The Chong Family History in Klang (Part II)

Continued from HERE…

Grandpa Chong (my grandfather) came from mainland China, and was initially in Penang… During the world war, he did fled to Thailand before, and at that time, was in the medical line… He made himself some money, and was said to have to HIRE PEOPLE to carry his SACKS of MONEY around with him… <– cool yeah, so rich!! haha…

Well, near the end of the world war, his friend advised him to use the money for land in Perak, but he did not… When world war ended, all of his money suddenly had no value, from VERY rich to sudden nothingness, he told my uncle that he was very down and depressed… Slowly moving his way to Klang, he started in the food line, a small stall at the side of the road, and then realising his age is catching up, married my grandma (from Jeram) through match makers… They then rented a shop for the coffeeshop business, and later gave birth to my father… When they started, they even had to borrow money from my grandma’s step mom for the purchase of shop furnitures, but perseverance and determination soon paid off, when they bought over the shop and ran the coffeeshop business since then…

That was how the family business started, and continued till now… When I was young, I remember running around the shop (of course having my hands burnt before with cigarette butts, or even hot MILO etc), but at that time, my grandma has stopped working in the shop, and was a fulltime housewife… They stayed on the mezzanine floor, with a small kitchen, 3 bedrooms, a living and ONE bath… I spent quite a bit of time there with my grandma… Until we moved to the bungalow that grandpa purchased… The shop is now rented out, with the business moved to another location…

Tears well up in my eyes countless times through the night of the story telling… It reminded me of how important it is to be determined, and to not let dissapointments break your spirit, cuz if my grandpa allowed that to happen, I wouldn’t have been here today (WHAT do you mean you don’t know if it’s a good thing, OF COURSE it is, imagine, no me, no Rachel… hahaha)… I was reminded of how much love there was in my grandparents’ relationship, how I remember hearing my grandma’s voice saying “never quarrel in front of your kids”… I was suddenly hit by the feeling of how important it is to keep the story of my grandfather’s determination and outlook in life going in the family… How important it is to keep the younger (me included) generation in the family reminded, of the hardship that my grandparents went through, to give us the life we have today, and I wish I’ll NEVER EVER take that for granted…