5 Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73) Mural : one continuous stroke Endless nostalgia 一筆劃 不盡鄉愁

 

Chinese version published in WeiXin 3/21/2022

5

One continuous stroke

Endless nostalgia

一筆劃 不盡鄉愁 

Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73)

Sun-Hoo Foo 符傳孝 (109-74-32) 1-2

March 14 2022

living room, 3 Jalan Teraja, Brunei 1960

 

Because of the Japanese invasion, my grandmother spent 390 yen to entrust the village folks to take my dad on a ship named "Southern America," and he sailed for three days and three nights to Malaya, so he can be cared for by my grandfather. That year, my dad was only 15 years old, and he barely finished his 3^rd year at Qiongya Middle School.

During that era of suffering, he worked very hard. He was selected from one of many drivers to serve a general. Later on, his painting talent was noticed by his boss. After the Japanese surrendered, his boss returned to start an architect firm, and invited him to work as a draftsman. He studied at the evening school to become an architect. His company, Booty & Edward, sent him to plan and supervise the construction of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, which is still the icon of the country of Brunei.

He and mom raised six children and several brothers and nephews, and he helped his Hainan relatives and friends in need. He definitely believed that China would one day become stronger, and he almost sent me back during the Great Leap to build the motherland. Because there was not enough room, he used shelves to partitioned a space in the living room for me. In 1957, after the Soviet Union sent the first satellite into space, he used a continuous black line to paint a mural on the yellow outer wall.

The mural resembles the map of China. He believes the red-colored Hainan Island at the bottom of the mural, like a beating heart, is the origin of the power to energize China. Next to the three-colored blocks of ‘yellow, white and yellow,’ is the huge, futuristic, red rocket of China flying at a 45-degree angle towards the right, carrying a red satellite on the tip, ready to explore the universe. Taiwan is green here. The five colored blocks in the big center circle of China symbolize unity of the five major ethnic groups. Only by working together can China be strong. If one were to look carefully, the painting hides a huge【S】representing   superiority but not the destructive super power!

Every time I look at this photo, I think of my father. Borrowing his inspiration, I use his mural at the end of my slideshows or videos. He points us to the right direction.  

 

一筆劃 不盡鄉愁

符傳孝

因為 日本侵略，祖母用390大洋托 鄉親用船把瓊崖中學就讀才近三年的家父乘上名為“美南”的輪船，航行了三天三夜送到馬來亞依靠海外謀生的祖父。那年他才15 歲。抵達新加坡碼頭。登岸後，幸有從兄等照料，吃住都不要錢，還帶他到移民廳辦理登記手續，入家鄉人開的咖啡店喝咖啡，同鄉人相識。

在那個苦難的時代，他刻苦耐勞，勤奮好學。日本無條件投降後，夫妻決定在自己住宅前擺攤出賣小吃。正好，住宅前面對大路，時有行人經過。便在門前擺一張大桌，還大膽地掛起：《超然廣告畫相社》的招牌為人畫相。他在宅門口，掛一個招牌，名曰公開招攬書寫廣告與畫相業務。他是憑著自學獲取繪畫技藝之後而為之的。原來，他在日本農場部寶頓、詩頓膠園任書記員時，利用業餘時間，向一位畫相師學畫相。為了招攬顧客，他把自己以前畫的人像掛在宅前牆壁上，果然獲得人們的贊賞。於是，便有人上門向他訂畫。

 

日本投降後的一段時間，他的親戚，同在農場的一些朋友，還找不到工做，都為生活無著而苦惱。有一天，曾在農場管理養豬的工頭吳子順找到大煥，說是他的岳父出賣48只豬得款5000馬幣交給他作本，要求大煥幫忙找份生意做。大煥便聯繫購買一部戰前英軍用過的軍用卡車。經過修理後，用來走貨運。他有空也去跟車。於是他也學會了開車和修車。

