One Man's Dream of an Organic Jihad.

My new found brother in arms, Capt. and Major Zakaria and now Organic farmer. A man full of energy and wisdom leading those who need to be led into greater heights of achievement in their pursuit of happiness. 

A family man who is most loving and passionate about his family's well being.

A man whose opinion is not imposed upon others but persuaded with great understanding and patience giving plenty of room for others to come to their own conclusion. 

A man who could make things happen through his charisma and determination, getting what he needs when he needs it without having to  bend over backwards.

A man who carries his own weight when itr comes to work, not depending upon others to carry it out, teaching by example.

A amn who can mix and stir up things to get those reluctant to act, those hesitant to perform and those who gave up too easy and too soon..

A man who could could lead a battalion under the United Nation's Military Forces in Bosnia and yet gently sieve dirt from a compost pile for his seedlings. 

A amn whose knowledge is learned through trial and errors and from the benefit of listening to others' advice without reservations or status quo.

A man who share his wealth of knowledge if and whenever needed without any qualms and is well respected for his gentleness in dealing with those who deserves gentleness. 

 A man who could stand tall and deliver among his peers without fear or favor, and who is listened to with all due respect by the old and young.

A man they came to visit from far and near to share his views and understanding on matters even he is barely learning to understand.

A man who communes with nature as much as he communes with his Maker -Allah subhana hu wa taala.! Thats my new found brother and we called it the meeting of 'Organic MInds'. I am blessed to have fund such a Character and able to share his ideals even for a brief encounter.

Had I not been there.. This I would have missed!

Morning Has Broken!

Morning, the spectacular sunrise sending its spattered rays through the  branches to the green grass below like showers of light over a center stage. In the distance the screams of gibbons or 'mawas' as they are known in Malay splinting the morning air waking the surrounding forest to a new day while the birds sing from branches high up in the tall trees in the compound of the organic farm. I took a slow walk towards the fields of newly sown rice seedlings each planted in neat rows standing not four inches high above the wet muddy ground. The camera hung from my shoulder ready for any surprise that would capture my fancy along the dew covered dirt an gravel road.

The whole area looked like it is slowly waking up from the night's slumber as the morning is broken to reveal that which I have been instrumental in keeping neat and tidy from scattered dried leaves to well well trimmed grass and hedges, newly ploughed plots and rows of beds fresh still from the being tilled yesterday. I felt elated as i watched the herons rise and land like white sheets of paper carried by the wind and the ducks waddling down the road towards their feeding ground, where did they sleep last night i wonder and do they have eggs laying somewhere?

This is the SRI LOVELY Organic Farm, a place that is slowly growing into a center for the research for organically cultivated rice and at the same time striving to become an Eco Tourism site for those who are into naturally cultivated crops or fruits and vegetables along with the main crop of rice.

 These plots of rice patches were left idle by their respective owners and later a coorporative was formed including all the land owners to lease these lands and get them to be productive with organically grown crops and this was about three years ago. The idea of this venture was spearheaded by the  Major ex- Military or Captain ex-sea man as he was both at sometime or other. I call him Capt for short and his name is Zakaria.

Today with a handful of staff members the farm is slowly getting the attention of many including international concerns that promotes organically grown food produce. However the support of locals and neighbors including those who formerly owns these plot of lands is not encouraging as is common with any Malay ventures, there will always be those who would raise doubts among participating members when their interest is not met especially in the monetary form. They insist upon quick returns for their efforts or would rather see themselves in the leading roles or no deal. As far as i can see, Malays have a poor work habit and lack commitment when it comes to performances in the field and so the couple you see making it happen in the field are from Indonesia. 

The road there is the road to return...

It is now time to start packing up my tent and make track out of the boonies and see what else is in store for me out there or should i just head on home to the corner of Sungai Pinang and Jalan Sungai in Georgetown where life according to my son when I last talked to him has not changed one bit. My only problem however is that i am running short on cash fast as my daughter sprung another unpleasant surprise on me that her college fees is due next month. I have to come up with another RM1500 if she is to graduate, or is there more?

The problem I am having with uploading my pictures from the camera has dampen my enthusiasm as it has been the one thing i looked forward to when i started this journey. Now that I cannot load the pictures onto my Blog it makes it less attractive and it simply means i have to find out what or how to get it fixed but not where i am at right now. The scene at the Farm is slowing down to a routine with everyone happily doing what they are supposed to.  and one can see that the farm is coming to life with visits by many from far and near. Familiarity breeds contempt as they say i am beginning to feel like I am overstaying my welcome. So before I loose my sight or get bogged down with human dramas which usually happens when one stays in one place too long i should make my move. Say fare- thee- well to one and all while the sun is still shining bright and no dark clouds hanging over my head.

