VietNamNet Bridge - With a height of approximately 2.1 m, Mrs. Lang is the shortest among her siblings.

The titan family in Bac Lieu

Lang, her husband and their youngest daughter Le Thi Thu. (photo: GD&CS).

The height of the members in that special family impresses anyone in the first meet. Inherited the particular height from her father, Mrs. Tran Thi Lang, 62, a resident of Hamlet 12, Vinh Hau A commune, Hoa Binh district, the southern province of Bac Lieu, said that, with a height of approximately 2.1 m, she is the shortest among her siblings.

Lang’s husband, who is tall compared to other Vietnamese men, is up to 40cm shorter than his wife. Of the eight children, four inherited the height from their mother. Because of that special height, they have suffered a lot of disadvantages in life.

The little house of Lang is located along the Vinh Hau A road. Entering the house, the first impression that struck our eyes is the impoverishment.

Mrs. Lang's 25sq.m house.

The house is only about 25m2, with soil ground. Stepping through the front door, just to the left is an old bed made by twigs and on the right is an old dirty wooden bed. On that bed, Lang was moaning because her legs were aching because of weather change.

Trying to sit up, Lang breathed in a weary way and slowly recounted the origins of her special height.

"From hundreds of years ago, my ancestors crossed the sea to settle here. Their appearance was different from the indigenous people. They were unusually tall and burly. My father was over 2m tall, weighing nearly 100kg and was dubbed the biggest man in Bac Lieu."

She said that her father, Mr. Tran Van Hen, had eight children and all of them were "oversized". Among her siblings, Lang is the shortest, although she is 2.1 m tall.

Because of wars and hardship, she has lost her siblings, except for the fourth brother named Tran Van Khen, who lives in the same district.

Feeling a complex for the “oversized” body

Mrs. Lang and her husband.

According to Lang, because of her giant body, she experienced a lot of troubles. Decades ago, when she was a young girl, she could not have a boyfriend because boys in the village did not dare to court her because they were much shorter than her.

At the age of 19, Lang’s parents married her to a man named Le Van Sua, who is 40cm shorter than her. Whenever they went out, they were teased by others for their imbalance of height.

The couple has eight children, four boys and four girls. Of these, four children have the normal height, like their father and four others are "oversized" like their mother.

Not as lucky as their mother, Lang’s "oversized" children could not easily find their life partners.

Le Van Lem, 30, Lang’s 5th son loved a local woman. As Lem was tall, big and very strong, the woman’s family invited him to stay with them to work, promising to marry off their daughter to him after three years. However, they failed to keep the promise.

Since then, Lem has left home to work on a ship. Sometimes he returned home to give his parents some money and left again.

The “oversized” body has made Lang’s children have a complex. The youngest daughter Le Thi Thu always ran away when seeing guests coming to the house.

Among their giant but timid children, Lang and her husband were very worried about Le Van Lam, 32, the fourth son.

Lam is over 2m tall and very big. Therefore, local troupes recruited Lam to attract the audience's attention.

Lam was not shy in front of the crowd but he was so touchy. Whenever anyone teased him, he claimed to commit suicide. He repeatedly committed suicide and was rescued for many times.

Once, he was angry at the audience so he walked for seven days from Can Tho city to his parents' home in Bac Lieu. Before the lunar New Year 2013, Lam left home and since then her parents have not had any information from him.

6kg of rice per day

Mrs. Lang.

While Lang told her story, in the opposite bed, her husband – Mr. Sua was also groaning because of his backache and leg pains.

Lang said all of his family members were sick. Previously, she had to sell her blood to buy food for her children. She sold blood once a week. Over 60 years old, Lang and her husband still had to worry of food.

Sua lamented: "We are so poor so my children could not go to school. Only Anh Hong (the second daughter) finished the 3rd grade.”

Among their eight children, three with the normal height were married. The remaining children now stay with their parents in the 25sq.m house.

The youngest daughter works as a hired washer. Of the four sons, Lam has left home and three others work for ships.

"My children eat very well, up to 6kg of rice per day. Their income is unstable. They are often jobless in June and July because it is the stormy season in the sea. We have to starve ourselves for 1-2 days during that period," Lang said.

Previously, Lang’s house was a tiny hut. In April 2012, the family borrowed over VND10 million ($500) to build this house.

Lang said she still has debts of more than VND2 million ($100), with VND20,000 of interest a day. "My husband and I are old. My children do not have stable jobs. I don’t know when I will be able to pay the debt," she said.

Lang’s house is built on the public land. As the family is too poor, the authorities allow them to temporarily live on that land.

Thanh Loan