Dad and some enterprising students.

Photos: I took these at Wellington Johnsonville.


A real story: 

After the war, Dad went to Singapore to study. He  was in a hostel in a 7 day Adventist school, next to a very big cemetery. The Bidadari Cemetery was just near door.

His seniors told him to come earn some pocket money. They showed him how to scoop of the melted candle. 

A man came on a bike to buy the molten wax. Dad initially felt uncomfortable. But after a while money took over fear.

Bidadari Cemetery was a multi-religious burial ground opened on 1 January 1908. It was located at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Aljunied road, and derived its name from the wife of Maharaja Abu Bakar of Johor, whose istana had stood there.^[12] The word “bidadari” is itself derived from the Sanskrit word “widyadari”, which literally means ‘nymph’ or ‘fairy’.
The cemetery contained burial sites for several religions and races, including Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus. When it was opened, the Roman Catholic and Protestant sections also each had their own chapel. The cemetery was also used for military burials, and was the resting place for a number of prominent individuals. One of these was the English sailor Augustus Podmore Williams, upon whose life Joseph Conrad based his novel Lord Jim.
Bidadari Cemetery was closed in 1973,


http://mondaymellowyellows.blogspot.com.au/

http://library.sl.nsw.gov.au

	Author Chin, Ann Kit Suet, 1954- Title From China to Borneo and beyond / Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan. LOCATION CALL # STATUS  Mitchell Library - Onsite Storage  H 2013/2121     REQUEST ITEM Published [Auckland, N.Z. : Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan, 2013] Description 311 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm. Notes Cover title. "Journal of two families, the Chans and the Kongs. It traces the first movement in 1907 from Kwang Zhou, China to the jungles of Borneo. It is a six generational record with the second wave of movement to England, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA and New Zealand"--Back cover. Subject Chin, Ann Kit Suet, 1954- -- Family. Chan family. Kong family. Chinese -- Malaysia. Malaysia -- History -- 20th century. ISBN 9780473239008 (pbk.) Dewey 959.5 Bib Util 51752493		Chin, Ann Kit Suet, 1954-
Title	From China to Borneo and beyond / Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan.

LOCATION	CALL #	STATUS
Mitchell Library - Onsite Storage	H 2013/2121	REQUEST ITEM

Published [Auckland, N.Z. : Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan, 2013] Description 311 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.

Notes	Cover title.
	"Journal of two families, the Chans and the Kongs. It traces the first movement in 1907 from Kwang Zhou, China to the jungles of Borneo. It is a six generational record with the second wave of movement to England, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA and New Zealand"--Back cover.
Subject	Chin, Ann Kit Suet, 1954- -- Family.
	Chan family.
	Kong family.
	Chinese -- Malaysia.
	Malaysia -- History -- 20th century.
ISBN	9780473239008 (pbk.)
Dewey	959.5
Bib Util	51752493

From China to Borneo and beyond in NZ Libraries

From China to Borneo and beyond

 

Author:	Ann Kit Suet Chin
Publisher:	[Auckland, N.Z. : Ann Kit Suet Chin-Chan, 2013]
Edition/Format:	Print book : Biography : English
Database:	WorldCat
Rating:	(not yet rated) 0 with reviews - Be the first.
Subjects	Chin, Ann Kit Suet, -- 1954- -- Family. Chan family. Kong family. View all subjects
More like this	Similar Items
Library		Held formats
1.	Hamilton City Libraries Hamilton, 3204 New Zealand	Book
2.	Auckland Libraries Auckland, 1010 New Zealand	Book
3.	University of Auckland, General Library The University of Auckland Auckland, 1142 New Zealand	Book
4.	Alexander Turnbull Library - National Library of New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand	Book
5.	National Library of New Zealand, Wellington National Library of New Zealand Wellington, 6011 New Zealand	Book
6.	Wellington City Libraries Wellington Public Library Wellington, 6011 New Zealand	Book

worldcat.org/wcidentities

http://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-no2013030355

Chin, Ann Kit Suet 1954-

Overview

Works:	5 works in 5 publications in 2 languages and 28 library holdings
Roles:	Author