後來，朋友介紹他到部隊駕駛汽車，說駕駛軍車報酬高，出車每天可得2.72元，出滿勤每月可得81.6元。這比畫相、作廣告要強。英軍後勤部為軍車隊修理汽車後，駛到遠處碼頭，然後才裝船運回英國。軍車運完後，他們又失業了。只好和朋友購買舊摩托車進行修理，爾後出售。

每天到管理處詢找工作都不成，不料在路上卻遇上一位他在軍車隊修理時，幫助過的印尼人，說他自己工作的工程隊還缺司機，希望家父去應徵。沒想到，百里挑一， 他被選為中校的專用司機。週末載中校全家到外郊遊的空檔，他就在車上修理小收音機，附近畫畫， 因而被老闆賞識。中校後來退伍轉為建築師，把又失業的家父聘為繪圖員學徒。他又就讀夜學考得建築師執照，公司送他去規劃監造現今仍然是汶萊國圖標的回教堂( Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque)。

戰亂時代，朝不保夕，他不忘照顧朋友，朋友也幫助他。他時時刻刻，省吃儉用。教養六個子女和多個弟弟侄子之外， 還忘不了救濟海南親友。他腦海裡堅信中國一定會強大起來，還差點把我送回去建設祖國。

因為寢室不夠 ，他為我在客廳用櫥架圍隔成房間。 1957那 年 蘇聯把第一顆人造衛星送上太空後，他就在寢室奶油色的外牆，用一筆不斷的黑線勾畫出他腦海中連續不斷，不能切割分開的祖國思念。

他認為壁畫下端紅顏色的海南島，就像搏動的心臟，是這個團結強大能量的起源。黃白黃三片色塊下，以45度角向右飛翔的，是祖國將來建造的巨大紅色火箭，鼻尖上還載著紅色的爱心衛星，為人類服務。綠色的是台灣。中間 大園圈的五種色塊象徵中國五大民族的團結，只有齊心協力，中國才能強大。仔細看， 畫面還藏著巨大的【S】super 超級大國！

每次望著這张照片，我都會想起家父。想到他们那一代的苦难，那一代的坚韧，我也禁不住把他這张壁畫，他对祖國的思念， 當做我的視頻, 幻燈片集的結尾。

4 Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73) : Luo Hong Xian's Poems Of Awakening the World 醒世诗

 

4

羅洪先狀元醒世詩 

Luo Hong Xian's Poems Of Awakening To The World

                                             https://youtu.be/wqUI5Ke-ukc

   

                                Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73)

Sun-Hoo Foo 符傳孝 (32-74-109) 1-2

March 19 2022

3 Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73): Friends or Foe 孰敵孰友？

 

3

Friend or Foe ?
孰敵孰友？

Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73)

Sun-Hoo Foo 符傳孝 (32-74-109) 1-2

March 14 2022

In March 1942, a Chiang Mai friend, NiPuQing( 女不清) who shared dad’s room at night advised him to work for his uncle who managed two rubber plantations, 2000 acres total ( 3.25 square miles, >⅓ the size of Alpine, USA ), controlled by Japanese. His uncle had to manage the workers and inventory, so he needed a person to keep track of the transactions. Dad, a 20-year-old young man with some high school education and retail experience selling vegetables and chicken in the market, was an ideal candidate. The job paid 25 dollars a month, better than 15 dollars for the workers tapping the rubber trees. 

Although the rubber would be shipped to Japan‘s factories,  the work did not directly hurt the community or individuals and so he was not a "Japanese traitor” should he take the job. Working there would be safer than the chaotic outside world.

After 3-4 months, NiPuQing’s uncle was arrested, suspected of stealing the company’s sugar and selling it to local coffee shops. Dad went to the jail and brought him food every day for the next 10 days or so until he disappeared. Dad was quite upset about this “ life’s uncertainty”. Soon, he was offered the managing job. One day, a young man, whom he had met only once in a friend’s coffee shop before the Japanese invasion, came to his office. He placed a pistol on the table, told dad it was difficult in the north, and people were sick and needed help. Dad understood between the lines that they were an anti-Japanese army. He offered him $50 which was his salary for a month.

