六月十四日生まれの私 – One A also can

题目是日语，而翻译成中文为 [6月14日诞生的我]。 为何选了这个为题目？

在上个月到日本东京度了四天的初夏之旅的时看见一本日语小说 ，日语的书名是　[六月六日生まれの天使 ]， 没看清楚小说是什么故事， 觉得这个题目有意思，而刚好今天也是自己生日，所以就借了这本小说的书名作为今天的题目。

我是属十二生肖的鸡，在上世纪的五十年代的后半期，也就是旧历法的什么酉年诞生地。一下子记不起天干是什么，没 [通胜] 在手就没去查个清楚。

活了半个世纪，每年都是一样，没什么庆祝诞生日的活动。一个人生活着也没有多和其他友人 打交道，到了诞生日也就这样一人平平静静的过着。

小时候也不庆祝阳历的6月14日的这一日卫生日，而母亲是在农历的5月17日早餐上给自己添多两粒的熟鸡蛋来纪念我的诞生。所以每年要吃两粒鸡蛋时，就知道是自己的诞生日来了。

那两粒鸡蛋就这样的脱掉蛋壳清清的吃，或沾点酱油调味。小时候应为不习惯吃熟蛋，每次都不什么愿意去吃拿两鸡蛋。到了中年，近来因饮食比较减单，又还时常到健身室锻炼， 而为了增添些蛋白质，每天都带一两粒早上准备好的熟鸡蛋和些蔬菜带去上班午饭时候吃。现在已习惯也喜爱吃煮熟的鸡蛋了。

One A also can – 又从何说起呢？

照片拍摄于1966年，地点是校园内的新建游泳池，我在念小学三年级。霹雳州怡保市的英华学校，是全州内唯一的一间半私立校，建有校园内游泳池的学校。从三年级起小学生可参加学游泳班作为课外活动。父亲因为要我学会游泳，就给报名参加。

游泳班的教练是站在小孩们左右旁的男女老师， 他们当运动游泳班教练的同时也当上了教课班的班主任。女老师的名子已经忘记了，但是那位身材魁梧的男老师一直以来都留念他。 因为除了三年级我学游泳的老师外， 到了四年级他也当了我小学四A班的班主任老师。

应为英华学校是以英文为主的学校我不晓得老师的中文姓名，但是英文姓是 Hong, 名Kok Hua。中文也许是国华，是Hong老师。老师来学校上任不久，记得他告诉我们家乡是在霹雳州西南部靠近海港的红土坎港实吊远镇。住在这一区的都是以福州方言群为多数Hong老师也应该是福州或福清人吧。

记得有一天, Hong老师为他四年级班的学生们查问他们的住址。问到我的时候， 老师说；
光权，你住家的地址是 万里望镇大马路地段15606,吗?
我就顺口的回答老师说：
也可以写为 一A。

老师学生们，听了我的回答得那么又快又直率全班大笑起来。因为这句回答［也可以写为 一A］，　用英语我是说成为：One A also can．

引起全场大笑的缘故也许是因为我的回答太顺口而这句话又简陋了吧。One A also can – 的语法， 一般上是我们称为新加坡式或马来亚式的英语。正确的英文语法因该是：It can also be One A 或 It can be One A too.

以后我的名也化为 - One A also can - 了。

过了近四十年，有一天靠近过年时，在怡保市Hong老师碰见表姐。表姐和Hong老师互相认识因为他们都一直以来从年轻到退休都在怡保的小学的教育圈当教师。Hong老师也知道我是表姐是亲戚。

多年没见，老师就问起表姐，不是有位表弟吗。
我回乡过年的那年拜访姨妈时，表姐谈起遇见Hong老师的事，说老师还记得我的那句：One A also can。

那就草草的写下这个故事 小学时候的故事，作为送给自己的一个生日礼物。。。


Postscript –

1. 六月十四日生まれの私

The title written in Japanese reads: rokugatsu jyuuyokka umareno watashi, which could be translated as : Me, born on June 14

It’s adapted from the title of a suspense novel written in Japanese, and I thought it apt to use it today.

