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After finishing Form 6 and leaving school, I worked a for a short while at Malayawata Steel Berhad and Loy Brothers. While browsing through the local newspaper, I saw an ad for a clerical position at the Penang Bridge Project and applied for it. We did not have a house phone back then so the office manager, Mr Freddie Ng came to our house and requested that I go to their site office for an interview. The next morning, I took the yellow bus to Sungai Nibong, got down opposite Universiti Sains Malaysia in Gelugor and walked to the site office. It was muddy and dangerous as lorries made their way in an out of the site. I looked around, it was not very pleasing and wondered how I would be able to work there. I asked a driver who was seated at a small booth and he pointed to the wooden offices to the left. I walked up and found the manager’s office where we talked for about an hour while he explained about the project. There were the bridge plans and markings on huge plans of work in progress on his wall and he proudly showed where we were at in 1982. I was told that the clerical position was actually a typist job at the Chief Engineer’s office to assist the secretary. She was overloaded with transcribing, typing and handling calls to her office. I was taken to see her and be introduced and I felt a little nervous; this was a happening office and I was to work and assist Anna. Then I was brought to the Admin room which was larger than Anna’s room. Here, I was introduced to Mr Kunjappy who was the chief clerk, En Nordin, office supervisor, Ms Emily who was the accountant and Mr Teoh the general clerk. There were other rooms at the back but we did not go there, it was a conference room and another Engineer’s room. There were 2 blocks of offices for JK Sea/HNTB, a set for Hyundai Engineering offices, another for Malaysian Highway Authority office (LLM). These offices were equipped with furniture, office machines, a pantry and rest rooms. After seeing all these, I said goodbye and again took the bus to get back to town. A few days later, the land cruiser driver came by with an offer letter. I had been offered the job and were to wait at 7.30 am the next morning for the driver to pick me up.
The next morning, I got ready and waited but the driver came only at 8.00 am as he had to pick up Mr Teoh and Emily from their houses. This was good news as I did not have to travel by bus and walk in the mud anymore. I sat in the land cruiser and was driven to the site and so began my first day.
GerlieTan and me outside the site office (Ong drove this cream coloured land cruiser)
I helped with the typing, made copies at the Admin office and heard Anna’s stories. When it was break for lunch, we sat in the Land cruiser and Ong, the driver took us to a coffee shop. Sometimes, we went to the back of USM and had lunch at the stalls where the students had their meals. I always wondered what it would be like to study at this university as I knew I would never have a chance.
Our company JK Sea Sdn Bhd were partners with HNTB (Howard Needles from the United States) and we followed Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM)’s work schedule . On Fridays, we broke for lunch at 12.15pm just like government employees. Ong took us to town where we spent our time from noon till 2 pm at the shopping malls either window shopping or eating. Later at 2pm, he picked us and sent us to the site before 2.35 pm, and worked for about 1 hour 45 minutes before we headed back to town again. It looked like we were on the road most of the day but back then, traffic was not so heavy so we enjoyed the ride home. Working half days on Saturdays was not that bad.
After working for a couple of months, Mr Freddie Ng employed 3 more girls, Miss Lim who assisted Mr K and Miss Liew who was the Admin typist. Ann, Nordin’s wife and Joyce came on board a bit later. I worked at Anna’s office but would hang out with Miss Lim who was a nice and humble person. I also helped another engineer with his typing as computers were not invented yet. I looked around at the secretaries, they all looked intelligent and efficient. I wanted to be like them too, so I took up shorthand at Simyong Institute during the evenings. I was getting better at the strokes, it looked a bit like bean sprouts shooting upwards and downwards but it made sense to these secretaries. The secretary at Package 3, Mei got a bank offer and the vacancy was filled in by Amanda. She worked for a while but wanted to further her studies so the job became vacant again. I applied and Mr Freddie, after checking with the engineer , Mr Venka at Package 3, agreed to promote me. So, I moved from this block to the next block closer to the sea. I had an office to myself sitting between the Mr Venka’s office and Mr Charles, the assistant engineer’s office. Fatimah would clean the offices, make tea which would be left untouched by both my bosses as they would be gone most of the day. Once a while I would hear my boss calling me on the two-way radio asking for the land cruiser to pick him up at the jetty. Next to Charles office was the surveyors’ office where plans hung on the walls and the survey boys would go out to the site to work with the South Korean and Malaysian workers supervised by our local engineers as well as American engineers. At the instruction of the Chief Engineer, monthly meetings would be held at the conference room and the secretaries would take notes using their shorthand skills. I also had the chance to sit in these meetings but I had the help of a tape recorder. We transcribed whatever we wrote earlier at the meeting and the drafts of this reports of all the secretaries were sent to the Chief who reviewed and then got the report typed out to be sent to the various offices including the Kuala Lumpur office.
Miss Lim and me in front of Mr Freddie Ng’s office
Office colleagues in front of the Penang site office (before heading to lunch)
Back row: Emily, Ann, Gerlie; Second row: Joyce, Miss Lim
Front row: Myself and Miss Liew
I became friends with the materials engineer who taught me to prepare the full set of accounts as I had studied accounting in school. This knowledge became so useful that I applied it in my career all my life. When engineers or staff left the employment at the Penang Bridge project, we usually had a farewell party in some well-known restaurant on the island. We would have a nice 8 course Chinese dinner with drinks and dancing or karaoke later. It was fun and relaxed time as we got to know each other. When one of our engineers, Ir Lee Hock Seng got married, we were all invited to his wedding dinner and I was requested to sing a Chinese song. Everyone applauded, seeing a non-Chinese singer and it was became the talk of the night.
