an afternoon in tokyo - from tea water to 仏蘭西 cuisine

On a bicycle in Tokyo, one was able to cover a number of places which the usual foreign tourists would not cover. You get to get a glimpse of how the Tokyoites live as you cycle around the metropolis at your own casual pace.

17May/ Saturday afternoon

Ochanomizu - 御茶ノ水 - Literary means – water for making tea. This photograph is taken from the bridge over the Kanda River next to the Ochanomizu train station.

Leaving Asakusa at around 11:30am, it took less than an hour to reach Ochanomzui Station - お茶の水駅.

The first I heard of Ochanomizu was related to the Ochanomizu University - お茶の水女子大学 . Although there are other universities around the area, I remembered this university well, because, we had a - kompa - a sort of a drinking party - with the female students from this university.

The Ochanomizu University is the leading all girl university in Tokyo and Japan. As we were from the top technological university in Tokyo we were able to arrange for a party with the female college students.

At the party, it was an immersion into another aspect of Japanese culture -

The female students would take the initiative and be the first one to pour beer and sake – Japanese rice wine - for the guys. The party was held close to Valentine’s Day. And on that day it was again the ladies who took the initiatives to send us guys - nice little boxes of chocolates! What a blessing it is - or was - to be a male – in Japan..

The Nikolai Cathedral

Other than being the center for higher leaning, Ochanomizu is also well-known for another landmark, the Nikolai Cathedral - ニコライ堂。

What Tokyoites do a Saturday afternoon – you may ask.

As it was a warm May afternoon - in and around the compound of the cathedral, there were close to 30 odd - obasan – おばさん aunties- and ojisan – おじさん - uncles - sketching and painting.

I was sort of taken by surprise by the number of aunties and uncles – and even - oji-i-san - おじいさんgrandpa – painting this cathedral, engaging in this artistic pursuit. In Singapore, one would perhaps find them playing mahjong.

Why this building, and not another Shinto temple or shrine. Perhaps, it was the exotic charm of old European architecture and the west that that was the draw.

The Nikolai Cathedral was build around the same time as the National Museum of Singapore in the 1880/s and took seven years to complete - from Meiji 17th to 24th year. It is noted as the biggest Byzantine structure in Japan. On Sunday, church service, albeit the Eastern Orthodox tradition, I think – is still conducted. It was designated an Important Cultural Treasure – 重要文化財- by the Ministry of Education in the 1960/s.

Yushima Seido - 湯島聖堂　- Shrine of Confucius（孔子庙）

Looking down the slope from the Ochanomizu Station and wondering what this grey dark colored building in traditional architecture was, I cycled over. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a shrine build in traditional Chinese architecture style and dedicated to Confucius.

I was taken quite aback that the whole shrine complex has a very subdue and grey tone – with - black colored walls & pillars and roof of grey green tiles. Though it’s the first time anywhere, that I had visited a shrine dedicated to honor Confucius, I struck me as strange on why this color scheme for this Confucius temple.

Well, this is another aspect of the Japanese culture shock that I had to ‘acclimatized’ to when I first went to Japan. The Japanese sense of traditional color – is very different from that of the Chinese culture– well that of the Chinese culture in the current scheme of things – that is the recent dynasties from the Sung onwards, perhaps.

A black walled temple – could perhaps be a Taoist Temple in China, but would not have been one dedicated to honor Confucius. For a Confucius shrine would be bestowed the same honorable color of golden tiled roof and crimson wall. This is the color of the palace of the emperor. Well, on the other hand, the palace of the Japanese emperor never would have it in such bold colors as well – of crimson red wall or golden titled roof.

And way back in antiquity – the Chinese emperors of the Chin- 秦朝- and - Han - 汉朝 Dynasties if you notice in period dramas i.e. dramas that are authentically portrayed – were dressed in black gown. For the color of black – in - Yi-Jing - 易经 – the Book of Change – signifies Earth. That is, abode of the Son of Heaven & earthly power. Perhaps the authentic color should be black then.

Taking about Confucianism –

This temple looks quite empty and run-down though it is big. I wonder if this temple perform the annual rites though on the altar is laid out with various paraphernalia to honor Confucius. Perhaps not, for since the Meiji Restoration and with the call to reject things Asian and embrace the European civilization – 脱亞入欧 – and last they would honor would be the Sage. Confucianism was backward and hindrance to progress. Unlike Korea, there don’t seem to be any diehard Confucian scholars in traditional costumes and all - in Japan.

In the early 1990/s in one of the lectures on Confucianism by Professor Du of Harvard, in Singapore that I attended, he lamented that though Confucianism originated in China more than 2500 years ago, the model students are in Japan & Korea. As an ethic Chinese and a Confucian scholar he felt sadden about the whole state of Confucianism in the Chinese world then.

Coming on the heels of the 1970/s and the campaign in China to denounce Lin Biao and Confucius – 批林批孔 – pilin pikong - one could not expect anything more, could one.

Well what a turn of fortune has Confucius underwent again barely 30 years on. Lun Yu – 论语 - the Analects - has been given a new interpretation to 21st century living and a new lease of life by the likes of Prof Yu Dan – 于丹 - a lady lecturer from Beijing – on the popular CCTV lecture series. It reflects another step in heralding the revival of Confucianism, and as mass culture.

Perhaps, with the renaissance of Confucianism, the Japanese may someday start to officially perform the rites to honor Confucius again in the temple. Then would it be rejoining the Asia – i/e the Far East family of nation again – that she left more than a century ago.

Hibiya Park – Matsumotoro – 日比谷公園 - 松本楼

Though I have visited Hibiya park a number of times, I did not know that it had such a historic restaurant in it’s midst, until I read of it in the ST , where on May06, 2008, PM Fukuda of Japan hosted President Hu Jin Tao of China to a dinner at the Matsumoto Ro - 松本楼 - famous for its French cuisine - 仏蘭西料理– furansu ryoori - fine dining.

On this trip I marked it in my itinerary as one of the palace to visit.

One of its most distinguished guests was Dr Sun Yat Sen. 孙中山. The great grandfather of the present owner Umeya Shoya - 梅屋庄屋 - was a close friend and ardent supporter of Dr Sun’s & donated generously to his revolutionary cause. While in Japan, Dr Sun would occasionally drop in to this restaurant. Umeya had organized many a functions at this restaurant to introduce Dr Sun to his Japanese supports.

At the lobby of the restaurant stands an old piano, a 1907 make, by the predecessor of Yamaha Piano. This is only one of 2 set left in Japan. In 1915, while on the run from the failed republic, Dr Sun married Soong Mei Ling - 宋美岭- at the Umeya residence in Tokyo. To while away her time while waiting to return to China, Madame Soong would tinkle at the piano.

Well, on - 仏蘭西 – has the same pronunciation as the katakana form -フランス – Furansu – the Japanese name for France ?

Interestingly, in the menu France cuisine is written in Kanji as – 仏蘭西料理– furansu ryoori - instead of – フランス料理 - furansu ryoori .

Perhaps it’s rooted in history - 仏蘭西 料理 - certainly looks more cultured, refined, romantic and with a character, than - フランス料理. So when you are looking for fine western - French dining in Japan, look out for - 仏蘭西料理- instead.

