Monday, October 1, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Perth @ Night
Some pictures i took from the overhead bridge over the freeway in Applecross of the freeway/city/water...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
MUSIC & MOVIES OF THE 60s
Before the advent of TVs and the birth of couch potatoes, the common home entertainments in the late 50s and early 60s were listening to music from radio, tape-recorder and gramophone (or record-player as some of you might call it). Instead of cassette tapes or CDs, VCDs or DVDs that pervade every home these days, we used thick black vinyl records, the sizes of which varied from that of a large pizza (for 78 rpm and 33.3 rpm) to that of a small plate (for 45 rpm). Its thickness was almost 2-3 times that of a CD.
Our gramophone at Carpenter Street had a square wooden base that held a turntable. By the side of the turntable was a robust metal arm (tone-arm) that ended in a swollen cartridge holding a stylus. It was the contact of the stylus with the closely-set bands and grooves on the vinyl record when it was turning that produced the music and song. The turntable was powered by winding an S-shaped handle on one side of the wooden base. The sound from the record was then amplified through a large trumpet-liked funnel. From time to time, we had to quickly turn the handle to allow the continuous rotation of the turntable. Oh yes, before even placing the record, we had to set the correct speed of the turntable by turning an adjustable button. Otherwise, you might end up with Doris Day belting out like Donald Duck or Dean Martin with the squeaky voice of a chipmunk. The magnetic tape recorder that Uncle Hock had was an open-deck with two large spools of magnetic tapes. It was slightly smaller in size than an in-flight cabin suitcase, nothing like the mini-tapes you use for video recorders these days.
I recalled songs like Mambo Italiano (Hey Mambo,Mambo...)a renewed version (sung by Bette Midler)of which you hear these days,Blame it on the Bossa Nova, I Will Follow Him, A Little Bit of Soap were playing on the radio day in and day out at the peak of their popularity. The latter was very appropriate during shower time when our Uncle Poh (Guan/Tony's dad) would sing out in his top voice. Auntie Ghim and Auntie Hiok's favourites were those Mandarin songs like Nan Ping Wan Zhong (The Evening Bell of Nanping)南屏晚钟 and those oldies by Zhou Xuan 周璇. Pa used to play various Chinese folk songs from Yi Sheng 艺声 or Arts Sound Records Company. Some of those evergreens were 'The Distant Land'在那遥远的地方，'Welcoming Our Guests from Distant Land' 远方的客人请你留下来, 'Love Song of Kanding' 康定情歌 and 'Picking Tea leaves and Catching Butterflies' 采茶扑蝶。Pa once had a Mario Lanza record too and I remembered the tune of an Italian/English song sung by him - 'Come prima, come prima....'
For the English inclined, Elvis Presley was gaining his reign in the pop charts as well as the cinema stage. His gyrating gait, his 'curry-puff' hairdo and the quivering voice would drive all the teenage girls insane, screaming their hearts out or crying. His movies were always full of girls, girls and more girls, who often engaged in beach and dance parties. Sun-tanned bodies and bikini swimsuits were the craze of the day. It was as if people in the whole world all lived on islands in the South Pacific, doing nothing but sun-worshiping to get a good tan and merry-making. Then you had similar-genre singers like Frankie Avalon who were fighting for their share of fame. He too followed the formula of beach, girls and love songs.
The early 60s also saw Cliff Richard coming on stage with his band The Shadows. His movies and songs like 'The Young Ones', 'Summer Holiday', 'Bachelor Boy' echoed the heartstring of teenagers of those days. At the same period, budding British singers seemed to dominate the pop scene with many popular all-male groups churning out hits after hits - Freddy and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter and Gordon, Dave Clark Five, the Moody Blues just to name a few. Suddenly like a lightning flash out of the blue,for the first time in 1963, a Japanese song called 'Sukiyaki'by Kyu Sakamoto hit the western pop charts. Hardly anyone would know what the title of the song meant, let alone the strange sounding Japanese lyrics to the western ears - 'Ue o muite, arukoo. Namida ga kobore nai yoo ni, omoidasu, haru no hi hitori bocchi no yoru....' Yet it surprised everyone that a song with a foreign word like 'Sukiyaki' which is a Japanese dish could upset the crooning of an Elvis number. By the way, 'Sukiyaki' was just a catchy word used and had nothing to do with the content of the song.
However, when the Beatles came on board with 'It's a Hard Day's Night' and 'Help' as black & white movies, their songs instantly caught the world's attention. As if overnight, the half-coconut shell hairdo, the bell-bottomed pants matched with the polished 'sepatu' leather shoes became the in-thing of teenage guys. Our all-obliging Cho Cho even sewed us a few bell-bottoms to catch up with the era. However I did not imitate the half-coconut shell hairdo but sported the `half-baked' side-burns and `curry puff' Elvis hair-style instead.
In those days, going to movies was the most popular pastime. From the make-shift, open-air, outdoor, one-piece movie screen played at empty lots in downtown (opposite the temple at Carpenter Street)to proper cinemas like Rex, Odeon, Capitol,Cathay and Sylvia (located at the State Secretariat Building facing the Padang), it was an entertainment that most families could afford. Those open-air movie screening was free, usually as a kind gesture to the community from the organisers who celebrated the special events of a temple in the lunar calendar. It could be the celebration of some deity or festivity. Often shown were silent movies like Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, the Three Stooges or everyone's favourite cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Donald Duck, etc. Cantonese soapies featuring the child prodigy Fung Bo Bo 冯宝宝 who suffered the ill-treatments of her step-mother were played over and over again on the white screen on many occasions.
To watch the movie at the open-air compound, all one required as a kid was to find an empty space, bared your feet, put your thongs on the concrete floor and sat on them. That was your 'cinema seat', enough to enable you to focus your attention on the white screen through the night and disregard the dusty floor. The more demanding adults would bring their own stools from home. It was a smart move as often you would find yourself waiting in pitch darkness when all of a sudden the film ground to a stop. That was when the worn-out film-strip broke during the most engaging part of the movie. Catcalls from disgruntled audience would erupt from all corners until the running of the film projector was restored.
Cinema tickets were not expensive in those days. Ta Ker and I could share a single ticket that costed 50 cents to watch a movie. Being a minor, very often I could happily follow uncles or aunties after dinner and entered the cinema free of charge. All I needed was to sit on the space in between the seats or on their laps. That free-viewing of movies continued until I had grown too big and the bones on my butt began to cause discomfort on the laps of Auntie Ghim! The 50-cent ticket allowed one to sit amongst the first 5-6 rows of seats from the big screen. To secure a good seat without straining the neck at the front row, often I had to resort to queueing up way early before the ticket counter opened. That in itself could be a full hour of waiting and patience would be a virtue.
You may wonder what were the cinema movies back then? Well, we had the black and white Asian Cowboy, Philippino movies. Instead of gun duels in hacienda, you had Joseph Estrada, (disgraced former Philippines President) acting as villain and fighting it out in pineapple plantation. Most amusing of all,the Phillipino actors and actresses spoke in fluent Mandarin and not Tagalog.
