Superwoman

The first lady that I was assigned to was Tepuq Supang. Tepuq Supang stays in Arur Dalan, a village near Prayer Mountain. Every morning, I had to wake up earlier than my batch mates to have breakfast before leaving to Arur Dalan.

It was a 15-minute walk from our homestay, Sinah Rang Lemulun Homestay in Bario Asal. The panorama along the way to and from Arur Dalan was breathtaking and of course, a lot of pictures were taken. 

Muddy and rocky path towards Arur Dalan village

First view of the Arur Dalan village

Since my first day with Tepuq Supang, I realized how tough and strong she is. It was a very adventure-filled first day with Tepuq as we went into the jungle to collect ubud (pineapple shoot) and midin (fern) as well as plant some durian trees and maize plants. We cleared the way into the jungle, and Tepuq cleared the shrubs the whole time while I just followed her. It was my first time holding a parang, and I nearly slashed my feet. Thank God I didn’t. Tepuq always enters the jungle alone. Imagine how brave she is. 

Tepuq collecting midin to cook for lunch

An exchange between me and tepuq when we were picking midin:

Tepuq: Neh…This midin…Why you didn’t see the midin?
Me: Erm……..
Tepuq: There are a lot here… Neh…Neh…Neh… All midin….
Me: ……@#$@…….(confused)

What I saw was a whole lot of green; everything looked the same to me. To pick midin among the whole stretch of greenery was like fishing for a needle in the sea. 

Tepuq also has an Olympic swimming pool-sized paddy field which she manages. To get to her paddy field, it takes a 10 minutes walk from the Arur Dalan longhouse. As a budak bandar, my first time working in the paddy field created a lot of laughter. 

“No, not cut like this...”
“Wrong wrong...”

Tepuq kept laughing while she corrected the way I cut the paddy stalks and advised me to be careful. For me, working in the paddy field under the hot sun was super tiring and exhausting but for Tepuq, she never complained about her tiredness but kept asking me, “Tired kah? Go to rest.” 

Tepuq cutting the paddy full with style

I still remember my last day with Tepuq, I made a promise with her that if we didn’t finish clearing the remaining of the paddy field, we wouldn’t go for lunch as Tepuq said no one will be helping her in the field anymore. On that day, we worked from 9am until 3pm finished to clear the rest of the paddy field. 6 hours of work is extremely grueling. We cleaned ourselves a bit before dragging our feet back to the longhouse. Although I could feel that Tepuq was super exhausted, but she still cooked a scrumptious lunch for me.  

Last lunch with Tepuq

Uncle Stanley (Tepuq’s husband) and Tepuq Supang, thank you for taking good care of Massey (my Kelabit name)!

Wai Leong