what’s in a receipt – 36.11.21

1. Money home

松口, 圳头. 

Though it is a small piece of paper not  more than 14X7cm, what is printed and written on it tells a story of a different era, a different time.

 Whenever I walked past the ICBC Bank in People’s Park, Chinatown, and seeing the foreign labors from China lining up to send money home, I would visualize  a century and more ago, grandfather  would have been doing a similar thing –i.e.  remitting his hard earn money to his family in Songkou -

Perhaps with this thought in mind – it makes me feels a sense of connectedness & affinity to these folks. Our family too started off like them – albeit a hundred odd years earlier.

Well, by the time of this receipt dated 36.11.21 – that is,  the 36^th year of the Republican era （民国）in 1947 November 26^th,  grandpa was 64 years old, and had returned to his village for good.  He came to Nanyang – 南洋- and ventured to the tin mining outpost of Menglembu in is his early twenties, together with his 2^nd brother.  

For the greater part of the next forty odd years and more – he was engaged in th timber industry – a service industry to the tin mines, supplying logs and planks for the palong ( in open cast mines) and the mining kongsi (dwellings for workers, operations headquarters,  depot  - all rolled into one) in the vicinity of Lahat, Papan and Menglembu.   His circle of business partners were mostly fellow Hakka tin miners  who hailed from the  neighboring  Hakka districts of South China.

Remittance to the home village was similarly sent thro the Hakka business network, in Ipoh.

On this  receipt, one can find two English words  – a)  LEEBROS –  which was the telegraphic code of the remitting company – Li Sanmao - 李三茂 - and b) Koo Kwat Chin – 古国祯 - in the red stamp  on the right bottom corner – grandpa’s chop which was a modernized version of the seal.

LEEBROS located at 39, Leech Street, was the main agent used by grandpa to remit money to the village.  The other agents were Eu Yang Sang, and thro Charted Bank.

This receipt was an acknowledgement that the sum of 5 million Republican yuan - 圓- was duly received by the countersigned– on 21Nov1947, and stamped with the grandpa’s chop.

The person countersigned on the receipt was not grandpa, but was 4^th uncle – with his nicely written namely as 古锦琳. – Gu Jinlin  (pinyin) . The person who remitted this sum from Ipoh – was dad -古锦宏 – Gu Jinhong.

The establishment where this sum was remitted to, was located in the upper main street of Songkou town – Xinhe Zhuang - 信和庄松口上大街 – marked by the dark colored chop in the center of the receipt.

2.       Exchange rate 121 - Straits $ to Republican 圆  1945 – 1947

How much was this princely sounding sum of 5million Republican yuan  equivalent to?

  Well, luckily the sum could be traced to accounting record.  From the handwriting it further confirmed that it was dad’s entry.

It stated : On Nov 06, a remittance of  $5million republican yuan was made thro Li SanMao to  - to be received by Daren – 大人手收 -  (Daren - an honorific old school address for one’s superior - grandpa) .  Following was a note in Suzhou character for a sum of $190.00 Straits dollars.

 This would make it at an exchange rate of $1= ¥26,315

Interestingly from the first record entry made just after the end of WW2 in Dec 1945 to the last entry made two years later in Dec 1947, the Republican yuan would have depreciated by close to 140 times against the Straits dollar!  The slide was especially drastic starting from 1947 -

Here’s a sample the exchange rate on remittance sent thro Li Sanmao, Ipoh, to Songkou, China.

10Dec1945          $1=¥256

16Mar1946          $1=¥625

27Jan1947           $1=¥2,040

26May1947         $1=¥10,000

26Aug1947          $1=¥11,674

23Sep1947          $1=¥Y14,705

06Nov1947          $1=¥26,315

09Dec1947          $1=¥35,714

Well, this is an unexpected lesson in economics coming out of the family history.  This was a period of turbulent upheaval in China. Perhaps we have a pretty good hindsight now, to come to think of it.

To grandpa who longed for his homeland – come what may home was where the heart was. In the hills lie his ancestors, and it would be there he would return.   Perhaps, the mountainous terrain of the Hakka highlands had nullified the impact from the hyperinflation, and dulled the distant din of the gunshots raging south.