He was laid off several months later for “no experience in dealing with processing the rubber product”. This was a conspiracy by an Indian coworker with a Japanese to get the job. When he went to pick up the food allowance certificate, a must to get a food allowance, he met a Japanese acquaintance who had advanced in rank. He asked if dad would like to manage a farm and pasture(華帝灣農牧場) 8 km northwest of Kuala Lumpur.  

That shabby farm was 264 acres and had 400 Chinese workers ( 300 Hakka, 100 Hokkien) and some Indians. The pigpen had less than 100 sows. There were 50 yellow cattles. They also planted cassava and sweet potatoes. There were three sheds for workers to rest and eat lunch from home but no kitchen. The workers started work at 8 am and went home at 5 pm. Dad’s salary as manager, head of the farm, was $50 a month. Foremen made $30 dollars and workers were paid 50 cents each day, $15 if they showed up all the workdays that month (that would be $10 plus a $5 bonus. 50 cents was good for a cup of coffee but not enough for a bowl of porridge in the shop). Dad had to wake up at 5 am then cycle to work from where he lived in Setapak(文良港), Kuala Lumpur, 8 Km away. 

Dad worked to improve the farm and pasture so life for the workers could be improved. Eventually, he managed to double the pigpen to 200 sows and 100 yellow cattles.  He cut down 100 acres of old rubber trees to make land for cultivating rice. This effort failed because they used 120 bags of seed and the return was only 40 bags. They planted more cassava and sweet potatoes instead. They developed another 10 acres of land for vegetables.  He distributed the extra cassava, sweet potatoes, and vegetables among the workers. Several weak and defective kettles and pigs a month were also shared among them. He gave 2 piglets to an inspecting Japanese officer one day and got an extra quota for purchasing two extra drums (each 400 gallons) of cooking oil to share. He also rewarded piglets to the hard working men. The old trees logged to develop the land were cut to sell and benefited the workers. 

His Setapak neighbor was a Japanese marine officer. Yamamoto was looking for a supply of bamboo screens to protect the goods on the ship deck from the weather. He organized his 60 workers who knew how to weave. According to the contract, if a worker weaves 3 screens a day, he can get $4.5 dollars + 12 ounces of rice or  4 screens for $6 +16 ounces of rice. This extra money was very much appreciated. In 1944, most of the 700  farm/pastures in Malaya were closed, except dad’s farm was still functioning. He was questioned by the Japanese army. Dad's answer was “ If I don’t make it work, how can the workers live?” The farm finally closed in August 1945 after Japan surrendered.  He was out of work again.

One afternoon in 1944, while he was chatting with friends in a coffee shop, several young men showed up. One of them, the same person who had solicited $50 from him with a gun, approached and talked to him, asking where and what dad was doing. Dad was suspicious. Sure enough, that man showed up in his residence and said “My captain suspects you are too close to the Japanese and wants to have a few words. He is waiting for you in the coffee shop.” Walking down the slope towards the coffee shop he frequented, he saw a truck waiting for them. Two young men got off the truck to escort him in and drove towards the city. He realized immediately that the man was a traitor. He was kept in a watched third-floor room in the middle of the town. Two Japanese detectives came over and asked if he worked for the Japanese army or if he worked for anti-Japanese forces. His answer was no to either. And he was asked whether he helped the anti-Japanese force. He gave the true answer, he didn't know whether the man was anti-Japanese. At the end, he signed the document. After that, two others and then two more came and asked similar questions. One of them forced him to sign “I am an anti-Japanese warrior”. He refused and was forcefully slapped on the face. Next, one wanted him to raise his arm and jabbed three times at his axilla. (This is not in the book, but I remember he told me that he was tortured and was forced to drink lots of water from a hose.) 