2. One A also can

I chose to write in Chinese, as most of the casual readings and books that I read nowadays are in Chinese. Though educated in English from primary one to Six Form and all in English, and Malay as a language subject, after all these years of self-taught Chinese, I found an urge express myself in the written Chinese.

Perhaps, it’s the mother tongue – that is the real mother tongue – Hakka – that has helped. The structure and pronunciation of this dialect is close to Mandarin, and it naturally laid the foundation to build up learning Mandarin.

I really feel sad for those Singapore Chinese families that taught their children to speak English as their mainstream childhood language from young. No wonder when the children grew up they abhor learning Mandarin, because of the simple fact that it’s such a foreign tongue, never mind if you call it "Mother’’ tongue.

For their mother tongue is English and not ‘Mandarin’, and they will have no foundation on Chinese grammar.

Oh, back to the main topic – One A also can - ?

It’s something that I blurted to my primary four class teacher Mr Hong when he asked to check my home address - if it was Lot 15606 Main Road, and I replied him that it could also be written as - One A, too.

I stood up and replied him off the cuff in Singlish - One A also can. The rely tickled the class & everyone started laughing! From that day on, One A also can - was my other pet name in school.

Basically, that’s the gist of the article & about Mr Hong still recalling the One A also can, decades later, when he met my cousin sister in Ipoh, close to a Chinese New Year some years back. My cousin sister related the story to me later.

3. Swimming lesson

The photograph was taken in 1966.

Mr Hong was the swimming teacher. I joined the class in Standard 3, to learn to swim, as swimming was not part of the primary three lessons then. The swimming lesson was in the morning, while class started in the afternoon.

Me gosh, the 9-10year old kids were real skinny then. There was not computer games, and you got to go out door to play – catching spiders, searching for tadpoles in the drains, playing marbles, and running to catch the broken kite – no wonder no extra fats.




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Snippets from 1970 - the class of Form 1A - Ipoh ACS

Back row – L to R:
Teoh Chen Hone, Chan Weng Woh, Neoh Peng Huan, Yeong Siew Fai, xx, Kwa Ghee Ghee-?, Poon Pak Keen (d), Tuen Chee, Lim Beng Fook, Kong Yow Meng -?, Lim Soon Chee, Lee Hung Cheong, Kam Lup Seong, Lam Lip Keong, Leong Pak Cheong, Dutugamunu Kumara Bandara, Ooi Yew Hock, xx.

Middle row – L to R:
Tan Chee Keong, Chua Soon Huat, xx, xx, Tang Swee Tong, sx, xx, xx, Panchannathan-?, Syed Anwar Ali, Parameswaran, Lam Weng Chong, Yong Siew Fai-?, James Jeyaratnam, Tan Say Jim, Choy Khai Choon

Front row - L to R:
Koo Kong Khen, Eddy Cheah Hock Seng, Gunasegan-?, Leong Weng Foo, Wong Choong Meng, Chan Kah Cheong, Mr. Lee Chong Lay – Form Teacher, Alan Hor Yew Tuck, Peter Lai , Ho Peng Meng, Lee Seng Yap, Chan Choong Phooi, Chan Swee Loon

Snippets from 1970

It was perhaps the first introductory lesson in Japanese. He was our history teacher, an Indian man of about forty odd years, who always wore a faint smile on his face whenever you greeted him. He had a pair of spectacles with a slight tint.

I remember him writing some Japanese characters on the black board. He said that he learnt Japanese during the Occupation, and that was thirty five years ago from then. He was perhaps about 10 years old during the Occupation.

Thirty eight odd years have passed since then, and people of his generation would be into their mid seventies and the last of the generation who would have experienced the war years in Ipoh.

The form teacher Mr Lee Chong Lay was also our swimming master. He coached the school swimming team. In that year one of the school female swimmer, Ong May Leng, was awarded the Malaysia Sportswoman of the Year, and I remember he brought the trophy to class and showed it to us. Some of us tried to carry it and it was heavy being made entirely of pewter.