Captain or major Zakaria is on his way to becoming the standard bearer for organic rice farming in the country and is also claiming fame overseas and he deserved it so. A relentless hard working man with a strong spirit to promote organic farming which in essence bringing back the traditional mode of farming without the chemicals and he is making a headway. I have done my small share to help keep the momentum rolling when it was needed but now that it is on the roll I feel it is time for me to roll too.Perhaps i am needed elsewhere God willing- Insha'Allah.

It is sad to note that only one friend took the trouble to call and enquire as to how I am doing and that is my friend the  Auto Air conditioning man , Ah Huat. He called me in the middle of the night a few days ago to ask if i was ok or that I needed any help. It touched my heart deeply for such a gesture from someone who I know through getting my car fixed a few years back. Not even my children made the effort except for my daughter through her text on the hand phone. As for my relatives and friends, i might as well have fallen off the face of the earth. It tells me of what life is all about when it comes to relationships; mostly out of sight , out of mind. Perhaps, but thanks to FB there are many who responds to my pictures as i load them up again it is interesting to note the responses too who does and who dose not and life goes on with or without you.

Now i got to head on back into the darkness, the jungle awaits! 

Basement and Boxes...Ode to the Sule Family of Green Bay, Wisconsin

I have been reserving myself from writing about on of the most important period in my life while living in Green Bay, Wisconsin and attending the University of Wisc. Green Bay sometime in the late seventies and early eighties. The reason being that it ended on a very unfortunate and sad note for me due to unforeseen circumstances of which for all these years has been a thorn in my heart. The Sules were like my own family and I was indebted to the parents for having taken me into their home while I was going to college and practically homeless after my divorce from my first marriage. The father Charles Sule was like my mentor a man I had respected and admired for his accomplishments and great mind, a man who devoted his life to raising four boys and three girls all bright and successful individuals. And the mother Mrs.Sule was the epitome of an Italian mother who led her brood through thick and thin ever with a smile on her face. The kitchen cabinet drawer was stacked with coupons for just about every item at the Super Market. There was always food in the kitchen and it was a wonder how she kept everyone well fed and cloths with the huge washer constantly running to keep up with every body's daily wear. Mrs. Sule was my mother when I most needed one always concerned if I had eaten or not for the day. I cannot express enough how I loved this family more than my own.
The Sules basement was where all us 'Boys' hung out smoking pot every now and then and talking religions and philosophy into the night. Charles or better know as 'Chuck' rarely if ever took a peak at what was going on in his basement with his kids but he most probably knew more than we figured.Chuck spent most of his time facing the TV at dinner right there which was a routine and I was asked to join him most evenings as he treated me special more like one of his boys. Chuck plays the guitar and we always have a sing along after the dinner and especially on Christmas and thanksgiving days.One of the most special moments I enjoyed while living with the Sule family was the boat rides in Lake Michigan. Chuck had motor boat named the Lisa Marie after one of the girls which he likes to spend his day off with the family and I was asked to go along as the other kids most probably got enough of boating trips with their dad after sometime. I always enjoyed cruising down the Fox river passing through the bridges at Webster and Main Street as they opened the bridge to allow us through. I spent a few of my best Christmas time with the Sules, it was a special time in my life being alone without a family of my own to hang out with back then.
Jerry Sule the youngest of the boys was closest to me and we took a trip together on one of my journeys down South into the State of New Mexico where we stopped in a small town of Udall, Kansas. Jerry was a very bright and adventurous young man back then and had always dream of being a truck driver one day but instead I found out is now a plumber.He had a soft touch for animals and loved Tanya the family Samoan Husky and his favorite cat named Mingo. Jerry has always been a good looker like the rest of the Sule boys who were well feared and respected by their peers in Green Bay. I was practically left alone when in the bars because i was 'one of the Sules'. I remember an incident whereby I was targeted by a drunken Native American to pick on me for a fight. As he headed towards me with an ill intention  suddenly two of the Sules boys Jerry and John who happened to be at the bar stepped into his path and warned him to lay off.
John Sule was the brain in the family and had the business mind getting one kind of money making gig or another. We once drove a 110 feet long boat mast which was designed and created at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin all the way to For Lauderdale, Florida. As the load was not legal to be on the highway we has a pace car with Chuck leading the drive. It was one of the most exciting trip I made across the United States from the Northern most tip to the South. The mast was for the 'Evergreen' Yatch, used for the American Cup Race later. John and I also made delivery trips into Canada and other states driving a van with a trailer in tow.
My life was enriched in more than one way when I was living with the Sules at their home on the corner Hickory Hill Drive off Mason Avenue. My son Naz was a frequent visitor to this home whenever I picked him up from his grandmother's and he was always attracted to Tanya the temperamental Samoan Husky who like to snap at his fingers whenever he tried to pat the dog. I will never forget this extended family I had while living in Green Bay Wisconsin; while living in basement and boxes. It has been many years now since i started writing this blog and I had not touched on this part of my life as it was both bitter and sweet. As i said ealier the bitterness came at the end and it is something that till this day I regret for it to have happened. I take this opportunity to say thank you for their kind hospitality in extending a helping hand ro someone who was in need of a home and family back then.    
     

