Prefatory to Pai Gow

Malaya was a prolific producer of tin and rubber under British Rule. Yet, you never hear of a glut of these two commodities. There was the London Metal Exchange (LME) and Rubber Stockpile Board. Together with the British artful domination of the GC (see post on Global Conversation) there always seemed to be a reasonable demand for tin and rubber. When international tensions heightened anywhere around the globe or war broke out, like the Korean War, inevitably, a windfall of tin and rubber prices boom followed.

Our first 3 Prime Ministers were lawyers trained in the prestigious Inns of Courts in London, UK. They were quite happy even after independence to leave it to the British to do the International Talking on behalf of Malaysia. They understood and appreciated the might of the GC. Tin and rubber prices managed to remain rather buoyant throughout.

Along came our fourth homegrown PM M2 (see post Trump irks Muhammad Ali). Educated locally, if you count Singapore then as part of Malaya through the Straits Settlement provisions. Another accolade to the British for their cunning juggling of acquired territories for political posterity.

M2 innocuously (a description that can rarely be associated with him) but, more so, naively believed that world commodity prices obeyed the simple economic laws of supply and demand.

M2 staged what he thought was a masterly stroke of genius. A commodities coup to corner prices through a 'dawn raid" on a British-owned Malaysian Corporation listed on the London Stock Exchange was executed. Only to be undone by a change in the rules of the LME and the assertions of the influence of the British in the GC.

M2 became patently aware of the power of the GC from this incident. Since then he had added a vitriolic dimension to his premiership and "retired" life attacking  the deceitful GC and the West. The slogans that emanated: "LOOK EAST", "BUY BRITISH LAST", etc.

My Dad descended from a family that came from China to Malaya lured by the prospects of tin at the turn of the twentieth century.   

The Chinese used sturdy wooden structures called "palongs" to mine for tin - cheap, slow and labour-intensive. The British had their sophisticated "Dredges" and created huge, ecologically damaging man-made lakes to operate the dredges. With each ravenous scoop of a bucket, sediments about the size of a car are processed for tin inside the dredge. The British method proved to be more efficient, productive and plunderous.

To run the labour-intensive palongs, my Dad's family had to engage armies of labourers and coolies. During their free time at night the popular game of Pai Gow was fondly played amongst the workers as entertainment and relaxation. The powerful Chinese Philosophical Didacticism built into this game was passed on in this way which helped to shape their orderly attitudes towards life.

This game has been in existence for millenniums and has always been widely enjoyed by artisans and tradesmen throughout China and from the southern borders spread to Vietnam which for very much of history had been a vassal state of China. 

My Dad as a young man was enamoured by this game which he played in the mines he supervised that fostered a camaraderie spirit between workers and owners and who were closely knitted through festive dinners and other traditional celebrations in tin mines as well.

Chinese Miners' Unions or strikes were unheard of, much to the puzzlement of the British then.

My Dad motivated by his deep love for Pai Gow, impassionately impressed upon me the symbolism and philosophy in this game and of all its beauty and empirical value. That's how I saw the link in this game to the Victorious Vietnamese in the war with the US.