However dominating the cinema screens then were the Japanese movies dubbed in Mandarin. They were produced by companies like 日活Nikkatsu and 東映Toho and were amongst the most popular. After watching Philippino actors speaking Mandarin, no one would feel funny watching the Japanese actors doing the same. Movies with fast-paced, sword-fighting samurais and dart-throwing ninjas equipped with mesmerizing translocation skills and unbelievable feats were my favourites.The famous Zatoichi series of films called The Blind Swordsman by actor 勝新太郎Shintaro Katsu proved so popular that it was running for several years. I could remember vividly in one scene, the fleeting draw of a sword would kill a dozen annoying flies that disturbed the peace of the blind hero. Impressive indeed for a young mind back then. The blind swordsman was considered 'cool' wearing his straw hat that covered his face, even when fighting. That was possibly a convenient way by the director to allow the supposedly 'blind' actor to peep/see while the film rolled. In recent years, Japanese film company has rehashed this Zatoichi movies with new main actor and violence. But to me, that was no comparison to the original Shintaro. Other well known samurai actors were 三船敏郎 Toshiro Mifune (of 黒沢明Kurosawa fame),丹波哲郎 Tetsuro Tanba and 高橋英樹 Hideki Takahashi.
When the samurai theme started to wear out, more modern Japanese thriller movies with assassins, hitmans, Yakuza gangsters became the talk of the town. Actors like 小林旭Akira Kobayashi (of Black Tight Killers, Tokyo Drifters and Kanto Wanderer fame)and 石原裕次郎 Yujiro Ishihara became very very popular. So were the accompanying damsel-in-distress actresses like 浅丘ルリコ Asaoka Ruriko, 松原智恵子Chieko Matsubara，吉永小百合 Yoshinaga Sayuri. These beautiful hearthrobs with big marble eyes acting opposite the above `heros' continued to appear in hundreds of movies in years to come.
Another pioneering forte of Japanese film industry in the early 60s was the science fiction movies with incredible special effects. It was nothing compared to the computerised animation and realistic special effects you see these days. Nonetheless, considering the limited resources available then, the Japanese directors set the trend in creating super-heroes like the Ultraman (太空飞侠)and Astroboy, equivalent of later days Superman or Spiderman. Just like other avid followers, I was thrilled to watch Ultraman (太空飞侠)show after show even though they were in black and white. As if trying to outdo the super-heroes, Japanese directors (such as Ishiro Honda)created the so-called 'Weird Beasts' (Kaiju 怪兽)fantasy movies with dinosaur-liked, all destructive Godzilla & Gamera. These creatures terrified the silver screen for a few years and set the milestone and standard for the later King Kong, Star War movies.
While the aforesaid fantasy movies pleased young audience like me, adults from the Tay family were more atuned to Mandarin movies。The first Chinese movie I ever recalled was 夜半歌声, equivalent of 'Phantom of the Opera'. It was perhaps the horrifying scarred face of the main actor and the eerie song (sung at midnight) more than anything else that left an indelible mark in my mind. Other movies that the Tay seniors preferred were those carrying good moral stories /messages, especially those made by slightly leftist Great Wall Film Productions. These often depicted trying family life with hard-working members who fought against repression and adversity from the beaurocrats. Popular actors and actresses in these films were 鲍方(Bao Fang),龚秋霞 (Gong Chiu Xia)，江汉 (Zhiang Han)，朱虹 (Zu Hong) and 张铮 (Zhang Zhen). Some of them continued to act in Hong Kong TV series till today. In fact, early 60s was also a period of upsurge in communism ideology, especially in British Borneo and Malay Peninsula when the colonial British rule was coming to an end. Communist sympathisers were actively recruiting new members in Chung Hua Chinese schools by organising social group activites especially after school hours. Games, sports, free tuition classes were soon turned into brain-washing and the teaching of communism.
To be fair, not all movies imported from Mainland China were bad. In fact some of the most memorable ones were those adopted from classical literature. 'Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦','Tales of Water Margin 水浒传', 'Monkey Goes West 西游记', 'Hua Mu Lan 花木兰', 'Lady Generals of The Yang Family 杨门女将'(some presented in Beijing Opera style)were household favourites. However, the most impressive box-office holder was not adopted from a classical literature but from a story of Guangxi province - 'The Third Sister Liu 刘三姐'.It was possibly the first movie that was shown in cinemas for several months. We had a record of the songs from the movie and it was played so often by Aunties that I could even memorise some of them. Other examples of good family entertainment movies were 'Ma Lan Flower 马兰花'，'The Kite 风筝','Salesman Li Lian Sheng' 李连生卖杂货. The latter was the first Hokkien opera that I knew and we had the vinyl record too. Occasionally, there were Chinese cartoon productions that rivaled Walt Disney's. Short cartoons like 鲤鱼跳龙门(Carps and the Dragon Gate)and 西游记 (Monkey Goes West) were excellent.
Besides those Chinese movies produced in Mainland China, the popular Mandarin movies were produced in Hong Kong under the umbrella of Shaw Brothers. Early film-stars like 严俊Yen Chun and 李丽华Li Li Hua were familiar to our uncles/aunties' generation.
Yen Chun after years of acting later turned into a film director himself. It was a bit like dual-role actress Ge Lan 葛兰 (starred in Star, Moon and Sun 星星，月亮，太阳) who was also an established singer.
The 60s Shaw Brothers productions were well remembered and closely associated with a series of musicals (especially those directed by 李翰祥 Li Han-Hsiang) which were termed `黄梅调Huangmei (Yellow Plum) opera'. They were not unlike English musicals except that the story-lines were based on tales from ancient China. 林黛Linda Lin Dai, 乐蒂Betty Loh Ti, 赵雷Zhao Lei and subsequently 凌波 Ivy Ling Po and 李菁 Li Ching were the anchoring actors and actresses of this genre of movies. Almost anyone who loved the opera movies would know '江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty'＆ '梁山伯与祝英台 Butterfly lovers' The latter was the Chinese version of Romeo & Juliet. 林黛Linda Lin Dai shot to fame after her maiden costume appearance in `江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty'. Her subsequent appearances in '白蛇传Madam White Snake','不了情Love Without End', '蓝与黑The Blue and the Black' proved less successful. Tragically she ended up following the footstep of Marilyn Monroe and committed suicide in 1964.
With the roaring success of sword-fighting samurai movies in Japan and South East Asia, Shaw Brothers directors like 张澈Chang Cheh quickly capitalised on the craze and followed suit with his `独臂刀One-Armed Swordsman' which instantly turned 王羽Jimmy Wang Yu into superb swordsman. Other new comers made famous with the sword-fighting movies were 秦萍Chin Ping,罗烈 Luo Lie, 狄龙Ti Lung,姜大卫David Chiang, 郑佩佩Cheng Pei Pei. The latter came into prominence in 1966 when she acted in '大醉侠Come Drink With Me' directed by 胡金铨King Hu. Actually it was King Hu who brought a new lease of life to sword-fighting movies just when they started to decline into meaningless, violent and blood-letting nonsensical dramas. '龙门客栈Dragon Gate Inn' became the signature masterpiece of King Hu who instilled art, poetry, zen, wits and good photography into an otherwise ordinary sword-fighting story. From a humble beginning doing minor role in '江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty', King Hu became well known as a film director internationally.