Making the Tough Decision.

I have the feeling that it is high time I boogie out of this place before it becomes an attachment and hard to say goodbye to. It has been a very good experience and I have gained a whole lot of insight into the nature of living in the remote area where farming and rubber tapping is a way of life. It is hard work physically no doubt and I am sure i have lost a few pounds in the process. I have also been able to observe how my mind has been putting on a great fight to impose thoughts of everything and anything to sway me from being a part of this community and move on with my life of my journey; an indication of not wanting to be in the Here Now. A good example is my camera not being able to upload the pictures like it used to at this Cyber Cafe; very frustrating. The farm is moving along with greater support from all around more than when I first arrived and the place is coming to life by the day. I feel like my being here is no more relevant and it is time to move on.
It is time to move on, where to who knows and who cares. I am a drifter and my home is on the road, which reminds me of the TV series, The Fugitive, only I am a drifter by choice. It is scary come to think of it and at times I feel so lonely missing the ones i love, but I know being where I was was not exactly something I cherish as a way of life either. I was feeling stagnant and my mind was getting corrupted from not having any challenges to face as i woke up to the same scene and the same routine of not being productive. I felt my existence was lacking something worthwhile to call being alive and so here I am among strangers while evaluating my own state of consciousness. Here I am sleeping in a leaky hut with bugs and frogs for company, here I am trying to understand life as lived by those who I perceived as living their lives with full convictions, raising their children and making ends meet day to day in a remote village.
The one incentive i found was having met and become a 'student' to an ex-army major and sea captain who now is aspiring to become and organic rice farmer. He is a born leader without doubt and have a highly developed intelligence worthy of his former ranks. He knows how to lead others into doing what is right and his intuition of others' needs and feelings is sharp. Perhaps he is someone I can learn more about life from as through him I have also come to meet many special individuals who have in the lives excelled in their careers and vocations. Through being with him too I have come to be able to continue my own personal practice of self discovery and what it is that I lack as a man who is past his prime.
Whatever it is that i need to help me become more complete or whole I have yet to feel, but in the meantime I have to come to a decision as to whether this is where it is that I will find my answers. I am afraid that I will leave this place before it is time for me to and missing what it is that I have come to find. But how can I tell when or how, and my financial state is slowly making it more of an issue to content with. It is a matter of making a leap of faith either way and in making the decision whether to leave or stay I have to be fair to all concerned which includes making it worthwhile for those who sponsored me on this journey, and not to mention to my children.
Well not to make any hasty decision and regret i will wait and see what gives in the next few days. If I am still feeling the itch to keep moving and there is nothing that more that is worth while to keep me here than I will weigh my anchor and set my course into the next destination. I am thinking of going where the sea is next and it could be in the area of Lumut or Manjung, in Perak. Perhaps there I will do my art from all the pictures I have taken here. If OK with my sister I will stay att my niece's house which is presently unoccupied. It will be a good place to recuperate from my aches and pains after all these hard physical labour of love here on the farm at SRI LOVELY, Kg. Lintang, Blantik, Kedah.

What is Going on?

It has been a month now since I left Penang to travel and see the land of my people, their lives and their homes and instead I have been living here at this organic farm far out in the hinterland of the State of Keday only about three hours drive from my home. What has held me here is the fact that it seems to call out to me to linger on and do what i can for the place and those struggling to keep it alive.

It also seems to call to me to stop and find myself among the wild and the remote piece of land located in a valley not unlike the farm i lived in in California while practising Zen Buddhism and organic farming. The first week was a challenge as I was left alone most of the nights as everyone who work  here lives close by and goes home every evening. Left alone in the middle of nowhere with the jungle all around you can be taunting for one who has been living in the city for  a good part of his life. Every out of the ordinary sounds and noises around the hut gets you out of your sleep and grabbing your 'parang'. 

