Church Weekly for 9 March 2008
My dear readers,
We continue with excerpt of the Memoirs.
The Governor’s Testimonial proved to be our lifeline
The year was 1932. The Great Depression, now in its fourth year showed no signs of lifting. Rubber price was still in the doldrums.
Our family of nine hungry mouths waited to be fed. Will God send manna? Father and Mother continued to pray, remembering our Lord’s words, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1 ).
One day the thought occurred to Mother. A family friend Mr Lee Shin Kong was a Senior Nursing Officer at the General Hospital, Johor Baru. “Let’s pay him a visit and ask his advice.”
Father agreed. Johor Baru was a mere half-an-hour’s drive to the south by taxi. Together with Mother, he called on Mr Lee.
Mr Lee was very sympathetic and more than willing to help. “We shall approach my Chief, Dr Garlick, the CMO (Chief Medical Officer of Johor State). I have served under him for ten years. Let me ask him for a meeting.”
The day of interview was in March 1932. Together they went to see the “Big White Chief - Tuan Besar,” CMO Dr Garlick. Father presented his Diploma of Licenciate in Medicine, Surgery and Midwifery, signed by the Principal Dr Lyall.
The interview was conducted in English, with Mr Lee as interpreter. Some routine questions were asked which Father answered: in Swatow he worked for six years in the Mission Hospital where he was trained, then four years in Penang as assistant to a certain Dr Chan, and finally two years as Medical Superintendent of the Military Hospital of the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton.
Dr Garlick took notes, asked a few questions. “We have not issued any licence to graduates from your school. Nevertheless, I shall study your case.” Thus ended the interview.
Two weeks later Dr Garlick’s official letter came through Mr Lee. “I’m sorry, no good news, Dr Tow. But we don’t give up easily. There is an officer higher than Dr Garlick. He is Dr Fitzgerald, the Principal Chief Medical Officer, PCMO, in Singapore. We must try and see him.” An interview was arranged for April 1932.
Thank God for Mr Lee. He also was a godly man of faith, a caring person with a kind heart.
On the day of the meeting, Father had a bright idea. “Let me take along the Governor’s testimonial written in 1922. Perhaps the PCMO will consider what the Governor of the Straits Settlement wrote?” For whatever it was worth, Father took with him his autograph book together with his medical diploma.
On that fateful day, Mr Lee accompanied Father to call on the PCMO in Singapore. Dr Fitzgerald, a distinguished looking gentleman, kindly received the two visitors at his office. Mr Lee presented the case on Father’s behalf, together with Father’s diploma and the Governor’s testimonial.
“Very interesting, Dr Tow, that you met the Governor. You don’t speak English?”
“No sir, not at all.”
“Do you know French?”
“No French, sir, but some Latin. We learnt to prescribe in Latin.”
“Supposing you write me a prescription for a common medicine which you often use for your patients.”
Father gladly complied. With consummate ease, he wrote out his favourite prescription for “Dyspepsia.” It was a mixture he often used for his own gastric pain. With steady hand, and in perfect Latin, Father wrote out a complete recipe for a mixture for the relief of dyspepsia.
Dr Fritzgerald read the prescription with obvious approval. Then he turned his attention to the Governor’s testimonial. “You met the Governor in 1922 at Government House. What made you see him?”
“It was a courtesty call. I was in Singapore to raise funds for our YMCA headquarters building in Swatow. I thought it was courteous to do so.”
“You know, Dr Tow, you came just in time. I am due to retire next month. It is good you came today. You will hear from Dr Garlick in due course. Good-bye.”
All the way back to Johor, Father and Mr Lee talked about the interview and gave thanks to God for making the meeting with Dr Fritzgerald possible, and in the nick of time.
Back in Senai, Mother anxiously awaited Father’s return.
“How was the interview?”
“Dr Fritzgerald was friendly and encouraging. But with these Angmos, you can never tell.” ( Angmo is the Teochew nickname for Europeans who appear to have “red hair”).
Two weeks later, came an offical letter from Dr Garlick. It was a “Licence to practise in the State of Johor.” Amazing lifeline!
Praise the Lord, at last God’s manna had come, not by way of the rubber trees, but a licence for Father to practise in the State of Johor! At last, he could use his skill and training received under Dr Alexander Lyall and his team of doctors at the English Presbyterian Mission Hospital, Swatow, China. It was God’s lifeline for the family’s survival through the Depression years.
Through the trials of hunger and want, God was teaching us hard lessons, not soon forgotten. I am reminded of the wonderful promise of God in Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the LORD, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” God was teaching us: “Preservering prayer pays. Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.”
Endnote
1. Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard was Governor of the Straits Settlements 1920 - 27. Named after him are Guillemard Road, Guillemard Crescent, and Guillemard Lane, in Geylang, Singapore.
2. Dr George Herbert Garlick was Principal Medical Officer Johor from the 1920s to the 1930s. Garlick Avenue in the Bukit Timah - Holland Road area is named after him.
3. Dr Richard Desmond Fitzgerald was Acting Deputy Director, Medical and Health Services, Straits Settlements, for a short period in 1932. (This post was previously known as Principal Chief Medical Officer, PCMO).
Lovingly in the Lord
Dr SH Tow, Senior Pastor