Publication Timeline

2010 | |2020

Key Publications about Ann Kit Suet Chin Publications by Ann Kit Suet Chin

Most widely held works about Ann Kit Suet Chin

• From China to Borneo and beyond by Ann Kit Suet Chin( Book )
• Diary of a bereaved mother by Ann Kit Suet Chin( Book )
• Hai wai hua ren de Zhong Guo hun = From China to Borneo and beyond by Ann Kit Suet Chin( Book )

 

Most widely held works by Ann Kit Suet Chin

Cry of oppressed women by Ann Kit Suet Chin( Book )
1 edition published in 2014 in English and held by 6 libraries worldwide

Mail order bride by Ann Kit Suet Chin( Book )
1 edition published in 2013 in English and held by 6 libraries worldwide

 

Audience Level

0				1
	Kids	General	Special

Audience level: 0.76 (from 0.73 for Diary of a ... to 0.83 for Hai wai hu ...)

Related Identities

• Kong family
• Chan family
• Ting, Kong Sing Translator

Useful Links

• Library of Congress Authority File (English)

Associated Subjects

Bereavement--Psychological aspects Chan family Chinese Families Kong family Loss (Psychology) Malaysia New Zealand Parents of terminally ill children

Alternative Names

Chan, Ann Kit Suet, 1954-
Chin-Chan, Ann Kit Suet, 1954-

Languages

English (4)
Chinese (1)

feeling validated for my writing

Dear Ann,

I've enjoyed reading your book "From China to Borneo and Beyond 海外华人的中国魂: 从中国，到南洋，到更远". Got your book from the Uni. and discovered it by chance. 

Keep up your good work.

Regards,

Sing Kiong

---
Professor Sing Kiong Nguang
Chair of Control Engineering
Deputy Head of Department (Research)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019, Auckland City
New Zealand

Alphabe Letter O for Old Arts building

 when I was in University, this was called Old Arts Building. Now they call it clock tower.
It is like an old castle. In Winter, it was freezing.

Blogger is playing up again, I can't post comments on some of yr posts, Gattina.


http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/

Women Refuge centre

I am a public speaker and a topic that my audience like is the role of women. I tell of the paternalist society where Chinese women are subjected to men and treated as second class citizen. I wrote this boom.

Yesterday, I went back to my Alma mater, Auckland University. I saw this cake stand raising money for Mangere women's refuge. I have visited a refuge centre before. While I wrote different scenarios of abused women, I count my blessings that I have studied in three universities and I can write and give these abus women a voice.

A counselor has read my book and felt the scenarios were so life like that she would use the book in her work.
 

Overcoming the stereotyping of the Paternalistic society.

I am a public speaker and a topic that my audience like is the role of women. I tell of the paternalist society where Chinese women are subjected to men and treated as second class citizen.

I tell of personal experience, Dad had 6 girls, Each time, one of us girls were born, my Bodai aka maternal grandmother would say," another MUI ZAI SEE," loosely translated as "bloody useless girl." When Dad sent me to study in Canada, she joked that Dad studied too much and became stupid in the head.

I am so glad that Dad became stupid in the head. Out of these bloody useless girls, and their bloody useless girls,  we have become teachers, principal, writer, professor, medical practitioner, computer expert, financial controller, lawyers, interpreters, musicians, university registrar, psychologist, and so on.

Bodai, Dad's studied too much has freed us from being second class citizen. I wish you are still alive to see us.

This post was inspired by a photo my niece Jane Kalang posted on her Facebook today. I am very proud of you, Jane.