He was desperate. No one knew where he was, he was single, kidnapped without a witness. Even if his friends knew he was missing, they would not know where to find him.  From the window the next day, dad saw a friend starting the day opening the coffee shop about 100 meters away. He waved his hand but didn't catch his friend’s attention.

And then he got this idea: He knew the friend’s coffee shop in Setapak where he lived was next to a police station, equipped with a 24/7 telephone. He convinced the guard to call the police line and asked his friend to the phone, so he can tell them how to manage the farm in dad’s absence. The guard thought it was a real necessity. Instead, dad talked to 符大欽(his relative) in Hainanese for help (this is so helpful to know your native language - the guard did not understand). Dad asked him to phone Mrs. Yamamoto to inform her husband that dad was sequestrated in the 3rd floor of a  Japanese shop at 諧街 High Street (now Jalan Tun H. S. Lee), Kuala Lumpur. ( around the site of Sin Sze Si Ya Temple) .

Not long after the call, he was invited to have breakfast downstairs. About two hours later, officer Yamamoto  stepped out from a Marine sedan. It stirred up some commotion. After reporting to Yamamoto, the Taiwanese manager asked the guard to bring dad down. Yamamoto smiled and said to dad “ no problem, you may leave with me .” He drove dad home. 

P.S. 

Some afterthoughts:

Dad wanted us to know his life history, and to learn from it. He left some voice interview recordings to Yang. Later I tried too, however that was in the last several years of his life and he tended to circumvent and some memory had left him. These are in the archives waiting to be edited. 

This is from dad’s autobiography in Chinese, recorded and edited by 王錫鈞, My part is adding photos, making it into a book form, published online too in blurb, March 2009. (Dad passed on March 8, 2014 at age 92). One can purchase that edition from blurb.com or view from the Blog. I am not sure when it can be translated to English and I think it is important for me to write down my understanding of his life before I lose it too. The autobiography was done in his 70s, one can be amazed by his memory. 

• Dad lives life the best he can, no matter how bad/good the circumstance is. 

• He always thinks to create opportunities for others and help them in whatever he can.

• He treats people fairly, keeps his promises, and focuses on his work. He  appreciates and remembers people’s kindness

• He gets help in return

I am not sure what I would do in his shoes.

 

1. He is an ordinary person, finding himself in this cruel war trying to survive.

2. He is not in the army or resistance force to fight the Japanese. Should he or could he? 

3. A “passionate” young man, supposedly an honorable man, put a pistol on the table and asked for help. Dad gave $50, not told but knew he was helping a resistance force. 

4. He managed a Japanese plantation and pasture supplying raw material to the war under Japanese control. That is a more secure place to be and he can make enough to survive.

5. He fulfilled the job obligation, perhaps more. Everyone struggles just to survive. He looks out for his workers. The results win him some reasonable Japanese friends. They are the enemy but also are thrust into the war involuntarily (身不由己)。 

6. The turncoat man (friend?) kidnapped him perhaps to fill his quota to justify his new job and then a Japanese officer (enemy?) rescued him. 

I quote the dollars from the book just to remind you how life was and how life is today. The minimum wage today, the living standard, and the way we live are so much different.

Dad survived, hundreds of similar nice people perished without a trace - those people who vanished may be stronger, more intelligent, better educated but somehow in the wrong place/wrong time, not lucky to have help in time. His life story teaches me about life and how best to live. I appreciate his wisdom more now. 

Each life is a raindrop falling on water, the ripples propagate and are felt forever.

