The messenger from Ipoh came to the house just as the muezzin in the mosque was calling his faithful to prayer. Choon Neo received him in the front room.
“Towkay Neo, so very sorry to wake you up so early.”
“Has something happened? How’s Towkay?”
“Towkay is fine and in good health. But Towkay’s mother has joined her ancestors.”
Choon Neo sank into an armchair as Ah Ting recounted the whole story of that inauspicious night. As she listened, a dark jealous anger filled her heart. How humiliating that she’d to learn about this new mansion through a servant! And only because his mother had died. Her head swam, and with great difficulty she tried to follow what Ah Ting said. Slights and gestures, real or imagined, filled her head. How could he treat her this way?
“Towkay is bringing the coffin home for burial.”
“Home?”
“He’s bringing the coffin here.”
“What? He’s bringing his mother’s body for burial next to his father?”
“Yes, Madam. He asked you to make the necessary arrangements and follow the Cantonese customs.”
“Gods in heaven! What’s he thinking of?”
“I can’t say, Madam. Tomorrow the hearse with the coffin will be here. Towkay said to let the family in Roseville know. He said Masters Ong Boon Leong, Ong Boon Haw and Dr Ong Boon Pin are Tai-kor Wong’s sons, so also Wong-ma’s sons and mourners. They should observe the proprieties and pay their respects to her. Towkay also said to ask your brother to arrange for the wake and funeral. Hold the wake in this house, he said. Don’t think about money. Just get the best.”
“Oh, what am I to do?”
“And Madam, there’s also good news. Towkay is now the Kapitan China.”
“Thank you, Ah Ting. Go into the kitchen and get something to eat. I’ll send for you later.”
Her head was spinning. What madness could have seized Tuck Heng? The whole of Penang knew Siok Ching as Tai-kor Wong’s first wife. Why was he stirring up trouble by bringing Wong-ma here for burial? The blow to Siok Ching’s pride would be so great that she couldn’t even bear to think of it. Roseville and the entire Wee clan would turn against him. And her. Boon Leong and his brothers were men of high standing. And the Nonya pedigree and Baba heritage of their mother was impeccable. Who was Wong-ma, for goodness sake? The woman’s family were coolies with feet deep in muck and dung!
She sent for the amah to help her dress. She had to alert her brother, Chong Beng, about the funeral arrangements and then hasten to Roseville to break the bad news to them.
“A rat! That’s what he is!” Her mother didn’t mince her words. “You tell him I’ll not attend the funeral!”
“Mak, please don’t make things worse.”
“Choon!” Chong Beng snapped at her. “A slap on Aunt Siok Ching’s face is a slap on our mother’s face! Now he’s so high up, the Kapitan China of Ipoh, you can afford to ignore your relatives’ feelings, is it?”
“Did I ask him to do this? Did I?”
“Then send someone to stop him!”
“You’re his manager! Why don’t you send someone? I’ve already told you that he wants you to make the arrangements for the funeral! Are you going to do it or not?”
Chong Beng gave her an angry glare. Then the fork-tongued snake turned to their mother. “Mak, if you say no, I won’t do it. I’d sooner lose my job than stab you and Aunt Siok Ching in the back.”
“My son, good jobs are very hard to come by. Do what you have to but do it as his manager. Not as his brother-in-law. It’s good I can still tell you what to do. As for other people, they’re already married out. So I’ll shut my mouth in case they say I interfere too much.”
“Mak, I didn’t even think that! I was going to ask you to come with me to Roseville to break the news to them.”
“You know what your husband’s plans are! You go and tell them yourself!”
“Mak, I didn’t know anything till this morning! He’s built a mansion for his Cantonese family in Ipoh! And he didn’t even tell me!”
She rushed out of the house and slumped into the seat of her gharry and sobbed, “To Roseville!”
She dreaded to think what her mother-in-law would say. Siok Ching was known for her sharp tongue. Warm and hospitable when in good humour, she could be cold and cutting when crossed. She’d never tolerated any slight from anyone. Her mother had told her the story of how a grief-stricken Siok Ching had berated the White Crane elders over plans to bury Tai-kor Wong; how she had fought off the claims of Wong-ma and told the elders in no uncertain terms that Tai-kor Wong should be buried in Penang and not Sum Hor as Wong-ma had demanded. “His sons are here in this country! He should be buried here so they can sweep his grave on Remembrance Day! In Sum Hor, who’ll sweep his grave? His China wife is barren! And in case you all forget, I’m his first wife! I’ll be buried next to him when my time comes!”
The elders had backed down. They’d never expected the tiny Nonya lady to oppose them. No one dared even suggest that she follow the traditions of Sum Hor after that. Besides, at that time, Wong-ma was stuck in China and expected to grow old and die quietly there. Who would’ve thought that the stubborn coolie woman would return to stir up trouble even in death? It would be such a scandal. Her thin shoulders shuddered at the thought.
Her heart was pulled in several directions. One minute she was enraged by her husband’s deception, the next appalled by his stupidity and blindness. How could he ever hope to succeed in raising his coolie mother above a highborn Nonya? Everyone would treat them as pariahs.
Tears welled up again. A cold fear gripped her. Never again would Kok Seng and his sisters be welcomed in Roseville. The threatened loss of privileged company, opportunity for Kok Seng to mix in good society and good prospects for her daughters made her review her situation.
Years ago, when she’d discovered that her husband had started other families elsewhere, she’d decided not to depend on him to do what was right for his children. So over the years, she’d learned to clutch her heart, bite her tongue and put on a smiling face when he came home. And it had paid off. He bought her gold trinkets, jade and diamonds as if to salve his conscience. She’d hoarded these as her savings against an uncertain future. Like her grandmother, mother and aunts before her, she knew that the wife of a man with other wives must look out for herself and look after her own future.
All the way to Roseville, she looked her future in the eye and saw it firmly tied to her son. If Kok Seng did well, then she would live well. She mustn’t compromise his prospects for a grandmother he’d never met.