April 2020
The Kebaya
Ladies, when was the last time YOU wore an elegant Kebaya? Perhaps for a party? A wedding? A fancy dress competition?
Also….how many types of Kebaya are there?
The ‘first’ wedding at the ‘new’ church…
Here we have the first wedding, which was held at the newly built Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Ipoh. The groom was Arokia Dass @ Noel, while the bride was Amalorpavamary @ Mary Rozario.
We also have a copy of the church marriage register, which documented this wedding….as well as another photograph of the couple.
A Grand Birthday…
Here we have a ceremony at the Ipoh Town Hall, to observe the Japanese Emperor’s birthday. It is said that Emperor Showa (better known as Hirohito) was born on 29 April 1901; and the Emperor’s Birthday celebrations are always carried out on the actual day of birth. We estimate this photograph was taken in the early 1940s.
On that note, we’d like to extend birthday greetings to all of you out there who are turning a year ‘younger’ this month of April 🙂
More medical musings…
The characters across the top simply read “Chinese Sinseh” while the central panel provides the doctors name as “Zu Yong Chu” in red and his specialities below in black. These include “Physician, Pediatrician/Gynaecologist and Pulse”!
Down the left hand side the patients are assured of of “Accurate Prescriptions”, while on the right “Careful Diagnosis” is promised.
This doctor must have been popular… 🙂
The Doctor is IN!
Did you hear about the Chinese Doctor who opened a clinic at No.39 Anderson Road? According to the above flyer, he’s from Guangzhou and he specializes in prescriptive acupuncture….
Famous Names (9)
- He was the vice-president of the Penang Anti-Opium Association in 1906, and played a key role in the first Anti-Opium Conference in Ipoh.
- Then, he started a small practise at 12 Brewster Road, and gave his support to the Perak Chinese Amateur Dramatic Association and the Ipoh library project.
Yes, our “celebrity” for today needs no further introduction. I’m sure some of you can easily recognise him from the photo too 😉
The Singapore Squeeze – Another John Mennie Sketch from 1942
This sketch records the ‘Selerang Square Squeeze’ – a shocking Japanese atrocity meted out to 16,000 PoWs in Changi, Singapore in 1942.
The Japanese settled the Allied soldiers in a cramped square for five days in unbearable heat to make them sign documents stating they would not try to escape.
Many men died from disease and dysentery during the incident and four more were callously executed by their sadistic captors.
An Operation in the Open Air – Singapore 1942
This sketch is one of many drawn on a scrap of used paper by artist John Mennie, a Japanese POW.
The sketch shows L’Cpl Dunlop from the Army Medical Corps conducting an operation on a serviceman with no medical facilities. The set of sketches were given to fellow POE Eric Jennings, son of the Editor of the “Times of Malaya” They are a harrowing record of the brutality of the Japanese in WW2.
The Last Stop of the Day – A Chinese Cave Temple
After enjoying every crumb of their bakery buns, a little rest and some games at the beautifully scenic Gining Lanf, it was tie to move on. The next and final stop for the day was a Chinese Cave Temple.
Thus, they had reached the end of a really fun day with their Cousins and Classmates and it was time to cycle home in time for dinner with their parents.
Before we leave them can you tell us which Cave Temple they visited.