Sunday, March 7th, 2010
History: Lee Tong’s store
by Murray Lee Tong
Lee Tong's store in Wyndham
The Old Wyndham shop “Lee Tong’s” General Store.
Still stands today and on the heritage list.
My grandma Cisse (Chin Hee) lived in the back of the shop for most of her life, dying at around the age of 94 she was mostly deaf and blind in her old age. My Unlce Billy cared for her for all of his life.
The shop was said to have belong to a Chinese gent called Ah Chee whom was befriended by my Grand father Lee Tong Foo.
The story goes that one day upon arriving back in town (in the early 1900’s) the police gave the keys to the shop to my grandfather, they said that Ah Chee had died and left it to him. After some time of trading in the shop my grand father raised 150 pounds to send back to China to the old mans family as a final thank you gesture.
It is this sincerity that I have based my resolve on, and hope that my boy continues into his adulthood.
From what I can remember my old grandma was a typically superstitious Chinese woman and always left a candle burning on the back table at night,probably to scare away the demons.
My grand father was originally a cook with the drovers in the Kimberly, there are some stories that he may have worked for the Duracks who were heavily involved in cattle in the area, however this cannot be substantiated.
Old grand father Lee Tong Foo was said to have come from Toi Shan Province in mainland China.
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