01 December 2010

Virgin no more

While I am almost certainly sure by the end of this year our virgin forest which covers 21% (3.78 million hectares) of our Bolehland will still become a safe heaven to many jungle inhabitants, the same thing is less than convincing to a large patch of green area in the disputed but most sought after piece of estate in Sg. Buloh. The recent announcement by the higher authority as part of Greater Kay El plan has caused a considerably concern to me. (This however has nothing to do with the active jungle exploration by our younger 'peneroka' during the New year celebration on their virgin territories, which is also another serious issue at hand).

This expansion plan with its intention to give more breathing space to the urbanites (and to spearhead the local economy) will also translates into some possible environmental issues. As by 2015 which is 5 years from now, it is expected and quite inevitable that 3000 (three thousand) hectares of lush rubber planted area which is also a green lung - a natural engine that is obediently providing free oxygen and continuously absorbing harmful air pollutants will cease it operation and converted into tonnes of lifeless concrete jungle.

This is where the problem lies. When we chop down all the trees (rubber trees) which are also a water catchment area, a filtration system and an important buffer to the ecosystem, we are actually disrupting the natural equilibrium that all this while working very hard to maintain the balance harmony between humankind and nature. I am also almost certainly sure by the time our beloved Bolehland become a fully develop nation or if there is so little green zone left, this country at the end will be inhabited by no more than retarded hare-brains, exposed with so much air-borne pollutants further accelerated by devoid of precious oxygen. The human-wildlife conflict is also expected. Monkeys might someday become our next-door neighbors.

Doing a little bit of homework I found out that Bolehland is actually one bless nation with 62% of its land is still covered by forest, even greener than Brazil (61%), US (32) and UK (12) . Rubber plantation and rubber forest contribute significantly into the greening or our Bolehland and provide good quality air for us to breath in. Recent years we have seen a lot of natural catastrophes with direct or indirect consequences from our environmental degradation. Many more natural disaster are expected in the near future. Some even predicted the D-day. That's actually just nature's way of explaining why we should leave them alone and start to treat them with respect.

Recent months I have also seen and experienced how the rubber trees in my area started to become petulance and grumpy probably after hearing the exciting news. Mind you, plant is also a living thing and has it's own soul. A main road beside the rubber estate (that is my playing ground) leading to my office has started to turn into a small running stream even with a slight drizzle. On a dry day that stretch of road has load of dimples looking as if peppered by meteorites. This has caused a considerably traffic congestion during peak hours. It is quite fun if you are driving a 4WD or into a Camel trophy adventure sort of type, but my old and battered jalopy is not built for that. This is also becomes quite annoying as my punch-card if not monitored closely will be dented with an awful mixed of red and black colors.

Actually I have no problem at all with the ambitious plans to develop our Bolehland as this will surely help our nation to prosper. But it must be done with extra caution (pembangunan lestari). I am sure the authority has by now engaged the nerdy scientist to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) when they first came out with the idea and make sure my neighborhood won't be submerged under tones of flash mud-flood in the near future.

I believe a place without a tree is a place without a soul. As it is, rubber tree is also part of my soul.



Rubber is a monoculture plantation, plantation of a single - exotic species. Rain or shine, these beautiful trees will stand proudly and anticipate patiently to be exploited. When rubber trees bleed, the secreted latex becomes the lifeline to most of our aging smallholders , but when our rubber industries bleed and the elastic commodity stop to bounce up again, the whole nation will most likely start to weep.

The scars on the rubber tree tell a lot of stories. They bleed the white milky sap and quietly sob but willing to give away and ask for nothing in return - just like a candle. This sap from the humble rubber tree is the one that make sure the whole nation prosper and hedges our economy when the whole world collapse.

The conspicuous and distinctive pattern on each of the rubber seeds is a clonal variation. It is just like our fingerprint .

All three embryos inside each fruit have to be fertilized in order for the seeds to succeed and the fruit become viable. Otherwise the rubber tree will naturally abort the fruit. Nature's way of purifying their future progenies. Science is a divine way to understand God's creation.

Rubber inflorescence deserves more appreciation and seldom becomes the subject of much attention. Probably because they are being overshadowed by the foul latex smell in processing the factory or less glamorous profession of rubber tappers. The scent of these rubber flowers is distinctively pleasant and can rival any upmarket perfume on one hot sunny day, when they bloom beautifully twice a year.





Disclaimer: This is my personal thought based on my personal concern and it doesn't represents any individual or any organization especially the one that provides me with means to make sure my kitchen is continuously smoking.

23 comments:

yohteh said...

...rasa hiba pulok... tetiba teringat zamang skolah dulu-dulu, gi nnoréh wat getoh ppok, cari belanje... masih basah dalam ingatang...

DrSam said...

yohteh,
ambe nnulis ning pong tetiba rase sebok dade...sayuuuu je teghingat susoh payoh pekebung hok lening tue-tue belake doh terbokok sapa terpeliuk ughat kutip getoh sekerap...utk sesuap nasik je.

Abd Razak said...

Assalamualaikum...

Apa kabar sdra? Moga sihat hendaknya..

Saya takder pengalaman mengoreh getah maklumlah dok di bandar semuanya bangunan belaka..:)

Fly said...

salam doc, teringat arwah nenek , berbasikal seawal pagi ke kebun getah, berbekalkan nasi yang dibungkus kemas, kesusahan kepayahan jelas terpamer dari raut wajah beliau..

DrSam said...

