Dead Man's"Tales

Chapter 3  The Family Tree


Our roots?. Not very clear actually.Apparently our father was an adopted child.Our grandmother had only one daughter and no son.So our father was brought by her and raised up as another Cheah.

The grand old man,our grandfather passed away passed away when our father was just only a boy.Family's fortune was intact when left us.It soon took a dipped thereafter.Bits by bits the family's fortune dwindled away.When the war came the last property of the Cheahs met its fate.

It was almost demolished by the withdrawing British.Apparently they did not not that old mill to fall into the Japanese hands.So its machinery were taken down and thrown into the Perak river just behind the Mill.

When they tried to operate the Mill once again during the occupation thee were insufficient funds in hand to put it back to its former glory.Faced with that the family decided to sell all  its shares away.All sold to another partner who was financially sound to rebuilt it..

Our dear grandmother obtained her share which she used to purchase another piece of land along Anson Road.Her final interest was her immediate family.She made sure the was a roof over our  over our heads.On that land she constructed a wooden  attap house,in which we lived. Believing that would be our last santuary when all else had been depleted.

She was protecting us in fact.She wanted us to have at least have a home of our own over our heads even all were lost.She really held on to it until forced to part away with it.
She did it to give her son a chance to prove himself .Unfortunately her fate in him was lost as he was never a good businessman.

Despite all odds me and  my siblings made it good.Our sister  just two years older than me achieved the best results in the Overseas Senior Cambridge Examinations in 1958 for Lower Perak District.We were then residing in the rubber estate where no electricity were supplied after 10 p.m. and she had to slot through on dim kerosene lamp lighting till the late,late nights.

She was given a temporary teaching position at the Convent School,Teluk Anson.She was thee slightly about a year before she was selected to go on to a teacher training course in Brinsford Lodge,United Kingdom.So about a year our lives improved.After she left to England we came back to square one.

I was then in Form four and my brother in  form two.In order to make ends meet our mother left for tapping rubber in the small holders which paid slightly higher wages.With that we had to shift away from the plantation's line sites.There was no end to our hardship but heaven forbade we survived.

We resided  until I finished my School Certificate examinations.Almost immediate I secured a job in a rubber plantation.That was how I began my career in planting.I stumbled onto planting not by choice but by coincidence of wanting to work so as to ease down the burden already hanging on our mother.Jobs were scare then,so I had grabbed on to just any job that came along.

The Boss of the plantation happened to be our uncle's client and friend.He came along while I was having a holiday with our Auntie in Kuala Lumpur.The job came handy just by mouth.There neither application our anything else. That was it and I employed.

Another reason why I could never be selective because I just simply in a hurry to make good and be a success in life -become some body fast,so that I can win back the girl was madly in love with.However that was fat hope because Before I could be a achieved anything O received news of her marriage which saddened me tremendously.

I was so devastated that it nearly killed me off then and there.Say what you may but I was not a brave  man without a doubt and lived on to lament on.So I survived on.Once established in planting it was never easy to walk peacefully away.

True ,I had encountered many little ups and many disastrous downs.Many a times I had to practically crawled my way back to Paradise.It is true that there  are flash of lighting at the end of the rainbow.Despite the downfalls along my career as a planter met my present wife ,an old flame in Bentong,Pahnag .

Somehow we parted and met up again to be married as life long partners.Together we have three Children.two girls and one boy.Our first daughter came into our lives when I was in K.C.Cheah Sawmill,Karak,Pahang..

Her coming brought me some good luck,because as soon as she was born at the Bentong Hospital,Bentong,Pahang.I secured the job of Manager St.Andrew Estate,Batang Berjuntai,Selangor.We named her Cheah Yue Kit.

We lived happily there for ten beautiful years.Living in a plantation was like living in a small kingdom and our little daughter and maids to take care and play with her most of the time.She even had a maid attending to her while beginning school in a primary school in Kg.Kuantan.

Our second child joined us two years later,to be followed by a son three years later.We named him Cheah Wye Fueng after the small towering hill in that region.It was a glorious piece of hill land,from which I ruled that thousand over acres.

We lived a wonder life there for te long years before we shifted into business.I traded from that tiny town Batang Berjuntai,Selangor.How true it was for doing business in a small town was  like breeding fishes in tiny ponds.Small pond can never breed big fish.It was an extremely bad venture and I faltered easily.

We survived thereafter in Bentong,Pahang in rather poor conditions,but the whole episode was short lived.The bad spell never disheartened us  instead it toughened us both mentally and physically to face the worst to come ahead.We were prepared for future bad things to come .

Fortunately fate was not bad to me towards the end. For after lying low for a couple of months I soon secured a job with Sri Jaya Oil Palm Estate,Sri Jaya,Pahang as Manager.There I strive hard to keep my family together.

I had to, because my children were now growing up teenagers.It was no easy task surviving in a Chinese owned concerned but I did.With honesty,patient,perseverance and plenty of earnestly hard work with a loyal heart,of course.There were times the Boss disbelieved my loyalty or his eyes perceived but  I managed to convinced him fully without a scratch.

I was handsomely rewarded  by hefty increased in salaries considering all other Malaysian Chinese standards.Actually surviving under him was a miracle let for fifteen glorious years.I needed  to survive all those years  because my children then were growing up teenagers.

All of them finishing secondary schooling and going into colleges.Therefore I could never afford to make any slips .Of course I could be insincere and dishonest and made a couple of millions but I opt not to do so.Jokes aside all  these were within easy reach.In fact the Boss knew that I knew all about the cheating game.No big deal really..

Or had I been greedy sufficiently I would had done so.But alas!!!  that was never my motto in life.Honesty bore nothing in the end you remained a pauper -  because whatever it were those unscrupulous Bosses still harbored evil thoughts regardless about you or your good intentions.Honesty is never the best policy.

These  people could never believe what they perceived.To them all men are evil and corrupted accept themselves. It  was as if they had the sole right to cheat others. Others are not entitled to do so.You cheat you are corrupted but should they swindled you they had the legitimate rights to do so.That why all men whenever in high position are corrupted.Malaysia boleh.The law apparently always opn the side of those who had money.

Well,that were my opinions.In any case without being a cheap cheat all my children grew up gracefully. My eldest daughter grew  up and went to college.Half way through she left to join the Malaysian Airways as an Air Stewardess.. Later  she resigned to get married to a French.

His name is Christian Malleck and works for the French Air as an Senior Engineer.Together they begets two sons.My elder grandson is called Julian,16 and younger one is called Sebastian 11..All schooling in France.

My second daughter ,Cheah Yue Ky,similarly attended college and left half way like her sister to join the Malaysia Air lines also as an Air Stewardess.She was attached to Air Asia for a few years before joining  Air Lines  stationed in Dubai.

Later she resigned to be married to a Dutchman.Together they have two beautiful children a boy named Enzo .11 and a girl 9.The reside in Holland where her husband worked as a businessman.

Finally my son lived with us in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.HE married a local Chinese girl named Ho........ Yee and together they have a lovely daughter 7 months old.My son is doing his own computer business.

So you see I have a lovely family.That is all that matters.Money I have little but that is sufficient to tie us through life.Being happy with the family is utmost important.Money can be earned as long as we have the happy attitude to perform well.

What good it be should have all the money in the world without the family happily around you.In most cases if the rich has plenty of money they do not have their family around supporting them.In fact most of their children awaits his passing - fast and good so that they can divide the fortune they stolen from the poor.Most passed away sadly.Need I relate any stories..........no need really..




To be continued..........................