Agan Kapong 1958-1962

What a Kelabit gentleman Agan Kapong was! I will be eternally grateful to him because of how he advised me and helped my father who came to visit in 1959.

One day while at school I was told that an Iban elder was looking for me.

To my shock, it was my father. He was shabby, barefoot. He had his usual native basket on his back, a parang tied to his belt and a cooking pot and a roll of mat (these were the usual backpack an Iban man would have in the 50's). My father had wanted to see me, his 12 year old son who had left Ulu Limbang for "higher education" in Miri and he was thinking of just camping out somewhere outside the hostel !! Agang being the all knowing young man then (16 years old), advised that my father and I should make our way to Rumah Sakai in town. My father should in no way be laughed at by the other students even though he was all equipped to camp out next to our hostel.

Thus Agang asked for permission on my behalf and we left for town to look for a place for my father to lodge for a few days in the modern town of Miri.

With my "face " intact, my pride safe, and my heart beating very loudly, I asked my father to follow me, albeit sheepishly, and Agang from the school office. I still remember that I was a little hot under the collar but my heart was bursting because it was a proud moment for me that my father had come in person to visit me at a big modern school!! Not many ulu fathers had been visiting, not especially those who came from the remotest parts of Sarawak.

In the last few years I often meet Agang in Miri. He has become quite a personality in the business world. Of course he has since become very well dressed,suave and wise. He has flown many miles in the air, stayed many nights in first class hotels and has seen many parts of the world. It must have been very satisfying for him to know that he has come a long long way from those simple days ...but that young Iban boy of 1959 would always have a place for his big brother Agan in his heart....

(Note : In 1993 when I visited my daughter who was then studying in Tanjong Lobang too, I was driving a four wheel ...I shook my head and smiled as I had images of my father standing outside the Principal's office with his rattan backpack and his rice pot ..the years flashed by and I could see Agan walking down to help me out of my situation...the place then was almost the same, but I was all nostalgic, happy and sad at the same time.)

We all need a big brother most of the time. Thanks pal!