It was the hour before dawn when the sky was still a dark slate grey over Penang island. The muezzins in the mosques were summoning the faithful to prayer, their grave tonal voices trailing over the rooftops of the sleeping town. As the Muslim immigrants from Kedah, India, Sumatra and Arabia knelt upon their prayer mats facing Mecca, the aged caretaker of the Goddess of Mercy Temple was planting joss sticks in the urns of ash on the altar, while a grey-robed monk bowed his shaven head and chanted prayers for the souls of the nameless thousands who had left China to work but had died on this island.
Along the sea front where the towkays had built their great houses, the lamps were lit in Baba Wee’s study in the upper storey of his mansion and he was already at his desk going through the business of the day. About sixty, he was the quintessential Baba from an old Malacca family who spoke Baba Malay and Hokkien with ease, as well as a smattering of Cantonese, English and Thai. He wore a queue and was dressed like a Chinese from China. He was, however, educated in the Malay language like his brothers and cousins and wrote his letters in a fine flowing Jawi script. He took great pride in the Berita Peranakan, the first Baba newspaper in the Straits Settlements published and edited by his younger brother.
Although of Chinese immigrant stock, Baba Wee regarded himself a native son. He was born to a family of prominent merchants whose forebears had settled in the Malaccan sultanate before it was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511. They had planted their roots in the Malay Peninsula, married Malay and Batak women and raised their children in their new homeland. Their bones and the bones of their descendants were interred not in China but in Bukit China, the hill overlooking the Portuguese fort in Malacca. His great-grandfather and grandfather had held high positions in society and had been appointed the agents of several Malay rajas and princes. The Wee family, like many great Baba families, had joint ventures with these rajas, and from its base in Malacca it had branched out into other parts of the Malay Peninsula. Twenty years ago, Baba Wee had moved his family to Penang where he owned several large plantations. His business had expanded north into Kedah and Perak. He was also the agent of the raja of Batung and the menteri of Bandong. His advice was often sought by the Malay princes, as well as by the lieutenant governor of Penang, who regarded him as a leader of the Chinese community.
A light knock on his door made him look up from his papers.
“Good morning, Father-in-law, and good health to you.”
Tai-kor Wong made a deep bow as a mark of his great respect.
“Sit down. Many things I want to talk to you about. You came back only one, two months ago?” He spoke rapidly in Hokkien with the distinctive lilt of the Malaccan Babas.
“About three months ago, Father-in-law.”
“All kinds of rumours are reaching my ears these days. Things I didn’t hear from you. So I thought I’d better hear from you first before we go into town.”
Tai-kor Wong’s heart sank. He wondered what the old man had heard. But his father-in-law had returned to his papers and did not look up for a long while. He was left standing like a schoolboy before his schoolmaster. He swallowed hard and wondered if this was a subtle display of ill humour. Humbly he remained standing, even though he had been invited to sit down on one of the high-back chairs. He had never felt at ease in this room, which was furnished in the English style, with furniture imported from London. The walls were lined with shelves and cabinets of sombre wood, and the large Victorian desk before which he was standing marked the great divide between him and his father-in-law, benefactor and employer. He thought of his utter dependence on his father-in-law’s good graces and chaffed at being so tied to the old man. And yet, had it not been for Baba Wee, who gave him his first break as a petty trader, he would still be a penniless coolie labouring on the wharf like the thousands now crowding into town ever since the troubles broke out in the tin mines. After giving him a job as a foreman in his shipping company, Baba Wee sent him into the interior of Perak to do some trading with the Malays. After he had successfully organised the riverboats, with the help of Musa Talib, to send supplies to the miners in Bandong, Baba Wee had picked him to be his son-in-law. Shortly after that, he was appointed Tai-kor of the White Cranes in Bandong. He knew that his appointment had rattled many people, among them Baba Wee’s first wife and her sons.
When Baba Wee finally looked up from his papers, his face was grave and his manner formal.
