Chater 16 Our Father's Busiess.

We finally shifted to our father's office cum home along Immigration Road .We were only occupying one half of the house.

The other part,lived another tenants.We all had to live in one room with office space as sitting room.There was a Carpenter's workshop in front of our house with the rest of the space rested the timber our father had to trade. 

The house was about two chains from the main road.On our right side was a saw milll. And on our left was another timber trader with very large stick of timber.At the back of our house about three chains or so away was the Perak River.

We were scared of the river initially but not for long before we ventured near it.We slowly got accustomed to it and took the courage to plunge into - it learning to swim.Weng Cheong came along when we began learning to swim.

Well,all of us shared the same amount of river water we swallowed during those days.It was no easy tasks learning to swim.We had no one to guide us either.Nevertheless,through trials and errors, by diving from one end to another we splashed ourselves to be quite good swimmers.

We were quite foolish to have ignored the danger of drowning.The fact was we were learning to swim in depths which were above our heads,It nearly proved fatal as one of us nearly got into trouble. Had it not been the presence of mine I pulled him away from danger in the need of time,thus pulling him to safety.It was Weng Cheong.Well no tears no gain at least all of us can swim thereafter.

The river was known for its other dangers from crocodiles,and fast tidal flowing river.As days drifted by we became stronger,tougher in mind and body.Daily we would played and swam around those areas with or without Weng Cheong we were always there .By now we had many new friends then all fairly naked waist up and completely without when swimming.

We also learned to fish, failing which we stole from the traps set by fishermen.The sides of the river were often laid with all sort of traps to catch shrimps and fish.The fishermen laid them during low tide  only to return to catch fish and shrimps as the tide recede.

Water snakes were aplenty and sometimes when feeling for fish within those traps we would accidentally grabbed them and what a terrifying scared.The mangrove swamp also provided us with fruits,very sour fruits which monkeys dared not eat.Their trees also provided us with diving board.It was fun diving naked  

Yeah,I was twelve to thirteen years old then.With this new group of friends we would play all sort of pranks beyond description.We were now change completely in this new environment..Here we knew about smoking and gambling but we were nowhere as we do not have the means to service such vices.

I remembered an occasion where I and my brother joined these friends there to carry funeral banners for a miserable two ringgit.What to do - no other means of getting pocket money.However our earnings were only spent on things we like to eat never otherwise.

We did that only once never again as we faced the gossiping tongues of people known to us. I felt no shame for our actions  as we did not steal to earn that pocket money.Perhaps to carry funeral banners were not so honorable but what is honor without money.

Our father's business was never good.Despite the fact that now that he had sufficient the capital to work with. There were not much timber in stock at his showroom.Whereas his immediate neighbor had full of stocks customers could choose from.Until this day I still how this were so?.

Business was never good.He hardly made any big sales.Days went by and months drifted off yet his business was still at its lowest.In short we were only living on our money given to us by our dear grandmother.

To what I perceived our dear father does not know how to do business .All he knew was how to enjoy himself.He was gambling in the evening in clubs.Although only playing mahjong but at bigger stake.All these should have been beyond his means..

He was smart in keeping our mother quiet by supplying her sufficient for her to indulge deeply in her own life style,also gambling by playing mahjong.Her stakes were small but losing almost all the time.

Once one evening we followed our mother to a hotel where  our father was seen hanging around.There was a quarrel and our father left that together with us.So we also harbor the belief that his past time was playing mahjong.Now it was exposed that he was also involved in womanizing.

Very soon the money in his hands dwindled away.After a year or so he had no more money t spent let alone buy us food.Rice became our most after item and we were daily in dire need of it.Each daily consumption were purchased in katty. 

Then there were none in our rice contain our mother resorted  to borrowing but when you were so down and broke even borrowing became a mighty problem.Luckily there were only a handful of relatives to rely on but foe how long?My auntie (her sister) assist many a times.

Here we also meet with a good Samaritan in a youth we called "botha"his actual named was Ah Yean..He was a loner who aided those illegal four digits  people serving as their "runner".He was paid for all his runs whenever there were races.

He had been eating in our home for sometime and when there were no more rice in the coffer he obligated by buying some for us.A very kind gesture indeed it came just as when we were in need of it.

Other mother on the hand went back to tap rubber for small holders.Her  earnings were not much  just sufficient for us to get by.By then our rentals of the house were due.There were no money tio replenish our timber stock and therefore our father had to close shop,