PS –

1.       Republican Yuan  -indicated  as ¥    /   圓

Here to mean the existent currency in circulation at that time.  It could be called by different notation。

Well, a google on the republican yuan  - leading to Chinese currency indicated that there were two period of hyperinflation in China that brought about the downfall of the regime.  One was towards the end of the Yuan dynasty - 元 - (1271–1368 ) and the next was during the end of the republican rule in mainland China  - 民國 - (1911-1949)

Chinese currency –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_currency#1945.E2.80.931948

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- a hundred years hence - once a ROCer

This passport was issued by the Republic of China consulate in Ipoh dated 20Oct 1948. It was the 37th year of the Republic of China. The in-country consul was Ibrahim TY Ma.

中華民國蘐照外交部駐怡保領事館,民國三十七年十月廿日

As could be known from his name, the consul was a Muslim from China. Perhaps it was along this practice of sending emissary that was familiar with the Islamic faith, that Ibrahmin Ma was chosen to Malaya. The best know of which was Admiral Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644CE) – a Muslim from Yunnan province.

The fact that there was a ROC consulate in town was perhaps another testimony of the importance of Ipoh in the then British Malaya. With the opening of tin mining industry and there came huge migrant Chinese population.

It was well-known fact that Sun Yat-sen, had his revolutionary base in in Penang, while planning the Canton uprising. As to Ipoh, I was curious -

Googling thro the web –I was surprised to learn that Sun Yat-sen, while on a visit in 1906 to the Kinta Valley was hurled stones and cow dung in Menglembu, by supporters of a different political affiliation.

From citizens of ROC – or hua qiao – 華僑 - the folks have moved on to become - hai wai huaren – 海外華人- ethnic Chinese residing overseas.

From being a citizen of the ROC of China, when Malaya became Independent – dad being born in Malaya, got his citizenship as a citizen of Malaya. And when Malaysia was established – he naturally became a citizen of Malaysia.

At one time – in the early 1960/s – citizenship was a sensitive and hot topic. I recall being told by dad that cos he was a citizen, and being an offspring of a citizen, - by operation of law I was naturally a citizen of the land.

The Xinhai Revolution -辛亥革命 – or the Double-ten celebration to the ROC-er then, used to be celebrated with pomp in Ipoh, and I remember seeing an old photograph of a arch being built for the occasion in Hugh Low Street near the bridge.

To our ancestors – who left Qing China - 清朝 代 -( 1644-1911) - there was ever the yearning to make it rich in Nanyang ( 南洋) to return to their poor beloved Tangshan (唐山)that they came from, to us there was the cultural China we hope to see prosperous & strong, and to our young ones China is an awakened dragon - counting in superlatives.

Postscript -

1. Xinhai　Revolution - 辛亥革命

Today 10Oct marks the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. 辛亥革命

It brought to an end a centralized dynastic system that lasted for 2,133 year, (from 221BC to 1911CE).

Measured in the time frame of the Chinese world view – with a continuous civilization of 5,000years, a century is perhaps, just a bleep in their historical clock.

Unlike the End of History by Fukuyama – to the Chinese history is an unending cycle – measured in cycles of ‘glorious ages’.

I wonder if they still call it the Double-ten Festival - 雙十節 - Shuangshi Jie - in Taiwan .

2. In 1948, dad returned to China with her mum – to attend to the burial, and family and matters of his late father who died in summer that year. This was perhaps his second visit back to the ancestral home since he was a child of 4-5years old.

3. The Star –

‘ Perak's former tin mining towns linked to Sun Yat-sen ‘ http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?sec=lifefocus&file=/2010/11/15/lifefocus/7366426

depot rd

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IPOH – Cinderella who lost her glass slipper

Well, that is the the analogy of her current state - the Cinderella who has lost her glass slipper.

Perhaps for the baby boomers who are into their middle age, they would have many a story to share with their grandchildren on the – Golden Age of Ipoh.

Well, this was what Ipoh then enjoyed, as the book puts it – when tin was king. Ipoh was the center of the Kinta Valley – and as with the surrounding townships, she came into being because of tin.

Towards the close of the 19th century & into the early 20th century she was practically transformed from an up-river outpost located in thick equatorial jungle into a modern and well planned town. She was the commercial capital, educational & entertainment hub.