See, again knowing Kanji or Chinese characters is a great advantage in Japan.

However, though France in abbreviated Kanji is written as - 仏国 – Fukkoku – it is never use together with the term for cooking/cuisine - 料理 – ryoori – meaning cooking/cuisine.

For 仏国料理 –could also to mean - cooking from the land of Buddha!

So much for an appetizing and confusing afternoon…


Postscript –
.
1. 湯島聖堂 – Yushima seido - Shrine of Confucius

The 5th Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, who was very much inclined towards Confucianism, built this shrine & residential college in 1690. The shogun would organize lectures on the Analects -论语 - and promote its learning.

In 1797 the Bakufu administration expanded the residential college & named it after the birthplace of Confucius - 平昌坂学問所. For the next 70 years, up till the Meiji Restoration of 1868, this was the center of education of the Edo period.

In the 4th year of the Meiji Era, in 1871, the Ministry of Education, as well as the National Museum was located here. Subsequently, the Tokyo Normal College (the predecessor of Tsukuba University) and the Tokyo Ladies Normal College －東京女子師範学校　－( the predecessor of the Ochanomizu University were located here too.

The Shrine to Confucius was burnt down 4 times, and each time it was rebuilt. It was destroyed in the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. The present structure of reinforced concrete was built in 1935. However the gate - 入徳門 - located at the bottom of the slope, was the original structure from 1704, and it is dedicated an important cultural treasure)

(Adapted from the synopsis at the entrance to the shrine)

2. Matsumotoro - 松本楼

http://www.matsumotoro.co.jp/

3. 仏蘭西 vs 法蘭西- Furansu

In Chinese – France is written as - 法兰西 ( simplified Chinese) or - 法蘭西 – (traditional script). In short it’s - 法国 – faguo – land of Law (literary).

Knowledgeable Japanese would avoid using仏 and use 法国, instead. For 仏 when pronounced as - butsu – hotoke – means Buddhism. When pronounced as Futsu –it means French. (ref - Wikipedia )

– Japanese blog on France -仏蘭西
http://parisblog.exblog.jp/

4. Ochanomizu University
http://www.ocha.ac.jp/

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on a bicycle in tokyo - 有料 - 無料

Tokyo has an excellent and dense railway network and you get to places. However, by walking you can only cover the major sites in the vicinity of the railway stations.

On the recent trip, with a bicycle I was able to extend my parameters beyond the usual tourist’s sites around the railway stations, and cover many more places in a day- & off the beaten track. At a rental of rate of ¥300 for 3 days I save on train fare. Moreover, cycling is not as tiring as walking – and you can take your own leisure time and yet cover distance. As Tokyo is on relatively flat land, and it does not sap your energy cycling – when the weather is still cool.

With a map to identify the major avenues that crisscrosses the metropolis you use them as makers and revert back into them if you were to get wayward. The major Avenues to take you places are:
- Chuo-dori Avenue - 中央道り- and Showa-dori Avenue - 昭和道り – on the eastern flank of Tokyo traverse in a North-Easterly to South-westerly direction covering the direction of Ueno Akihabara, Kanda, Tokyo Station, Marunouchi, the Palace and Ginza.
- Sotobori-dori Avenue - 外堀道り- and the Ysukuni-dori Avenue -靖国道り.traverse the heart of Tokyo towards the Northern flank and leads from Akihabara - 秋葉原.- the electric city to Shinjuku – 新宿– where you have the skyscrapers and Kabuki-cho – the center for entertainment and nightlife.

The month of May is a fine time to plan for a cycling trip. It’s late spring and early summer, and the day temperature is still relative cool in the mid twenties C – and the outdoor sun is not too strong yet. However there may be days of slight showers and you need to get the weather forecast correct. Or alternatively if you can plan for one in early autumn in September when the summer heat of July and August has dissipated.

All bicycles are registered and there are designated places to park bicycles near the railway stations. Illegal parking is issued with a notice and the bicycle will be confiscated if not cleared with the designated period,.

If you are game to try it – it’s worth the fun discovering Tokyo on the bicycle. You live and ride like the local. If you keep to the pavement and follow the traffic rules it is a safe ride.

Bicycle rental -

Bicycle rental near to Shin-Okachimachi Station　－新御歩行町駅 (on the Tsukuba-Express Line), and in the vicinity of Ueno Station. The rental office is at the basement. From the JR Line Okachimachi station- 御歩行町 - it’s about a 10 minutes walk. The yellow banner reads –レンタルサイクル　あります　– Bicycle rental available .

In the Taito-ku- 台東区 area –centering around Ueno - 上野　and Asakusa　浅草　 there are a number of bicycle rental places. The type of bicycle available for rent is mainly the family type bicycles – with a basket in front, and a tag stating that it is a rental bicycle.

You can check out on the bicycle rental in Taito-ku in the web link below.

Parking service -

There are designated parking lots and depot around the city. This bicycle parking lot is located at the Ueno Station. It offers free auto-locking at the parking bay. To unlock you go to the self-service paying station – key in the bicycle bay number and insert the fee that shows up on the screen. Within the first 2 hours it’s FOC. Within 6 hours it’s ¥100 year.

The parking service is on from 06:30 am to 12 mid-nite. After mid-nite you will have to wait till the next morning to collect your bicycle.

As space is cramp in Tokyo, even bicycle parking has a double stacking rack system. The snap locker at the front of the parking bay automatic locks the bicycle when the front wheel engages it.



Notice board in front of parking depot – in Japanese though, with no English translation. If you are able to read Kanji – 漢字 –Chinese characters it might help you to decipher how to do about parking your bicycle.

For you don’t need to know Japanese to understand Japanese. However, the words - 有料　& 無料 - will take you nowhere if you read them in Chinese as - you liao & wu liao .

In Chinese it would mean:
有料 - you liao – literary meaning to have substance, have information or have ingredient , such as to describe someone with substance; a dish with ingredients, or have gotten information, espcially in an espionage!
無料 - wu liao – is the negative form, such as to describe some with no substance, a plain dish without any ingredient, no info

However in Japanese –
有料 – yuu ryoo - meaning you need to pay for the service with money!
無料 – mu ryoo - anything that is Free-Of-Charge

On the signboard :
２時間まで無料 – nijikan made muryoo - means – within two hours fee parking.



The self-service parking with an automated paying machine – you punch in you parking bay number and the amount that you need to pay comes on. After you pay up, the lock in the parking bay automatically opens up.












Weblink:
http://cycle.city.taito.tokyo.jp/






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wasshoi, wasshoi - downtown tokyo in may

What’s there to see in Tokyo in May, when the Sakura blossom is all gone, you may ask. Plenty –
It was ashort vacation, over the Vesak holiday weekend from 16-19May, an immersion in things Japanese & partake of their traditional festival, the Sanjya Matsuri - 三社祭- of Tokyo.

16 May, Friday:
3:42 pm – took the Keisei Express 京成特急that left Narita Airport for Uneno - 上野. At ¥1000 (S$13.50) it's the most economical mode of transport to downtown Tokyo, other than by walk.

It’s a private railway line and it’s not part of the JR network.(formerly the Japan National Railway network, any way all railway lines are privatized now in Japan.). The train stops long the major stations. As it was early evening and the school has just ended, many of the passengers were students.