Sights and scenes that you once as a child used to feel at home with now becomes special as you grow older knowing that sooner or later you will leave this life and all these that you are experiencing would only be just dreams. I am a dreamer and I love to fill my dreams with as much episodes as i possibly can and being in this valley has allowed me to relive my childhood days spent in the remote areas of the interior of the State of Terengganu or Ulu Trengganu. as it is well known there. It is back to nature before it claims this body for good.
At night it gets to be so quiet sometimes you can hear yourself thinking out loud like there are other guys sitting in the hut with you. It is such a weird feeling when you are so used to the traffic every two minutes while in Penang. It is almost pure here where you are a part of the whole from the time you wake up till the time you are forcing yourself to sleep; this is one problem I have here and that is falling asleep.

What is 'Kelulut' - Trigona Bees

Stingless bees of the species Trigona spinipes (Fabricius 1793) use their saliva to lay scent trails communicating the location of profitable food sources. Extracts of the cephalic labial glands of the salivary system (not the mandibular glands, however) contain a large amount (approx. 74%) of octyl octanoate. This ester is also found on the scent-marked substrates at the feeding site. We demonstrate octyl octanoate to be a single compound pheromone which induces full trail following behaviour. The identification of the trail pheromone in this widely distributed bee makes it an ideal organism for studying the mechanism of trail following in a day flying insect.

Trigona is the largest genus of stingless bees, formerly including many more subgenera than the present assemblage; many of these former subgenera have been elevated to generic status.^[1] There are approximately 150 species presently included in the genus, in 11 subgenera. They differ from those groups now excluded in only minor structural details, primarily of the hind leg.

Stingless bees can be found in most tropical or subtropical regions of the world, such as Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and tropical America.^[1][2] The majority of native eusocial bees of Central and South America are stingless bees, although only a few of them produce honey on a scale such that they are farmed by humans.^[4][5] They are also quite diverse in Africa, includingMadagascar,^[6] and are farmed there also; meliponine honey is prized as a medicine in many African communities as well as in South America.^[7]

Being tropical, stingless bees are active all year round, although they are less active in cooler weather, with some species presenting diapause.^[8][9] Unlike other eusocial bees, they do not sting but will defend by biting if their nest is disturbed. In addition, a few (in the genus Oxytrigona) have mandibular secretions that cause painful blisters. Despite their lack of a sting, stingless bees, being eusocial, may have very large colonies made formidable by the number of defenders.^[10]

Hives[edit]

Stingless bees usually nest in hollow trunks, tree branches, underground cavities, or rock crevices but they have also been encountered in wall cavities, old rubbish bins, water meters, and storage drums. Many beekeepers keep the bees in their original loghive or transfer them to a wooden box, as this makes it easier to control the hive.^[1

The bees store pollen and honey in large egg-shaped pots made of beeswax, typically mixed with various types of plant resin (sometimes called "propolis"). These pots are often arranged around a central set of horizontal brood combs, where the larval bees are housed. When the young worker bees emerge from their cells, they tend to remain inside the hive, performing different jobs. As workers age, they become guards or foragers. Unlike the larvae of honey bees, meliponine larvae are not fed directly. The pollen and nectar are placed in a cell, an egg is laid, and the cell is sealed until the adult bee emerges after pupation ("mass provisioning"). At any one time, hives can contain 300–80,000 workers, depending on species.

Stingless bees store their aromatic honey in clusters of small resin pots near the extremities of the nest. For honey production, the bees need to be kept in a box specially designed to make the honey stores accessible without damaging the rest of the nest structure. Some recent box designs for honey production provide a separate compartment for the honey stores so that honey pots can be removed without spilling honey into other areas of the nest.

Unlike a hive of commercial honeybees, which can produce 75 kilograms of honey a year, a hive of Australian stingless bees produces less than one kilogram. Stingless bee honey has a distinctive "bush" taste—a mix of sweet and sour with a hint of fruit. The taste comes from plant resins—which the bees use to build their hives and honey pots—and varies at different times of year depending on the flowers and trees visited.

Happy New Year to all my Children.

If—

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And—which is more—you'll be a Man my son!

R.Kipling

KUBOTA Man!

Part of the preparation of the field is handling the Mighty Kubota and not many has the strength or energy like my man Supardi, the quiet and gentle giant of a man. 

He seems like a child playing with his toy in the pool of mud. How I envy him watching him as I know it is beyond me now to tango with a piece of equipment like this.

It looks like he is in a world of his own dancing with a gutsy lady.

In these pictures if they seem repetitous it is not only to show the sequence of his motion butt also to capture the feeling of how heavy the jobs seems and also to capture the background of the surrounding area. A farmer in Wisconsin growing acres of corn would would have a feeling for this guy.  

At the end of the day on looking back it gives  such a feeling of satisfaction that only a farmer could feel on looking at his field newly ploughed.