You would be wrong to think there were only action movies in the 60s. On the romantic side of it, Shaw Brothers did churn out a fair number of love story dramas with actors and actresses like 叶枫 Julie Yueh Feng, 陈厚Peter Chen Ho, 关山Kwan Shan 乔庄 Qiao Zhuang and 胡燕妮Jenny Hu. Many of these movies were based on best-selling romantic stories of Taiwanese author 琼瑶Chuong Yao.'明日之歌The Song of Tomorrow','船Boat'and 寒烟翠were some of her works.
What about English action movies back in the late 50s and early 60s? Those that stayed vividly in my mind are Tarzans, Zorro, Ten Commandments, Magnificient Seven. However, the trend-setting ones were the spy versus spy movies like 007 James Bond (Dr No, Goldfinger), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.(starring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum)and 707 (James Coburn).
Last but not least, the first Indian movie I watched with mum and dad in those days was not the typical Indian bollywood movie with lovers running round a coconut tree but an Indian mythology. All I could recall was a genie that appeared after the rubbing of a brass lamp, a bit like Aladdin's magic lamp. There was flying carpet and a scene where the main character entered the mouth of a genie via his outstretched tongue. Perhaps it was Sinbad's story but I could not remember the title. One thing for sure was that they did not speak in Mandarin.
Pin
Our gramophone at Carpenter Street had a square wooden base that held a turntable. By the side of the turntable was a robust metal arm (tone-arm) that ended in a swollen cartridge holding a stylus. It was the contact of the stylus with the closely-set bands and grooves on the vinyl record when it was turning that produced the music and song. The turntable was powered by winding an S-shaped handle on one side of the wooden base. The sound from the record was then amplified through a large trumpet-liked funnel. From time to time, we had to quickly turn the handle to allow the continuous rotation of the turntable. Oh yes, before even placing the record, we had to set the correct speed of the turntable by turning an adjustable button. Otherwise, you might end up with Doris Day belting out like Donald Duck or Dean Martin with the squeaky voice of a chipmunk. The magnetic tape recorder that Uncle Hock had was an open-deck with two large spools of magnetic tapes. It was slightly smaller in size than an in-flight cabin suitcase, nothing like the mini-tapes you use for video recorders these days.
I recalled songs like Mambo Italiano (Hey Mambo,Mambo...)a renewed version (sung by Bette Midler)of which you hear these days,Blame it on the Bossa Nova, I Will Follow Him, A Little Bit of Soap were playing on the radio day in and day out at the peak of their popularity. The latter was very appropriate during shower time when our Uncle Poh (Guan/Tony's dad) would sing out in his top voice. Auntie Ghim and Auntie Hiok's favourites were those Mandarin songs like Nan Ping Wan Zhong (The Evening Bell of Nanping)南屏晚钟 and those oldies by Zhou Xuan 周璇. Pa used to play various Chinese folk songs from Yi Sheng 艺声 or Arts Sound Records Company. Some of those evergreens were 'The Distant Land'在那遥远的地方，'Welcoming Our Guests from Distant Land' 远方的客人请你留下来, 'Love Song of Kanding' 康定情歌 and 'Picking Tea leaves and Catching Butterflies' 采茶扑蝶。Pa once had a Mario Lanza record too and I remembered the tune of an Italian/English song sung by him - 'Come prima, come prima....'
For the English inclined, Elvis Presley was gaining his reign in the pop charts as well as the cinema stage. His gyrating gait, his 'curry-puff' hairdo and the quivering voice would drive all the teenage girls insane, screaming their hearts out or crying. His movies were always full of girls, girls and more girls, who often engaged in beach and dance parties. Sun-tanned bodies and bikini swimsuits were the craze of the day. It was as if people in the whole world all lived on islands in the South Pacific, doing nothing but sun-worshiping to get a good tan and merry-making. Then you had similar-genre singers like Frankie Avalon who were fighting for their share of fame. He too followed the formula of beach, girls and love songs.
The early 60s also saw Cliff Richard coming on stage with his band The Shadows. His movies and songs like 'The Young Ones', 'Summer Holiday', 'Bachelor Boy' echoed the heartstring of teenagers of those days. At the same period, budding British singers seemed to dominate the pop scene with many popular all-male groups churning out hits after hits - Freddy and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter and Gordon, Dave Clark Five, the Moody Blues just to name a few. Suddenly like a lightning flash out of the blue,for the first time in 1963, a Japanese song called 'Sukiyaki'by Kyu Sakamoto hit the western pop charts. Hardly anyone would know what the title of the song meant, let alone the strange sounding Japanese lyrics to the western ears - 'Ue o muite, arukoo. Namida ga kobore nai yoo ni, omoidasu, haru no hi hitori bocchi no yoru....' Yet it surprised everyone that a song with a foreign word like 'Sukiyaki' which is a Japanese dish could upset the crooning of an Elvis number. By the way, 'Sukiyaki' was just a catchy word used and had nothing to do with the content of the song.
However, when the Beatles came on board with 'It's a Hard Day's Night' and 'Help' as black & white movies, their songs instantly caught the world's attention. As if overnight, the half-coconut shell hairdo, the bell-bottomed pants matched with the polished 'sepatu' leather shoes became the in-thing of teenage guys. Our all-obliging Cho Cho even sewed us a few bell-bottoms to catch up with the era. However I did not imitate the half-coconut shell hairdo but sported the `half-baked' side-burns and `curry puff' Elvis hair-style instead.
In those days, going to movies was the most popular pastime. From the make-shift, open-air, outdoor, one-piece movie screen played at empty lots in downtown (opposite the temple at Carpenter Street)to proper cinemas like Rex, Odeon, Capitol,Cathay and Sylvia (located at the State Secretariat Building facing the Padang), it was an entertainment that most families could afford. Those open-air movie screening was free, usually as a kind gesture to the community from the organisers who celebrated the special events of a temple in the lunar calendar. It could be the celebration of some deity or festivity. Often shown were silent movies like Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, the Three Stooges or everyone's favourite cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Donald Duck, etc. Cantonese soapies featuring the child prodigy Fung Bo Bo 冯宝宝 who suffered the ill-treatments of her step-mother were played over and over again on the white screen on many occasions.
To watch the movie at the open-air compound, all one required as a kid was to find an empty space, bared your feet, put your thongs on the concrete floor and sat on them. That was your 'cinema seat', enough to enable you to focus your attention on the white screen through the night and disregard the dusty floor. The more demanding adults would bring their own stools from home. It was a smart move as often you would find yourself waiting in pitch darkness when all of a sudden the film ground to a stop. That was when the worn-out film-strip broke during the most engaging part of the movie. Catcalls from disgruntled audience would erupt from all corners until the running of the film projector was restored.
Cinema tickets were not expensive in those days. Ta Ker and I could share a single ticket that costed 50 cents to watch a movie. Being a minor, very often I could happily follow uncles or aunties after dinner and entered the cinema free of charge. All I needed was to sit on the space in between the seats or on their laps. That free-viewing of movies continued until I had grown too big and the bones on my butt began to cause discomfort on the laps of Auntie Ghim! The 50-cent ticket allowed one to sit amongst the first 5-6 rows of seats from the big screen. To secure a good seat without straining the neck at the front row, often I had to resort to queueing up way early before the ticket counter opened. That in itself could be a full hour of waiting and patience would be a virtue.