However, in her early boom years & and in the many cycles of high tin prices that brought to her town folks prosperity and economic comfort, she had been treated as the step-child by her colonial master. She was portrayed as the Cinderella of the FMS (Federated Malay States) and naturally the step mum was the colonial ruler.

She was denied a port linked directly to Lumut, though her early councilors had strongly petition for it. Among others she was also denied a smelting plant – and all the tin that she produced had to be sent to Penang to be smelted into ingot for export.

She was denied being given the state capital-ship despite having grown to be the premier township in the state, and the leading contributor to the FMS.

That Ipoh became the state capital was by the grace of her Japanese conqueror. The state capital was moved from Taiping to Ipoh, during the war years by the Japanese army.

Most Ipohites would not have known these facts, unless one is a history buff and keen enough to dig thro old records. Well, that was what the author of the book is and did -a medical doctor cum historian - he spent close to five years researching and writing the book.

Sources quoted were from the the early day newsletters, gazette, such as the Perak Pioneer, Times of Malaya & Perak Government Gazette, as well as from the Internet - IpohWorld, for many of the old photographs of yesteryear Ipoh.

Whatever it was, the Ipoh that we grew up in - was the pride of all. We used to boast that we were the cleanest town in the country -and I wonder if they still do such ranking now. We would bask in the glory of her millionaires, and often quote that Ipoh had the greatest number per area. Needless to say Ipoh has all these years maintainted her rank in the number one position when it come to - beauties.

Well, during the book launch at ISEAS, the professor rightly commented - that we Ipohites thought that we were the center of the world then. How true.

The clock struck midnight close to twenty five odd years ago when the price of tin collapsed.

Economically the town, no the city has dwindled into a state of stagnancy, since. Perhaps, Cinderella had it too easy then, for fortunes were literally made overnight when one struck tin.

Cinderella, has yet to find her new pair of glass slippers.

The present mood and state of Ipoh is perhaps well depicted in a photograph – captioned Today – (page 690) - togehter with a series of town scenes taken thro the decades. The photograph was most likely taken in the old town area – with the shop houses shut and one is a dilapidated empty shell.

Despite its quiet emptiness, and the lack of economic development leading to many a building falling into disrepair, Ipohites should all the more reflect on their proud history – and the contributions their forefathers did for Ipoh - be they the Yau Tat Shin/s who built Ipoh New Town or the Uncle Ah Ngau/s – who manned the gravel pump in the open cast mine eking a living to feed a brood.

Well, I always remember those big Chinese characters on the wall of the school located in the bungalow complex at the junction of Jalan Datoh and Chamberlain Road –

Coming from an English medium school, I had a limited knowledge of Chinese then, and did not know its meaning till much later.

Cinderella would not have deciphered them either , but her sworn-sister Maiden Hui - 灰姑娘 – Hui-guniang - should have no problem reading and internalizing the phrase -

自力更生 艰苦奋斗

-zhili geng sheng, jianku fendou -

Perhaps it had a socialist slant when it was first written, but the message is every green. Well, learning Chinese could be meaningful & fun ...




References:

1. IPOH - When Tin was King

by Ho Tak Ming,
Perak Academy, 2009

http://www.arecabooks.com/webpages/books19.html

2. Ipoh World

http://www.ipohworld.org/

2. 怡保深斋学校 - Ipoh Shenzai School

One of the Chinese medium private instituitions started in IPOH, with Chinese as the medium of instruction. In early years of her inception and thro to the 1970/s, and as with many of the Chinese-based medium schools, they were a hot-bed of commuist ideology.

Often times - there was a thin grey line between what was cultural and what was ideology. And many a students could perhaps enticed into it cos of the cultural identity.

It was sort of a thing to be dreaded then if a family had a a left leaner or sympathiser. But in hind sight it could be the cultural draw more than the ideological chants that attracted them.