4:4pm - 八幡駅　– Yawata Station – a group of five to six middle schools female students in uniform of skirt, high socks and leather shoes disembarked As they departed they wished each other - バイバイ – bai bai – instead of. The old lady - お婆さん- obasan - sitting next to me frowned on hearing this greeting. Sayoonara - さようなら - Japanese goodbye ended with the Showa era - 昭和　－ she must be thinking. This is already into the 20th year of Heisei - 平成 – the reign year of the present Emperor..

As it was just 5pm on arrival at Ueno & still early before changing to the JR Chuo line - 中央線 - for Shinjuku, 新宿I decided to take a stroll in the vicinity of the station.

As I got out of the Keisei Station and headed towards the direction of Shinobu Lake - ,不忍池 - lo and behold – the first sight building in sight was the - オクラ劇場 – Okura Theatre. – Adult Movies – in bold and English. You don’t need to know Japanese to get around here!

Me gosh, would it be the start of a trip of vices again this time around! Well, anyway, it looks kind of familiar, this building here. Did you not remember the old man at the box-office asking to show the student pass for a discounted ticket?

Look at the arrow pointing to the basement, and the 500円- display above the door way. It seems that that is the only price that has not changed over the decades, and with skyrocketing inflation of food and commodities, it has gotten cheaper instead. At ¥500 (S$6.75) per entry it's a steal for a movie, considering a ticket for a first run the movie for adults will easily go from ¥1500 ($$20.25) upwards.

Heading down Chuo-dori – 中央道りーa main thoroughfare – towards the direction of Akihabara I chanced upon this prettily attired maiden sitting by the pedestrian pavement. It’s early evening and she has just started out on her trade.

Well, I was taken by her youthfulness and attracted to the written characters of her trade. She could easily set up her stall in Kereta Ayer – Chinatown, and folks who read Chinese can choose from her list of expertise and the manner they want their fortune to be told by her. Of her list of divination skills - 易占-–うらない - urani - divination - yizan (hanyu pinyin), she could do -

手相 - tesoo –palmistry - shouxiang
人相 – jinsoo – physiognomy - renxiang
九星気学 – kyuusei kigaku – astrology - jiuxin chizue

Look, I told you, you don’t have to know Japanese to understand Japanese – as long as you know Kanji - 漢字 － the Chinese characters.

17May, Saturday :
The main item on this trip is to go for the Sanjya Festival. – 三社祭 – sanjya matsuri. It is next on the cultural calendar after the cherry blossom viewing season – hanami – 花見 in April.

The festival centers around downtown Tokyo – the shitamachi - 下町 – around Asakusa in the 台東区 - Taito district NE of Tokyo. For 3 days consecutive days, from 16-18May, the streets and lanes in this neighborhood resonated with the sound of drums, flute and the chant of - wasshoi, wasshoi - from early dawn to night. Sanjya or Sanja matsuri is considered one of the three great shinto festivals in the cultural calendar of Tokyo

Similar to Taipusam & the parading kavadi with shouts of - vel, vel the parade of mikoshi- –お御輿 - portable shrine - is accompanied by a chorus of – wasshoi, wasshoi - to keep the group in tap and rhyme, and as call of encouragement.

The suspension of the parade of the three main mikoshi/s from the main shrine Sensoji Temple - 浅草寺 – this year did not dampen the festivity of the Sanjya festival 。Groups of men and women in traditional workman garb bore the mikoshi in tight shoulder-to-shoulder formation. They would amble in a dance like unison as they parade along the streets and lanes of old Tokyo – the Edo district－江戸。

The Sanjya festival reflects the Japanese character of teamwork & determination and in Chinese it would put it as – 有重同担，有乐共享 – you zhong tong dan, you le gong xiang – young, old, male, female – each have a fun time together bearing the heavy mikoshi - and togethr enjoying its blessings. Sanjya heralds the beginning of summer in Tokyo.

What is this traditional attire of the participants – you may ask.

Well, though simple as it may look, the festival garb has different layers of clothing article from the traditional fashion. Here they are – from head to toe, inside out -

鉢巻　－はちまき- hachimaki -headband
The headband is from a piece of cloth twined into a rope like band and tie around the fore head. A familia sight would be the fishmongers in the Tsukiju whole sale market - some would similarly tie their cotton towel on their head.

半纏－はんてん　－ hanten – short coat
This is workman’s livery coat. The short coat of the mikoshi bearers must be issued by the participating teams within the district. At the back of each coat is printed a big crest - symbol of the district – which they represents.

木札　－きふだ – kifuda – wooden tag
A wooden tag hung around the neck – written with words as amulet or charm.

鯉口　- こいくち　–だぼしゃつ – koi guchi or tabosyatsu
A sort of a light cotton vest worn inside the hanten and printed with traditional motif

帯　　－おび – obi - belt
The way to tie the belt is over the lower waist below the belly and close to the butt behind. In the same manner, when a male puts on a kimono, the obi should not be tie high up and above the belly button, as it will look unmanly.

褌　　－ふんどうし　－ fundoshi - loincloth
A traditional Japanese underwear made from a strip of white cotton cloth of 6尺 - rokkshaku - one yard – in length. This is solely worn by the male participants.

お腰巻き　－おこしまき – okoshimaki – waist band
The waist band covers the abdomen and discreetly hid part of the butt.

地下足袋　－ちかたび – tabi - socks
Is of cloth, however the new version has rubber soles to cushion the impact from the trodding. The bearer is carrying nearly a half tone mikoshi & has to tread on the road 2-3 hours on end. Instead of tabi, some teams would put on 草履　–　ぞうり - zoori - or straw sandals, as their tradition dictates.

The photograph of the four fellow men getting dressed up for the occation was taken at the Sensoji aka the Asakusa Temple. The male bearers do not wear any pants with the hanten, though the were teams that do. This set of attire is basically the traditional workman's wear - in summer. Baring one's legs, and discreetly exposing one's butt is nothing vulgar or haram about it. On the contary is it is sign of macho-ness. This is Japanese folk culture - alive and kicking in this modern metropolis.

So much for the Sanjya, and Tokyo in May..

Postscript :

1. Fishing net crest –
The symbol of three fishing net – representing the three men who founded the Sensoji Temple when the fished out a statue of the Kanon – Goddess of Mercy – from the nearby river 1370years ago. The Sanjya Matsuri is in commemoration of the founders, as Shinto deities

2. Suspension of the parade of the main mikoshi/s
As reported in the festival leaflet -
例年斉行されている本社神輿の [宮出し]　[各町渡御]　[宮入り]　は中止となります。*町内神輿は各町で渡御されます。

Last year the ST carried a photo article on 27May2007 – on the festival , titled : A Spirited Defiance

- Men riding on a portable shrine during the Sanjya festival in Tokyo on Sunday, in defiance of an agreement between the Asakusa Shrine and shrine-bearers’ groups that prohibits such disrespectful behavior. The festival is in honor of three residential deities at the shrine.