You may wonder what were the cinema movies back then? Well, we had the black and white Asian Cowboy, Philippino movies. Instead of gun duels in hacienda, you had Joseph Estrada, (disgraced former Philippines President) acting as villain and fighting it out in pineapple plantation. Most amusing of all,the Phillipino actors and actresses spoke in fluent Mandarin and not Tagalog.
However dominating the cinema screens then were the Japanese movies dubbed in Mandarin. They were produced by companies like 日活Nikkatsu and 東映Toho and were amongst the most popular. After watching Philippino actors speaking Mandarin, no one would feel funny watching the Japanese actors doing the same. Movies with fast-paced, sword-fighting samurais and dart-throwing ninjas equipped with mesmerizing translocation skills and unbelievable feats were my favourites.The famous Zatoichi series of films called The Blind Swordsman by actor 勝新太郎Shintaro Katsu proved so popular that it was running for several years. I could remember vividly in one scene, the fleeting draw of a sword would kill a dozen annoying flies that disturbed the peace of the blind hero. Impressive indeed for a young mind back then. The blind swordsman was considered 'cool' wearing his straw hat that covered his face, even when fighting. That was possibly a convenient way by the director to allow the supposedly 'blind' actor to peep/see while the film rolled. In recent years, Japanese film company has rehashed this Zatoichi movies with new main actor and violence. But to me, that was no comparison to the original Shintaro. Other well known samurai actors were 三船敏郎 Toshiro Mifune (of 黒沢明Kurosawa fame),丹波哲郎 Tetsuro Tanba and 高橋英樹 Hideki Takahashi.
When the samurai theme started to wear out, more modern Japanese thriller movies with assassins, hitmans, Yakuza gangsters became the talk of the town. Actors like 小林旭Akira Kobayashi (of Black Tight Killers, Tokyo Drifters and Kanto Wanderer fame)and 石原裕次郎 Yujiro Ishihara became very very popular. So were the accompanying damsel-in-distress actresses like 浅丘ルリコ Asaoka Ruriko, 松原智恵子Chieko Matsubara，吉永小百合 Yoshinaga Sayuri. These beautiful hearthrobs with big marble eyes acting opposite the above `heros' continued to appear in hundreds of movies in years to come.
Another pioneering forte of Japanese film industry in the early 60s was the science fiction movies with incredible special effects. It was nothing compared to the computerised animation and realistic special effects you see these days. Nonetheless, considering the limited resources available then, the Japanese directors set the trend in creating super-heroes like the Ultraman (太空飞侠)and Astroboy, equivalent of later days Superman or Spiderman. Just like other avid followers, I was thrilled to watch Ultraman (太空飞侠)show after show even though they were in black and white. As if trying to outdo the super-heroes, Japanese directors (such as Ishiro Honda)created the so-called 'Weird Beasts' (Kaiju 怪兽)fantasy movies with dinosaur-liked, all destructive Godzilla & Gamera. These creatures terrified the silver screen for a few years and set the milestone and standard for the later King Kong, Star War movies.
While the aforesaid fantasy movies pleased young audience like me, adults from the Tay family were more atuned to Mandarin movies。The first Chinese movie I ever recalled was 夜半歌声, equivalent of 'Phantom of the Opera'. It was perhaps the horrifying scarred face of the main actor and the eerie song (sung at midnight) more than anything else that left an indelible mark in my mind. Other movies that the Tay seniors preferred were those carrying good moral stories /messages, especially those made by slightly leftist Great Wall Film Productions. These often depicted trying family life with hard-working members who fought against repression and adversity from the beaurocrats. Popular actors and actresses in these films were 鲍方(Bao Fang),龚秋霞 (Gong Chiu Xia)，江汉 (Zhiang Han)，朱虹 (Zu Hong) and 张铮 (Zhang Zhen). Some of them continued to act in Hong Kong TV series till today. In fact, early 60s was also a period of upsurge in communism ideology, especially in British Borneo and Malay Peninsula when the colonial British rule was coming to an end. Communist sympathisers were actively recruiting new members in Chung Hua Chinese schools by organising social group activites especially after school hours. Games, sports, free tuition classes were soon turned into brain-washing and the teaching of communism.
To be fair, not all movies imported from Mainland China were bad. In fact some of the most memorable ones were those adopted from classical literature. 'Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦','Tales of Water Margin 水浒传', 'Monkey Goes West 西游记', 'Hua Mu Lan 花木兰', 'Lady Generals of The Yang Family 杨门女将'(some presented in Beijing Opera style)were household favourites. However, the most impressive box-office holder was not adopted from a classical literature but from a story of Guangxi province - 'The Third Sister Liu 刘三姐'.It was possibly the first movie that was shown in cinemas for several months. We had a record of the songs from the movie and it was played so often by Aunties that I could even memorise some of them. Other examples of good family entertainment movies were 'Ma Lan Flower 马兰花'，'The Kite 风筝','Salesman Li Lian Sheng' 李连生卖杂货. The latter was the first Hokkien opera that I knew and we had the vinyl record too. Occasionally, there were Chinese cartoon productions that rivaled Walt Disney's. Short cartoons like 鲤鱼跳龙门(Carps and the Dragon Gate)and 西游记 (Monkey Goes West) were excellent.
Besides those Chinese movies produced in Mainland China, the popular Mandarin movies were produced in Hong Kong under the umbrella of Shaw Brothers. Early film-stars like 严俊Yen Chun and 李丽华Li Li Hua were familiar to our uncles/aunties' generation.
Yen Chun after years of acting later turned into a film director himself. It was a bit like dual-role actress Ge Lan 葛兰 (starred in Star, Moon and Sun 星星，月亮，太阳) who was also an established singer.
The 60s Shaw Brothers productions were well remembered and closely associated with a series of musicals (especially those directed by 李翰祥 Li Han-Hsiang) which were termed `黄梅调Huangmei (Yellow Plum) opera'. They were not unlike English musicals except that the story-lines were based on tales from ancient China. 林黛Linda Lin Dai, 乐蒂Betty Loh Ti, 赵雷Zhao Lei and subsequently 凌波 Ivy Ling Po and 李菁 Li Ching were the anchoring actors and actresses of this genre of movies. Almost anyone who loved the opera movies would know '江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty'＆ '梁山伯与祝英台 Butterfly lovers' The latter was the Chinese version of Romeo & Juliet. 林黛Linda Lin Dai shot to fame after her maiden costume appearance in `江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty'. Her subsequent appearances in '白蛇传Madam White Snake','不了情Love Without End', '蓝与黑The Blue and the Black' proved less successful. Tragically she ended up following the footstep of Marilyn Monroe and committed suicide in 1964.
With the roaring success of sword-fighting samurai movies in Japan and South East Asia, Shaw Brothers directors like 张澈Chang Cheh quickly capitalised on the craze and followed suit with his `独臂刀One-Armed Swordsman' which instantly turned 王羽Jimmy Wang Yu into superb swordsman. Other new comers made famous with the sword-fighting movies were 秦萍Chin Ping,罗烈 Luo Lie, 狄龙Ti Lung,姜大卫David Chiang, 郑佩佩Cheng Pei Pei. The latter came into prominence in 1966 when she acted in '大醉侠Come Drink With Me' directed by 胡金铨King Hu. Actually it was King Hu who brought a new lease of life to sword-fighting movies just when they started to decline into meaningless, violent and blood-letting nonsensical dramas. '龙门客栈Dragon Gate Inn' became the signature masterpiece of King Hu who instilled art, poetry, zen, wits and good photography into an otherwise ordinary sword-fighting story. From a humble beginning doing minor role in '江山美人The Kingdom and the Beauty', King Hu became well known as a film director internationally.
