Tim is really good in making fah sang, pumpkin, sweet potato and seafood porridge. We can eat it for days and not grow tired of it...
This blog entry is Tim's story....
The other day he mentioned to me that perhaps he gained his love and skill for making porridge from his mother. His late mother was one of the most famous porridge maker in Penang. She first sold her yee sang kai chok in Chowrasta market. Then she later moved to the Island kopitiam (now re-named).
Everyday she would wake up early at about 4 am in the morning to boil the chicken. The white meat succulent chicken would be plunged into the boiling water to boil and simmer for an hour or so. The chicken essence left behind in the soup would then be used to boil the rice thus giving rise to a delicious nutritious rice with a golden yellowish hue. The rest of the chicken essence will be boiled with a little less rice to make smooth chicken porridge that was simply fragrant.
Fluffy and tasty chicken rice boiled and cooked in the chicken essence tasted simply scrumptious. Smooth and silky chicken porridge tasted simply exquisite when made with love and sacrifice!
To be sure, we were never short of food whenever we were back in Penang. We had the best yee sang kai chok porridge for free! Sadly the trade was only carried on for a while by Tim's second brother, Kin which he later abandoned for something more lucrative which he called "turning rubbish into gold" (more about that next time)......
The chicken still in its skin would then be prepared for sale to be eaten together with the porridge and chicken rice. The chicken entrails will also be prepared to be sold together with the porridge (though I don't really eat the innards and stuff like that!)
As an option for those not keen on chicken, his mother would also prepare the fish (sek pan) to make fish porridge for sale in her little stall.
I still remember the small kitchen in their rent control house where cauldrons of chicken soup and porridge were prepared in the wee hours of the morning.
She was the sole breadwinner as Tim's father was very miserly, like scrooge. He liked to hoard money. In fact when he died, the legend was that his mother found a stash of money under his bed which was used to finance his funeral. His habit was to take out the money, count and re-count it before putting it back into the hiding place. He later suffered a stroke and left his printing job to push trishaws. Being miserly, he left the financial support of the family totally on the shoulders of Tim's mother. I used to give him tracts to read when he was alive. We were later told by Tim's grandma that before he died, he was calling on Jesus which, according to the grandma, was something good.
The grandma herself was brought to Church by Marcus, the Pastor of the Penang First Assembly of God, a growing and thriving church in Penang. Marcus was a close friend of the family who stayed with the grandma before he became a pastor. He was actually taken care of by Tim's grandma. To this day whenever we visit the Penang First Assembly of God, Ps Marcus would always extend us the warmest welcome. Although she was never baptized or made a clear commitment for Christ, she was a kindly lady who had only good words to say about people. She died at 90 years old of old age with no major sickness.
In view of the eccentricity of his father, Tim's mother had no alternative but to do a business in order to support the family.
The sales must have been reasonably good in her younger days if not she would not have used the proceeds to support her family. Although Tim received a bank scholarship to study business administration in UM with a 7 year bond to his scholarship-giver, his mother was still instrumental in meeting his daily needs and supporting the other 2 sons - Danny and Kin.
In addition she was also supporting the adopted sister and her 90-year-old mother in law.
His mother was a friendly and humble lady who insisted that I call her lai lai (Cantonese word for mother in law) although I gave up soon after that as I found the language too formal...which was something she did not mind. I called her mama (mother in Cantonese).
Being a smoker and later a gambler-host i.e. one who host gambling sessions and earn a commission from the winnings, she died of lung cancer as she was a chain smoker (like her late husband).
However before she died she prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into her life.
What can we learn from her life - no matter how tough our financial situation is, do not give up. Do not look down on hawkers or poor people who open humble food stalls to make a living.
Treasure our parents for their sacrifice. Support them financially when they are alive because when they die there will be no more opportunity for us to make them happy with our giving. Nothing makes our parents more happy than to receive money from us every month. In doing so they can be assured that we will not abandon them to the streets or the old folks home.
In fact Tim bought a house in Ayer Itam at her request. However it was later sold at a loss at the height of the financial crisis as his younger brother needed the funds to start his hair styling business - however this will be fodder for another story of Tim's family.....
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