The suspension was because of this misconduct of the mikoshi bearers last year. Underlying the mikoshi parade and festival – it’s also an occasion for the Japanese underworld - the yakuza – to parade their influence,

3. Japanese measurement
1尺　= one shaku = 0.994 foot = 30.3 centimeters
6尺 = 1.99 yards = 1.82 meters

4. haram - against morality, illegal - in Malay language

5. handphone camera

It’s the first trip to Japan without carrying a proper camera pe se. The photographs were taken using the Sony Erricsson K530i handphone camera. Pretty satisfied with the quality of the shots

5. Weblink:
http://www.e-asakusa.jp/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kinkonkid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanja_Matsuri

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the pillar that told the trade - old shop house series

This shop at Purvis Street -

When ever I walk past this landmark shop along Purvis Street selling the Hainanese chinese rice, I would never fail to stop in front of the shop for a few moment, not so much hesitating as to whether to go for the chicken rice, for there are at least three other shops to choose from within this short stretch of road, but to take in the sight of the shop and to admire the charm of the pillars.

Yes, this shop was supposedly to be the originator of the Hainanese chicken rice recipe, and if not the first, it should be one of the top contending pioneers in this food business.

What then is so charming and worth a double take of the pillars – you may ask. Well, for beneath the Chinese characters – it tells of a different time and a different era - when crafting out one’s trade & name on the pillars used to be in vogue. For they reflected a facet of the history of the straits shop houses sinages that is mostly gone.

When was coffee, and the likes of Western tea referred to as – 洋茶 –yang cha - tea from across the ocean. And the offering of ice-cool frozen beer –雪藏啤酒 – lengzang pijiu -
- a sure sell that you would boldly display on your shop sinage. Was that not eons ago! Well, one can still find these terms crafted on the pillars of this coffee shop selling chicken rice – isn’t it a nugget of living history in our midst!

Character pillars - as I would call them here - used to be a ubiquitous sight along the main streets of the city state – especially in areas with a congregation of Chinese shop houses and in the Chinatown area.

Some of these shop houses continue to upkeep and maintain the character pillars – give a uniquely regional flavor and character to the city.

Top - Left: Shop in Temple Street selling kitchen ware – isn’t the pillar uniquely Singapore & with a character- almost! 声发私人有限公司.

Bottom - Right: South Bridge Road –
The shop selling the famous Ipoh rice noodles - 鸡肉沙河粉- chicken meat sar-ho- fun –– with a bold an meaty character.

Old shop houses with their character pillars –

L: Rochor Road 1993.May.03. Monday
三盛 - San Sheng – name of shop
米糖京果 - mi tang jing guo - rice, sugar, dried goods
罐头杂货 - guan tou za huo - can food, sundry

R.Beach Road – 1993.May.03
长和有限公司 - Chang He you xian gong xi - name of shop
专营建筑 – catering in building material
坭园轮船 - sand, ship
捕鱼用品- angling material

Top Left & Right: Beach Road 1993.May.03
丰源 - Feng Yuan - name of shop -
颜料网素 - yanliao wangsu – dye, net and ropes
铁器杂货 - tieqi zahuo – metal hardware

Bottom Left: North Bridge Road 1993.May.03
南昌利 - Nan Cang Li - name of shop – selling roast meat
承接 金猪 -chengjie jinzhu – take in orders for golden pig

Bottom Right : South Bridge Road 1993.May.03
大安发行 - Da An faxing – Da An Distributor
胶皮拉链 - jiaopi la lian - rubber sheet, zip (haberdashery)

These photographs were taken 15 odd years ago in 1993 – along Beach Road, Rochor Road, North and South Bridge Roads. I thought it uniquely Singapore, well almost - and went out snapping photographs of the pillars before they were all gone - inundated by the tide of time and biz. Except for the haberdashery shop near to Elgin Bridge along South Bridge Road, most of the other shops are gone.

The characters are formed from cement and painted over – the most commonly used color being red, back or grey. Some of the shops have the characters embellished with small pieces of mirror to literary give them a shine.

However, they have become a rarity now. Even if the newly renovated shop houses have them, it would be just paint work, and devoid of the boldly formed three dimension characters that exuded a sense of strength and style.

Another town another tale of another pillar -

It was the December 15 years ago in 1993 when I went back to my home town and went to Ipoh wanting to capture some of the character pillars in the town that tin built.

The center of Ipoh that straddles the Kinta River has practically a substantial part of he town from pre-war shop houses. I remember from my younger days growing up in the town, these character pillars as part of the five-foot-way townscape, and had found them endearing and charming – though bold and loud.

However I was surprised then to find these character pillars had been washed over in white! The shop houses no longer kept the bold characters on the pillars prominently painted – as part of the shop signage. The characters were painted over with white emulsion to mask out the words.

Top-left:

Character pillars – painted over with white emulsion paint -
A wine shop in Ipoh New Town - 新情天酒店 -

Photo taken : 26.Dec.1993

Bottom-right:

Ipoh Old town - 协兴茶冰室 - Hiap Heng coffee shop - A vintage coffee shop famous for its steam boat - esp the raw vinegered crab - 咸蟹 - ham hai - in Cantonese .

Photo taken: CNY Feb2005

More than curious on why the shop owners wanted to do that, I asked around and got to hear that the town municipality had imposed a new signage tax – and the character pillars was included in the ruling! With the new tax – the average shop owners would not want to pay for the added fee on advertisement.

Fast forward nearly twenty years hence - With a newState government after the March 8 election tsuami, perhaps the new new city municipality could take a leaf or two from the city state. Time and tide and the biz environment will help do the job of erasing out the characters from the pillars, and it does not take a taxing rule to do that. The character pillars will neither look cool nor will they be a draw for business, if they are not well maintained either.

So much for the pillar and its tale ..

Left:

A landmark character pillar in Ipoh Old Town –永光钟镖 – Wing Kong Watch Maker. This shop should be more than 50 years old and much more. A vintage watch shop that sold branded watches.

The characeter pillar has withstood time, tide and tax!

Photo taken: CNY Feb2005

Postscript;

a) Golden pig – 金猪

烧猪 – shao zhu- will never be the term to use for shops that take order for roast pig, but always –金猪 - jin zhu – meaning golden pig. It is auspicious sounding - jin zhu - and makes good biz sense – by virtue of its golden brown skin when roasted.

Ordering a whole roasted pig is a must in many of the traditional Chinese celebrations and festivals in Singapore. On such event is the traditional Chinese wedding.

On wedding day, the bridegroom & entourage, among other gifts must bring along a golden pig - of an auspicious weight - to the bride’s house . The bride’s family will keep the juiciest portion of the piggy – usually the whole of the mid section together with the pair of front trotters - and return the rest of the head, tail and hind leg to the groom’s family.

Why the pair of front legs- you may ask? Possibly it came from the Cantonese – the ethnic group that speaks the Cantonese dialect - 广东话 – Guangdong hua.

For - 猪手 – g-sow – in Cantonese sounds like - 就手 – jiu-sow ( in Cantonese pronunciation)
Where – g-sow – literary means the pig’s hand – it is taken to mean the pair of front trotters. And - jiu- sow- meaning coming your hands way. Thus it connotes that - whatever one does will be smooth sailing and comes one way.

Combining with the term - 横财- wang choi – i.e the horizontal luck - 横财就手 – wang choi jiu sow – literary means that luck is coming your way readily. However in Mandarin – Standard Chinese – 普通话- Putonghua , - 猪手 is pronunced as - zhu shou – whihc sounds the same as- 住手- zhu shou - meaning- to STOP!

