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biography
 In search of gold the story of an immigrant - by Shan Ru Hong |
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(continued) Chapter 7. The night school and the trade union. PUSING CADRES who had been exposed as “red” were transferred. Ai Ke went south to be a district committee member. I went to Tronoh as district committee member, there to start a rubber industry union for Kinta. At the end of 1940, I lived at “Little Ah Nan’s” place in Tronoh where Reporter Zhang, a private tutor also lodged. Strictly speaking, we should not have put up at the same place but the circumstances were such that we had no choice. Li Pai then introduced Diao Bo (Diao Qing) to me. Diao Bo had lost his enthusiasm when times were hard but had become active again when the trade union was growing. The organisation decided to let him be a provisional member for 3 months. Having been a miner, I had absolutely no idea of rubber. So I plied Diao Qing with a hundred and one questions. I learnt that tappers like him on small estates earned 50% from sales of rubber sheets. Starting work at 5.30 in the morning, with head lamps, the skilled worker working rapidly usually finished at about 1.30 in the afternoon, when the latex was transformed into rubber sheets. If he tapped a hang t’ou or unit (about 500 trees) of mature trees, he would get 40 to 50 lbs of latex. If the trees were middling, the yield was 30 to 40 lbs, giving 10 sheets of rubber. A tapper tapping middling trees and working 20 days in a month would earn $20 a month. On the English estates it was different. The trees were clones and gave high yields. The tapper lived on the estate and fed himself. He would do two hang t’ou of 4 acres each, containing 300 to 400 trees. He tapped one unit each day, collecting about 70 to 100 lbs a day, which came to 20 lbs of rubber sheets. The daily pay would be $1 which gave an income of $20 a month after expenses for food (the average good days for tapping was about 20 in a month). In 1941, the rubber price went up but so did prices in the market. The workers needed better pay. Added to that was dissatisfaction with weighing where the bosses did some cheating. In the smaller estates the practice was to give the tapper the benefit of keeping for himself latex waste i.e. latex washed to the ground by rain or left-overs. So it could be said that the animosity between boss and tapper was less sharp. Some tappers would even offer the estate owner 5.5 share to his 4.5 to encourage him to give them someone else’s better tapping area. |
| Tronoh’s tappers were spread along the Bahau - Parit main road.
There were smaller estates along Tronoh - Batu Gajah road and Tanjong
Tualang’s 24th milestone. All in all, tappers in these areas numbered
about 5- 600 men. In the area from Siputeh to Parit and Bruas they
numbered 700 to 1000 tappers. The English estates were mosquito
infected. After I talked to Diao Qing I decided to visit all the activists in the kampongs that he mentioned. My cover was Liu Hua Fei, middle school graduate, whose certificate I bought for $5. I opened a private school with a reputable old local as managing director. I then started work to organise a union. Talking to the leaders, I found their main complaint was that the workers were not united. I thought that it was a matter of class consciousness and that we should start evening classes for workers at Seklamun. I then went to Sakaijadi where I talked to Liao Lun, a man with such a reputation in the martial arts that even the police steered clear of him. He was disappointed that I knew nothing about the subject but cheered up when I told him I would introduce him to a friend well versed in that field. I had in mind Li Bai. When Li Bai visited me a few days later I introduced them. Liao Lun was delighted and invited Li Bai to put up with him. He also invited us to dinner. One day they showed off their skills at the end of which Liao Lun, impressed by Li Bai’s skills, called him a bosom pal. As Li Bai was 25 and Liao Lun 26 he asked Li Bai to address him as elder brother and said that his two younger brothers would call Li Bai elder brother. Li Bai spoke of starting a school in his kampong. Liao Lun offered his house. Li Bai then asked a middle school graduate called Zhang Guo Hong to act as teacher at Sakaijadi. Zhang, a fat fellow, was delighted with the beautiful surroundings which included an old mining pool which offered good swimming. He got on with the family and quickly became one of them. The Liao family actively recruited students for the school. I became a good friend of Li Bai who often ate the left-overs when he visited after dinner, and was just like one of the family. He was later to be my saviour. One day Pan Guan Zhao told Diao Qing he wanted to see me. Pan Guan Zhao who was 30 years old was a leader of the people in Seklamun and Tronoh with many friends. The first time we met was when I had proposed a school be set up in Seklamun. I set off immediately on my “iron horse.” (1) When he saw me he called out, “Mr Liu, can you wait while I send for Huang Rui and Kuang Jin Shui!” He greeted me like an old friend at this second meeting. The school had been set up and he wanted to know what ideas I had. I was introduced as “Mr Liu” to Huang Rui and Kuang Jin Shui whom I discovered to be honest. I thanked them for setting up the school. The school was an attap hut of about 150 square metres which was formerly occupied by a private tutor who had fallen ill. I asked if there was a blackboard and desks and if I could put up there. Pan said he had arranged a room for me. As for food, if I didn't mind, I could make arrangements with the owner of the hut. I said I was delighted and thanked them. |
