People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won’t be talked about. They point out flaws in other people to make them feel good about themselves. I think at any age or any social class, that’s present.
– Blake Lively, American actress
Women folk of some longhouses that I have visited over the last two months in Saratok were found to have exchanged a good number of vital elements in their gossips which are usually held at the common gallery ruai.
Nevertheless, hereby I am concentrating on my own longhouse whose gossips are along similar line. A keen listener just a few doors away, I was privy to their discussions that touched on contemporary matters ranging from the frequent blackouts in Saratok area to low prices of rubber and pepper.
In our longhouse, my favourite auntie Agness, a retired teacher who usually holds court at her ruai just two doors away from ours, comes out with various topics for discussion.
She is usually joined by at least two or more housewives, including a retired school cook whose favourite topic was her tiring wait at the Sarawak General Hospital Emergency Ward in 2018.
She said she checked in at the counter at 2.30pm but was only confirmed to be admitted to the ward at 12.30am but had to wait for an hour for a vacant bed at the female ward. It was nearly a 12-hour wait.
She even related to them a story about her dashing nephew who studied in a Sibu school in the 70s who impregnated a rich Foochow schoolgirl at the end of the school term.
She managed to get married to a fellow Foochow cousin despite being two months’ pregnant. She said the same nephew nearly married a Melanau girl whose father later become a prominent figure, adding if he (the nephew) did so, he would have been a Datuk by now.
She purposely said so within my hearing distance which baffled the other ladies, some of whom were still not born yet in 1974. One or two looked my way but I pretended to concentrate on my Jackie Collin’s The Stud.
My auntie just couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
Another lady, a mother of five graduates, said her husband who was an offshore worker, had to undergo a long process of checks and x-rays at Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) in Samarahan some months ago. He is recovering at home now.
“The nurses and other staff members there are very reserved and don’t usually entertain your queries,” she complained.
In fact she has no idea that my grandniece is one of the nurses there. Nevertheless, in the future I will make sure my grandniece knows about such shortcoming.
Another lady in her 40s who attended just a few years of primary education is well-known for her luck in betting numbers. Recently she struck big in Sweep and Magnum, thus enabling her husband to purchase a second-hand Proton Saga.
Her favourite topic is the number forecast and upon seeing her luck, all the members in their gossip group have become regular lottery punters. A few of them became a few thousands richer when their number 6055 came out in Sweep recently.
The same lady, whose son just graduated with a degree in architecture from a local university, also mentioned a news about a young lady in Kerangan longhouse just some miles away whose backside was bitten by a crocodile that she stepped on while looking for snails.
Luckily, she managed to escape just in time despite the pain. The crocodile disappeared to the deeper part of the river but three other women stopped looking for snails at the area.
They helped to bring the injured teenager to the Saratok Hospital. The girl was admitted and has been discharged. Medical expertise managed to cure and save her butt.
Members of the gossip group at the retired teacher’s ruai also shared a number of incidents whereby crocodiles are usually sighted along the Melupa River during their fishing trips there.
Where there are plenty of fish and prawns, the “river kings” are abundant too. This confirms what my elder brother Jon, a rod-fishing enthusiast, narrated to me earlier.
On the frequent blackouts involving all longhouses and other residences in Saratok area, the retired teacher pointed out one bad one was during a funeral in our longhouse in early June.
On the second night of vigil or wake, the blackout started around eight and lasted for about seven hours.
“It was a horrible moment for all of us, especially the family of the deceased,” she said.
“We ran out of candles and had to borrow from next door,” said a grandma, aged 82, the eldest in the group and perhaps the eldest female in our longhouse.
My cousin Nuri also shared her experience harvesting the ripe fresh fruit branch (FFB) of oil palm along the Melupa farm and earning RM35 per day plus OT.
Another experience that she shared was the sight of a big monitor lizard “patronising” the rubbish bins of our longhouse one evening. This reptile seemed to be a regular patron as it came earlier than the rubbish collection truck around 11pm.
Others shared about the regular monkey visits to the same bins, especially before dusk. There was a good laugh when an elderly grey-haired lady was once mistaken for a ghost at the rubbish dump site.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
