Resilience

THIS WAS a story from The Star newspaper last Wednesday, the 25th of August. Although it correctly stated that Hwang Hong Shi taught at the Westlands School, the translation into SMK Westlands was wrong. SMK Westlands is Westlands Secondary School which opened in 1957. Westlands School was the primary school which is today the Westlands Centre for Sports Excellence, the premises still located in Victoria Green Road. But Master Hwang did indeed teach at both schools: Westlands School in the 1950s and Westlands Secondary School in the 1970s.

GEORGE TOWN: Having hid in the jungles of Sitiawan, Perak, as a child over four long years during the Japanese occupation, octogenarian Hwang Hong Shi has cherished every day of his life since.

Recalling the dark chapter, the 87-year-old retired teacher said he was only eight when he fled into the wilderness with his family.

“We heard they were beheading Chinese school teachers, and both my parents were teachers.

“They weren’t very good at farming and being the eldest, I had to help out as much as I could.

“My father would dig up the ground and I would plant paddy seeds.

“I also learnt to fish in the river,” he said, adding that the family lived in fear inside a hut they had built.

Hwang said there was often not enough food for the family of five.

“We had to make do with what we could get our hands on, like sweet potatoes, tapioca and plain rice to stay alive,” he said at his home in Taman Sri Nibong.

He said he could never forget his anxiety back then.

“The times we sneaked into the neighbouring towns fearing execution, to the times we ate tree roots out of hunger – we had to be resilient to be able to survive,” he said, adding that these were the qualities he applied in his daily life throughout his career as a teacher, then a general manager.

Hwang said that when the British took over, things improved.

“I began my schooling, but it still felt like we were living under someone else’s roof. Our future was uncertain,” he said.

He was a 23-year-old teacher in 1957 when Merdeka was declared.

“I did not know much about national affairs then, so I didn’t understand the political aspect of it, but to me, Independence meant better opportunities for all and freedom from conflict,” he said.

Born in Sungai Siput, the Perakian dedicated 37 years of his life to teaching in several schools, including the then Westland School (now SMK Westlands), Sekolah Umum Permatang Pasir in Seberang Prai, Penang Free School and the International School of Penang (Uplands).