| I told them
that as we were now friends and we should not stand on
ceremony and they asked if they could call me familiarly as “Old
Liu.” “Sure”, I said, “ and I shall address you the same way”. We
discussed school fees. I thought that if there were 20 at school
we could charge 5 cents each pupil but they thought we should ask for
more because the pupils would be between 18 and 20 years old. I
was to be headmaster and teacher and Pan the managing director I reported to the organisation and requested that a new cadre be sent to take over the night school that I was running near the Bridge Head mine. The new cadre was Fang Ju (Xu Hua, who was formerly employed at the Guang Ming Press, Ipoh and was killed when the Japanese invaded). The Seklamun school started with 20 boys. Some, of 15 - 16 years of age, had read one or two primary text books and those between18 -20 years old had primary level education. It was a question of having to run three classes ranging from second year to lower upper. They were all rubber tappers and came to class after the evening meal. I also taught them the abacus and singing and I also read them the news, especially during the “water restriction" days (2). On those days and Sundays some of my students would drop in and I would talk to them about resisting Japanese imperialism. After Pan Guan Zhao, Huang Rui and Teng Jin Shui had helped set up the school we became close friends and they helped me to understand the conditions here preparatory to forming a union. I told Pan of the formation of the Perak Kinta Mining Workers Union and how it benefited the workers. Pan said it would be a good idea to form a union for the rubber workers and I suggested that he should be the leader for Diao Qing had told me that he was well respected and that if he made a move the rest would follow. Pan was diffident and told me that that Diao Qing himself had a following and also that Lo Yin had supporters from Tronoh to Tanjong Tualang. He said that it would be a good idea to get the three of them together. Lo Yin was the elder brother of Lo Tian Ren (Lo Li Sheng). I went to Lo Tian Ren and asked him to introduce me. So one day he came from Pusing for that purpose. He introduced me as Mr Liu Hua Fei, a close friend of his who had set up a mine workers union with him and now taught for a living. His brother then said “Ah Ren, I heard that the union was successful. Why don’t you come and help set up a rubber workers union here?” Tian Ren repplied that he could not leave his union work at Pusing and said, “Why not use Mr Liu as your general? ” His brother said that that was o.k. Lo Yin complained that his brother had been too shy and had not told him about organising a union. He asked for a copy of the union constitution. Lo Tien Ren then told his brother about the formation of the union in detail. This went on for a long time. Lo Yin invited us to dinner but we ended up with tea ( which included a meal) because Lo Tian Ren had to go back to Pusing for a meeting. I went back to Seklamun in high spirits and immediately went to see Pan to tell him about our meeting and that the elder Lo was keen on setting up a union. I then spoke to Diao Qing and then went to Sakaijadi to speak to Liao Lun. The four of us ( Liao Lun’s brother Liao He had been invited) decided on forming the union. I was to get Seklamun’s Pan Guan Zhao and Tualang’s Lo Yin to join in. |
| Meanwhile
our school had become a success. Tamil Street
activist, Hu Ren Fu, and Tronoh’s young women workers leader, Li Mei
Jin, then came and asked us to help set up a night school in
their area. I immediately said that I’d help. With Li Bai’s
consent I got Sampoling’s Huang Bo Lin to be the teacher. In a short time we set up schools in the Tronoh area: one in the Say Way Street (3) for women with Hu Sue Bing as teacher (this school was in fact set up before I came) ; one near the Bridge Head mine with Fang Chu as teacher; one was the Bridge Head night school where the teacher was reporter Zhang Wen Jiau (He was later to join the Singapore Freedom News); one was at Sakaijadi where the teacher was Zhang Guo Xiung (who left for China when the war against Britain broke out); the fifth was at Seklamun with Wu Ji Aun as teacher (when things turned ugly for us he left for home); the sixth was at Tamil Street with Huang Bao Lin as teacher; the seventh was at Bakou (4) with Fei Bao as teacher (under the direction of the district committee), and the eighth was located near the Chen Dai Li mine with Tan Biao Lin as teacher. These schools