> Like the man who made coconut syrup in
Ngesebei, dipping from half-filled containers to keep one overflowing.
Pertains to a situation which may have occurred in Ngesebei, a small hamlet in Ngardmau (northern Palau): a coconutsyrup specialist always kept one coconutshell container full and in sight of guests, who, thus, would think that all of his containers were full. The idiom applies to any pointed display of opulence. It's a deceptive display of wealth.