The Testimonials

This is the story of a young lad that embarked on a precarious journey to Malaya then at the age of 3 in 1935. With his grandmother hand on one while his other hand holding onto a big dream..... determined by his steel clad perseverance and sheer hard works to bring success for himself and his family.

Like all the rest of the poor Chinese immigrants, they took a 7 days sea voyage from the southern Guangzhou port in China across the South Chinese Sea and landed in one of the Singapore off shore island where they were quarantined for 2 weeks.

The two then boarded a crowded train from the now decommissioned Tanjung Pagar Railway Station in Singapore to the town of Renggam in the state of Johore, Malaya. The British administration then assigned my great grandmother as a coolie (field laborer) in Bukit Benut Estate. One of those large rubber plantation owned by the British.

My dad having brought up in this unprivileged environment was hence deprived of a formal education but was soon pick up the basic of english from his British master. As a toddler, he worked along with his grandma and she was paid a sum of Malaysian Ringgit 3.50 a months as wages (equivalent to about USD 1.2).

In his teenage year, he joined the workforce as a herbicide sprayer and later as a rubber tapper. When a vacancy for a tractor driver arises, my dad joined the long queue to apply for the job. A tractor driver will be paid a fixed monthly wages of Malaysian Ringgit 80 plus overtime work if any. All other laborer are paid daily basis. So my dad see this an an opportunity to improve his life.


The queue was unusually long but was "snaking" at one point. The strong gust of wind earlier the day had toppled a large potted palm tree and the queue must now snake thru the fallen potted plant. 

When my dad reached the position of the fallen plant, he picked it up and put it back into position. The queue is now a straight line. Needless to say he was selected for the one and only vacancy as a light tractor driver for his right attitude!

The many testimonials my dad received over the years. The few simple words signified this man noble characters

A Massey 35 that my dad once operated. One of the popular early light tractor used just after the war.

My dad, a man ahead of his time out lived the many British managers in his years as a tractor driver in the estate. He always request a testimonial from his superior which he never needed it anyway.

A typical housing quarter in the estate. Always scenic with crisp clean air!

My dad would give me a joy ride in a Nuffield 342 as above. Standing just inches away from the expose rotating brake drum is frightening though!

Years later, he obtained his Diesel Engine Driver competency certificate. When receiving the certificate, he was told by the tester he was the only uneducated but Qualified Diesel Engine Driver in the state of Johore.

A typical Stationery Engine Generator set at that time which my dad operate on. Legislation require one to have a competency certification to operate equipment of this kind.

 
With these testimonials and the certification, my dad therefore managed to bring vast improvement to our family quality of lives.

My dad competency certificate in the Malay language. When he was crowned the Lister King in our town, he has his substances, a trait he inherited from his grandma who raise him single handedly in the most challenging ways.

   
To be continue......


18thFeb2013

We Chinese celebrated the arrival of spring New Year of the snake on the 10th Feb. Coinciding the few days of holidays see me taking the role of Sherlock to unearth some history close to my heart.

I visited Bukit Benut Estate and the now youngish management having heard the story of my dad was quick to show me the treasure book. Entries from as early as 1936 (the year of my dad arrival to this estate) was recorded in great details since.

The Record Book

The pages on equipment register show the several unit of Listers with their respective serial number for pumping and electricity generation/ other duties. On the next page, it was recorded a JP4 supplying power to the rubber sheet factory!

Engine register

What was more amazing were 2 unit of Land Rovers were recorded in 1942, a mere 4 years after the series 1 Landie was born in Solihull.

The Choice of tractor was Massey then!

This blog entry cannot be completed without the mentioning of those suffering endured during the 3 years and eight months period of Japanese Occupation of Malaya.

Recorded in red in the record book was an event where 2 British gentlemen were caught and tortured by the occupying Japanese forces at the nearby Railway Hill and the countless names of local staffs killed!

These pages recorded the suffering, torturing and the killings of the thousand innocents by the invading force!

As to my family, the Japanese occupying forces owe us a debt in blood. My maternal grandma too had almost all her bones in her limbs broken one at a time when she was captured and tortured.

Another Hakka woman of great substances, she survived and lived to a ripe old age of 90 plus having past away peacefully in 1989.

As for me, I see stationery engine as a hobby of diplomacy and eternal peace; with too many friends I made to mentioned all here across the globe; sharing this common hobby.  

Bukit Keretapi; literally translated as railway hill where the two British managers were captured and tortured in the background. The skeletal tree on the right of the peak is a 100 plus year old rubber tree.

The End

Note: Permission for printing the names was not prior obtained as the writer has no mean to seek approval from their respective families due to the long passage of time.