Mr Patrick Huong (Materials Engineer) and me in the launch on the way to Butterworth office
Similar to the offices on Penang side, there were offices on the Butterworth side. We would invite our Butterworth colleagues for a game of volleyball or office parties. They would take the launch (speedy boat) and cross the sea to get over to Penang side. Our land cruiser drivers would fetch them from the jetty and drive to our office. However, the messenger boy who was on his motorcycle would cross via the ferry with the mail from the Butterworth offices. I had a good friend back then and still is, Gerlie Tan, who worked for the materials office in Butterworth and seeing my laughter and cheerfulness called me ‘nyamuk’. It could be because I was skinny, lengthy and funny, it looked like I was hopping around a lot.
Malaysians as well as Koreans gather for lunch at Butterworth office
A young me crossing the channel to get to Butterworth in a launch
Now, let me tell you something on the bridge building from my layman perspective as I am not an engineer. How was the piling done in the big sea you may ask? First, the site was marked by surveyors who adhered strictly to the Specification of Works, then the location was cordoned off by planks of wood. Sea water was pumped out while the sand and mud sucked out so the area was clear for the piling work to being. What happened to the sand and mud which was removed from there? Well it was deposited to the right side of the bridge. Today you see 2 small islands when you drive from Butterworth towards Penang and these islands, over time, have trees growing on them. I am thinking of having picnic at one of the bigger islands on my next trip to Penang. Perhaps get a fishing boat to take me there. On my last trip in December, one island has disappeared.
Work on the bridge was done on large barges which could withstand thousands of tonnes of weight. The piling machine, the cement mixer and the workers supervised by the Engineers were all on these barges working day and night to meet their deadline. Once piling was done for one location, it started on other locations and this continued. The work was difficult, but these experts made sure it was done correctly, accurately according to the Specs laid out by the architects and engineers. Later, both vertical and horizontal beams and columns were placed and attached to each other with tons of scaffolding. I learnt these words while listening in to the meetings and did not understand much at that time due to the accent but Mr Venka always went through my transcription for accuracy. Little did I know that later on in life, I would have to work with Americans for 28 years.
Cimbing up the upper deck of the mainspan (Note : the cable suspension and the big sea below)
When the Chief from the Hyundai company came to meet the Chief Engineer, we would greet him and he sounded happy and cheerful. On other days, when there was an accident or a death, he would come to report with a sad face and we felt him. There were numerous times when we heard about deaths both of our local colleagues as well as Korean friends. While working at night, a sleepy worker could easily have fallen to his death into the sea or a beam collapsed and some workers got buried under it. It was the risk taken by the workers when they volunteered to work at the bridge. Working on the main span with the suspended cables looked so complicated and complex, yet it succeeded and till today, remain strong.
We had bungalow stay a few times, but went to Penang Hill twice. The bungalow was introduced by a friend of Gerlie and she booked it for a night. As we worked half day on Saturday, at noon , we jumped in the land cruiser driven by Ong, made straight for the train station at the bottom of the hill. The bungalow was located midway on the way up to Penang Hill, so we got off the train and walked towards it. We brought our food supplies and clothing for the night. We cooked, ate, danced, talked and played cards there. The bungalow caretaker was given a small token so she was happy with us. We also did a 1 night stay at a beach bungalow and the Chief Engineer visited us with his wife and had lunch with all of us.
Colleagues for lunch with Mrs Lichty at the bungalow by the beach
While the bridge was taking its form, members of the public and NGOs wrote in to the office Manager for a site visit. Mr Freddie Ng got permission from the relevant offices and on Sunday, took the group out on the launch into the sea and onto the barges to tour the site. I too, took this opportunity to arrange for our Sikh youth to participate in the sight- seeing on one Sunday. My group was thrilled and felt lucky they had the chance to visit the site. Mr Freddie was happy and proud to show people the site and by Monday morning, he was all red and tired for getting too much sun.
In order for me to buy a car, I had to have a driving license, so I enrolled in a driving school. I always got nervous and failed the driving test and seeing this Mr Arabi (Mr Venka’s driver) offered to coach me at the site. During our lunch time, I began to learn driving around the site and this gave me the confidence. After that, I managed to pass and get my license and today I ply north south highway like a hero but I always abide by the driving law, not exceeding 120 km/hour.
I worked for 2 years and got an offer from a cooperative bank and so had to leave the Penang Bridge project and this was end of December 1984. It was heart breaking as I had grown fond of my friends at this site. Just before the opening of the bridge in 1985, I went to visit my friend and took some pictures on the already completed bridge.
My trip to Penang Bridge Project 1 before it was opened to the public
While driving on this bridge for the past 35 years, I always feel proud that I was once working for this project with famous engineers, surveyors, materials technicians, office staff, drivers and our counterparts from Korea and America.
I proudly give respect and honour to Mr James Lichty (the Chief Engineer), Mr Scanland, Mr Evans, Mr Norman Lozovsky, Mr Liaw, Ir Patrick Huong, Ir Chin, Ir Lim, Ir Poh, Mr Venkatasen, Mr Saw SJ, Mr Sundra, Mimi, Lilian, Karen, Fatimah, James, Hen FW, Arabi, driver Lim and Ong and others who made my stay at the project a memorable one.
