This is the first of a three-part series on the legacy of the late Chi Mei Si.
Dual role
Growing up in two worlds — one where women’s status were elevated and they were encouraged to go to school, and another where women were mere symbols, trophies without goals — the late Chi Mei Si had strived to empower women to self-develop and self-sustain for their future.
The majority of women nowadays have completed tertiary education and are working in their respective fields. However, the fate of women in the past was not always as liberal as it is today. Once upon a time, women were expected to work in the kitchen without ever having a specific goal to pursue.
Women’s lives were difficult centuries ago. For the late Chi Mei Si, she believed that women are more than just cooks, caregivers, and homemakers. She believed that with education, women could grow to be self-supporting and independent of their spouses.
Chi, who was born in 1922, was raised in a home that valued women’s status. However, having grown up in Shanghai, China, she observed the limitations that many illiterate women of the time faced, with some even resorting to slavery and working as nursing maids to make ends meet.
Sharing the life of Chi, Catherine Chih, Chi’s youngest daughter, revealed that her mother was not allowed in the kitchen.
“My grandmother was a lawyer, and my grandfather held a doctorate of philosophy. Her grandmother was likewise a well-educated woman. So, women in the family were encouraged to earn an education.”
According to Chih, her mother graduated from Chemical Engineering at Nanking University Shanghai in the 1940s. Prior to that, Chi had attended an elite girls’ high school in Shanghai and had even studied at Iowa State University in the United States before World War II.
While pursuing her tertiary education in Shanghai, Chi met a handsome gentleman, Chih Shia Kwee. Chih described her father as an adventurous Foochow man from Bintangor, Sarawak.
“Dad left Sarawak to see his motherland in the early 1940s. Fate has it that he met mum in university while studying finance.”
Shia Kwee, a charismatic man fluent in both Chinese and English, had worked as an interpreter during the peace talks between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. However, when it failed and China was in turmoil as a result of the Chinese Civil War, Shia Kwee and Chi fled to Sarawak in quest of greener pastures.
The ship to Sarawak
They decided to leave China in the year 1950. Chi’s husband had already left for a job in Sarawak. When it came time for her to board a ship, the brave woman lugged three children aged between five and nine months on her own.
“We don’t remember much, but mum said that the journey was tough. She had to tie my brothers to her waist and strap me to her back. We were all badly seasick. Nonetheless, she was able to obtain a small cabin by paying one of the ship’s crew members. Because it was a cargo ship, the cabins were not proper.”
With Shanghai in shambles, Chi had told her daughter that food was constantly a problem, and milk powder was scarce.
“It was a time when paper money was worthless, thus gold was used instead.”
The journey took weeks, with Chi carrying a suitcase while juggling three children. When they arrived at Sarikei, they stayed for a while before boarding a ship to Sibu, their permanent home.
“Mum was relieved to be able to leave China. She was happy to be leaving behind warring factions. In Sarawak, she had to start over, and it was tough. But her toughness had gotten her through. Here, she began teaching Science and Mathematics whenever she could. Because a Science teacher was scarce at the time, she was sought after by a number of schools.”
Her experience in education
During her time in Sarawak, Chi had transferred from Sibu to Kuching, and back to Sibu before returning to Kuching again. Owing to her husband, who was the Information Director working with the government, Chi and her children’s life was an adventure of meeting newer prospects wherever they went.
When Chi and her family first came to Sibu in the early 1950s, she landed herself a job as a Science teacher at the Methodist Secondary School. Later, when she relocated to Kuching in the latter half of 1950, she taught at both the St Mary secondary school and the St Thomas secondary school.
Chih describes her mother as a rare gem in those days when Science teachers were rare. When she returned to Sibu in the late 1960s, she established the Rejang Secondary School, a private school, at Oya Road in Sibu.
It was once a popular option for students who had failed the primary six entrance examination to continue their education in a private school.
The school, however, met its end in 1974 when Malaysian education abolished the primary six entrance examinations and the junior Sarawak examinations.
When students could continue their studies without worrying about failing the entrance examinations, private schools became less lucrative.
An impactful teacher
Reminiscing about her teacher, Chang Yi had only positive things to say about her teacher, Mrs Chi. Having taught Chang Yi in 1962 at the Methodist Secondary School in Sibu before establishing her private school, Chi was vividly remembered as being extraordinary.
“She drove herself to school and arrived early in the morning. She was never late, as far as I recall. She had come from Shanghai and was awed by everyone at school. We were also always impressed by what she wore.”
According to the 74-year-old, Chi, who often wore a white blouse with a floral skirt, would also dress up in cheongsams that accentuated her elegance on school occasions.
She was a good teacher, and no one dared to misbehave in class. A charismatic and kind-hearted teacher, Chang Yi remembers the little notes Chi would leave for the students.
“When she marked our exam papers, she always included encouraging notes like, ‘You have improved!’, ‘Always try your best!’, ‘Please try harder!’.”
Despite the fact that Chi had only taught Chang Yi for a year during her Form One studies, she had made a lasting impact on her life. The same year, Chi bid farewell to the students of Methodist Secondary School, Sibu.
“Almost everyone in our class cried when she announced that she was leaving. We had a great Science teacher who opened our eyes to a whole new world.”
Before leaving, Chi had left an anecdote in Chang Yi’s autograph book, along with a photograph of her as memento.
Part 2: https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/the-driving-force-behind-womens-rights-2/
Part 3: https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/a-lifelong-legacy/
