carries the honorific, Dato’.

 

The Chok Po opened to the page which records
the name of Wong Ah Fook as Fook Kei

The Johor Sultanate, in its wisdom and from the advice set down by Sultan Abu Bakar on the stringent conferment of awards, made them rare and the most valuable of honours in the country.

 

Also in November 2020, I read about an event where His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim presented the Wong Clan Association of Johor Baru with RM100,000 as the seed fund to develop a heritage gallery in Johor Baru, a project that augurs well for the preservation of culture and heritage in Johor.

 

This was the topic of our telephone chat in January this year where Uncle Dato shared his views about this heritage gallery. He said that when it happens, it would be a dream-come-true for the Chinese community in Johor.

 

The Chok Po opened to the page with the
record of the Wong family tree

While this project was still at its initial stages, he was confident that it would become a reality, particularly as it was a project approved by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim.

 

On the morning of our appointment to review my manuscript together, we were joined by Uncle’s cousin, Philip Wong Khong Fei.

 

Philip Wong came in, hugging a large book to his chest and when he placed it on the table, I saw that its cover was inscribed with Chinese characters.

 

Its cover looked weathered from handling and understandably so because he explained that it was a Chok Po (in Cantonese), a book which records their Wong family tree.

 

Dato David Wong [Left] with
Philip Wong [Right] at the 
 Wong Clan Association 2020

I told Uncle Dato that I was familiar with his father, Dato Jason Wong Peng Long, because he used to visit our grandmother at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng. They were cousins and they often enjoyed social visits to chit-chat in the Seiyap dialect.

 

My childhood memories are vivid because I clearly remember how he used to address grandmother as, Cheong Hai Tei. [Ah Tei is a respectful title which means ‘older sister’ in Seiyap dialect.]

 

This led to a quick check on how well I could understand the dialect. Uncle Dato teased me with a question and I could reply, but the conclusion was: Very Little.

 

This reminded me of a visit by Uncle Peter, eldest brother of Uncle Dato, where we had dinner together and it was funny how he spoke comfortably in Seiyap but my mum, sister and I could hardly understand, least of all, speak in this dialect.

 

In our chat, I learnt how Uncle Dato and Philip were related as cousins. While Philip’s grandmother was Mak Qui Tong, Uncle Dato’s grandmother was Mak Pek Ngiew, the older of the two sisters, our grandmother’s aunts, who were married to Kwong Yam, their grandfather.

 

Philip Wong at the arch entrance to Spectacles 
Village in Taishan county, Guangdong, China

When Philip looked at the cover design of my Book Two, he saw the photograph of their grandfather featured on the Bottom Righthand corner and said, “Ah Yeh,” Cantonese for ‘grandfather.’

 

Philip, who has a heart for their family heritage, was keen to discover more about the Wong family and sought to visit the province in Guangdong, China, in search of the village where Wong Ah Fook’s family lived.

 

It was on his third visit to China in Oct 2019 that he finally found his way to the village of Wong Ah Fook, Yangjingchun or Spectacles Village, in Taishan County in the province of Guangdong.

 

An information plaque with
photos of Wong Wang Yueng,
Wong Ah Fook's great-
grandfather, and Wong Ah Fook

Philip’s visit coincided with the time when the family, represented by the great-grand nephew of Wong Ah Fook, were performing a traditional ritual of renovating the tomb of Wong Ah Fook’s mother, where her remains were removed and re-buried in her grave and replaced with a new tombstone. 

 

Philip explained that the design of her tombstone looked grand and was marked by a central crown on top to honour her for her service to the government.

 

In his conversation with the great-grand nephew of Wong Ah Fook, Philip learnt that Wong Ah Fook was just a teenager aged 17 when he fled to the region in South Asia, known as Nanyang.

 

When he had established himself as a builder and contractor in Johor, Wong then returned to his village in China.

 

It was then that he adopted Wong Kwong Yam as his son, and brought Kwong Yam with him to Johor. Kwong Yam was the son of Wong’s only brother, Wing Kee, who had died young,

 

The refurbished tomb of Wong Ah Fook's
mother in Spectacles Village, 2019

In Johor, Kwong Yam went to a Malay school and being conversant in the language, he was Wong’s Business Manager who successfully conducted their family business.

 

Known to locals as Towkay Ah Yam, Kwong Yam was married to two of our grandmother’s aunts, the Mak sisters – Mak Qui Tong and Mak Pek Ngiew – the mothers of the Wong brothers, our grandmother’s cousins.

 

Philip then turned the pages of the Chok Po and opened to the pages which listed the name of Wong Ah Fook and his given name, Fook Kei – Cantonese version of Kee – and another page which listed the genealogy of their Wong family in China.

 

The record was written in Chinese characters but Philip had written the English version in pencil next to the Chinese characters for his easy reference.

 

This was a good meet-up with Uncle Dato and Philip, particularly important was the traditional word-of-mouth record from the great-grand nephew of Wong Ah Fook in Spectacles Village, because it was proof that the Wong family in Johor are indeed directly linked to Johor pioneer and builder, Wong Ah Fook.

 

My Johor Stories, Books
One and Two, in hardcover
and softcover versions

It was interesting that just as Wong had a good working relationship with Sultan Abu Bakar in the building of palaces and landmarks in Johor, Mejar Cina Wong also cherishes a close relationship with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, not only in managing the Mados oil palm plantations but also as a trusted friend.

 

As Uncle Dato reviewed the manuscript that I had prepared, we paused at various stages for him to provide me with relevant details to fine-tune the document.

 

He was also able to share with me some illustrations from a souvenir book he received from a temple in Skudai that had preserved a surat sungai that was issued by Temenggong Abu Bakar in 1844 and the print from the official seal of the kangchu or River Master of the Lao chu kang that dates back to 1840.

 

While Mejar Cina Wong anticipates the publication of my story on Johor’s Major China in Book Three, it was my pleasure to autograph and present my books One and Two to him, for his reading pleasure. Happy Reading, Uncle Dato.