Koay siew Hong
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Title: Flower Planting
Title (Original Language): 种花
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “I used to stay at chalet No 293 with my husband Yeoh Kim Soon and we earn our livelihood by planting flowers. At that time we planted a lot of roses, azaleas, and all kind of flowers. We did not employ any workers, so both of us had to do everything ourselves, from burning the soil, fertilizing the plants, planting and selling the flowers. The work we had to do was very tough, but business was surprisingly good, and the roses were selling well. Many Malays like roses, especially blue roses. Besides planting, I also worked as a laundry worker at the dobby shed for the government. My husband worked as an inmate policeman for more than 20 years. We had three children. The eldest daughter was sent away to be adopted and till today I am unable to locate her. My second son was taken care of by my brother and his wife. However, my son died in a car accident when he was 42 years old. I have also lost contact with my youngest daughter, so I am a solitary 84 year old woman. I have nobody to depend on. I was admitted since 17, and in the blink of an eye, I am old and hunched, and all my family members have passed away, I do not know when my turn will be.”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Koay Siew Hong
Copyright: Koay Siew Hong
Title: Chrysanthemum
Title (Original Language): 菊花
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “I am a Buddhist and I used to worship Goddess of Mercy when I was staying in the chalet. At that time, I loved to buy all kinds of chrysanthemum and fresh fruits to pay homage to the Goddess of Mercy. The last time I went to the Buddhist temple to worship Buddha was more than a decade ago, at that time I could still walk. On the first and fifteen of the Lunar month, I would buy joss-stick, fruits and flowers and ride my motorcycle to the temple to worship Goddess of Mercy. Every Wesak day, the celebrations here would be very grand and there will be a procession. We would have the statue of the Goddess of Mercy on the float. The Goddess of Mercy looks very compassionate and solemn. Since I was admitted to this decrepit ward ten years ago, I have not burned any joss-stick. But during every Wesak, there will be volunteers who would push us out to the roadside to look at the procession. The organiser would purposely organise for the float to pass by the ward areas so that all of us can pray to the Goddess of Mercy. I would feel very happy when I see Goddess of Mercy. However, in recent years, many of the residents have passed on and there are not many of us left, so the Wesak celebration is not as grand as it used to be. I am now too old to even offer flowers to Goddess of Mercy nor able to join the ceremony of bathing the Buddha.”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Koay Siew Hong
Copyright: Koay Siew Hong
Title: Sunning the Cloths
Title (Original Language): 晒衣
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “Do you know that when I was young, I was very strong, agile, and also very smart. Each day I would cycle to the dobby shed to work, and would carry behind my bicycle a large bag of dirty clothes. Each day I had to wash 40 to 50 pieces of the patients’ clothes. Each morning at 5am, we would have to start the fire and boil a big cauldron of hot water, and then more than a dozen laundry workers would began to wash clothes. The clothes were very dirty and many of them soiled with faeces, urine and blood. Therefore, we had to rinse the clothing, brush them vigorously to clean the stains. After that, the clothes would be soaked in the cauldron of boiling water. We would then use a long stick to take out the clothes, wring it and put it under the sun. In the afternoon, we would come back to collect the dry clothing and then sent them back to the wards. In those days, the government would only provide us a bar of soap but did not provide us with brushes, so we had to buy our own brushes from the grocery store. This job is very tiring; our monthly working allowance was only 18 dollars and was gradually increased to more than 140 dollars. After working for more than 30 years as a laundry worker, my hands are all spoiled. Now that I am old and living in the decrepit ward, I feel very happy because the government will support us until we die. I do not have to worry about my three meals. Even though I am unable to work now, the government still gives me a monthly allowance of 100 ringgit as a retirement allowance. In addition, Malaysia Leprosy Relief Association (MaLRA) also give us 300 ringgit per month, I feel very satisfied. Sometimes when I am bored with the hospital food, I would ask someone to pack fried kuey teow orfried noodles for me.”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Koay Siew Hong
Copyright: Koay Siew Hong