In memory of my late father Dato’ Lim Ee Heong, an untiring social activist and reformist in his own way, I am arranging for the posting here of some of his pictures which depict his life and the earlier society of ours. Many of you could not have the chance to see these pictures, I believe, as this is the first time that I officially published them with the consent of my mum.
Ee Heong was born in China in 1932 and demised in Penang in September 2000. He came to Penang by a ship boarded at Swatow Port, though his hometown was in Quanzhou, Fujian province. He was sponsored by his uncle Lim Check Pin who was then operating a shop at Penang Road, and who had not got any siblings at that time, adopted this nephew of his as his own son.
The reasons for Ee Heong to migrate here are partly personal and partly social. His mother died while he was small and his father Check Pek married a new partner who had to take care of many children, some of whom are from her previous marriage. The old China was facing warlord-ism then as Sun Yet Sen was still unable to unify the whole country.
My father once described the land was cracked like turtle’s back, people were starving and living in destitute, and there was no immediate sign of peace and progress. Under such circumstances, as the eldest son of the family (in fact, he was not supposed to be the eldest, but his elder siblings predeceased him at very young age), his new task was to go to Nanyang to lead a new life.
Arriving at Singapore Port as a teenager, this young bloke from poverty stricken China with no currency in his pocket, managed to take a cap all the way to the northern Malaya and dropped off at his uncle’s shop by the name of Chuan Bee at Penang Road, just directly opposite the Penang Police Headquarters which was still under the British colonial government.
His enrolment with Chung Ling High School to study could only last for a week, as his aunt felt that it was time for him to earn a wage which was what the whole arrangement was about . In 1952, he found a job as a shop-keeper at Chen Kwang at Campbell Street to sell cloth. Father always blamed fate for not being able to pursue his education further and we can understand why he, as many other parents too, wants his children to excel in education.
As the first batch of his photos shown, he was happily settling down with the local condition, though he once told me that in the beginning he always thought of his home in China especially before he slept. But knowing that it was almost impossible to see his family members again,what he could do at that time was just to helplessly stare at the ceiling with tears naturally shading beyond his control. That, as I discovered later, was the common feelings of the ‘Sin Kek’ (meaning ‘new guests’) or migrants, whatever their nationalities and wherever they may have emigrated.
With a kind heart and a strong sense of justice, the young Ee Heong took an active part in social and cultural activities to raise fund for Chinese education and other charities. Many of the photos here are depicting the way of life then. It was also during this period that he was influenced by the famous Chinese educationist Lim Lean Geok, who had his Malayan citizenship revoked by the Tunku’s administration later for his very staunch and uncompromising stance on education. It is thought that it was also because of this man’s view that was much shared by Dr.Lim Chong Eu, the second President of MCA, that had among other factors, caused the open quarrel between Dr. Lim and the Tunku and later the mass exodus of MCA members. Dr. Lim later founded the United Democratic Party in 1962, and subsequently the Gerakan in 1968, whilst my father was always by his side.
Ee Heong’s oratory skills made him a popular and much sought for Master of Ceremony for charity shows conducted on stilt stages by the streets. Many of those events were organised during the ‘ Hungry Ghost Festival’ and other religious occasions. He was nicked named as ‘Bo Meah Sih’ meaning ‘anonymous’ . This is because many of the donors who donated with small sums of money of say a few dollars would prefer not to have their names announced on stage. So the MC announced :’Mr. Anonymous donated one dollar’,’ Miss Anonymous donated two dollars’… and so on, until one day, as soon as that young and jovial MC stepped out on stage , people could not help by calling him cheerfully as ‘Boh Meah Sih’ – the Anonymous!
Lim Ee Heong remained as ‘Mr.Anonymous’ until the last day of his life. Those who knew him and this part of our early Malayan history, such as Dato Seri Oon Chin Seang, took it as a compliment and treasured Ee Heong’s contribution to our society. Indeed, the beneficiaries of this grass-root movement in Penang were many and they include the Nayang University, the many Chinese vernacular schools, the poor and the under-privileged.
Therefore, it is in this spirit that I dedicate the publication of Ee Heong’s photos under ‘DOWN THE MEMORY LANES’ for our understanding not just of our predecessor, but also of our own society in the past for which they felt very compassionate and tried their very best to make it a better one.
Watch out for the first batch of his photos by 27th day of April 2008 !