Abd Razak,
Waalaikumussalam. Alhamdulillah diberi keafiatan. Kita serupa. Saya apatah lagi, duduk dalam kebun getah tapi menoreh pun terkial-kial.

Fly,
Salam Fly. Semangat dan kecekalan orang tua kita membuat kita lebih insaf.

Wan Sharif said...

In the Book.. there are verses on them.. "when reminded..say they are only developing.. whereas they are actually destroying.." There are too many people that are consumed by greed.. have no inkling on the consequences of their greedy actions..
mmm..Love you green entry.. take care Doc..

DrSam said...

Wan Sharif,
Salam Ayoh Wang. I purposely didn't mention about greed as the gene (or jin) was encoded into our genome long since the beginning of humankind. I feel sad because those things (makhluk) are irreplaceable. The world we know today will never be the same again no matter hard we try (to replace). Our next generation will live and get to know their past only through our digital memories. the best - conserve and preserve!

besi said...

62% bolehland still covered by forest..? hmmm ok tu.

rubber tree source of rezeki in my village...

dr sam.. tq d info

DrSam said...

besi,
Peratusan yang masih belum boleh buat kita menarik nafas lega. melihat kepada aktiviti 'pembotakan' dan 'penggodolan' yang aktif dari masa ke semasa, berapa lama lagi kita boleh menghirup udara segar?

DrMaya said...

the tree looks extra greeny...kebun mana tu?
Cam cantik plak :)

Hunny said...

I noted interesting quotations came up in your entry:-

"The scars on the rubber tree tell a lot of stories. They bleed the white milky sap and quietly sob but willing to give away and ask for nothing in return - just like a candle."

"Science is a divine way to understand God's creation."

I like!!

Afzainizam said...

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kami DAtang Ziarah Blog Anda
buat pembaca blog kami
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫

Salam kunjungan salam ziarah…. eemmmmm dah jarang nampak pokok getah ni..... dedulu aku kekecik puas mak aku suruh gi noreh getahhhh..... woooooo tak suka betul lahhhh....

but bila dah tebang tanam kelapa sawit baru ade galat sikit pasal tak nampak lagi musim luruh daun getah bila mana semua daun getah luruh dan warna kemerah merahan tuuuu.... best sesangat ingat kembali

DrSam said...

Maya,
Acu cuba try teka kat mana?

Hunny,
TQ. The evidence of God is so glaring and I believe scientists should be the first to admit/believe God presence. They should the least try to look at sciences through tawhid.

Afzainizam,
bila tiba musim daun getah luruh dua kali setahun - ceria warna, kira macam Autumn kat oversea le juga tu. Lepas daun luruh keluar pula bunga - harum semerbak satu kebun sekangkang kera.

Small Hiker said...

Doc, I am all for conservation regardless if it's just rubber trees. You proved in your entry that the rubber trees are part of the eco-sytem that supports our existense! I wonder what the nerdy scientists of EIA will come up with!

DrSam said...

Small Hiker,
At the moment, I think education and awareness to the public is the first step the higher authority should pursue seriously in order to handle the issue. But who should educate the higher authority?

nahmy said...

salam doc, they said the nature being ripped-down because man need nature (developments & better living conditions). that's why they flatted the rainforest so they can plant rubber tree...camna tu doc?

DrSam said...

nahmy,
Salam nahmy. We should help/respect nature in order for the nature to help/respect us. Originally rubber is a forest species, replanting rubber in a ex-forest area will still maintain the green area thus balancing of our eco-system. Rubber is a strategic crop and more economically viable.

Naddiea said...

Doc,info yg sangat menarik terutama utk org2 mcm Nadia yg x pernah masuk kebun getah apatah lagi nk menoreh.nampak macam senang tapi orang2 yg bersusah payah mencari sesuap nasik dgn menoreh ni je yg tau kan..

Khairy said...

to me who never go to the rubber estate find it more difficult to find the rubber tree anymore....especially when my place is in the urban area...

DrSam said...

Naddiea,
Penoreh tempatan yang mahir pun memang dah hampir pupus. sebab tu ramai ex-pat yang diimpot dari negara jiran masuk 'menenyeh' batang getah sesuka hati je. janji getah keluar. tapi apa nak buat. anak watan sendiri ramai dah yang tidak mahu berkampung di kebun getah lagi.

Khairy.
You can come to my kebun and you can get acquaintance with those beautiful trees. In fact you can try hand at 'menoreh'. You'll never know you might love it!

Afzainizam said...

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kami DAtang Ziarah Blog Anda
buat pembaca blog kami
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸¸¸.•*¨*•♫

EEEMMMM bila Doc Sebut Auntum tu yup daun getahni luruhnya macam naun maple kat canada...

sekarang ni diorang tak toreh getah tapi tebang pokok getah untuk jual batang getah ... market price tinggi pasal boleh buat perabut kayu dia tu.... itu lahhhh kita dah jadi tamak nak dapat utung cepat... habis pokok getah ditebangnya...

DrSam said...

Afzainizam,
sape-sape yang teringin atau terkenang Autumn kat oversea boleh singgah di kebun getah ketika musim daun luruh...

harga getah dah agak baik sekarang dan penoreh boleh lah tersenyumm lega sedikit. Cuma kalau nak dapat hasil dari kayu getah kena lah sabar dan tunggu lama sikit >15 tahun. Namun sementara tu, boleh usahakan tanaman sampingan lain.

3yearshousewife said...

It was ages since I last saw a rubber seed. We kids used to go collecting the seeds in the rubber kebun next to my grandmother's house for playing congkak under her house. Sweet memories those were.

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