Thus with a new generation of Singaporeans growing up speaking only Mandarin - and no longer their dialect – they will not know how to keep the pair of front trotters during their wedding- & letting loose thier their lady luck!

So much for the tale of the golden pig …

beneath the red banner - in chinatown

Date : 12 April 2008 / Saturday
Time : 8:30pm
Place : Tong Heng Pastry Shop
Location : Junction of South Bridge Road and Ann Siang Road

An early Saturday evening and decided to go downtown for dinner and to find a cozy corner to continue with the novel.

Took bus No 23 from Tampines and at Jalan Besar changed to bus No 147 - which passes by Chinatown – 牛车水。 About 40 minutes later, alighted at Chinatown Point, and cut across the complex to the Hong Lim Food Center －芳林熟食中心- a place where one is still able to find a good variety of reasonably priced delicious hawker food , despite the climbing food prices and the hiking in the price of many of the dishes.

Ordered a plate of plain white boiled chicken, together with a side dish of boiled cai xin - 菜心- for a healthy and balanced diet with some greens. All in with a bowl of soup thrown in, the meal cost $4.00 - with the chicken rice at $3:00 and the plate of vegetable at $1.00. It’s more that what I would normally spend daily for dinner on weekdays – at most at $3:00 or so. Anyway it was a weekend evening and in the downtown area - I thought I should deserve to give myself a treat! I thought a similar in Tokyo downtown - Shitamachi - 下町 - that is an economical meal in places such as Ueno －上野 - or Asakusa - 浅草– would easily have put you back by S$9 to $10.

Singapore is still a relatively ‘cheap city’ – when it comes to food – albeit everyday local food. And with the stronger Singapore dollar that was announced by the government two days ago hopefully it would help to reign in the unreasonable price hike at the food centers.

After dinner, took a stroll down towards Chinatown proper －牛车水 – to the vicinity of Temple, Pagoda, Smith, Sago Streets. And looking for a corner to continue with my reading – I headed for Tong Heng Pastry Shop - 东兴饼家- at South Bridge Road.

Beneath the Red Banner - 正红旗下　

The English edition of this un-finished novel by Lao She－ 老舍 - was translated by Don J Cohn. I bought this book nearly twenty years ago at the Shanghai Book Store -上海书局 - when I first came to Singapore.

Why are you reading this book again? – you may ask.

We’ll, perhaps it was the author - Lao She - and the exhibition of paintings by Xu Beihong -徐悲鸿 - which started at the Singapore Art Museum last week and will run thro July – that instigated me to re-read the novel, after a lapse of nearly two decades!　

Many of the English educated local would be proud to quote Somerset Maugham & point to the visitors where he had stayed - in Raffles Hotel travelling to Singapore. Somerset had one of his novels written on this island & with the colonial outpost as the backdrop. However, I wonder how many of them would have heard and knew of Lao She.

Lao She was in Singapore in the 1920/s while on his way to England to teach - in the School of Oriental Studies. On his way back to China he again dropped in at this port city.

During his six months or so stay here, he taught in one of the Chinese medium schools to earn some keep, and in between wrote a children’s tale entitled - 小坡的故事　－ The Story of Xiao Po. Xiao Po – or Little Po – is a pun on Singapore – 新加坡 – Xin Jia Po – in Chinese pinyin. It’s about the story of a little boy growing up on this tropical island near the equator, with scenes taken from Chinatown.

Perhaps Lao She was sitting in one of these pastries or dim sum tea shop one lazy Saturday evening when he conceived of Xiao Po for his short story. Perhaps there should be makers and plaque to identify the sites.

Beneath the Red banner– is an uncompleted auto-biography of the author during the last days of the Qing Dynasty and the early Republican years when the author was growing up in Beijing. It’s about the everyday life in the Northern Capital - 北京 and the demise of the Manchu family system and their decadent lifestyle, after 200 odd years of ruling China.

Instead of just marveling at the Olympic edifices and 21st century architectural marvel of Beijing, for those of you who wants to have a feel of the daily life in the Old Northern Capital, Lao She’s novels are a must read.

In them he livelily resurrected many of the side lanes - hutong/s －胡同 - & tea houses －cha guan - 茶馆 - that are almost obliterated by the hammer balls. In them he wrote about the vicissitudes of life of the down trodden Beijing - lao bai xing – 老百姓 – the hundred surnames i.e the commoners.

Such literary masters of modern China - Lao She, You Dafu　郁达夫, and master artists such as – Xu Bei Hong - had their sojourn to the South Seas – the Nanyang –南洋－in the turbulent years of the first half of the 20th century China.

Singapore as the hub of the South-Eash Asia was a natural port of call on the way to and from Eurpoe. As an oasis of of relative calm under the British colonial rule, it was an attraction to the travellers, as well as the migrants escaping the war and turmoil in the mainland.

Fast forward to the 21st Century – a new wave of migrants coming from China, as well as India – to work and study in Singapore in a globalised world. Who then will be the Lao She/s Bei Hong/s in their midst? With Beijing & Shanghai booming and in relative peace after a nearly 150 years of turbulence, the tide is turning. Will the backwaters of Nanyang still be an attraction to these talents?


Post script:

1. Tong Heng Pastry Shop

东兴饼家 - Dong Xing bing jia

桥南路 – 安祥路 交叉路口旁老店铺 -

I’ll always have a craving for pastries and never fail to stop by at this shop where ever I pass by to have a piece or two of the traditional Chinese style cakes– made Cantonese style.

It’s one of the - lao zhi hao - 老字号 - old establishment - in Chinatown. As part of the traditional Chinese wedding practice of sending boxes of biscuits to the bride’s family a fortnight or so before the wedding day – as part of the dowry and also as an announcement of the impending marriage of the new couple - many a family would order their biscuits from this shop.

The egg tart, on of my favourites - latest listed price is $1.30 per piece, which used to be $0.90, not so long ago- maybe a year of more or so ago. An increase of 44%!

Well, anyway at less than Y100 - Japanese yen, it’s a steal. It would easily be priced above $5.00 a piece - in Tokyo/Ueno and in a shop of similar stature and pedigree. OOPS – I’m in Sgp and earning S$ and not in Japan with JY!

2) Beneath the Red Banner -

正红旗下 - Zheng hong q ixia
老舍 - Lao She
熊猫丛书 – Xiongmao congshu - Panda Books
中国文学　－杂志出版社 - Zhongguo wenxue zhazi chubanshe
１９８２年第一版

Published by – Chinese Literature
Distributed by – China Publication

“Beneath the Red Banner by Lao She, one of modern China’s best loved writers is an autobiographical novel published after his death. The author of Camel Xiangzi (Rickshaw Boy) and the drama Teahouse – Lao She died in 1966, leaving Beneath the Red Banner unfinished. It is an account of life in Beijing at the turn of the century and is told with great wit and warmth, candor and sympathy”.

Preface – from the Panda Books – 1982 edition :

Quote:

Lao She, whose real nam was Shu Qingchu, was a Manchu born in Beijing in 1899. He last his father early, but in spite of his family’s poverty managed to graduge from a normal college in 1917, after which he taught for some years and started writing.

