Folks talk about homecoming visits after leaving hometown many years ago to settle down elsewhere

MANY people have their own nostalgia for their hometowns.

For me, what I reminisce most clearly about my hometown Sibu is the era of the 1960s.

In those days, there were so many bicycles on the road that the car drivers were ‘afraid of them’. The merciless ringing of the metal bells would warn the pedestrians of incoming cyclists.

Back then, Sibu also had what could be the largest number of trishaws in Sarawak. The trishaw men had very powerful legs – one driver could easily ferry a family of six in his little, but sturdy, three-wheeled vehicle for a fare of only 50 cents.

Regardless of the availability of these mechanical transport, the majority of the folks in Sibu still preferred walking to go from one point to another.

The villagers of Kampong Datu, Kampong Hilir and Kampong Nangka, back then, would go to the shops or the then-Lau King Howe Hospital in the town centre on foot – about a half-hour trip.

The children walked to school every day throughout the schooling week, in the sun or in the rain, without any complaints.

In my memory, Sibu remained like that up until the 1970s, when development gradually took place. By that time, however, many of the townsfolks had already migrated elsewhere, myself included – I moved to Miri in 1987.

I would go back to my hometown, every now and then, but I do wonder about those who left Sibu a long time ago.

Do they make homecoming trips often? And when they are in Sibu, do they still get that ‘good old feeling’ of returning to the place where they were born, or do they now see themselves as strangers in this town?

‘Story of the trishaw men’

I recently met David Wong Kee King at a coffee shop called ‘Lien Yew’, located along Island Road.

David was born at the Lau King Howe Hospital, which was founded in 1936 and had served as the only hospital in Sarawak’s central region for six decades before the establishment of Sibu Hospital in 1996.

He said he grew up listening to his mother always talking about how many trishaw men would ‘sell their blood to put food on the table’.

“It’s about donating blood, actually,” he chuckled. “Blood donation was not as familiar then as it is today.

“It’s actually a heart-warming story. What these trishaw men did back then had saved the lives of many Chinese folks.”

Having settled down in Bintulu, David said it had been five years since his last trip to his hometown.

“I’m very proud of the Sibu Central Market, which sells 1,001 things under one big roof.

“I’m particularly awed by the availability of organic products like mushrooms and jungle vegetables there.

“It’s a must-go place whenever I’m in town – I’d go there every day. Kudos to the Sibu Municipal Council for maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of such a huge area,” he said.

‘Of kampua and kompia’

I also got the chance to meet Hii King Ming, who had not been back for 10 years.

This time, he said it was a ‘very different homecoming’ for him.

“I last saw my grandmother in Kuala Lumpur in 2018 – she passed away a year later.

“I came back (to Sibu) this time to attend to works being done on her grave, and also some repair works on her house.

“It’s not exactly a happy homecoming. I’m extremely sad over her passing and also the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but for now at least, I’m glad that I can do something good during my time in Sibu,” said Hii, who is now based in Kuala Lumpur.

On a lighter note, he said the first thing he did upon arriving town was to grab ‘kampua’ and ‘kompia’ – both specialties of Sibu, specifically associated with the Foochow community.

“I still remember the shops selling them.

“It’s heart-warming that I can still see many familiar faces in town – some are my grandmother’s friends, some are my relatives, and a few are my schoolmates.

“At first, I was worried about being lost here after having not come back for 10 years.

“All of us, except for one aunt, are now in Kuala Lumpur. She’s the only family member who is still in Sibu.”

Hii could go on and on about the dishes famous in this town.

According to him, kampua is actually a plain flour-egg-water-salt noodle similar to the curly ‘kolo mee’, but unlike the latter, the kampua strands are straight.

“Kampua is simply tossed in onion oil, seasoned with salt and other condiments, and served as it is, without broth.

“Kompia is a plain dry bun, with a hole in the centre – very much resembling a bagel.”

Hii also spoke about the famous Foochow ‘thread noodles’, the ‘mee sua’.

“I think it’s the Sibu air that’s perfect for drying the mee sua. If the air’s too dry, the noodles would break easily; if too brittle, the cooking process would not result in long strands of sweet-tasting wheat noodles.

“Somehow, the saltiness of the noodles made in Sibu makes it the best dish ever,” said Hii.

‘Learning family history’

Retired teacher, TS Wong, who studied in New Zealand at the age of 16, said he had always kept in touch with his kinsfolks in Sibu.

“Coming back to Sibu has always been a happy holiday for me. It’s good to be back and meet up with friends who are still living here,” he said when we met recently.

“When I was younger, I had no time to pay attention to the history of my community; where they came from in China – things like that.

“Now that I’m retired, I have more time and I’m glad to be able to listen more attentively to the oral history.

“I am very interested in the family history, especially after paying respects to my relatives laid to rest in the Methodist Episcopal Mission Cemetery in Sungai Merah,” said Wong, who is now a Justice of Peace in Auckland after his last post as an assistant head of a school there.

‘Changing of times’

Jacqueline Yong had not been back to since the pandemic struck almost three years ago.

She returned just recently, and was very happy to be able to spend more time with her sisters.

“I love the Sibu Night Market, where I can see so many familiar faces, and I love how convenient it is, especially for the working folks who do not have the time to shop during the day.

“We can buy food and also things like knives and even clothes – in fact, there’s everything we need at the night market.

“Also, it is a place where we can get some family news from the vendors whom we have known since young. We also learn about events that don’t go into the newspapers.

“It is a true social grapevine, one that I find absent in Miri.”

For Elsie Lau, she had always enjoyed ‘the fading sunset and the quietness of Island Road’.

“I have not been back for more than five years now. My parents have passed on.

“I am back here for the wedding of a first cousin. In fact, I’m the only one from my family who is able to attend. Only my elderly uncle and I are the ones left from my father’s side.”

Lau said this homecoming was ‘quite lonely’.

“I’m single and many of my friends have moved elsewhere.

“I had a happy childhood in Sibu, but the times have changed; we all have changed.

“Many old places have been torn down to make way for new buildings. Many of my old neighbours have passed on.

“I now feel that I am a stranger in Sibu. Kuching is where I belong now, where I have friends and my church support group.

“I don’t think I can ever move back to Sibu – if my parents were still around, I would,” she said as we chatted and enjoyed the scenery at Hoover Square.

Her words struck me. It was then that I realised coming home to Sibu was not the same for everyone.

We, the Sibu-born people, would relate differently to the sounds, the colours, the scenery and everything else that were once familiar to us, having settled elsewhere for a long period of time.

We might have eaten the same noodles, but our tastebuds have changed over the years.

We might frequent the same familiar places during our younger days, but over time, the ‘old pasture’ with its overgrown grass and decaying architecture, has painted a picture of loss and sadness. Even the old familiar roads now have new names.

Long gone the days when the sweet old shop-owners, with their greying hair, would shout out the arrival of fresh bunches of ‘kangkong’ (water spinach) or live chickens coming straight from the village coops.

Nowadays, rarely do we hear pleasant words of greetings like: ‘Nice to see you again’; ‘Yes, I remember your mother / your father’; or ‘Send my regards to your family’.

Yes, the old times have gone and we, the homecoming folks, have only the memories of our past days living in Sibu.

For now, I am holding on to these memories as tightly as I can before the day comes when I can no longer remember anything.