had as their objects teaching, information about China’s resistance war, and about unions. I asked Li Bai to send someone over to replace me at Seklamun and another to help me in my union work. Not long after, Wu Ji Aun took over at Seklamun . From Malim Nawar came Zhai Zhi Zhong ( his alias was Xiao Zhang) to be my assistant. Wu Ji Aun and his two friends contributed to the papers and were known as “the three streams” in the Pusing-Tronoh area . Following a directive of the district committee we called a meeting of kampong leaders to discuss the union. After a discussion Pan Guan Zhao was elected chairman and Lo Yin vice-chairman of the preparatory committee. The committee members were also elected. I proposed that the rules be drafted; that when there were enough members, to set up a committee for applying to the government for approval, and that once approved the preparatory committee be dissolved and that another committee be elected for the first general meeting. Liao Lun said he would tell the detective Lo Zhang to tell the police to lay off. Lo Zhang was also to warn us of impending police action, otherwise he would hear from Red Staff (5). Lo Zhang was from Zhen Loong village and had joined Hong Men (6) for information. So he was under the command of the Red Staff of the Tronoh Hung Men. Hung men had strict rules; if any one turned traitor, he would be killed. At the request of the committee, I drafted the rules of the proposed rubber workers union. These were approved. A committee of 5 was elected to apply for registration. Sometime in March 1941, the union was registered as “ The Perak Kinta Rubber Industry Workers Union” with its office next to the Tronoh Kwangsai Association (7) building. Union members then were from the Kwangsai Association. We were friendly with the association and frequently borrowed their chairs and benches. If there were arguments between the Hakka and Kwangsai, Pan Guan Zhao would speak to the association and settle their dispute. |
| By April
1941, the union had more than a thousand members. At
the inaugural meeting Old Du (Lai Lai Fu) was invited on stage and sang
two songs; then his wife Ying Min Yin followed, singing
beautifully and the crowd would not let her stop. Another guest,
Chen X Lian, was not pressed to sing because of his age. Instead he
made a speech urging everyone to join the union. To avoid sabotage by the British imperialists we took care not to expose activists like Liao Lun, Liao Ho, Li Sheng, Ah Niu, Hu Ren Fu, Liao Xia, Kiling Mei, Chai Yin, Liu Xing, Do Tou Nan (his alias in the anti-Japanese and anti-British wars was Do Tou Fu). In April 1941, detective Lo Zhang warned Liao Lun that the British would begin an operation and that the first to be arrested would be Liu Hua Fei. Liao Lun then warned him not to do anything wrong as the Red Staff would not forgive him if he did that. Then the director of the school near Bridge Head mine reported that the detective had visited, asked for Liu, then went away. This, very likely, was done deliberately for the purpose of warning him. The organisation asked me to leave Pusing for Tronoh. One reason was that detective Chen Lai Zhi had come to the house noisily demanding to see me but my father had threatened him with a heavy vegetable knife. They were both opium smokers and something like opium friends so he knew my father’s temper. I slipped away by the back door. We were young and inexperienced and so we were careless. On May Day 1941, the organisation sent us material for the unions to distribute. We never considered the consequences nor the question of whether such activity contradicted the “use open and legal methods” policy. The British had learnt that we would distribute leaflets on May Day, Red October and on Women’s Day and prepared their moves. Liu Ping, Liu Bai and I thought of ways of avoiding attacks on the unions but failed to take practical steps. We thought they would only look for the leaders but would not smash the unions which had been registered. On April 30, the British struck. They raided two unions. At Pusing they arrested Li Jing Ming and Lo Li Sheng and in Tronoh they arrested Tan Biao Ling. That day Liu Bing , Li Bai and I were preparing for May Day activities but as we had never gone to Sitiawan we thought we should cycle over there and have a look. We got to Parit late at night and put up at Liao Guei’s (the brother of Zhong Ying Xiung’s wife, a sympathiser and a good friend). Liao Guei went out in the morning and came back with bad news; all the cadres of the union had been arrested and their leaflets seized. We decided to leave at once because the estate was too near the road and also because our host was an activist. Liu Ping left for Siputeh to hide in Liu Han Gou’s workshop. Li Bai and I went to a rubber estate village in Tronoh to hide. We then went to Sakaijadi to Liao Lun’s house. When Liao Lun came home with his rubber bucket he said to us, ”How dare you go about openly? Do you know about the unions in Pusing and Tronoh? Li Zhong Ming (8), Lo Li Sheng and Tan Biao Ling have been arrested. The English boss of Special Branch (9) searched the union office, looking for Liu Hua Fei . You must lie low. I will take you to the rubber estate and hide you there." After three days, we decided to move because a long stay would not be fair to our hosts. So we got on our bicycles and headed for Parit. |