In 1924 he went to England to teach in the School of Oriental Studies. There he worte several novels. On his return to China, he taught in universities, and among his many writings was his masterpiece Camel Xiangzi, a novel about the tragedy of a rickshaw puller in the cruel old society. After the outbreak of the anti-Japanese war, Lao She went to Chongqing and organized writers and artists to support the resistance. Then, in 1946, he went to America to lecture and write.

On his return to China in 1949 he became vice-chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Chinese Writers’ Association, serving besides in many posts. He wrote twenty three plays and many songs and ballads in praise of New China. His Teahouse is the first Chinese play to have been staged and acclaimed abroad. A prolific, versatile and realist writer, Lao She made an immense contribution to China’s new literature. Unfortunately, in 1966, he was hounded to death by the ‘gang of four’ .
Unquote.

Lao She – the She pronounced as in as Sher – in Sherwood – but with a short trucked sound. It’s written in pinyin – 拼音 – Chinese pronunciation.

One of the earlier books published in English by China after the end of the Cultural Revolution and heeding Deng Xiaopeng’s call - for Reform and Opening up to the outside world – 改革开放 – 30 years ago in 1978.

Website on Lao She Memorial Hall in Beijing – in Chinese though
http://www.bjlsjng.com/


3) Singapore Art Museum - SAM

http://www.nhb.gov.sg/SAM/Home/



4) Sign of the time -- the inflationary menu price

I wonder if the price hike at food centers is altered with any sound arithmetic computation, or is it due to sheer group pressure. The price change could go up - for a dish of $2.00 to $2.20 to $2.50 with a stroke of a tape, - an increase of 10% to 25% overnight – which is more that the jump in oil price.

The S$ to USD exchange rate is at a historic high of close to S$1.36 to USD$1.00. It’s to help ease the inflation. They said that it’s cheap to travel to the US now, but what mood to travel with food and living cost rising by the day.



---------------

from abode to roots – the hakka dwelling– 围龙屋 – weilong wu

Perhaps most of us would have seen or read the circular earth dwelling of the Hakka People (客家圆楼) in Yongding County - 永定县 - Fujian Province – 福建省 - China.

It has became a legend of sort that during the cold war in the 1970/s , the US reconnaissance satellite found these huge circular complexes in the mountainous region of south-eastern China & mistook them as a new type of missiles launch pad by the Chinese army. As Fujian Province is located directly opposite Taiwan across the sea, all the more it was a thing to belief in.

Last Sunday afternoon 15Mar, from 2 to 5pm, the Singapore Ying Fo Hakka Association - 应和会馆- located at the junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cross Street - organized a talk on another different type of Hakka earth dwelling – 客家土楼 – known as - Wei Long Wu - 围龙屋 .

In recent years much information on the Hakka earth dwelling -客家土楼 - has been loaded onto the web, and in particular the circular earth dwellings of the Hakka’s from the Yongding County.

According to the author of the book – Kejia tulou jumin - 客家土楼民居 – above photograph - the Hakka earth dwelling is differentiated by a complex of buildings build with earth material packed together as the only supporting structure and linked with a common corridor or passage way. Other builds that where structurally of wood and the wall partition is patched of earth is not considered into this category of Hakka earth building.

The talk last Sunday was focused on dwellings of the Hakka in the Meizhou - 梅州- County in particular, and their earth made dwellings are known as - 围龙屋- Wei Long Wu – or literary translated as Dragon encompassed dwelling – a sort of a semi-circular complex of linked rooms build against a slope.

Unlike the circular earth dwelling of the Hakka living in Yongding County - 永定县- the speaker hypothesized that the Wei Long Wu - 围龙屋 - might not be build with the same intent on heavy defense, as it was not fortified in the same manner. The whole complex of the - Wei Long Wu - 围龙屋- is fairly open with multiple free gateways and passage ways thro the building.

Its primary purpose was to facilitate communal living and with a heavy dose of fung sui – 风水－ the geomancy of wind and water - the relation between environment and man - influencing its planning. The building complex has a semi-circular elevated sloping gound in the inner part of the building behind the main hall – an open air enclosure known as - huatai – 化胎. This structure is supposedly to represent the female womb and genders fertility to the occupants in begetting plenty of children.

What is so unique about the Wei Long Wu - 围龙屋- is that the dwelling of the living and the grave of the ancestors are design on the same formation and plan. It would be akin to the Egyptian Pharaohs building their palaces in the same architectural concept and style as their pyramid. However, it is the dwelling of the living that came about first that influences the style of the graves.

The visit to the ancestral village – Songkou - 松口 镇 － Meixian County -梅县

Well, that was 10 years ago in the throe of the Asian financial storm in the December of 1997. It was also the year of the bird flu scare in Hong Kong and south China.

The ancestral home in Songkou is build on a - Wei Long Wu- architectural concept - albeit on a much modest scale. Another unique feature of the - Wei Long Wu – which is a must have – is a semi circular pond in front of the house. It serves as a source for rearing fishes, water to put off fire and of providing a cooling effect to the environment.
Well , water brings good luck and fortune too, and the pond serves in the similar fung sui function as the - aquarium or the little water fountain that one often sees in modern offices and homes in the city.


So much for the facts and fallacies of the architectural style of the ancestors – the Hakkas, like other immigrants have brought along their cultural habits and heritage to the distant lands in the South Seas - the Nanyang – 南洋. The Wei Long Wu -围龙屋- architectural planning and concept can be found in the Hakka ancestral shrine on the island.


Postscript:

1) This is the first of a series of a Sunday afternoon talk to start the first session of the ‘Hakka Cultural Season - 客家文化季 – organized by Ying Fo Hui Kun - 应和会馆– junction of Telok Ayer Street & Cross Street – from March to May 2008.

Title of talk - 走进客家 – 以梅州围龙屋为重点分析 – A venture into Hakka – a focal view thro the analysis of the Meizhou Wei Long Wu -earth dwelling .

The speaker was a lecturer from the Jiaying University - 嘉应学院 ， Dr Fang Xuejia - 房学嘉教授.

2) Ying Fo Hui Kun ––应和会馆 – a Hakka clan association is one of the earliest clan associations established in Singapore, and will be celebrating the 186th year of its foundation in June 2008

That would make it in 1822, barely three years after Raffles landed in Singapore when the Hakka immigrants from the Jiaying district - 嘉应州－organized themselves as a self help group. 　

3) The names & places in Chinese characters are mainly rendered in pinyin, instead of in the Hakka pronunciation

Reference:
1) Kejia tulou jumin - 客家土楼民居　－客家文化丛书
黄汉民 – １９８２年获清华大学建筑 学硕士学位- 福建教育出版社, 1995年.10月

On of a series of books on Hakka Culture - Kejia tulou jumin – Hakka Earth Houses
Publisher: Fujian Jiaoyu chubanshe, 1995 Oct
Author: Huang Hanmin, obtained his Masters in Architecture in from Qinghua University in 1982
Purchased on: 1996.Nov.16, @ Hua Dong book exhibition, Chinese Chamber of Commerce; 中华总商会, 华东书展 ; $4.75

2) Links
Ying Fo Hui Kun – 应和会馆 - http://www.yingfofuikun.org.sg/
Jiaying University - 嘉应学院 - http://www.jyu.edu.cn/



-//

老照片 - the story behind the old photographs

老照片–Lao Zhao Pian - is the title of a series of books published by Shantung PublicaLtion – 山东画报出版社 . It has been 10 years past since it first went to print in 1997. I bought my first copy in June 1998 老照片 - 第二辑, and at S$3.25 (RMB6.50), which was relatively cheap for a book of 130 odd pages and a good read.