Though ACS was a boy’s school, May Leng was in her Form Six years, equivalent to the Junior College or the matriculation pre-university years. She was the star swimmer of the late sixties and early seventies years, and represented the country in international meets.

We were 13 years old, and not really as an adult yet. To us we would viewed the Six Formers with a sense of awe, as they had passed their MCE and got thro another major hurdle in the government examination in their Fifth Form years and were a step away from entering the university..

ps:

- notes from ccp / updated 16Jun08

As for the picture of Form 1A posted in your blog, I can perhaps help with some names. Top row (4th from left) after Peng Huan, this should be Lee Yong Wai (not Yong Siew Fai whom you have named correctly in the next row next to Lam Weng Chong). Also on the top row, between Yong Wai and Ghee Kee, this Indian boy could be Panichelwan (or something to that effect). The Singh in the second row is either Karam Singh or Jaspal Singh. I am more inclined to Karam. And lastly in the front row between Eddy and Weng Fu should be Rajendran (and not Gunasegaran). Hope this helps

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the silent town - awaiting rejuvenation

This wide angle shot of the Rex cinema Ipoh, from the junction off Hugh Low was taken on the eve of the Deepavali, 07November at 6:00pm.

The quietness of the town struck me anew with awe each trip that I travel back to the town, er no, it's the city. It is something that I have not gotten used to and this picture seems to have captured the new mood of the city.. center, that is pretty lethargic and lifeless in the evening, and even dark at night.

For the Ipoh I knew - and where I had my education in the 1960/s to the 1970/s - was a bustling and vibrant town. On a holiday eve, the cinemas would be packed with moviegoers, and especially if a good show was in town. The roads would be congested and traffic heavy. The coffee shops would not be closed till past 9pm and the road side stalls starting business from 6pm would add buzz and gaiety to the nightlight till past mid-night.

This strewth of road that cuts thro the new town had 4 cinemas within the kilometer stretch- with Ruby at one end and Majestic at the other and Capitol and Rex in between - would be jam packed with cars, and the shows would be running back to back at from 6:30pm, 9pm and 11:30pm on the eve of the festive holidays and on weekends.

Alas, Ipoh town is becoming historic. Life has moved to the outskirts, and to the housing estates to the north. Many of the rows of shop houses are nearing a century old, and business had hollowed out. If only there would be an earnest attempt to rejuvenate and bring it back to life... it could rival Boise, Idaho, perhaps.

Well, with the rising price of metals, mining may make a comeback to the Silver Valley, and tin could rebuilt the town afresh.

the merdeka kids - half a century young

The kids in this picture started their primary one education in 1964 when they reached 7 years old. This made them born in 1957 – the year that Malaya got her independence from the British.

As Malaysia celebrates her 50th National Day or Hari Kebangsaan, these Merdeka kids- be they here, there, any where - are celebrating their 50th year, this year too.

Lest we have forgotten them all, these are them from the Anglo-Chinese Primary School, Ipoh : - …

Back row:
L to R: x,………, Ahmad Fadzil
Middle row:
L to R: x, x, x, Choy Khai Choon, Koo Kong Khen, Foong Kee Fatt, Koo Seong Khen, , Ng Teow Tang, x,x,x,x,xx, Neoh Peng Huan, x, x
Seated:
L to R: Tan Say Jim, Lim Beng Fook, x,x,x, Foo Choy Wan (Senior Assistant) , Cheah Chan Yew (Class Teacher), x,x,x,x,x,
Squat:
L to R: x, Tuen Chee, x, Ong Seng Lam, x,x,x,x


Happy Merdeka!

a letter to school - 1963

With this letter dated 29Nov 1963, I was formally admitted to the Anglo-Chinese Primary School, National Type (English) Ipoh, to start my Standard One education in January 1964. To confirm admission the parents must be at the school office between 12th to 18th December to pay the school admission fees.

The letter spelt out the fees to be paid, $5.00 for consolidated fee, which included Games, Arts & Handicraft and Library, and $17.30 for books, writing and other materials.