You would be wrong to think there were only action movies in the 60s. On the romantic side of it, Shaw Brothers did churn out a fair number of love story dramas with actors and actresses like 叶枫 Julie Yueh Feng, 陈厚Peter Chen Ho, 关山Kwan Shan 乔庄 Qiao Zhuang and 胡燕妮Jenny Hu. Many of these movies were based on best-selling romantic stories of Taiwanese author 琼瑶Chuong Yao.'明日之歌The Song of Tomorrow','船Boat'and 寒烟翠were some of her works.
What about English action movies back in the late 50s and early 60s? Those that stayed vividly in my mind are Tarzans, Zorro, Ten Commandments, Magnificient Seven. However, the trend-setting ones were the spy versus spy movies like 007 James Bond (Dr No, Goldfinger), The Man from U.N.C.L.E.(starring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum)and 707 (James Coburn).
Last but not least, the first Indian movie I watched with mum and dad in those days was not the typical Indian bollywood movie with lovers running round a coconut tree but an Indian mythology. All I could recall was a genie that appeared after the rubbing of a brass lamp, a bit like Aladdin's magic lamp. There was flying carpet and a scene where the main character entered the mouth of a genie via his outstretched tongue. Perhaps it was Sinbad's story but I could not remember the title. One thing for sure was that they did not speak in Mandarin.
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Friday, May 25, 2007
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC
While musical instruments such as piano, organ, guitar and saxophone (in the case of Jonathan) seem to be the popular ones amongst the Tays these days, it was a different story back in the 50s.
Pa (Kung kung)used to play ukelele and violin. Not sure which was the one he started first. I remember he would attend some violin practice sessions at his friends' place, with occasional performance at some functions. During his trip to Bako National Park with us, he even brought along his favourite ukelele.
Uncle Hock ( Er Suk Kung)'s favourite is the accordion. I am not sure where he bought the instrument. The evenings at Carpenter Street would come alive with his pieces that he learnt all by heart(No reading of musical notes). I would sit around him marvelling at this weird instrument that could produce such beautiful tune. I said weird instrument as it is the first one I saw with a keyboard on one end and many black buttons at the other. Between these two ends is the bellows that you have to pull and push in order to draw in then force out the air to generate the music. For those of you who have not seen an accordion, at least you can listen to some pieces on CDs played by the old Irish two-men band Foster and Allen. I only heard about them after coming to Australia. Of course, the accordion is not restricted to Ireland. You could hear accordion music pieces all over Europe, especially when you start to reminisce yourself along old French cobble-stoned sidewalks, in a gondola down the Venice canals (as Marcus and Joanne?) or gulping down a big jug of beer during German Octoberfest.
There was a harmonica occasionally played by Uncle Chin (San Suk Kung) and Uncle Poh (Shi Suk Kung) though I do not know who actually owned it nor could I recall what proper tune came out of it.
What about Auntie Ghim (Ta Gu Poh) and Auntie Hiok (Siow Gu Poh)? They are the only two ladies in the house who managed to learn to play piano/organ and knew how to read notes. That is why they could even teach music when they were teachers in Bako village and 10th Mile primary schools respectively. There was a small,`manual' organ that both aunties practised at Carpenter St. It was about one-third the size of piano and nothing like the sophisticated electronic organs you see these days. You had to press the pedals real hard to generate the tune. I would have gone out of breath then just `pedalling'and doing nothing else, not unlike what people do on their indoor exercising machine. That organ came with us when we moved to Nanas Road.
The first guitar was proudly owned by Ta Ker in the early 60s. After hearing what the Beatles, Elvis and what his good friend Cheng Lim could do with their guitars,Ta Ker decided to buy one using his pocket money. What followed was a ear-breaking and finger-bruising experience in the following few months.....
Pin
Pa (Kung kung)used to play ukelele and violin. Not sure which was the one he started first. I remember he would attend some violin practice sessions at his friends' place, with occasional performance at some functions. During his trip to Bako National Park with us, he even brought along his favourite ukelele.
Uncle Hock ( Er Suk Kung)'s favourite is the accordion. I am not sure where he bought the instrument. The evenings at Carpenter Street would come alive with his pieces that he learnt all by heart(No reading of musical notes). I would sit around him marvelling at this weird instrument that could produce such beautiful tune. I said weird instrument as it is the first one I saw with a keyboard on one end and many black buttons at the other. Between these two ends is the bellows that you have to pull and push in order to draw in then force out the air to generate the music. For those of you who have not seen an accordion, at least you can listen to some pieces on CDs played by the old Irish two-men band Foster and Allen. I only heard about them after coming to Australia. Of course, the accordion is not restricted to Ireland. You could hear accordion music pieces all over Europe, especially when you start to reminisce yourself along old French cobble-stoned sidewalks, in a gondola down the Venice canals (as Marcus and Joanne?) or gulping down a big jug of beer during German Octoberfest.
There was a harmonica occasionally played by Uncle Chin (San Suk Kung) and Uncle Poh (Shi Suk Kung) though I do not know who actually owned it nor could I recall what proper tune came out of it.
What about Auntie Ghim (Ta Gu Poh) and Auntie Hiok (Siow Gu Poh)? They are the only two ladies in the house who managed to learn to play piano/organ and knew how to read notes. That is why they could even teach music when they were teachers in Bako village and 10th Mile primary schools respectively. There was a small,`manual' organ that both aunties practised at Carpenter St. It was about one-third the size of piano and nothing like the sophisticated electronic organs you see these days. You had to press the pedals real hard to generate the tune. I would have gone out of breath then just `pedalling'and doing nothing else, not unlike what people do on their indoor exercising machine. That organ came with us when we moved to Nanas Road.
The first guitar was proudly owned by Ta Ker in the early 60s. After hearing what the Beatles, Elvis and what his good friend Cheng Lim could do with their guitars,Ta Ker decided to buy one using his pocket money. What followed was a ear-breaking and finger-bruising experience in the following few months.....
Pin
Friday, May 18, 2007
THE GOLDEN CHAIN
You may have heard of Boon Wan, the goldsmith shop that grandma/Cho Cho managed at No. 6 Jalan Tun Hj Openg (formerly called Rock Road)after grandpa (Tay Hai Lee) passed away. What about the goldsmith shops called Boon Hin (next to Boon Wan)and Boon Sen (3 shops further down the road from Boon Hin). Why did they share the common name `Boon'?
The original Boon Wan actually started at 5 Carpenter Street, right at the same shop that later was occupied by Lian Tai Optical shop. That 2-storey shop was owned by Kung Kung's grandpa or my great grandpa. He must be pretty rich by the sound of it as he owned all these shops, including another one in Padungan Road. He bequeathed the shop at No.5 Carpenter St and Boon Sen to his only son Tay Kim Sai (Kim Sai means the `Golden Lion' by literal translation). Grandpa, Hai Lee, being an adopted son was given a few thousand dollars and he started his own business as Boon Wan. When Kim Sai who I called Arm Chek Kong decided to rent out the shop space at Carpenter St to Lian Tai Optical, grandpa had no choice but to move his shop to another rented premises at 6 Jalan Tun Hj Openg. That was when all of grandpa's family members had to squeeze into the 2nd storey above Lian Tai as living quarters. (See Ta Ker's earlier write up about how the three bedrooms had to be shared). Boon Hin was bequeathed to great grandpa's brother-in-law (Uncle Ah Leng's father). I am not sure if Uncle Ah Leng's dad inherited the goldsmith shop or just the shop space and started the business himself. At least now you see the linkage of these `Boon' goldsmith shops.