The theme of the book is the story behind the old photographs, mainly contributed by the- 老百姓 -laobaixing - the common folks. Variously it has been described as recording the 野史 – yeshi - literary the history of the wilderness. Compared to the 正史 – zheng shi - which is the official history, 野史 – yeshi – is the unofficial history of the era. It is a record of personal history – the personal history with the family as the backdrop – and against the great historical events that unfolded in China then.

The bulk of the stories are from that era of China from the founding of New China in 1949 until the later half of 1970’s with– 改革开放- gaige kaifang – Deng’s reform and opening up to the outside world.

Many of the stories that happened during the period from 1966 to 1976 were comtemporous with Jung Chang’s - Wild Swan, or Nien Cheng’s – Life & Death in Shanghai. It is said that during the ten year period of the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution – 无产阶级文化大革命 – the Chinese shut their doors tight and crazily beat each other up - 关起门来自己打自己 – guanqi men lai zijida ziji .
The book gave a good glimpse of life behind the Bamboo Curtain then. With Communist China backing the insurgents in this part of the world, there was limited contact with China then.

Many of the family links from the pre-Communist China had been cut off, and communication with the villages or relative back there was reduced to the occasional letters from China.

舅舅那一代的故事 - tale from uncle’s generation

The old photographs that I grew up with of China were those of my two uncles from the maternal side. They were born in Ipoh, and studied in the local Yuk Choy Chinese school until they ‘return’ to China in the 1950/s in their youthful years.

This picture was taken in Beijing in 1955, and posted to eldest aunt - mum's sister - , most probably when they had a reunion in the capital.

 The younger of the two uncle’s – 二舅- Erjiu – 2nd uncle returned to China in 1954, while the elder uncle – 大舅- Dajiu - returned to China three years or so earlier soon after the founding of New China – 新中国。

It was two years before I was born when the photo was taken. With the stories from mum of her brothers, the picture had been a part of my childhood memory.  It had sub-consciously or otherwise shape my curiosity and  fondness for China then.

During dinner time, mum would relate the stories of her brothers.  She told us that 2nd uncle, did not tell anyone that he was going back to China, until the very last day he was to leave. His trip was sponsored by his schoolmates.

And mum would also tell of Dad’s youngest brother who left for China around that time. He said that Dad escorted uncle till Singapore. While on the last leg, Dad tried again to persuade him to stay and to follow him back to Ipoh, and not to go on the journey. However, he went.

What I had heard of was that, it was a period of conscription to join national service in the late 1940/s or early 1950/s and many of the youths who did not want to serve in the colonial army, decided to pack their bags to go to China.

Perhaps it was not so much a return to the land of their birth, for they were the 2nd or 3rd generation overseas Chinese, and were born in the South Seas – 南洋 - Nanyang。

For those who were educated in the Chinese medium schools, the cultural & ideological factors was an important elements that shaped their decisions, as it coincided then with the call from the New China to the overseas Chinese to help build a strong and prosperous ‘motherland’.

It was time for the -  Romance of  the New China . It must have been a great draw for the youth then to return to China then, for even with much persuasion they refused to stay behind but to pursue their dreams in helping to build a New China.

And this dream would only be realized after 30 odd years or so later, after going thro many trials and tribulations, and they in their old age.

However, not long after they arrived, the New China would be embroiled in countless political campaigns, starting with the Great Leap Forward – 大跃进, the Anti-Rightist movement -反右派运动, and the Cultural Revolution. And the series of Lao Zhao Pian, 老照片- would provide the reader with glimpses of life in China first hand from those periods.

Postscript:

1. The most current edition June 2007 - found in the local bookstore – 长河书局 – Changhe Bookstore 桥南路 – South Bridge Road - - is priced at S$4.00 (RMB10.00). . However with the new of the price of paper and newsprint skyrocketing, books from China will no longer be as cheap, and of relatively good quality print. Over the past 15 years the profusion of books, and the quality of improvement of its publication has been awesome an astounding.

2. Dajiu graduated from 政法大学,北京 - Zhengfa Daxue, Beijing, while Erjiu went to study geology at Wuhan University. We met up with Erjiu on a trip to Beijing in 1995. Dajiu is residing in Hainan Island with his family.

While on a visit to Singapore a few years back, Erjiu remembered while stopping by in Singapore en-route to China in 1954, he went for a movie at the Odeon cinema.

3. An early photograph taken most probably during the pre war years in Ipoh, in the late 1930/s or 1940. Erjiu was born in 1936, and he was probably 12 or 13 years old then.

ed 20120717

-/--

吉宁街是哪一条街? Was it Cross Street or Chulia Street?

This small envelope measures no more than 3 ½” X 2½” and is brown with age. It was an envelope for keeping negative and photograph. By the reckoning of the date written at the back of the photograph inside it, it’s 68 years old.

Other than it was an old envelope, what drew my attention to it was the address and words on it – it tells a story of another age and another time.

I was also drawn to the address of the photography shop printed on the envelope, and prompted me do so some searching and investigative work - in the library and at the street corners!

The shop’s English name was written as: Fee Fee Photographic Store. It stated that it was an: Agency for all kinds of Camera for Profession and Amateurs. Photographic goods and chemicals can be obtained from us at very moderate prices Our enlarging, developing and printing works are under the supervision of the experts. And with: Satisfaction Guaranteed.

However, it did not give its address, which instead was written in the Chinese print.

非非摄影社 (Fei Fei Yingshe – Fei Fei Photographic Studio )
星洲大坡吉宁街一百六十号 (Xingzhou Dapo Ji Ning Jie 160 hao)

The interesting part of the address is - 吉宁街 – Ji Ling Jie (Pinyin) , and where about is this street. Could this be the former Kling Street, I wonder. For Ji Ning Jie is pronounced as Kiat Leng Koi (Hokkien) or Gut Ling Gai ( Cantonese) , which is the dialect terms for Kling.

Not being native born, and when I moved here, many of the old streets were already gone, I did not have an inkling where this street was or is. I knew that Chulia Street was once called Kling Street. Could this shop be then located in Chualia Street, I wonder.

This reproduction of a 1862 map of the town map of Singapore clearly showed that stretch of Chulia Street named as Kling Street. When the word Kling came to take on a derogatory reference to the Southern Indians convicts, it was renamed Chulia, which is the North Indian term for Kalinga. In another map dated 1929, Kling Street had been changed to Chualia Street.

However, while on a Sunday walk I came across this plate - put up by the National Heritage Board and the Singapore Tourism Bureau - at the junction of South Bridge Road and Cross Street which states that - Cross Street was once known as Kiat Leng Kia Kio (Hokkien ) - Gut Ling Zai Gai (Cantonese) - 吉宁仔街 - after the ethnic Indian that used to be concentrated here in the 1800/s.

