Saying Goodbye to Sakbah and Ramiah

Aman Dusun is a wonderful place for people to take a break from the city, and most of us forget to thank the dedicated farmers for creating this place. Well, it seems like now might be the best time. Many of our helpful farmers that we're now happy to call friends are leaving Aman Dusun. It's amazing how much you can learn from all these farmers, especially with their different backgrounds. Sadly, everything has to come to an end. So, here are a few touching and funny stories we can never forget about them.

Ramiah ran the milking parlor since it was built, and we can't imagine what it would be like to run the parlor without her. Funnily, her stunning work isn't the only thing we can't forget about her. Ramiah is a Sri Lankan, and she didn't know a single word in Malay. Thus, we taught her a few basics. Unfortunately, her memory wasn't that great, and she failed to grasp even the simplest of words. It was annoying sometimes, but it did make for a few laughs. "Kuchai". That was one word Ramiah never got. It's a vegetable usually used in "mee" (noodles), and we love cooking"mee". Every time we cooked "mee", we teased Ramiah by pointing at "kuchai" and asking her what it was. One time, we even gave her a clue that the vegetable started with the letter k. Yet, she still failed--but in some style. She completely stopped cooking and looked at us smugly and confidently said "kuching" (cat)!!! Rather than impressing us, she put the whole Dusun in a fit of laughter. Her Malay is still as bad as it was. Nevertheless, we will miss her.

Sakbah has worked for us for almost ten years. He was there when Aman Dusun was at its lowest and highest. Little did he know, he was the catalyst of Aman Dusun's success. During his ten year stay, he was able to get a driving license and make new friends around Hulu Langat. He was the person to approach if you had a business concern or if you wanted to just talk leisurely. Other than running the farm, he also built many shacks around Aman Dusun with the help of other farmers. There is not one place in Aman Dusun where you can't say, "Sakbah did that!" He ran the show, but it's time for him to take a well deserved break (we hope he returns). Fortunately, there's one funny story about him. He is the eldest brother of all the farmers in Aman Dusun like an alpha wolf. Even though he made sure his brothers were working hard, he sometimes covered their mistakes from the owners. This wasn't a huge problem; it's just a brotherly thing and obviously made a few laughs. One day, one of Sakbah's brothers was nowhere to be seen and wasn't doing his job. When we asked Sakbah about his brother's whereabouts, he shrugged and said he didn't know. A few seconds later, Sakbah's brother pops out of his shack behind Sakbah, thinking that his brother called his name. We caught them with their little act, but--to their surprise--we just laughed it off. We're pretty sure Sakbah covered up more things, but it was all petty. We will miss his work and his cover-ups!