Arm Chek Kong (Kim Sai) had 3 sons and 5 daughters, all with their middle name `Beng' just like kung kung's siblings. Their names are Beng Chui, Beng Lai and Beng Soon for the boys and Beng Khiaw, Beng Kee, Beng Choo, Beng Yin and Beng Yuen for the girls. Beng Yuen, the youngest of the lot, is one year my senior, so the rest are much older. Arm Chek Kong's wife (I called Chim Poh, as distinct from Kia-Chim Poh, the `Little Feet' Chim Poh I mentioned in an earlier article)was an amicable lady that always wore a smile on her face. She sported permed short hair and always wore a blouse with a pair of trousers made from matching material. In those days, the blouse of married ladies came commonly with short upright collar and the buttons in the upper half of the garment were lined up inclining at an angle, a bit like the wrap-around garment these days except that the blouse was short-sleeved and more like a short tunic that reached only to the waist, covering the top part of the trousers.Being younger and born after the Ching Dynasty, Chim Poh's feet were spared of being bound. She spoke very refined and pure Kim Men Hokkien. I recently realised, after hearing Taiwanese karaoke CDs, that her Hokkien was not unlike that spoken by the Taiwanese public (Min Nan Yu or Tai Yu). For your information, Kim Men (or Jin Men) is an island just off Taiwan, very closed to Xiamen or Amoy in Fujian Province. I regret that I was too young to learn or pick up the true dialect from her though grandpa's ancestor came from Xiamen. Chim Poh and Cho Cho used to visit one another. You can say they were the best of friends if not sisters-in-law.
Arm Chek Kong used to be the proud owner of a black, 2-doored Ford Anglia (possibly model E494A) with registration plate K 253. This car with its sloped, twin-lobed vertical radiator grille and two pronounced `humps' over the front wheels would fittingly came out of the movie set of `Bonnie & Clyde'. I used to marvel at this shiny black vehicle. One evening after dinner, Arm Chek Kong decided to take Ta Ker and I for a ride. Without informing Pa and Ma, we went for a long `makan angin' (joy ride), possibly to as far as 8th Mile area which was a long way back then. We returned home only after nightfall to the chiding of Ma. There went our last outing with him.
Probably after knowing we liked to travel and `makan angin', Pa bought his first car soon after (Registration plate K 701). It was exactly the same 2-doored Ford Anglia but with a funny, almost lemon green colour. I remember when sitting in front (no seat-belt required then), I liked to adjust the triangular-shaped quarter-window and tilt it at an angle so that it channeled the air-flow directly onto my face. It was cool!! Don't forget cars had no air-conditioned in the 50s. The only thing I did not like about that car was the `hump' from the axle that traversed the middle floor-board from the back seats to the gear-box in front. It divided the car into left and right. However, another gadget that fascinated my childhood innocence in that car was the orange signal-stick on each side of the exterior. With the press of a button depending on the direction you were turning, hey presto, the orange stick initially well-hidden and flushed with the side rose to the call. What an engineering feat! You were right, cars had no direction signal-lights at that time. Before the advent of orange sticks, you had to stretch out your right arm and hand straight to turn right. What about when you intended to turn left? Well, still use your right arm and hand, rotate it in an anti-clockwise direction several times to motion a left turn. It was logical not to stick out your left arm and hand (or even leg) through the left front window or else you would end up in the longkang (ditch). Mind you, these hand-signals were part and parcel of the driving test in those days.
I was not sure how long Pa had that vintage Ford Anglia (I called it a `Bonnie & Clyde Model)before he changed to another newer Anglia, possibly a dark grey Model 100E Prefect if it had 4-doors or a 101E if 2-doors. That car had registration plate K 2102. I remember we were still riding in it in the early 60s. That Mitsubishi Colt (KA 3037) that Lim,Swee and Khoon remember was our third car before Khoon's Proton Saga that lasts till today.
Am Chek Kong liked to tease children. Many a time, he would stealthily get behind my back while I was playing on the`five-foot-way'in front of his shop Boon Sen. Releasing his middle finger held back under pressure by the thumb, he would target my ear-lobe with such force as to cause me an outburst of tears! To pacify me and stop me from crying, he would then dish out a 10-cent coin from his pocket with a comforting but guilty smile. I had to reluctantly wiped away my tears.
Beng Chui, Chek Kong's eldest son, was a keen body-builder and very enthusiastic about gymnastics. I was always in awe each time I visited his place and saw him swinging high up on the two rings suspended from the ceiling of his house. His outstretched muscular arms with pronounced biceps and triceps were my envy of the day.
One morning perhaps several years after the war ended, I saw everyone was in a sad mood and Chim Poh was crying in the arms of Cho-Cho for the first time. She was really distraught. I later learnt that Arm Chek Kong had passed away after committed suicide by drinking a bottle of White Summer Oil, an insecticide the night before. Apparently the pressure was too great for him when the Japanese currency that he stockpiled all these years had come to naught, due to its sudden devaluation.
That was a severe blow to the family. With the abrupt passing on of the sole bread-winner and lots of bank mortgage to pay, Chim Poh who was a housewife all this while with 8 children had no choice but to forfeit her properties. That was when Boon Sen closed down and the shop space subsequently sold to Kok Wah, an electrical shop. We had to vacate the living quarters at Carpenter Street to move to Nanas Road.
Pin
The original Boon Wan actually started at 5 Carpenter Street, right at the same shop that later was occupied by Lian Tai Optical shop. That 2-storey shop was owned by Kung Kung's grandpa or my great grandpa. He must be pretty rich by the sound of it as he owned all these shops, including another one in Padungan Road. He bequeathed the shop at No.5 Carpenter St and Boon Sen to his only son Tay Kim Sai (Kim Sai means the `Golden Lion' by literal translation). Grandpa, Hai Lee, being an adopted son was given a few thousand dollars and he started his own business as Boon Wan. When Kim Sai who I called Arm Chek Kong decided to rent out the shop space at Carpenter St to Lian Tai Optical, grandpa had no choice but to move his shop to another rented premises at 6 Jalan Tun Hj Openg. That was when all of grandpa's family members had to squeeze into the 2nd storey above Lian Tai as living quarters. (See Ta Ker's earlier write up about how the three bedrooms had to be shared). Boon Hin was bequeathed to great grandpa's brother-in-law (Uncle Ah Leng's father). I am not sure if Uncle Ah Leng's dad inherited the goldsmith shop or just the shop space and started the business himself. At least now you see the linkage of these `Boon' goldsmith shops.