This is what I wrote on his book in Chinese: 

https://www.blurb.com/books/591551-autobiography-of-foo-hong

我很高興家父能將他一生 的經歷寫下來給我們共享。在他們那個大苦難的時代，他靠著一顆善良,克苦耐勞，努力向上,愛人如己的心去處世。得到許多親友的幫助,也幫助不少人。要不是那個環境的限制,他一生的成就肯定會更不一樣。

封底的回教堂是他五十年代的傑作，五十年后還是那麼聖嚴。他念念不忘祖國，幸幸苦苦的和媽媽把我們六兄妹扶養成人，讓我們站在他們的肩膀上，看的更遠。封面書頁上的圖片，是他以磁磚切割拼接而成的墻飾，可以想像他一心為家為鄉的情懷。

他整理家鄉，同時接合在新加坡重印的族譜，親自把七十三代的祖先一一找出來。重抄《朱柏盧治家格言》，《羅洪先醒世詩》就是要給我們做為借鏡。他極重友情，我本來想把他多年來的好友照片都印出來。可惜因為照片解析度不夠，只好作罷。

言輕意重，在此與你重溫家父的一生。

符傳孝Sun-Hoo Foo (32-74)

16 February 2009

2 Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73): Winthrop & BEP

 

Winthrop & BEP

Foo Hong 符大煥(31-73) 

符傳孝Sun-Hoo Foo (32-74-109）

Mar 6 2022

 

Winthrop is the person who opened the door of opportunities many times for my dad. It was the bloody second World War that somehow linked them together.

First, dad was selected to be his private chauffeur. While waiting in the car for Winthrop family’s weekend outings, dad was not idle. He repaired small radios or painted, and this was noticed with a thumb up. Winthrop allowed dad to open a convenient canteen in the military compound so dad’s relatives and friends could have work. He lost the chauffeur job and canteen soon after Winthrop left the army. When Winthrop returned to work for Coltman several months later, he recommended dad for a Booty & Edwards (BE) draftsman apprenticeship. I am not sure what made Winthrop think of all of these things. He was very kind to dad. His help might just be small conveniences, but they were enormous uplifts for dad. 

Coltman was released from Changi prison on September 1945. When sailing back to England, he said to his wife, “I hope to God I never see this bloody place again.” Because of his age, he could only get a job paying 800 pounds per annum as an assistant Architect at London, Minister of work. So, he was persuaded to return to Kuala Lumpur to resuscitate his company, Booty & Edwards. His company lost every things, yet there was a lot of terrific renovation works. There were needs for skilled workers, and diploma requirements probably were not as restricted, so dad had the opportunity to learn and filled the gap.

 

Without formal education, Dad's salary increased 5 times from being an apprentice with 65 Malay
Ringgits (RM) to 300 RM within two years, and then about 10 times to 578 RM when he became chief draftsman within 3 years. By the time he was sent to Brunei, he also had travel, vacation, housing and other allowances in addition to his basic salary of $750.

The salary for Booty & Edwards (BE) draftsmen was 100 RM (working experience 3-11 years), driver 40 RM, cook 60 RM. BE chief draftsman then was paid 350 RM before he defected to another company for 516 RM, and dad was 325 RM.

Coltman designated dad only to work with him, in his private air-conditioned room (air-condition was a rare luxury then), on his competition for a 7 stories post-office building in December 1950. Coltman won the third place with 3000 RM prize money.  After the chief draftsman left, Dad was offered the position with a 4-year contract, 578 RM per month plus 6-month vacation and travel allowance for the whole family.

He was 26 years old (1948) when he joined BE. During that time, he simultaneously attended evening technical school ( no University in Malaya), learned from his superiors, and from books. During the probation, he showed a designed house plan to Mr. Coltman within 3 months.. In 2 years, he was promoted to Chief draftsman. He earned about 10 times of what he was paid when he started, plus the benefits. That was the salary of a young college graduated architect with 5 years of experience. As chief draftsman, he was giving the full responsivity of  drafting all the detail plans of the  Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in 1952 (age 30).  After that, He was transferred to Brunei to  oversee the construction of the mosque.  He continue his position as chief draftsman of the the company under Coltman, and then Bailey. He got his Architect certificate from Brunei in 1956. He actually made some suggestions, revised some details, and even designed a whole project by himself later. His association with BE contributed to BE’s most productive years and of course, he was well compensated. 

What a remarkable achievement for a young man who lost his education at age 15, going through the hardship of war.