“Our friends in the English courthouse told me that the Black Flags sent another petition to the tuan besar governor. They accuse us, the White Cranes, of conspiring with the menteri of Bandong to destroy their tin mines and plunder their village. Making thousands homeless and jobless. Worse, they named your trading partner, Inche Musa Talib, as a gunrunner. That Che’ Musa, in violation of Penang’s laws, supplied you and the menteri with arms and ammunition secretly purchased here. They’ve asked the tuan besar governor to stop him.”
Tai-kor Wong smiled, relieved it wasn’t about Wong-soh and Tuck Heng. Fat Musa must’ve enjoyed himself making a fool of the English navy, he thought. English gunships were far too heavy and large. Musa’s boats must have given them the slip in the shallows of the Dindings. Good! That fat ox could always be depended on to run an English blockade.
“Father-in-law, Che’ Musa would be unable to buy guns and ammunition if English merchants didn’t bring them in without their government’s knowledge.”
“I can’t tell the tuan besar governor that. How can I let him lose face?”
“Then we have to remind him that the Black Flags attacked first. Our men were killed off like flies! Our women who were left behind were captured by the Black Flags and raped! We were defeated because we didn’t have enough guns and ammunition. I’d warned Lee Peng Yam earlier but that fool didn’t listen!”
Tai-kor Wong paused to control his anger which threatened to rise each time he mentioned the scoundrel. That vain cock’s ambition had cost lives and started a major war in Bandong Valley. He’d found out too late about the assault and rape of the Hakka women. Upon reaching Penang, the first thing he did was to swear all the Bandong White Cranes to silence. Not even Baba Wee was told. If news of the dastardly act leaked out, not only would the White Cranes lose face, but Baba Wee would lose his high standing with the governor.
“Father-in-law, we also have to remind the tuan besar governor that the menteri of Bandong tried to expel the Black Flags because they attacked Kuala Bandong. Ever since I saved his life, the Datuk has provided the White Cranes with arms and soldiers to fight the Black Flags. This is not a conspiracy. It’s help given by one brother to another.”
“My friends in the English courthouse told me that the Black Flags attacked the Datuk because his men ambushed and raped their women. Now is this true?”
A long pause.
“Father-in-law, the truth is this: Lee Peng Yam’s men disguised themselves as Malays and raped the Hakka women.”
“What?” Baba Wee could barely control his rage. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he bellowed.
Tai-kor Wong was sure that the entire household must have heard him. But he kept his own voice low and calm.
“I wanted to protect you. What you don’t know, you can’t tell the tuan besar governor. Then he can’t accuse you of condoning Lee Peng Yam. The scoundrel acted against my orders! I know other people say I’m a scoundrel too. That I hide things from you. Let them say! I shut my ears and do what I think is right!”
Baba Wee permitted himself a smile. Once again he felt that he had made the right choice in choosing this blunt-speaking China-born as his son-in-law. He disliked men who tried to be subtle in speech and long-winded in coming to the point, even though well-bred Malays and Babas considered it a sign of ill-breeding if a man spoke bluntly.
He took a different view of things. The shrewd old Baba knew that a lowly China-born he raised to a high position in the family business would be utterly grateful and loyal to him, even more loyal than his own sons, the spoilt brats he was cursed with. Tai-kor Wong could be entrusted to safeguard the family’s fortunes. His own flesh and blood took more interest in bird-rearing and cockfighting. He sighed inwardly at the thought of his pampered sons.
“Sit down. Tell me everything. From head to tail.”
Relieved that his father-in-law’s mood had changed for the better, Tai-kor Wong sat on one of the high-back chairs, looking quite uncomfortable as he reported on Lee Peng Yam’s despicable act.
“A man can’t trust his underlings fully. Right or not?”
“Right, Father-in-law. I must return to Bandong.”
“The tuan besar governor is calling for a meeting in a few days’ time. Wait till this is over.”
“Are they sending soldiers into Bandong then?”
“Who knows? Every clan leader and Malay raja from Perak has been asked to attend this meeting. But the Datuk won’t come. He has asked me to represent him. If the Datuk finds out the truth about the rape, then all our good relations with him will be lost. You’re right to swear your men to secrecy.”
There was a light knock on the door. The head servant came in to inform them that the rest of the family was waiting in the ancestral hall.
“You go down and tell Tua Neo I’m busy.”