Though Kiat Leng Kia Koi was left out in the Chinese translation on the plate, the Japanese translation had the word -吉宁仔街- written in Chinese characters. The word - 仔 – kia (Hokkien) or zai (Cantonese variously means - boy, kid or youngster.

Could this Kiat Leng Kia Koi – 吉宁仔街- be the same – 吉宁街- Kiat Leng Koi - where Fei Fei Photographic Store was once located, i.e. at No.160, Cross Street.

.And probably - 吉宁街 – Kiat Leng Koi - was the written Chinese term for the more colloquial sounding 吉宁仔街 – Kiat Leng Kia Koi.

Or is it that - 吉宁仔街 - Kiat Leng Kia Koi - was Cross Street, while 吉宁街 – Kiat Leng Koi - was Chulia Street?


Postscript:

1. My take would be the photographic store would be located closer to this part of the town nearer to Amoy Street and South Bridge Road, as the print on the envelope indicated that it catered more to a Chinese clientele.

2. What price to develop, print and enlarge a photograph in pre-war Singapore?

Size Developing Printing

3 ¼” X 2 ¼” $0.20 Cents per roll $0.04 each
4½”X 2½ ” $0.25 Cents per roll $0.06 each
5½” X3¼” $0.40 Cents per roll $0.10 each

Enlargements

5½”X3¼” $0.15 cents each
6½”X4 ¾” $0.30 cents each
8½”X6½” $0.70 cents each
10”X12” $1.30 cents each

3. This envelope had been kept in the drawer as long as I could remember and had the photograph of dad taken in Singapore when he was on the 1940 high school excursion to- Xingzhou – 星州.

Reference:
a) Singapore - A guide to Buildings, Streets, Places by Norman Edwards and Peter Keys, Times Book International, 1988.

b) The maps are found in the National Library, hung on the walls in the private collection section.

-/

the graduating class of 1940 – an excursion to Singapore

Old photographs:

In the June of 1940, a group of students from Ipoh Yuk Choy Secondary School - 育才中学 -l went on a excursion to Singapore. This was the graduating class of the 1940 cohort. The students were 16 years old, going by how old dad was then. He was among the 27 students and their form master. Of the 20 odd pictures that were from the vacation many of them were faded and worn. Nevertheless the few photographs that were salvaged from the ‘archeological dig’ thro the old album were in relative viewable condition and with much of the subject preserved.

The photographs appearing here were re-taken using a digital camera. They could have been better captured if it were digitally scan.

These old photographs gave an interesting glimpse of the place and the time then – they have a story waiting to be told - of a group of youths from Ipoh on vacation to Singapore - 67 years ago.

Backdrop – 1940:

This graduating class would probably have been the last of the pre World War II batch of student taking a school excursion from Ipoh to Singapore.

The war had broken out in Europe in the September 1939 less than a year ago. Over at the east, the Sino-Japanese War had seen many ferocious battles being fought since 1937. However, judging from these pictures the sign of an impending war that would come to the shores of Malaya and Singapore was nowhere visible.

Many of their parents would have left China in their younger days in the early 1900/s in search of a better living in Nanyang -南洋- the South Seas, and they had traveled to British Malaya and via Singapore and subsequently settled in Ipoh – a relatively new up-country town compared to the port cities of the Straits Settlements such as Singapore and Penang.

The 1930/s in which these youths grew up was a period of relatively economic prosperity for Ipoh. The tin canning industry had brought a new found economic boom to town. Located in the center of the Kinta valley, Ipoh was the administrative and business center serving the outlying tin mining districts. The parents of these youths would be involved directly or in-directly with the tin mining industry. They would be the sons of the tin miners or those engaged in the supporting industries, such as providing logs and timbers to the open cast mines, and Ipoh was the town that tin built.

To these youths other than Penang in the north, Singapore would be the other big city that they would long to visit. From Ipoh it would have been a journey of 12 hours odd by the FMS railway.

The planter’s hat :

Interestingly one could see that many of the students were carrying a planter’s hat. The broad brim hat would provide a welcome shade to the tropical sun. It seems that the hat was part of the fashion statement then. It was probably made popular by the colonial masters who together with their khaki uniform would be the standard attire in this part of the empire in the first half of the 20th century. Even the form master in his smart white suit and tie was carrying one.

From the photograph one could see that over their white short sleeve shirt, the students wore the Sun Yat Sen jacket – 中山装 - as their uniform. The attire was made popular by Sun Yat Sen -the revolutionary leader who overthrew the Imperial Qing and established the Republic of China in 1911.

Impending war:

What were uppermost in the minds of these youths then? Being a student from the Chinese medium school, upon graduation many would ended up to help with their family’s business, or be employed in the Chinese run biz , or perhaps even venture into their own tin mining biz. Maybe a few of them would have thought of furthering their studies to China, had it had not been for the war there.

However, in less that a year and a half after their vacation, the war came suddenly upon them. Many of their dreams would have been shattered and it was misery and suffering for the next 3 years and 8 months.

Looking back to the June of 1940 - the vacation that they spend with their fellow schoolmates in Singapore would perhaps had been one of the most memorable experience of their youth.



Notes:

1. Order of photographs - from top right, clockwise:

a. in front of Raffles Museum
b. at Haw Par Villa - group photgraph,taken on 20-6-1940
c. at Haw Par Villa - rock pavillion
d. at Yang Zheng Xue Xiao -养正学校 - (Yang Zheng School)
-the triangular flag reads : Perak Yuk Choy Secondary School Visiting Group - 霹雳 育才中学参观团
e. at th Botanic Garden by the bridge
f. at the Botanic Garden by the tree, 21-6-1940

2. June 1940 or July 1940

The were two set of dates written at the back of the photographs. One set of dates was in June, and another set, which seemed a different handwriting, was in July.

Some of the photographs have the date written in pencil from 17.7.1940 to 23.7.1970. These dates were written together with the names in Chinese. The 17.7.1940 date was on a photograph of a bridge in Kuala Lumpur, though the picture of Kuala Lumpur Museum was dated 20.6.1940
The photographs with the dates written in ink were in English, and the date was date 20-6-1940.

I’ve taken the dates written in ink as the actual date of the vacation to Singapore, noting that June being be more commonly appearing month of in the photographs. (back of the group photograh taken at Haw Par Villa)

The probably stopped over in Kuala Lumpur as there were two photographs of scenery from Kuala Lumpur mentioned above.

Of the places visited in Singapore & the notes at the back of the photographs, mainly with pencil and in Chinese:
Botanic Garden, 植物园
Har Par Villa, - 虎跑别墅
Raffles Museum – 博物院
Hong Deng Matou (Clifford Pier) – 红灯码头
A-La-Bo Hua Yuan (garden which in Chinese was called the Arabia Garden – 亚拉伯花园
Yin Xin Xue Xiao nei ( probably school in Fo Association)
Hua Chiao Zhong Xue Chian Men -华侨中学前门
Yang Zheng Xue Xiao – 养正学校
Duan Meng Xue Xiao Chian Men - 端蒙学校前门
Shui Can Xue Xiao ( Marine Academy) – 水产学校

2. Yuk Choy High School

It’s now one of the major independent Chinese Schools in Malaysia - located in Ipoh.

http://www.yukchoy.edu.my/

记: Menglembu/Perak



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