Arm Chek Kong (Kim Sai) had 3 sons and 5 daughters, all with their middle name `Beng' just like kung kung's siblings. Their names are Beng Chui, Beng Lai and Beng Soon for the boys and Beng Khiaw, Beng Kee, Beng Choo, Beng Yin and Beng Yuen for the girls. Beng Yuen, the youngest of the lot, is one year my senior, so the rest are much older. Arm Chek Kong's wife (I called Chim Poh, as distinct from Kia-Chim Poh, the `Little Feet' Chim Poh I mentioned in an earlier article)was an amicable lady that always wore a smile on her face. She sported permed short hair and always wore a blouse with a pair of trousers made from matching material. In those days, the blouse of married ladies came commonly with short upright collar and the buttons in the upper half of the garment were lined up inclining at an angle, a bit like the wrap-around garment these days except that the blouse was short-sleeved and more like a short tunic that reached only to the waist, covering the top part of the trousers.Being younger and born after the Ching Dynasty, Chim Poh's feet were spared of being bound. She spoke very refined and pure Kim Men Hokkien. I recently realised, after hearing Taiwanese karaoke CDs, that her Hokkien was not unlike that spoken by the Taiwanese public (Min Nan Yu or Tai Yu). For your information, Kim Men (or Jin Men) is an island just off Taiwan, very closed to Xiamen or Amoy in Fujian Province. I regret that I was too young to learn or pick up the true dialect from her though grandpa's ancestor came from Xiamen. Chim Poh and Cho Cho used to visit one another. You can say they were the best of friends if not sisters-in-law.
Arm Chek Kong used to be the proud owner of a black, 2-doored Ford Anglia (possibly model E494A) with registration plate K 253. This car with its sloped, twin-lobed vertical radiator grille and two pronounced `humps' over the front wheels would fittingly came out of the movie set of `Bonnie & Clyde'. I used to marvel at this shiny black vehicle. One evening after dinner, Arm Chek Kong decided to take Ta Ker and I for a ride. Without informing Pa and Ma, we went for a long `makan angin' (joy ride), possibly to as far as 8th Mile area which was a long way back then. We returned home only after nightfall to the chiding of Ma. There went our last outing with him.
Probably after knowing we liked to travel and `makan angin', Pa bought his first car soon after (Registration plate K 701). It was exactly the same 2-doored Ford Anglia but with a funny, almost lemon green colour. I remember when sitting in front (no seat-belt required then), I liked to adjust the triangular-shaped quarter-window and tilt it at an angle so that it channeled the air-flow directly onto my face. It was cool!! Don't forget cars had no air-conditioned in the 50s. The only thing I did not like about that car was the `hump' from the axle that traversed the middle floor-board from the back seats to the gear-box in front. It divided the car into left and right. However, another gadget that fascinated my childhood innocence in that car was the orange signal-stick on each side of the exterior. With the press of a button depending on the direction you were turning, hey presto, the orange stick initially well-hidden and flushed with the side rose to the call. What an engineering feat! You were right, cars had no direction signal-lights at that time. Before the advent of orange sticks, you had to stretch out your right arm and hand straight to turn right. What about when you intended to turn left? Well, still use your right arm and hand, rotate it in an anti-clockwise direction several times to motion a left turn. It was logical not to stick out your left arm and hand (or even leg) through the left front window or else you would end up in the longkang (ditch). Mind you, these hand-signals were part and parcel of the driving test in those days.
I was not sure how long Pa had that vintage Ford Anglia (I called it a `Bonnie & Clyde Model)before he changed to another newer Anglia, possibly a dark grey Model 100E Prefect if it had 4-doors or a 101E if 2-doors. That car had registration plate K 2102. I remember we were still riding in it in the early 60s. That Mitsubishi Colt (KA 3037) that Lim,Swee and Khoon remember was our third car before Khoon's Proton Saga that lasts till today.
Am Chek Kong liked to tease children. Many a time, he would stealthily get behind my back while I was playing on the`five-foot-way'in front of his shop Boon Sen. Releasing his middle finger held back under pressure by the thumb, he would target my ear-lobe with such force as to cause me an outburst of tears! To pacify me and stop me from crying, he would then dish out a 10-cent coin from his pocket with a comforting but guilty smile. I had to reluctantly wiped away my tears.
Beng Chui, Chek Kong's eldest son, was a keen body-builder and very enthusiastic about gymnastics. I was always in awe each time I visited his place and saw him swinging high up on the two rings suspended from the ceiling of his house. His outstretched muscular arms with pronounced biceps and triceps were my envy of the day.
One morning perhaps several years after the war ended, I saw everyone was in a sad mood and Chim Poh was crying in the arms of Cho-Cho for the first time. She was really distraught. I later learnt that Arm Chek Kong had passed away after committed suicide by drinking a bottle of White Summer Oil, an insecticide the night before. Apparently the pressure was too great for him when the Japanese currency that he stockpiled all these years had come to naught, due to its sudden devaluation.
That was a severe blow to the family. With the abrupt passing on of the sole bread-winner and lots of bank mortgage to pay, Chim Poh who was a housewife all this while with 8 children had no choice but to forfeit her properties. That was when Boon Sen closed down and the shop space subsequently sold to Kok Wah, an electrical shop. We had to vacate the living quarters at Carpenter Street to move to Nanas Road.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
HOUSE SWIFTS
Another vivid memory of childhood days are the House Swifts (Apus affinis)that used to build hemispherical nests underneath the roofs or ceilings of tall buildings. These nests were made from mud and dried plant material. My favourite haunts of old Court House, the General Post Office, the 3-Storey pavilion (former Education Department Building)at the junction of Carpenter Street and Jalan Tun Hj Openg were some of the places where you would find these nests. Often you would know that there were nests high up on the ceilings by the untidy droppings that spattered the floor.
During the day, these swifts would be out on their wings catching insects on flight. You would hardly see them except just before it rained when the dark clouds loomed in the sky. Presumably, flying insects would be found aplenty as they scrambled for cover before the downpour. The House Swifts would be busy swooping in mid-air at lightning speed, catching their preys for the evening meals. The swoops would be preceded by the trilling noises as if they were shouting for joy. On fine days, you would only noticed them when they were returning to their nests to roost just as evening approached.
In the late 50s, Kuching town (e.g. Main Bazaar, Gambier Street)areas still had electric poles lining the roads and carrying overhead cables. These overhead cables were favourite roosting place for a species of migratory Swiftlet. I am not sure what species that was. Being smaller in size, it was definitely not the same as the House Swift. These avian members only showed their presence in the townscape at certain time of the year, presumably when it was winter up north. As the sun went down, these birds would each choke up a place on the cable. Soon as darkness fell, the two or three horizontal cables would be completely filled with thousands of these little black and white creatures, ready for a good night's rest. In the 60s as Kuching prospered, the traffic increased and the cables gone underground, these swiftlets also disappeared from the once familiar sight. It was then that I felt their absence. Kuching downtown no longer was the same.
In the late 80s, on one of my plant collecting trips to Sabah, I was staying in a hotel at a small town called Tenom. There were only a few main streets in that town centre. In the evening when I went exploring, looking for a good meal, I was dumbfounded to see the same familiar scene as Kuching in the 50s - thousands of swiftlets lining up neatly side-by-side along the hundreds of meters of cable fronting the closed shophouses. Suddenly, the nostalgia of my childhood days resurfaced. Were these avian friends the younger generations of those that visited Kuching few decades ago? How did they know the passage to Borneo from their distant land? So for those of you who seek the good old things of the past, try visit places that are poorly developed. On my trip to Madagascar in 2005, I saw the rickshaws that had disappeared from our streets ages ago.
