Honouring 100 years of love, memory, contributions

MY father, Ong Kee Bian, who had passed away four years ago, would be 100 years old tomorrow if he were still with us: he was born on Feb 22, 1926.

My column today is dedicated to his memory, based on an Elvis Presley’s country song from 1971 called ‘I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago’.

It is inspired by a recent sharing of interview transcripts sent me by writer and friend, Charlotte Hunter, who had interviewed my father before his passing.

Finally, I derive great satisfaction from my friend James Yong’s popular group on Facebook ‘Kuching-Then & Now’, which has just reached 100,000 memberships.

Well done, James!

The montage of two photos you see accompanying this column comprises one taken sometime in 1930, when my father was around four years (he was the only boy who was shirtless); and another taken last week at the same exact spot in Kuching – almost 100 years apart.

It used to be the grand gateway to the old Ong Tiang Swee mansion on the hill, before it was sold to the Anglican Diocese, and is now owned by them, and refurbished as the Marian Boutique Lodging House.

A bypass road was cut through the frontage; thus, dismantling the old gate-posts.

Someone who had lived in Kuching 100 years ago would find it difficult, if not impossible, to recognise the city that it has developed into today.

Even for myself, less than a quarter of a century younger in years, has problems these days with navigating around the city area and its outskirts.

Despite the availability of apps like Waze and GPS, it is easy to get lost.

My father had Edwin as his given Anglo-Saxon name, not because he was Christian, he was not born one; but because his father had deemed it beneficial to have an easy-to-remember English name for schooling purposes.

Dad was a third-generation Ong, born sixth in a large family of 14 to Ong Kwan Hin and spouse Wee Geok Sim.

In 1926, the year when he was born, Kuching was a slow-growing tranquil riverine capital under the rule of the Rajah Brookes – the third and last ‘White Rajah’ Charles Vyner Brooke being the titular head (1841-1946).

Situated on the south-western tip of the island of Borneo, it was a bustling trading hub along the Sarawak River, with the Main Bazaar and Gambier Street on the south bank, and the Astana (the Rajah’s residence), Fort Margherita on the north.

Rows of Malay houses on stilts had lined the riverbanks.

It was also the year when the iconic Satok suspension bridge was built at a cost of $52,000.

The 700-foot single-lane span across Sungai Sarawak was primarily constructed to carry water pipelines from the Matang Reservoir across the river to the then-township.

The town was already a diverse mini-cosmopolitan hive of trading-focused activity, with a mix of Chinese shop houses, Malay villages, British colonial administrative buildings and even an Iban settlement around the then-Blacksmith Road area.

Its estimated population then was around 30,000.

By the 1960s, it had doubled to 60,000; today’s statistics show it at 650,000 for the metro area alone.

The main hive of activities was focused around Kuching Waterfront and the Main Bazaar – a row of brick shophouses built by Ong Ewe Hai had replaced the original wooden structures that were destroyed by a major fire in 1884.

Carpenter Street, China Street and (Ong) Ewe Hai Street were fast becoming the busiest parts of the fast-growing town.

Padungan gained more prominence after the 1920s rubber boom, and this newer area had expanded with more elegant Chinese shophouses.

While the main means of transport remained the rivers, motor traffic was increasing – already in 1926, the Sarawak Government Gazette had reported on emerging traffic speed problems on the main streets.

Cultural activities and recreation were beginning to take hold – vibrant community events like acrobatic shows, school fundraisers, football, golf clubs and other sporting activities, were being initiated.

Kuching town, in 1926, functioned as a river port, with Main Bazaar serving as its commercial heart.

There was a railway, which connected Kuching to Mile 10, primarily transporting stone, gravel and passengers.

Rickshaws were the main form of local transport as automobiles were still luxuries reserved for colonial officers and the wealthy Chinese ‘towkays’ (businessmen).

For defence purposes, there was the Sarawak Rangers, who maintained peace and patrolled the interior.

There was also a local police force.

By 1926, the global demand for rubber had transformed Sarawak’s economy; the high price of the commodity had brought wealth to the local bazaars.

My father was born in the original Ong mansion on the hill (now The Marian), and his father only moved to their new homestead when he was eight years old in 1934 – a 10-acre plot of land that still exists at the foothill of the Sarawak Club at Jalan Taman Budaya.

Like his father before him, Dad and all his male siblings were enrolled into an Anglican Mission school, St Thomas’s, which was founded in 1848.

The four girls in the family all went to its sister school across the road, St Mary’s.

Dad became a ‘born-again’ Anglican at age 56, in 1982.

Some new ‘family’ revelations were culled by Charlotte Hunter when Dad was interviewed by her before his passing.

He told the stories about how his grandfather Ong Tiang Swee had pioneered the rubber, ‘jelutong’ (soft-textured timber) and sago industries in the early days of processing them for export from Kuching.

Ong Tiang Swee had set up a processing plant for sago to export to England the favourite dessert of that era, the sago pudding.

For the USA, he had also exported ‘jelutong’ to the Wrigley’s Chewing Gum Company to make their chewing gums – every Christmas, a big box of gums and candies were gifted to the Ongs from the owners of Wrigley without fail.

I was aware of my ancestors being a pioneer in these, as well as the poultry farm business, but was not ever told that at one stage, we also had a pig farm of between 1,000 to 2,000 pigs.

Ong Tiang Swee had also donated an area of his rubber plantation for the Brooke government to build an army camp prior to the Second World War.

He also gave away a large chunk of his property for the building of junior quarters for government civil servants, which became the Batu Lintang government quarters.

In the field of education, he allocated and granted his own land at Jalan Ong Tiang Swee, which is now a school named after him.

At the rear and by the side of that school was the Ong Family burial ground, since excavated and relocated. One can see brand new high-rise luxurious apartments there now.

Dad became an officer of the Department of Agriculture in the mid-1950s, and rose to the rank of a deputy director in charge of the Inland Fisheries Section before he had retired at age 56 in 1982.

He had led a fulfilled and accomplished life in the personal pursuit of his life’s interests, and attained many of his goals.

In his career, he had made a name for himself by being a straight-arrow, conscientious and hardworking, and had set an exemplary standard by leaving behind a legacy of many firsts and other commendable achievements of which he was proud of.

Tomorrow, the family will celebrate his 100th anniversary.

When Dad passed away on Oct 6, 2022, at age 96, he had been the longest living Ong since the time his great-grandfather Ong Ewe Hai had first stepped foot on Kuching soil.

We will always treasure his love for us, and he lives on forever in our memories.

May your loving soul rise to God’s Glory, Daddy.

Gong Xi Fa Chai!