With Foo Chi-Ying's introduction, he applied for a driver's job  in the Army.  later, as Colonel Winthrop’s private chauffer in 1947 (age 25), dad served him well. Winthrop appreciated dad’s talent and recommended him later to Coltman as an apprentice, when Winthrop himself returned to join BE after his discharged from the army. Of course, without Winthrop's kindness and his eyes on recognizing talent (伯樂識馬), dad would not have the opportunity/fortune to walk on the path to achieve what he eventually accomplished. 

He was assigned to make a   2m x 2m  size Mosque model to present to the Brunei sultan . Without previous formal training, he improvised a lot to accomplish the task. This included picking dead branches from the botanic garden with Kington Loo. He finished the task in three months. Dad and Coltman flew to Brunei to present the model after the model arrived by sea, the only way to ship then. The budget for the mosque was initially 250,000 dollars, later increased to 3 million and ended up completed with a cost of 6 million. Dad later spent months of efforts trying to commercialize the scaled down mosque model. He used self-made cement molds to cast with plaster of Paris. He presented a best scaled mosque to the Sultan, however, this commercial endeavor failed. Later, he brought me one of the few remaining specimens when he came to NYC.

Dad always felt lucky to have met Winthrop, Coltman, Bailey and appreciated their kindness and support. In the end, he served BEP well, and he was well rewarded. He taught us not to forget people’s kindness and so he was loyal to BE despites persuasions *

In 1948 (age 26), dad already had mom, Francis, me and two younger half siblings to support. He told Mr. Coltman that he needed 150 RM. But afterwards, he started to help support his younger brother,  family, friends, and acquaintances in Hainan, Singapore and Malaya. His monthly 1300 RM salary in Brunei was barely enough. One day his best friend, Wong Ching-Ho advised him to think about saving money for his children’s future education (6 of us plus more). He finally realized no matter how well BE treated him, he could not be a partner, and he would not make enough to support his children's need. He declined to continue the contract, but still worked for BE until 1975, and then started his own firm. He later ventured into land development. He finally secured funds for his children’s education and charitable works, which his salary would not be able to support. 

“It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.”  Dad started school at age 7 and finished his primary school in 4 years at age 11. He was number 8 to get into the best local high school at age 12 (falsified his age to 16 so he could take the exam) With the impending invasion of Japan after two years of high school, his mother borrowed $390 Chinese yen to pay 5 Singaporeans their boat tickets, so they would sponsor him out to Singapore. He started to work in Malaya at age 15.

I always wonder, if he had the good fortune given to us, who/what would he become?

The lesion I learn from dad/BE experiences is well matched with that of Corylus contorta or a groundhog hanging on a float. 

Each life is a rain drop falling on water, the ripples propagate and are felt forever.

 

*Winthrop's name is mentioned only once in BEP-100, Coltman’s memoir, p77 as one of his 6 architects, 30 drawing staff (dad is one of the unnamed). Here I paraphrase a Coltman’s sentence in his  last memoir page: “Malaya has served me well but I too have served Malaya”

 Winthrop’s weekend outing included his wife and daughter. At the end of 1950, his son(?) died, He was upset and asked dad to finish his project. His work was the 2nd BE submission for that post-office competition. It did not win. (That is all I know about Winthrop, dad’s benefactor)

 At this time, Mom, in her 20+, was cooking, cleaning for the large family including 4 young children. (Hard to image how she could do that alonet. I remembered her brother, Long Ah Keh, drove a small van and dropped off a free loaf of freshly baked bread afternoon.  

Data and quotes are from Foo Hong’s autobiography and BEP-100.   BE changed to BEP (Booty Edwards & Partners) in late 50, now is BEP Akitek Sdn Bhd.

 

Following photo is adopted from BEP-100, showing the projects of BEP from 1950-70. The first two decades list the projects in Brunei when dad was the chief draftsman. ( you may click and enlarge for details)