The Gypsy Baron, a throw back to 1968

With the beautiful Zulaikha, the junior choir. I was the one with the white skirt. Photo from Chang Yi and the form 6 magazine and journalist club.
In 1999, we meet, Soraya, Jasnah and myself. Photo with our teacher Mrs. Rao. We had a class reunion, first after 28 years.

 

 Stephen Lau, Otto invited Miss Fries in Singapore.

It was in 1968 when I sang this, and I can still remember some of the words to this .

Danube river of dreams, 

Danube river of dreams, 

Have their beauties I know.

have their beauties I know. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph7dOwyhtV4

 I found this you-tube of a school performance, and can't help bringing me back to 1968.

Danube river of dreams by Otto, Kalman Zsupan, Count Kareska & Sandor Barinkay

Peanut roots.

I finally got my photos from Martin Lo for my peanut root story when I realised my fellow Gardening Facebook friend Nancy Chan had posted her post. Here it is.

http://chingchailah.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/growing-peanuts-in-my-garden.html It's an amazing post . do visit it.

This leaves me to tell my peanut root/ FA Sa Gan story. I didn't know about the good stuff about peanut roots until I was an adult, self appointed secretary of the gardening club. We residents, mainly from abroad loved to potter in the land around us, but we were not allowed to. But we did anyway. The University Estate Office came and pulled our plants. We played a cat and mouse game.

Eventually both parties got tired of this game, and the University gave us a nice plot of land. We divided the plot and one member grew peanuts. As I am allergic to peanuts, I didn't want her peanuts when she came with a bucket full of it.

Months later, a neighbour who sadly had short young children. She came to be and asked for the peanut roots.

"Why do yo want them?"
"Didn't you know, peanut root soup will make a preadolescence child grow tall."

I went to the member who grew them.
" This is exactly why I grew them for my small son."

Then I heard from my sister in law who was a teacher. She heard the pupils have a ditty for a short teacher.

"Fa San Gan aka peanut root,
Fa San Gan,
Ah Ma mei bei ni Fa San Gan."  your mum did not feed you peanut root soup.

When I visited Sibu, my home town, I saw them selling in the market. I bought a big bag for my friend. She said the soup did help.

I shared this with friends in the various gardening forum.

My two daughters are 5 ft 10. My friends asked if I secretly cooked the FA SAN GEN for them. I joked back, if I had, they would be 6 ft 6.

Alphabe-Thursday letter O for Old and nostalgia.

 You have to imagine this is an old wooden stove.

When I was young, Dad was a civil servant and we moved houses when he got a promotion. We lived in two houses, class 4, an exact old wooden house like the above, we lived for 7 years. It's on stilts but you can't see the stilts here hidden by the scrub. We were there in the old days in 1959 to 1966.

In the old days, we used firewood to cook our food. I took the first photo, because it looked like a wood fire stove we used. Just imagine the bottom tier was used to store fire wood, and the upper tier, where we cooked our food.

At the bottom left corner, was a metal container where mum had some rubber soaked in kerosene. That in the old days were used to start fire.

I must have been in primary 4 and 5 when I have learn somewhere that water puts out fire. I was doing an experiment and wonder if the liquid kerosene would act like water, and put out fire. I dropped a match into this box of volatile kerosene and rubber combo.

"Whoosh!" a curtain of fire came up.

It scared the hell out of me. I must have screamed. I tried to put it out with a cup of water, it made it even worst.

Dad got mum to soak a blanket to cover the container. The fire was put out, the whole kitchen was black.

I crounched in the corner, waiting to be punished. But the punishment never came. 

Dad said, " She was just doing an experiment."  As I write this, I am wonder if Dad read about Thomas Edison and his experiments. 

We moved away to another house, and I didn't go back to the old house. I went later to Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.

In 1995, My sister and her husband, Kallang asked if I wanted to go back. So I went back, all the houses were there except my house. The people told me it was burned down. 

It survived my little fire, it could not survive a big fire. I was quite emotional seeing an empty space.

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/

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