While on the way to Kapit for a singing engagement not so long ago, I stayed overnight in Sibu at my favourite hotel and made my elder brother Edward, now fully residential in Sibu, doubly happy.
We caught up on many subjects, reminiscing the late 60s, 70s and 80s as well as the early 90s – my life has revolved so much around Sibu and the Rajang River since the late 60s when Edward started serving there and getting married to a Bawang Assan beauty queen in 1968, 11 years his junior and just a year older than me.
For the benefit of readers, I spent two years studying Lower and Upper Six Arts at the Methodist Secondary School Sibu and sampled an interesting life a teenager keen on music, card games, even cockfight on weekends not to mention going for movies at Sibu’s many theatres when there were extra bucks to spend.
While waiting for HSC exam result I was attached to Info/Psywar Section of RASCOM Sibu from February to June 1975 as Assistant Editor of Berita Rayat, an-eight page Iban monthly newspaper.
Later after university I was lucky enough to be straight away posted to teach at Rajang Teachers College (RTC) in Binatang (now Bintangor), just below Sibu, on Wednesday 26 April 1979 to be exact – after cutting my hair to a ‘government’ length.
In May 1983 I left RTC on promotion to be SMK Sedaya Kanowit principal at the age of 28 years 7 months, then considered as the youngest secondary school principal. Kanowit is above Sibu after Durin on the way to Song and Kapit and many jokingly say ‘Cannot wait’ for impatient travellers to Kapit by motor launch in the 70s and earlier, a journey that took almost a day as compared to the present two hours and a half by the speedy express boats from Sibu, provided one refrains from using the last 2.30pm boat that serpentines its way to all the stops between Kanowit and Kapit.
In 1988 I was posted to SMK Julau, situated near to Julau town, a town built at the estuary of the river bearing the same name which is a tributary of the Kanowit River that flows into the mighty Rajang River.
So, for that matter, I have been around Sibu and other towns from Kapit down to Sarikei, including Belawai, Kampung Rajang, Jerijih, Matu and Daro for a good number of years. Throughout these years I was privileged to have known and befriended Iban leaders such as the late Temenggong Bangau Renang of Bawang Assan (in 1973 till 75) – Bangau was the first Iban to visit China, namely for the Canton Trade Fair in 1960; the late Senator Joseph Unting of Sedabai, Pui, Kanowit (in 1983 and 1984), a former Kanowit MP and Ngemah Assemblyman; the late Dato Sri Temenggong Banyang ak Janting (in 1988 till 1989) of Batu Matop, Julau. Banyang’s sons Datuk Pemanca Janggu Banyang and Cr. Paulus Dandee Banyang have remained as close friends to this very day.
Back to my last trip, Edward obligingly brought me around to familiar eateries where we went down memory lane in typical nostalgia.
Most interestingly Edward and I had a good laugh when we talked about going to the movies in Sibu in the late 60s, the 70s and the 80s, especially waiting up to between two and three hours to get the 50-sen tickets for Hindi and Chinese movies.
The Foochow town’s various cinemas such Palace, Cathay, Rex, Lido, King Hua, Zenith and one or two others always featured interesting Chinese, English and Malay movies. Hindi movies were mostly shown at Lido where one had to queue for hours to get tickets including the 50-sen tickets that always caused cramped necks after two or three hours torture at the seats nearest to the screen.
Then film giants Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest capitalised in the popularity of their heroes and heroines such as Wang Yu, David Chiang, Ti Lung, Yeh Hua, Chin Han, Alan Tang Kwang Lung, Loh Lieh, Chen Sing, Alexander Fu Sheng, Charles Tsing, Ku Feng, Chen Kwan Tai, Chang Cheh, and later Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan, Chow Yun-fat and others whereas the more popular actresses were Li Ching, Chen Chen, Betty Ting Pei, Lily Ho, Cheng Pei Pei, Li Chin Shia, Nora Miao and many more.
We had the opportunity to see the first fist fight movie ‘The Chinese Boxer’ starring Wang Yu against villain Loh Lieh. Other interesting sword fight movies were ‘One-armed Swordman’ (Wang Yu), Twelve Gold Medallions (Yueh Hua) and ‘Have Swords Will Travel’
(David Chiang and Ti Lung) as well as many more. David Chiang also starred in ‘The New One-armed Swordsman’.
He recalled my Hindi movie date with a former beauty queen – the daughter of a PSC Chairman who later became TYT twice – who was my colleague in RASCOM. The movie ‘Bobby’ starring Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia was shown at Lido and was the first Hindi one to have lips-to-lips kissing scene.
Edward and I also recalled the day we had to run when ‘mata lai’ (a police party raid) on a cockfight session held at the back lane of Sungei Merah. That was circa 1980/81 during one weekend trip to Sibu from RTC Bintangor where I taught. We quickly took a seat at a nearby coffee shop and pretended to be oblivious to the raid. At another time later, during a Chinese New Year, we got cornered with another friend during a cockfighting raid at a spot further inside the small lane nearby the earlier and went up the house of a Chinese penghulu nearby and wished him a Happy CNY. So the police stopped pursuing the three of us. We were served with Martel the favourite liquor of the Heng Hua. Its colour gave justice to the reddish water of Sungei Merah just about 200 metres away. By the time we left the penghulu’s residence, the policemen were gone and reportedly got hold of a few men for questioning on the cockfight at the police station to accomplish their quota of the day and put them in the good book of my friend then OCPD Insp. Jonathan Jalin (who retired some years ago as Supt.) now a practising advocate and solicitor.
During our dinner at a favourite eatery nearby the Premier Hotel, we caught up on various other topics besides cockfighting and movies.
Many of the men who used to go with us around town are now with the Lord. For example, once we left Merrido Night Club without paying the four big bottles of Guiness Stout because the two booked GROs went to entertain another group instead of our group.
I was 19 going 20 then and halfway through Upper Six. We recalled the episode with sadness as two of our friends, John Lee and Hilary Sering have been called home to be with the Lord. May God bless their souls.
Having so much to reminisce that evening we didn’t realise it was past 2am though some patrons were just making themselves comfortable at the 24-hour restaurant. We then said adieu and retired for the night.
There have been great changes in Sibu landscape over the last two decades. Despite having driven in Sibu for an umpteen number of years, I still got lost there in 2000 when coming back from Brunei enroute to Saratok but quickly found my way after passing through No 21, Lemon Road where I got engaged and later married in 1984.
Despite those changes in the landscape, I doubt whether there is any change in the people there. Confucius once said the mountains can become plains in a hundred years but human nature can never change. That’s how I see it after knowing Sibu too well for more than forty years.
Sibu has one thing in common with Penang’s George Town – two cars stop in the middle of the road where the drivers open their screens and talk to each other leisurely, at the expense of other motorists. That’s one of the reasons why I miss them so much, especially the former. An old Foochow friend would say ‘Chiing koolung mo kah nging’ (long time no see) when I drop by at his photo studio next trip. I miss the language too, including its expletives.
