THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

Bound Feet and Rubber Tappers 27
workers were dislodged and forced to move out like colonies of ants
evacuating their disturbed nests, in search of new livelihoods. Postindependence
stories like these were many.
Chinese immigrants who came to Matang invariably carried poles
(pien tang) on their shoulders, from which hung two bamboo baskets or
cloth bundles, that often held all their worldly belongings, consisting of
a change of clothes, a shabby, usually red blanket, and a small rectangular
wooden block that served as a pillow. These poles were precious and
never left their masters’ sides. The poles also provided many with a means
of livelihood (as vendor, water-carrier, night-soil carrier) and when needed,
could serve as a defensive (even lethal) weapon.
The Matang Chinese I knew during my childhood wore flowing widelegged
pants with loose tunics, with many pockets. Their buttons were
also made of cloth. But Chinese labourers who went roaming for odd jobs
usually wore nothing more than a pair of work shorts. Their tightly plaited
tails – a symbol of Manchu servitude – were either left hanging at the
back or twisted up on the side of their partially-shaven heads. Some
displayed sores on the shaven areas. The Malays termed this skin problem
ibu sawan and attributed it to the Chinese habit of partaking of steaming
hot food and tea.
As I grew older, more and more tails begin to vanish, dramatically
replaced by crew cuts, or rather, styles where the hair was severely
cropped above the ears and necks. Some explained that their dynamic
young leader, Sun Yat Sen, had instructed them to do so. Yet others
recounted a tragedy about how a Chinese man had died of drowning
when his tail got entangled in some old branches in the shallow well he
had fallen into.
The Chinese then were fond of spitting, a habit almost unheard of
and abhorred by others. This habit took a lot of shaking off, especially
among the older Chinese. The British authorities had to post countless
‘No Spitting’ signs on walls and trees.
We bought our household needs from a sundry shop owned by two
skinny Chinese brothers, Ah Kim (older) and Ah Huat, who had thick
glossy tails and ibu sawan patches on their heads. In turn, we sold them
chicken eggs (we ate ducks’ eggs, as these were bigger), coconuts,
mangosteens, mangoes, and fresh and dried areca nuts. At the end of each
month, we settled our accounts.
Areca nuts were in great demand by Malay women, and Indian men
and women, who continually chewed them with betel leaves, daubs of
lime, gambier bits and tobacco leaf veins. Luckily, this habit is almost
gone since it has been found to cause mouth cancer.