Wong Seng Chow - Rice Wine & Dancing Girls

Firstly I must confess, I am not an ardent book reader. 

I failed in my multiple attempts to read a book. I sometimes find a book, read it half way and lost interest. Sometimes I find the book too long winded and I skipped right to the end portion and forget the in betweens. I have many books of all kinds, from cookery books, travel books, business books, advertising books etc. etc. and then the faithful story books.

I don;t like novels many too fictitious for my fancy. But on pre mother's day. My hubby and I plus Hay went to Annexe the alternative book fair. There I found a book. Title: Rice Wine & Dancing Girls by Wong Seng Chow. Well yes it is the cover.. the cover caught my eye. the sub head reads: 

The real -life drama of a roving cinema manager in Fifties Malaysia and Singapore. as I scanned through the book, I helplessly fell in love with the old black and white pictures. And as I read the first 2 pages of the book, I fell immediately in love with reading again. 

I paid Rm35 for this book and couldn't wait to start reading it immediately. 

first day I reached page 60, but I left the book at the office yesterday now I am at page 97. 

an achievement. 

A father's tale told by his son, by accident cos its only later that the son found his father's journal entries of his life. 

today's read: "This wasn't the first time I had travelled on a boat.When I was five or six years old, my parents made a trip back to China with me in tow and my sister Ching, who was barely two years old, strapped to my mother back in a cloth craddle. We had to make our way to Singapore first and then board a crowded tongkang (bumboat) that ferried us to a steamer bound for hong kong. Seated at the bottom of the tongkang and surrounded by adults, all I could see was the sky above, just like the proverbial frog at the bottom of the well. I don't remember much about the actual journey to Hong Kong or how we got to the mainland after that....." 3 paras later

"Again I don't remember much about our return journey except for the humiliating experience when we disembarked in Singapore. Deck passengers were herded like animals into bumboats and dumped at St John's Island, which had a lazaretto and was used as a quarantine station to deal with Cholera-infected immigrants. We were forced to cleanse ourselves by taking surphur baths and have all our belongings fumigated before being allowed to step ashore on the main island. When I think about it , the amazing thing about the whole trip was that I was perfectly alright during the long voyage to and fro. ..."

Amazing. 4 to 5 decades ago.. travelling to China via tongkang. I would not have survived 2 hour boat ride let alone days and weeks. my mother told me she went back to china by boat too when she was around 6 years old. How would she have endured the journey is again a real fascination. Herded around to take surphur bath? how inhumane yet an act to preserve humanity? so ironic. How could one have endured this. With H1N1, bird flu, Mad cow, SARS, would the day come when we too be herded into confined camps for surphur baths or perhaps acid baths. 

As I sit lamenting on all my daily frustrations, like a little spoilt brat.. I read and realised how far we have come. while a few days on the tongkang was once considered a short journey, I now cringed on the idea of spending few hours in an airplane. My ancestors travelled weeks under horrendous circumstances to a promise land in search for Prosperous future for their descendants. KONG KONGS n MAH MAHs KAM SIA Thank You. I pray that your spirits of perseverance and endurance continues to live in me.. make me strong and make me shine for your pride. 

Good Night my beloved, lets do good tomorrow.