My Aunt's Home

When I visited the village some 21 years ago, we stayed at this old house. We had arrived too soon to move into the new home not far away. The new house (mentioned in the earlier post) was at the final stages of construction. The old house above had no proper plumbing and thus no proper toilets or bathrooms. It was primitive.

The toilet was to the left of the house at the front; near where my Mum's helper was standing in the photo. It was basically a largish hut with a large hole in the ground. There was a plank going across for users to do their business by perching precariously on it. First time users were requested to not look down to avoid falling in. We were lucky that we visited in Winter and the smells weren't that bad.

Today the old primitive toilet has been filled in and the hut removed. No human lives in the old house anymore. My Aunt and my cousin moved over to the new house not long after my first visit. Only one of my cousin's 4 children still live there with him. My 'nephew', his wife and 2 kids live there part time. As for this old house, only the trusty water buffalo lives there now. When I was there to take photos, I didn't venture in to see it. I was not really keen to make animal friends in China. I just hope that he has had a relatively good life. At the new house, the family pet dog is kept on the roof to prevent him from getting dognapped for stew.

Behind the old house, half way up the hill is the final resting place of my Aunt. There are no cemeteries. People just look for the best spot to bury their love ones. Best spot according to Feng Shui. My Aunt passed away in early 2010. I only met her once. She looked quite like my maternal Grandma. She too could have been a Malaysian...

Off to the Village

The first part of our holidays concluded a few days after our arrival in Guangzhou, on a Tuesday. After our travel companion left for Malaysia, we headed to Tian He Ke Yun to ride a bus to the woop woop. The journey took 4 – 5 hours.

My maternal grandparents came from a village named 博石下。 It is not far from 老隆。They had a house there and they spoke Long chuan Hua. I understand this dialect to a certain extent but barely speak it. My maternal grandparents were like many piglets that came to Borneo in the early part of the 20^th century. Today their house is still there in博石下. Part of it had been demolished to build a new home next door. Below are photos of the old house. No one lives in it today. It is used to keep firewood and kindling. This was my second visit to the house and it was pretty much the same as it was 21 years ago.

3 of my Mum’s older siblings returned to China in the early 40’s. My Mum’s eldest sister resettled in 紫市 (not far from博石下) with her hubby. Not long after the birth of my cousin, her hubby passed away due to the TB he had contracted from Borneo. My aunt was requested to never remarry and to raise the boy. This was to protect the child’s wellbeing. She did as requested dutifully. To prevent my Aunt from straying, my maternal grandfather even sent my Mum’s 2^nd brother to live with my Aunt in China. This arrangement of uprooting my 2^nd Uncle sealed his fate to never become a Malaysian. I think I know what it feels like for him to miss his home in the Land below the Wind because I miss Australia every day. My Aunt became a mother figure as well as a sister to my Uncle.

We didn’t stay at my maternal grandparents’ home during this visit. It is obvious from the photos above that the place is not really habitable. So we stayed in紫市 at the house belonging to my cousin. This is my oldest cousin and he was the baby conceived in British North Borneo. The house is partially named after him and my Dad. Below are photos of the little farm house that I love so much.

I wish to someday replicate this little farmhouse on a lot in Kundasang. It will be interesting to build a Chinese style home in Borneo. I have always wondered why the Chinese that came here abandoned Chinese architectural style. Maybe it was hard to source bricks & concrete back then.

This post was written back in December 2013. I have been in no mood to blog until today. My work is stressing me out but I wish to get back to blogging again as a way to unwind. I really need to manage my time wisely so I have the time to write again.