| It was hot and we were thirsty and we stopped at a coffee shop for coffee. But before we could have a drink, three persons entered the coffee shop: one was English, one was Malay and the other a Chinese. Li Bai quickly signalled to me to disappear through the back door. I hesitated, but at the second signal I understood him. I waited anxiously at our predetermined meeting place for Li Bai. When he turned up he said with a laugh, “Lucky thing that dog, Lo Zhang, was not in the group or else we’d be eating rice and curry!” (10). He said he had a feeling in the coffee shop that those persons were up to no good and had signalled to me to run for it. He said he would have gone for them if they had touched me. I was very moved by his short speech. He always looked after me like a younger brother and in times of danger put my safety above all else. More than 58 years have gone by but I always remember him. You can imagine my sorrow when I heard that the command of 1st Independent (11) had sentenced him to death. In 1946 when I became assistant secretary, then secretary, Selangor, I made an investigation. It seems that Li Bai was in love with a girl from one of the detachments. One day the girl was down with flu and had asked Li Bai to help carry her to the wc, which he did.. It was said that they did something improper but that incident involving two who had been carried away by their love was blown up because of a personal animosity between Li Bai and the girl’s brother, Shao Xiung. who pressed her to confess. Shao Xiung complained to the commander that Li Bai had raped his sister. Li Bai had explained that the girl had consented to sexual relations but the command refused to investigate and sentenced him to death. I thought that if it was rape she would surely have shouted out for help for this happened in one of the ordinary houses, and why should she be carried from bed to the wc and then back to the bed again? There were other decisions like this. My close comrade in arms Lo Li Sheng was similarly treated. He had an affair with someone’s wife who complained to 3rd Independent that his wife had been raped. Lo Li Sheng was sentenced to death on this report. In 1944 I met Liew Yit Fun (12) who was one of the judges at the trial of Lo Li Sheng and asked him what had happened. He said he had the statement of Lo Li Sheng but the command only paid attention to the complaint of the husband. Liew Yit Fun said it was a case of sexual relations not rape. I was angry and said he should have rejected command’s decision or, at least, stuck to his guns. The reply was that he was of a lower rank. I told him off. I said, “You are a communist and a comrade in arms of Lo Li Sheng and you should have stood up for him. You have no principles. How are you going to face Lo Li Sheng’s brother?” Liew Yit Fun looked as if his conscience was troubling him . I checked with others what Liew Yit Fun had told me and their stories were the same. In 1946, I met the vice-commander of the 3rd Independent, Ah Yan (Huang Shui Yan), and he admitted that they were too “left.” I asked why he did not stick to principles, seeking the truth from facts. His reply was that in the atmosphere of the times he dared not go against the command. In the 60s I proposed that Lo Li Sheng be reinstated and he was listed as a revolutionary martyr. I also had Li Bai named as a revolutionary martyr.# |
| _________ (1) Bicycle (2) The days when the rain stopped rubber tapping were called “water restriction” days (3) Say Way, a district in China from which many had come. (4) Literally “The mouth of the forest” - the opening in the forest where the extracted timber is dragged out (5): The Red Staff was the Executioner of the Hong Men, the well known secret society (6) Hong Men, the secret society against the Manchu dynasty. Dr Sun Yat Sen was president of the society (7) Kwansai. A dialect group from south China (8) See Notes at the end of this book (9) The chief of the special branch Ipoh. As Lieut Col Fenner he was head of the liaison team with the 2nd Regiment during the war against the Japanese invaders and became Inspector General of Police when the British returned. (10) Go to jail (11) 1st Independent of the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (12) When the Japanese army invaded he and his wife and two women comrades cycled from Tanjong Malim to get to Singapore. In north Johore, he fell in with the 3rd Independent. He set up a united front against fascism, in accordance with the resolution of the Seventh World Congress of the Third International held in Moscow on July 25. |
| DATES March 1951
UMNO changes slogan from Hidup Melayu to Merdeka |
| _____ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Food guide In search of Gold (7) Ismail Hashim Letter from Pulau Tikus Ponggal Tan Kai Shouan Terrorist rap! - poem Visiting Tanjong |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 64 |