Rules of Aunty Tagung

Hi, this is Luke Pang, Kelabit name: Tidan. I was assigned to Aunty Tagung for 14 days, shadowing her while teaching her English. In Project WHEE!, each of us have been assigned to a lady which surprisingly suits our personality in a way. Aunty Tagung is unique compared to the other Tepuqs and Sinas, as stated in my previous blogs: Tough Love: Something Different and From KL to Cardiff to Bario. As many were curious about my Aunty and wondered how she treated WHEEans like me, this is a light-hearted post about the rules of Aunty Tagung that I have learned during my 2 weeks with her.

1.      The number of layers of clothes affects how hard you work

That was the first rule I learnt on my first day working in her garden. She had a sweater on top of her shirt, with long pants, gloves and arm sleeves while working in the garden. She also wore a beanie beneath her hat and had Wellington Boots on her feet. Being accustomed to cold climates, I have a low tolerance towards my home country’s high temperatures and humidity.  Therefore, I came into her garden with a T-shirt, shorts, hiking boots and a hat. At one point, she was scared of my outfit because it was totally opposite of hers. She quickly gave me arm sleeves, gloves, and asked me whether I have any long pants. She even gave me another hat to wear on the other hat, which I had to refuse because it was too small for my big head. She also complained that my boots were too low compared to hers. As much as you would be laughing about this, she did mean well. The high boots protect your ankles from being cut from the zinc plates lying on her garden to prevent the growth of weeds, the extra layers apparently keep you cooler due to evaporation of sweat close to your skin, and the arm sleeves protect you from insect bites. The gloves also sped up the weeding process I had to do while I was there. As absurd as that sounded, it did well indeed, although I can never make myself wear more than a layer of clothes here in Malaysia.

2.      The more you eat, the harder you work

Towards the end of the first week, I had a feeling she was fattening me us up for slaughter and meat. She usually makes a vegetable dish and an egg or meat dish for lunch. However, the amount of rice she makes is quite a bit, and she does not eat much. She would take a few table spoons of rice and dump the whole container onto my plate without asking, I could not object it because well it was on my plate. Same goes with the dishes, as she never keeps leftovers. Being the ‘cleaner’ for most of my life, I usually finish leftovers, but this was too much. I don’t eat much rice, but the rice she puts on my plate looks like a miniature Mount Fuji, it was that much rice. She always jokes about how I don’t work hard enough, maybe it is due to no energy, so she stuffs me up with food for energy to conduct more weeding for her.

Part of her long beans harvested from her garden.
These will be sold either to the long house residents or to the school.
Background: my flowery pants

3.      When she wants her peace, she means it!

I did state in one of my posts that we bonded due to our mutual understanding of space and quietness. Well, it took time to get to that unspoken rule. Aunty Tagung has impaired hearing and always wears a hearing aid on one side of her ear. So, one day, I had to return a water bottle to her at 8pm after borrowing it in the garden (remember she finish work at 6.30pm). I went to her place, opened the sliding door and called her. She did not respond, even though we were about 50cm from each other. I called her again, and only then I realise that she did not have her hearing aid with her. She did respond to me and I quickly returned the water bottle to her and left. Maybe that was her “Do Not Disturb” sign to others, to not disturb her after her meals. She was once annoyed at some people who talked non-stop towards her. She complained at how some were so “cakap banyak” (talkative), and how they just would not keep quiet. So, there are times where you can have conversations, but at other times, peace is wise.

4.      Listen, Listen, Listen!

I could not emphasize this last rule more than ever. Aunty Tagung has lived alone for quite a while already, so she usually has nobody to talk to. When she meets someone new, she will have lots of things to share. At first due to our language barrier, we may not understand each other well. After a while, you will get used to her speech and actually understand her well. Do not interrupt her while she is speaking, she really appreciates you as company. Yes, we were tasked to teach others English and that requires conversations, however she wants someone to sit down with her and listen to her, and that would be the greatest gift to her. If you are ever with her, it is nice to listen what she has to say, it can be food for thought for you at times.

These are the 4 main rules of Aunty Tagung, giving you a clearer picture of my beloved Aunty. For these 2 weeks, she has taken care of me well, with clothes and food alike. If we maintain space for others and listen to others, it could mean the world to many, not excluding Aunty Tagung. Thank you Aunty Tagung for everything you have done to me, and if any of you is interested in visiting Bario, do come and stay at her Dr Mattu’s homestay in Bario Asal. Any company is truly appreciated indeed!