Reflections on SRI LOVELY

The land mass of the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Borneo is considered to be one of the oldest land mass on the planet and thus it harbors some of the oldest surviving creatures some species yet to be discovered while more and more are headed for extinction. A typical Malaysian forest today is home to lesser variety of flora and fauna than it used to be as the jungles are rapidly being cleared by slash and burn and the earth being bulldozed exposing the top soil and causing massive soil erosion especially during the rainy season causing the rivers to be polluted and the build up of sedimentation. The burning of felled trees and underbrush like those of  bamboo clumps have caused the wild to recede further into the deeper forest being driven from fear of the explosive sounds like rifle shots made by the exploding bamboo stems when burned. Sometimes it seems like there was a battle going on in the hill when the bamboo grove is being burned to the ground. Needless to say, that the death to untold number of species of wildlife in the ground and above is phenomenal although one could not see it happening by looking at it.

Life at the edge of the Forest..

Malaysia takes great pride in her bio-diversity and spends millions in advertisement to promote this fact for the tourism industry, however, the sad truth is Malaysians are blind to the fact that their rain- forest is slowly being replaced by cash crops like rubber and oil palm among the major agriculture industry dominating the landscape in remote areas of the country. The use of chemical fertilizers and poison to control various insects and rodents, to curb the growth of unwanted undergrowth is killing the very earth that these crops are sustained on. Run offs from these pesticides and other chemicals used in the plantations find their ways into the streams and rivers killing fishes and other creatures in the vicinity; gone are the days when you get to see a cluster of butterflies crowding a water hole creating a beautiful design of colors; perhaps you can still see this deeper in the forest where man rarely gets to.

Off course this is happening all over the world where ever there is forest to be cleared and money to be made and ther is little that one can do to slow this down much less put a stop to it. It take more than a 'Rambo' kind of action and it would take much more than creative imagination of  James Cameron to combat the desecration of the rain forest and other such similar habitats. We have become insensitive towards nature and her plight; we have raped our own environment, crapped onto the very plate we eat from. How soon will wake up from our sleep of ignorance and discover the nightmare that we are creating all in the pursuit of our own sense of wealth and happiness. Corruption is the Mark of Caine within just about every government department in the country and especially the forestry and land distribution departments. Logging and poaching of wild life is an ongoing lucrative business that lurks in every corner where there is land and tress and wild life available for the taking. Rules can be bent and eyes will close to allow for illegal as well as legal pillage of virgin forests, undetected until to late.
The Malaysian government is just as busy as any government elsewhere but it is too busy playing political squash and badminton, standing and defending religious dogmas , and making efforts to curb crime and corruption to have much time left in taking care of the environment. Noting that this country has some of the worse cases of polluted rivers in the world and landslides and floods has become a way of life for Malaysians just as discarding still born babies and raping and torturing of children is.We are becoming a mindless society that lives our lives at the expense of other; we are self serving, self profiting, self centered egotistically motivated group of homo sapient, Like a cancerous virus, we live preying upon our host till there is nothing left that it can give to sustain our insatiable life style, our Greed, our Hate, and our Ignorance.
Perhaps it is never too late to instigate the process of healing, the process of reversal revitalizing and re-energizing of our environment and perhaps much has been done in this direction through volunteerism and the spirit of mutual survival. Perhaps there more and more individuals and organizations in the country that are spearheading the 'Environmental Jihad', these are way too few yet to make a dent upon the damage that has already been done  The lure of the city life and the attraction towards Western Glamour and the influences of the rapid technological exchange of information on the Internet has driven the young into the cities looking for excitement mostly finding decadence. The erosion of manpower from the remote rural areas has created a vacuum whereby the land previously slated for cultivation were abandoned by their owners. It is these abandoned pieces of land that is now being taken over by the Belantik Corporation to be re-cultivate after being left dormant for over thirty years most of them. The owners became shareholders in this corporation while the local government agencies afforded whatever help they can if forms of grants and equipment, technical as well as management guides.

Moon over Lintang

The primary idea of the 'Korporasi' is to carry out pure organic farming, the return back to 'Nature's Way', of cultivating a sustainable agriculture environment that will coexist with the surrounding natural wild life habitat. It is the organizer's intention that these neglected lots of prime land be converted into an organic field research institute for those who seek to become involved in organic farming into the future. Institutions of higher learning have also become regular participants in the effort to promote organic farming, with students accompanied by their faculty members doing a research study at the farm. Through the involvement of these institutions more funds are procured towards project although there is never enough to make a great deference and most of the work is done by the few who had not abandoned the cause and have been devoting thier time working on the farm with minimum salary and persons like me who is a volunteer and only provided with lodging and sometimes food whenever available. Mine is the 'Jihad of the Heart' and it is in line with one of the principles of the running the farm that is, "Amal Makruf", simply means, to do good.

                                          Reflections at the Muda Dam.