by Lamvi Dao. Edited by Jesse Stamell.
The UNHCR provided us with proper diet and did very outstanding job in keeping us healthy.
I don’t recall exactly how often we were given food but every other day or 2 times per week, we were given either chicken, fish and along with some kinds of vegetable. Your portion was so little that if you tried to feed yourself, you would run out of food by the second day. So what we did was that if you were solo or had one or 2 relatives, other people would give you their portion and we cooked together. We became one big family.
” A whole chicken was divided for 4 people and
you would not get any food for another 3 days.”
That’s right my friend. We supported each other. We trusted each other with our scarce food and little drinking water.
In comparison with other kids, I was a lucky kid that had family on the island. Mom cooked for everyone and at least 3 more guys in our long house (apartment). Our family was extended.
We also had a lot of instant noodles, Mi Goi. Everyone had 7 packs of instant noodles for each week. Most of the women did not like noodles or they ate so little that we could see noodles piled up everywhere. What about me? I loved Mi Goi. Sometimes, I had 3 packs of instant noodles. I loved ‘em.
We had noodles for breakfast, noodles for lunch, noodles for dinner, and we had noodles for snack before bed time. Noodles were everywhere. They were everywhere and the rats loved noodles.
Have you tried to fry noodles with sugar, Mi Ngao Duong? I was the expert with this type of snack. With a cup of hot tea and Mi Ngao Duong before bed time, we had a good night sleep.
One more thing, certain types of noodle packages were like foil from the inside. We used them to make Christmas trees and they were so beautiful.
It has been more than 15 since I left Bidong, but I still love instant noodles because I ate them for nearly 3 straight years and almost every day too with 2 packs at least. Sometimes, I make Mi Ngao Duong and I enjoy it myself. I’ll treat you one day.
By the way, if you were caught while consuming pork you just had committed a very serious crime. Malaysian government prohibits pork consuming.
2 Comments
I love your recall of noodles on the island. It was the best time of early years though only lived there little over a year.
When I lived in Bidong, other people taught my Mom made “Mi` Nga`o -Du*o*`ng”….Me & My Bro,My Sis…Love it back then….
not now… I remembered My sis and my Bro fighting to eat Noodle, then my Mom yelled at them, and punished “Qui` goi’ ” for a while, after that she told them to eat the noodle….”Mi` go’i no*? te’t le’t” ..oh my god…They both a(n vo^ ma(‘c oi’ luo^n, I tried & I threw up…Gosh..we never fight to eat noodle again. I don’t like mi` goi’ that’s much…I used to take my mi` goi’ to exchange for Xo^i Nu*o*’c Co^’t Du*a` @ Zone D, I saved my mi` go’i exchange for ba’nh da lo*n. cua? o^ng Tam ba` Chi Zone F….I knew some men exchanged their mi` goi’ or “mung bean” for cigarrets,…Talking about RATs…Men lived around our longhouse…tried many ways to catch Rats, burn in their holes, shoot them w/ arrow, trap, to turn in “Kho^’i ve^. Sinh Pho`ng Dich” for rewards likes Ba’nh,Su*~a ho^p.,Ao’ thung, some others…can’t remember… ..When We moved to Sungei Besi I start to like Mi` Goi’ I think it is better…There is Mi` Ngon and Mi` Do*?, mi` ngon $1 for 7goi’ or 5goi’ depend on season, mi` do*? $1 for 10go’i or 12goi’…People can exchange mi ngon for more mi` do*?, or mi` do*? to less quantity of mi` ngon, or exchange for money. My family saved mi` ngon to eat, mi` do*? dem ba’n….we always have alot mi` goi’, because a family of 5, 3kids, we don’t eat much…I was the one “suy dinh du*o*~ng” in Bidong and Camp. I eat a lil bit i feel full already, My family have some single men “ma^u. die^n.” join our meal, my parents feel sorry for them,they can’t cook & not enought food, so my mom cook for them also, she fixed the food good, she always buy more things to make the meals good or taste better, and make sure her children eat well. Once in Sungeibesi, she bought some porks and got caught from a police man nick “o’c bu*u”. She had to stay in “Monkey house for 2weeks”. We all cried so bad, My sis,bro and me…visited her in monkey house,cried alot…and told her not to buy it again, we don’t need to eat it. Mom said she wants to us to be healthy,she want us to eat good food. Then we started to asked her if anyone in Monkey House a(n hie^p’ her. She said No, she said luckly because a man gangster controled in there “Oanh bo^` ta(.t or Oanh Lo^? tai lu*a`” something like that…knew she is elder mature woman,got in “Monkey house” because buy porks for Kids, so he told others in there didn’t give her any troubles. Thanks God. But I saw a lot ants bite mark on Mom’s arms…:’-( We don’t eat porks again in camp.. After that…alot more stories to tell…I was there from 7yrs old to 14yrs old, but remember clearly everything……..I hate Malaysian Police, not many of them are nice….althought i was a kid..but i knew so many unfair things in the camp.