The Tuba Diary
The Weight of Memory
February/ March 2025
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It's fasting month.
So yes — the challenge level automatically increased.
The intensive work phase officially begins. A humble thank you to Bon Ton Locale, Langkawi bontonresort.com/ for being incredibly generous and sponsoring my stay. Because of them, I have a real roof over my head and a solid base of operations while I do the work. It’s the calm before the storm.
Staying at BonTon during the fasting month was a unique experience. While I was busy wrestling with my thoughts and my mangrove-style branching ideas, the team there provided such a calm and grounded space for me to work. Their hospitality—especially during such a special and reflective time of year—made all the difference.
Thank you for being such wonderful hosts and for creating a sanctuary where I could truly sit and eventually find the clarity I was looking for.
"You don’t bring the idea to the site. The site suggests the idea to you." — Sharon Chin
I carried this sentence in my head throughout the trip.
This residency phase felt important because I needed to decide where the work was really happening. Not just physically, but conceptually too.
I interviewed former farmers who spent much of their lives working on these fields.
I was collecting memories.
Stories about helping parents at the fields, staying out until late during harvest season, dealing with crops attacked by disease, paddy eaten by buffaloes, collecting leeches and memories of childhood growing up around the bendang.
Slowly I began realizing something.
The paddy field wasn't only a place for agriculture.
It used to be a place where people learned, played, worked and grew up.
Note: Images shared with the kind permission and blessing of the Tuba Island community.
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