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During the day, these swifts would be out on their wings catching insects on flight. You would hardly see them except just before it rained when the dark clouds loomed in the sky. Presumably, flying insects would be found aplenty as they scrambled for cover before the downpour. The House Swifts would be busy swooping in mid-air at lightning speed, catching their preys for the evening meals. The swoops would be preceded by the trilling noises as if they were shouting for joy. On fine days, you would only noticed them when they were returning to their nests to roost just as evening approached.
In the late 50s, Kuching town (e.g. Main Bazaar, Gambier Street)areas still had electric poles lining the roads and carrying overhead cables. These overhead cables were favourite roosting place for a species of migratory Swiftlet. I am not sure what species that was. Being smaller in size, it was definitely not the same as the House Swift. These avian members only showed their presence in the townscape at certain time of the year, presumably when it was winter up north. As the sun went down, these birds would each choke up a place on the cable. Soon as darkness fell, the two or three horizontal cables would be completely filled with thousands of these little black and white creatures, ready for a good night's rest. In the 60s as Kuching prospered, the traffic increased and the cables gone underground, these swiftlets also disappeared from the once familiar sight. It was then that I felt their absence. Kuching downtown no longer was the same.
In the late 80s, on one of my plant collecting trips to Sabah, I was staying in a hotel at a small town called Tenom. There were only a few main streets in that town centre. In the evening when I went exploring, looking for a good meal, I was dumbfounded to see the same familiar scene as Kuching in the 50s - thousands of swiftlets lining up neatly side-by-side along the hundreds of meters of cable fronting the closed shophouses. Suddenly, the nostalgia of my childhood days resurfaced. Were these avian friends the younger generations of those that visited Kuching few decades ago? How did they know the passage to Borneo from their distant land? So for those of you who seek the good old things of the past, try visit places that are poorly developed. On my trip to Madagascar in 2005, I saw the rickshaws that had disappeared from our streets ages ago.
Pin
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
FRUIT BATS
Talking about Fruit Bats, the common species we saw flying over Kuching years ago is the Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus). They love feeding on plant nectar usually found at the base on the inside of each flower, including that of durian flowers when in season. In the feeding process, they inadvertently feed on the pollens as well. This is nature's way of using bats as a pollinator while rewarding them with the nectar.
During my university days, one of my biology practicals was to analyse the pollen grains in the faeces (guano) of fruit bats. In the plant kingdom, pollens of each species of plants have a unique shape, size and sculptured ornamentation on the pollen coat, just like our finger-prints that tell us apart from other people. So by looking at the pollens embedded in the bat guano under the microscope, we can identify the pollens and tell what plants the bat fed on the day before or in the last couple of hours. So besides durians, fruit bats love to feed on flowers of plants like Petai (Parkia speciosa)- the green bean pods sold in markets and a favourite of Malay kampong folks, Bananas, Kapok (Ceiba pentandra)and mangrove trees like Sonneratia species. Incidentally, the floss from the pods of Kapok were used to stuff pillows and mattresses in the old days. Ah Mu had a mattress made from that Kapok and it required beating from time to time to loosen up the floss for a comfortable sleep. Unlike Dunlopillo mattress made from rubber foam, kapok floss gets compressed after a few days, especially if you are over-weight. I remember there was once a majestic Kapok Tree with beautiful buttress standing diagonally across the road from Aurora Hotel at the big round-about as you came down from Sarawak Museum/Yayasan Sarawak towards the Government Clinic. You can tell a Kapok Tree quite easily especially when it is young. Its trunk have sharp thorns and the branches are held out almost horizontally in tiers. As the tree gets older, these thorns disappear and the tiered architecture becomes less distinct.
Due to the seasonality of durians, fruit bats do not depend entirely on it for food. It has to feast on a range of plant species when one is absent. Thus the survival of fruit bats depends on the continued presence of the natural plant community and its link with durians is a fragile one. With rapid urban development, industrialisation and deforestation, that is why you do not see fruit bats streaming across the evening sky of Kuching these days. I recalled people used to hunt the fruit bats for food whenever the durian flowers were in bloom.
The few characteristics shared amongst those plants attracting bats are:
a) their flowers often smell of sour milk or milk that has gone bad. Apparently, bats just love that smell. (To each his own!)
b) the flowers open normally at dusk and last throughout the night when the bats are most active.
c) the flowers are usually held on strong branches way above or cleared of the main foliage so that the bats can reach them without any hindrance. Have you noticed that durians bear their cream-coloured flowers on their old branches without leaves (so-called ramiflory in more technical term)
Swee mentioned the curry made from durian flowers. I remember parts (possibly the anthers or stigma) of the flowers have to be removed first before they are put into the curry pot. I guess we eat mostly the petals of the flowers. Kong can verify this with Jee Chim.
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During my university days, one of my biology practicals was to analyse the pollen grains in the faeces (guano) of fruit bats. In the plant kingdom, pollens of each species of plants have a unique shape, size and sculptured ornamentation on the pollen coat, just like our finger-prints that tell us apart from other people. So by looking at the pollens embedded in the bat guano under the microscope, we can identify the pollens and tell what plants the bat fed on the day before or in the last couple of hours. So besides durians, fruit bats love to feed on flowers of plants like Petai (Parkia speciosa)- the green bean pods sold in markets and a favourite of Malay kampong folks, Bananas, Kapok (Ceiba pentandra)and mangrove trees like Sonneratia species. Incidentally, the floss from the pods of Kapok were used to stuff pillows and mattresses in the old days. Ah Mu had a mattress made from that Kapok and it required beating from time to time to loosen up the floss for a comfortable sleep. Unlike Dunlopillo mattress made from rubber foam, kapok floss gets compressed after a few days, especially if you are over-weight. I remember there was once a majestic Kapok Tree with beautiful buttress standing diagonally across the road from Aurora Hotel at the big round-about as you came down from Sarawak Museum/Yayasan Sarawak towards the Government Clinic. You can tell a Kapok Tree quite easily especially when it is young. Its trunk have sharp thorns and the branches are held out almost horizontally in tiers. As the tree gets older, these thorns disappear and the tiered architecture becomes less distinct.
Due to the seasonality of durians, fruit bats do not depend entirely on it for food. It has to feast on a range of plant species when one is absent. Thus the survival of fruit bats depends on the continued presence of the natural plant community and its link with durians is a fragile one. With rapid urban development, industrialisation and deforestation, that is why you do not see fruit bats streaming across the evening sky of Kuching these days. I recalled people used to hunt the fruit bats for food whenever the durian flowers were in bloom.
The few characteristics shared amongst those plants attracting bats are:
a) their flowers often smell of sour milk or milk that has gone bad. Apparently, bats just love that smell. (To each his own!)
b) the flowers open normally at dusk and last throughout the night when the bats are most active.
c) the flowers are usually held on strong branches way above or cleared of the main foliage so that the bats can reach them without any hindrance. Have you noticed that durians bear their cream-coloured flowers on their old branches without leaves (so-called ramiflory in more technical term)
Swee mentioned the curry made from durian flowers. I remember parts (possibly the anthers or stigma) of the flowers have to be removed first before they are put into the curry pot. I guess we eat mostly the petals of the flowers. Kong can verify this with Jee Chim.
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