It also spelt out the school attire, which was white shirt and shorts. Though slippers were clearly mentioned not allowed, and shoes were to be worn, the letter did not specify the type and color of the shoes to be worn, or the color of socks allowed.

The headmaster of the school was Mr. Low Chooi Beng. He was a slim, bespectacled man and serious looking master. I recalled that in one of the later years while still in primary school, I sent him a Chinese New Year greeting card with the prompting from dad.

Another letter from the school dated 6th Dec, 1963 informed the parents that the new school term will start from 13th Jan 1964. This is later than the start of the school term nowadays, which is usually at the beginning of the New Year on the first working day of the new calendar. The Standard One session starts from 7:30am and ends at 12:15pm.
As I did not attend kindergarten, the new school year was my first day to a school & mixing with other kids.

It was again emphasized in this letter that the school uniform is white shirt and shorts, and no slippers allowed. The school badge of cloth material was to be sewn on the left pocket of the shirt.

This would be the start of a 20 year odyssey of education, from a little boy of 6 years and 7months old, short of a day on the first day of school. The educational path was not particularly planned, especially on the first 13 years of education, but with only a single emphasis and aim– to study hard and to pass with good grades so as to be promoted & continued in the A class in the next educational year.




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ipoh clock tower

The invisible figure was that of the Prophet, and as it was against the religion to have idols and images it was thus deleted from among the 44 images of world leaders, philosophers & thinkers on the clock tower that stands in Ipoh old town. The Birch memorial as it was known then was unviewed in 1909 by the then Britsih High Commissioner.

It's not a cartoon from the Danish newspaper. It was blotted over out of respect, humility & religious sensitivity. Peace prevailed and the clock tower had stood till today.






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the town that tin built

This picture of the Ipoh railway station was taken in Feburary 2004, at its finishing touches. As part of the double track northern sector railway expansion project, the station was renovated and given a fresh coat of paint. The Ipoh railway station was one of the grandest and the three biggest railway stations that the colonial master planned and build in the Federated Malaya States and the Straits Settlement. The other two being the Kuala Lumpur railway station and the Singapore railway station.

Located in the middle of the Kinta Valley, Ipoh was once described as the town that tin built. The rough and tough bustling heydays of the wild north where immigrants came to seek their fortune in the open cast tin mines are long gone. The tin industry brought with it restaurants, sing-song girls, bars, massage palours and in the seventies of the last century chic barber shops notoriously famous for the extra services provided by the female barber. There were also the pretty and innocent lass selling herbal drink from the roadside stall. And, the fine gal with the film star look selling g-cheong fun (a version of rice noodles).

What has Lee Ang's Crouching Tiger and Bond film got to do with Ipoh, you may ask. Well, Ipoh is well known for producing pretty maidens, and the lead actress is a fine product of Ipoh. However an absurd tale that folks in other town have about Ipoh beauties was that because Ipoh was a mistress town, therefore naturally she has more beauties than any other towns in the country. They said mistresses were more often than not prettier than the customary wives, and pretty mum begets pretty daughters. Was it not envy that wove that falsehood.?

Vistors to Ipoh used to praise her as the cleanest town in the country. It was a planned town with its shop houses laid out in grid and a good drainage system helps to keep it clean. She is also blessed with good water from the surrounding limestone mountains. It has it that without the water, Ipoh would not be endowed with the silken hofun (another version of rice noodles) and crunchy bean sprout. The Ipoh hofun found here in the Singpore is a poor imitation of the real thing.

A while back an article in the ST contrasted its fortune with the booming Kerteh town, which was a fishing village located in the coast of the oil rich state off the eastern peninsula. Fortune wax and wane, and it is no different with towns and cities. Ipoh is quiet, and laid back, showing its age. The city center in the old and new town has hollowed out as the center of business activities shifted northwards to the North-South Highway.

Ipoh railway station will always have a place in the heart of the folks that hailed from this fine town. There were many a farewell enacted here over the century, where their immigrant forefathers would take the train from here to Singapore to catch the boat back to China. This was the station where the country boy would alight en route back to his kampong during his college days in KL.


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