Let begin the memory lane with Atkinson Clock Tower, because this is likely among the still remaining  building structure Wong Shin Chiang saw when he first arrive in Jesselton in 1905/1906.

There were 3 sounds of old Jesselton that buried deep in my heart : the hour strike of Atkinson Clock, the church bell of Basel and the call of cicadas along my school road.

While the church bell has since been removed and the cicadas disappeared,  this patriotic clock strike every hour since then until today.

Each time I come to KK I would come to old Clock Tower before an hour change just to hear the sound of same old Atkinson Clock that strike the first hour of my birth.

More about Atkinson Clock Tower...

Jalan Istana (Istana Road)

Just 500 meters south of Atkinson Tower is the junction of Istana Road (Jalan Istana) ' Road of Palace' -- the road going to the palace....the road going to the house of Wong Shin Chiang.....the house where I was born.

One and a half kilometer from this junction is a palace and a once a wooden house of the Wongs

There is really a palace where this road lead to, the very same road to Wong family's house....... the Wong family and the Royal family were once neighbor..........and I being to the palace when I was 11 years old.

As we walked upward toward the hill ...

In the 1960s there was no footpath.  The trees on the slop side were short and on the road side one can get clear good view of the South China Sea and Gaya Island at a distance.

To day the trees have grown tall and thick providing shadow from the strong tropical sun but gone were the wide angle view of South China Sea where Wong Shin Chiang and Phang Lien Yin sailed from and settled their root some where beside this road.

The small girl in the photo is Mei Yin age 5 the youngest member in the Wong family.

Phang Lien Yin often mentioned 2 places 'Sui Tong Lu' and 'Cha Ki Shan'

Mount Kinabalu under the morning sun.....

This was often the scene I saw early morning on my way to school or church.  The rising sun... Mount Kinabalu have remain unchanged in my memory. This is the same scene other old Wong members saw in those day.

But some things has changed...the tall rising building in the middle of the photos were not present in those day...

There was nothing to shown that I was once born here and grew up a few years here.

.............................

But there are four (4) living things still survey till today.

1) Wasp : the wild wasp hive inside a bush. I can recognize these wasp which is very famous for its extremely painful sting. I know how painful it is. I was stung by several of them back in 1965.

It was late afternoon, I stroll along the foot path and displaced a piece old plank under a papaya tree unknowing a wasp hive was beneath the wood.  Only when O felt sudden sting pain on my arm then I realized I was attacked by about 10 of them fly surround me.

That evening, as I was sitting on the wooden star leading to the kitchen I suddenly could not see. My eyes were blacked out for a few second.  Unable to see I senesce danger of losing my eye sight. I cried out loud for help.  By the time a couple of adult came to me my eye sight came back again..........

That night I could not sleep  because the whole body from arms, to chest to legs to face were swollen.  The itchiness was extremely unbearable.

The next day was a day off from school for me. ........ I recovered the third day.

About the above image : The above image was snap shot  when I went for a second alone.  The location was on the way to the cemetary.

2) Monkey.  : Hi monkey !  I am glad to be able to see one of them today.  (see photo 3)  There were group of them but all hide high above the tree except this  male perhaps the leader who on guide on approaching enemy that was why sitting on telephone cables. As I get near  he started to keep a distance from me. That why I get only a snap shoot of his back side.

Back in 1964-1965  these monkey were my excitement.   If this monkey's great grand parents still alive, they might still remember me chasing them around.     Those day they used to come to San Ba, the wooden house, scavenging for foods.  The whole group of them , about 20, would come once a month.  They would robed  all rip papaya they could find in the land and eat on the spot.  AT that time there were about 10 papaya trees. 

Though there were almost hundred of banana trees but banana were always harvested before they started getting ripen.  So the money did not have much chances of  getting banana from the tree and monkey never eat green unripe banana.

The biggest feast for they was one a year when the Water Jambu in fruiting season.  The land had a huge tall Water Jamby tree  and ridden with Water Jambu during fruiting.   Let the monkey have all of them as non of us eat any of this fruits.     The reason is ........ all are infected with warms.

Some time I would try to get near to them. That was my childhood game like today my children play hide and seek.  But I played with money......monkey hide, I seek.     I usually choose a mother monkey with a small baby that cling to her.   Baby monkey are ugly, but I loved to 'catch one' for pet.

Of course I never had one because I never able to get 20 meters nearer to any of them.  I think this is the nature instant of this species of monkey to keep any moving animal at least 20 meters away.  So was in those day, so is now when I try to get a close up photo for remembrance of them. The above photo was the closest I could get close to him ----- 20 meters.

Those was my experience in encounter with monkey.  But today children like my kids have a different experience.   To them monkey are creature you can directly hand a banana to,  one can even scratch their back like those we did in the local zoo.  One even can shake hand with. ......These are the monkey in the zoo.

3) Mosquito : Whom I contributed a lot of blood

Seen in the photo is a mosquito Yin's hand.  I asked her to endured for a few miutes for a few snap shoot for remembrance.  What is so romemtic of this moquito ?   Well I told my daughter "These mosquitos missed your blood so much anf for so long..... their great great great grat grand parents had tested my  delicious blood many many years ago....and they waited for so many years finally his gaughter return to the home land....for them to test the same type of delicious blood again....."

The land was and is swamped with this species of mosquito - the day mosquitos. (At night there was another type of mosquito

About the above image : A Asian Tiger Mosquito sucking blood from Yin's hand during our visit to the old family site that afternppn.

4) No one comprehend the joy of seeing my favorite pigeons. Since boyhood, my insatiable joy at seeing  these true masters of the air fly.

Many years ago, one of my house works was feeding the school of Gray-pigeon each morning before going to school.  It was a delighted job for me for it was and excitement to see about 50 pigeons flew toward me when I spread handful of maize on the ground for them.

There were 2 pigeon house about 50 meters from the house. The pigeon holes mostly occupied by hatching hen pigeons. 

Feeding pigeons is pure joy. A joy that last.

In 1995 to 1997 when ever my family were in Asuncion, Paraguay I would find time to bring Xing to the City center for the pigeon, to see them,  to feed them and for the joy of seeing them fly .

About the above image : Thought not taken at the old Wong's house, these pigeon in Karamunsin are of the same breed.

 

No: 2 Jalan Pinggir

This is the road to my school which was at the end of the road.  Each school day I passed by this junction of a smaller road to the hill summit.  I knew some 'some rich people' were living on top of the hill and they have car. But I never knew who they were till today.

Today I  passed by the same junction again.  The junction look deserted and seem lost its glory 30 years ago.  I gave a closer look and finally answered a 30 years doubt............the people lived here were a bank high ranking officers.

More detail about HSBC Residence Summit Thomas V........

26 Jalan Pinggir off Jalan Istana, Signal Hill

26 Jalan Pinggir, Off Jalan Istana, 88400 Signal Hill, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Sabah Theological Seminary

Long gone with the old Lok Yuk Primary School building once in a heavily. wooded area with clearings for rubber trees.

On the right hand side I remembered is steep forested slop where we were reminded 'no to go down because of broken steel and iron fragment of boom left in WWII.

Once was a whit tall wooden Pai Luo now replaced with cement pillar with iron gate.  And the wooden school double stories building replaced with the modern building of Sabah Theological Seminary.

More about The old site of Lok Yuk Primary School...