I remember out of curiostiy - one afternoon attended a meet the peoplel session of a reformed communist at the Wan Hwa Primary School hall, in Menglembu - in the early 1970's, organised by the specail branch. It was a female 'comrade' from Menglembu or from the surrounding area. Could not recall exactly what she said - but something to the effect on how she had fallen into the spell of the communist ideology.

http://www.djz.edu.my/campus/dzschool.php?id=21

3. 自力更生 艰苦奋斗

自力更生 - regeneration through one's own effort

艰苦 - difficult / hard / arduous

A catch phrase commonly used by the socialist/communist camp in their struggle for self-what ever. Though outwardly the phrase connotes a socialist slant, but the the gist of it is to struggle against odds and adversity, and a renewal of one-self in times of trail and strive. For it celebrates - industriousness, honesty, scholarship, amongst others.


http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php




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遇寶 – a treasure awaiting re-discovery

If the story in Wikipedia of how the early Cantonese named Ipoh were to be believed, then the Chinese character for Ipoh should be written as: 遇寶, instead of 怡保.

For :
遇寶 - yubao (pinyin) – yeebou (Cantonese) – meaning – to encounter - 遇 - treasures -寶

While:
怡保 – yibao (pinyin) - yeebou (Cantonese) – meaning to preserve/defend - 保 - harmony - 怡

However, in all essence, Ipoh’s first name I believe was Paloh . For the descendants of the early Hakka’s who were one of the earliest migrants to the mining outposts in the Kinta Valley have to these days call Ipoh as Paloh.

Whenever we want to go to Ipoh –we still say –– 上壩羅 - song baloh （Hakka）- shang baluo (pinyin) , meaning to go up to Ipoh.

For the term上 - 下 or 落 – shang and xia or luo - meaning up / above or down/below – is used as a verb here to mean to move in the direction towards or away from a place, and with the capital location as the source of reference.

Thus when we are returning from Ipoh to Menglembu – we say ：
落万里望 – luo wanlimoong (Hakka) - luo Wanliwang (Pinyin)

- this concept of - 上 - 下 came in handy when learning Japanese – for when one travelling in the direction toward towards Tokyo – it is 上がり – agari. While 下り- kudari - is moving away from the capital city -

Susequently when Ipoh grew and taken on a township - her name evolved from Epoh to Ipoh, and the Chinese equivalent is 怡保. A name meaning - defending or preserving harmanony.

Perhaps a aptly named new township - on the same theme of peace and harmony - as with Taiping - 太平 - the old capital of Perak State in the Larut Valley.

The early migrants to Ipoh are the Cantonese and Hakka’s engaging in the tin mining industry. They left the poor villages of Southern China, located mainly in the Pearl River estuaries and the mountainous regions of South-eastern Guangdong Province – 广东省.

Since then in 1978 when China opened her door and experimented with - socialist market economy - 社会主义市场经济 – many of these poor villages in the Pearl River estuaries have boomed into mega-factories for the world. And in many aspects, these once – poor villages are doing much better economically than Ipoh and her outlying townships in the Kinta valley.

Perhaps Ipoh is a city where her treasure is awaiting re-discovery. Since the collapse of the tin mart in the late 1970/s Ipoh has lay dormant for the greater part of the last 30 years, when the world passes her by.

And for the past year and more - it spiralled into political stalemate, bringing unwanted attention to this once peaceful valley.

With the resources of the world being depleted by the rising economies of the new world order, perhaps a re-discovery of the application of tin would make it viable to mine the mineral again.

The town that tin built would perhaps have her re-birth.

The Kinta Valley is awaiting the discovery of her - unobtanium – albeit all the good and green stuff.... I mean.



Postscript –

This pamphlet by Kinta Heritage was given me by my niece on a trip back to Ipoh last December.

A google on Kinta Heritage – shows a site awaiting update. And scan of this pamphlet is found in another blog, except the page on – Ipoh’s Living Heritage.

Markers with informative signboards were put up at the various historical sites in the vicinity of Ipoh civic center and the Old Town. However, as if it’s the norm of things, most of them are poorly maintained and in a dilapidated state.

Ipoh Heritage Trail – Map 1 – is map number one, and am eagerly waiting for the rest of the maps.

Kudos to Kinta Heritage for doing its bit for a treasure to be re-discovered.


References –

http://www.kintaheritage.com/blog/

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%80%A1%E4%BF%9D

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

http://ipohnkinta.blogspot.com/2009/11/free-heritage-maps-of-old-town-ipoh.html

http://www.lestariheritage.net/perak/index.html

http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/





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kenanagan gambar lama - 老照片

Disebaik setiap gambar lama adalah cerita-nya. Inilah sedikit sebanyak cerita sebuah panggung wayang di Bandarraya Ipoh yang tidak wujud lagi.

Captiol Cinema – antara theatre dengan cinema

Tarih yang tertulis di belakang gambar ini adalah 28.7.39, jadi umur gamar in hampir 70 tahun. Bagunan ini adalah sebuah panggung wayang lama yang terletak di lot sebelah Jalan Anderson and Jalan Theatre, Ipoh. Tetapi, kerana di jilat api beberapa tahun dahulu, pawagam in tidak dapat di nampak lagi pada hari in.

Tempat ini dibiar kosong. Kawsan-nya berrumput lalang dan lot ini disewa lekat kereata, sebagaimana lot-lot kosong dipusat bandaraya Ipoh kini.

Nama pawagam ini ialah Capitol, atau dalam bahasa logat Kanton (Cantonese) , bahasa berkomunikasi penduduk-penduduk kelompok majoriti orang keturunan Cina di-Ipoh adalah – Gi’ing dou - 京都 – ( Jingdu - dalam Bahasa Mandarin).

Locasi panggung wayang ini terbaik sekali, dan ia tepat di pusat Badar Baru Ipoh. Jalan di sebelahnya, Jalan Theatre –戏院街 – heiyin gai – (xiyuan jie - mungkin dapat namanya kerana panggung wayang lama yang asal berada disini.

Apa yang aku ingat kemungkinannya, adalah sebelum Pawagam Capitol baru ini yang dibina di sini, ia terlah wujud - 戏院 - heiyin - iaitu – theatre (dalam Bahasa Inggerris), disini.

Panggung wayang ini mempentaskan wanyang-wayang Cina, yang di-panggil – daihie – 大戏 -(daxi) . Daihei – atau wayang tradisi orang Cina, terutamanya opera Kantonis, adalah hiburan halayak ramai masyarakat Cina Ipoh, sebelum kedatangan wayang filem, atau movie. Wayang opera tradisi ini masih dipentaskan, tetapi selalunya dikuil-kuil, semasa beradanya kerayaan ditokong.

Sesungguhnya, bangunan yang menayang wayang-wayang filem dipanggil cinema – ia itu – 电影院 - dianyinggyuan – (dalam Bahasa Mandarin), dan bukan theatre – atau 戏院 – xiyuan. Jadi, bila bangungan cinema Capitol dibina, jalan di sebelabnya terus di panggil orangramai Jalan Theatre – atau Theatre Street, dan tidak ditukar ke Jalan Cinema.

Sampai masa sekarang, masyarakat Cina Ipoh masih memanggil pawagam-pawangam sebagi - heiyuen –戏院- (xiyuan) – atau theatre, contohnya - 丽都戏院 – Laidou heiyin – (Lidu xiyuan) - Lido Theatre - dan ini adalah satu panggilan salah. Ia mesti dipanggil sebagai –电影院- dinyingyuen – (dianyingyuan) - ia itu cinema , sebab apa yang ditayang adalah wayang filem, dan bukan wayang lakonan pentas.

Gambar lama Pawagam Capitol ini, mungkin diambil, tidak beberapa lama setelah pawagam ini siap di bina, ia itu ditahun 1930an. Ia terlihat baru, sebagaimana bangunanan-bangunan di Ipoh pada masa itu. Badar Ipoh sebulum Perang Dunia Kedua adalah sebuah bandar baru merancang yang terbersih dan mewah, terutamanya Bandar Baru Ipoh, di Persekutuan.

Mungkin Capitol adalah pawagam moden di Ipoh yang menayangkan wang filem yang terawal sekali.

Jalan-jalan raya disebelah Capitol kelihatan sunyi dan tidak ada kederaan kecuali sebuah basikal letak didepan pawagam. Disebelah kanan hujung gambar terlihat se-dua orang jalan kaki, dan antaranya seorang lelaki yang memakai baju & seluar panjang putih belaka dan bertopi hunter (hunter’s hat) . Ini adalah fesyen kolonial pada zaman pemerintah British, awal abad keduapuluhan dulu.

Tayangan Capitol – filem 1960an yang masih ingat

Pawagam Capitol mengembalikan kenangan-kenagan manis zaman 1960an, apabila saya masih seorang budak. Terus sampai ke tahun 70an, banyak wayang filem Shaw Brothers - 邵氏兄弟 - dari Hong Kong, ditoton di panggung ini.

Antaranya wayang filem enampuluhan yang masih ingatilagi adalah:

1. 杨乃武与小白菜 – The Adultress - 1963

Filem ini ditonton dengan ibu-bapa. Pada masih itu aku mungkin umur 6-7tahun. In-lah sebuah filem yang terawal yang saya lihat dan dapat ingati lagi.

2。山歌恋 - The Shepherd Girl - 1964

Filem in adalah satu muzikal – lagu-lagu nyanyain corak ‘mountain folk’. Filem in ditonton dengan makcik, ia itu kak sulong bapa. Makcik masih dating lagi, dan filem init dilihat dengan kawan lelakinya. Pada masa itu saya masih seorang budak darjah satu atau dua, di Sekolah Rendah Anglo-Chinese.

3。 大醉侠 - Come Drink With Me - 1966

Filem in ditoton dengan kakak dan kawan sekolahnya. Filem –sword fighting – ini adalah satu sensasi hebat, dan panggung wayang sesak belaka setiap tayangan.

Ada banyak lagi wayang filem lain yang ditoton di panggung Capitol, dan juga di panggung wayang lain di badar Ipoh.

Pada masa germilang bandar Ipoh setlah Perang Dunia Dua, dari 1950an, di pusast bandar baru sahaja mempunyai 10 buah panggung – ia itu kawasan Ipoh New Town. Namanya berikut -

Lido - 丽都
Cathay - 国泰
Ruby - 宝石
Capitol – 京都
Odeon – 高亭
Grand – 大光
Eastern (?)－东方
Rex – 丽士
Majestic – 大华
Star –星光

Panggung wayang ini adalah satu-satunya kenangan - childhood to adulthood – saya di Ipoh.


Postscript –

1. Of the Malay language course

The last since I wrote in Malay was close to over 30years ago .

Being in an English medium school, there was only one Malay language course through out the whole education from primary to secondary school, with the highest Malay langauge examination being the Malaysian Certififcate of Examination / MCE in Form Five.

For what ever reasons, Malay was something to be feared then– cos if one failed it, one would flop the whole examination.

Perhaps it’s akin to the underpinning psychological stress of what the Singaporean students have for their mother tongue - the Chinese Language – where you need to pass it to pass the examination.

To keep in touch with the Malay langauge, have been listening to the RTM news, forum and documentary programs.

Whatever it is – interesting try to recall many of the words and sentences, and you never know that you really don’t know the word until you try to start to write it down in a sentenc.

To connect with our Malay friends and with this part of the SEA, knowing Malay is a re-requisite. Knowing another language is a window to another world.

Can cope with yet another language... ? MM says Malay important !

So much on learning the Malay language ...

2. Of Ipoh –

Found this book at the Tampines Library:

怡保城乡散记 - Yibao cheng xiang san ji -
Random notes on Ipoh and its surroundings
Author: Zhu Zongxian zhu/ 朱宗贤著 (1931 - )

The author was a Chinese school teacher in Ipoh, and this was a compilation of his recollections of Ipoh and its surrounding towns from the pre-war years to the present. It’s written in Chinese, and thus you have to know Chinese to read it.

http://thefreemedia.com/index.php/weblog/16197

http://johnnyseah.blogspot.com/2007/03/blog-post.html

http://blog.yam.com/ngnf/article/10330874

http://newarrivals.nlb.gov.sg/itemdetail.aspx?bid=12886794

3. Ipoh - Old road names -

To fellow Ipoh folks where the streets will forever be the Hugh Low or the Brewster's,

Not that we'll love the town less with the new names, it is the connection with history - of the town that tin built -

Anderson Road – Jalan Raja Musa Azia
Cockman Street – Jalan Dato Oon Jaffar
Cowan Street – Jalan Raja Ekram
Hugh Low Street – Jalan Sultan Iskandar
Brewster Road – Jalan Sultan Idris Shah
Osborne Street – Jalan Tahwil Azhar
Hume Street - Jalan Mesjid

Reference -

http://ipoh.com.my/map/ipoh/




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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 …