The end of the beginning

Perhaps after zillion years of this world allowing us to roam freely in her beautiful domain and giving the chance for us to seek the purpose of life, the mortals have to accept one thing.  Just like we have to accept that time never moves backward or the nasi-lemak-eating nation can never  behave well in front of the wheel, we also have to accept the fact that  nothing lasts forever. Even the fondest memories will fade in time. It is a very harsh reality this universe loves to offer. Those reality in a way is constantly reminding us to cherish whatever God gives us in life. But even in another million years to come, the mortals with all their arrogance will never learn. Ignorance and greed...yes the greed will always haunt humankind until the end of time.

For a while, I have been disillusioned and blinded by the past glory of a place that has been my playing ground for almost two decades. What made the place so lively and buzzing with activities for the good sake of all humankind is now becoming a relic of a distant past. The signs are so clear. There is not much thing that  can lift my spirit and make my day. I've been surrounded by zombies who have sold their soul, perhaps to the devil. My good old friends are all gone. They had served well and should earned their peers' respect.   Even monkeys and their entire family who once roamed and controlled the rubber kingdom of Sg. Buloh will laugh at me if I share with them my  sad story and the pathetic state of the kingdom they once cherish. 

Now I may sound like a conservative, old-nostalgic-rotten maggot. For me history is very important and it does matter. Sadly, we are  now living in a modern society who has turn its back on the past. Our view of the past shapes the way we view the present, therefore it dictates what answers we offer for existing problems. History should be preserved well and make known to our future generations. What we do today will undoubtedly have unpredictable impact to the future.

After the recent visit to the site that will be developed into another modern infrastructure that will benefit the masses and the privilege few, I am not sure if my heart will ever stop to bleed. I have to do something to sooth my soul.  Even though the new year is quite far away I would like to make a personal resolution. I am going to share whatever resource that I have with all the mortals who are lucky enough to reach this virtual domain. I hope stories from Kebun Getah Sekangkang Kera will resurface and reach future generations. All being well, untold stories like this will enrich the history that I am also part of it.

I hope no Ebola-infested monkeys of Sg. Buloh will belittle my promise and fully support my personal commitment. My limited experience however says it is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. In fact it is the end of the beginning.

 An excerpt from a colonial archival document. The chemistry laboratory situated at 260, Jalan Ampang still survives until this modern day with indistinguishable make-over. There is however not much organic, physical or analytical chemistry churned out from the lab nowadays as bucket-chemistry is becoming more prominent.

An undated aerial photo of Rubber Research Institute Experimental Station (RRIES) when it was first opened in the 30s. The peripheral areas were still covered with pristine vegetation and juvenile rubber trees. That was history in the making.

A recent googling over a cyberspace revealed an eerie looking reality. In the next 3-4 years, you won't see that big green path anymore.  Red dots on the left were the places where the recent felling of the rubber trees took place  (Field 45 - 52).

August 2011 - The first visit.  It looked like as if a big, fat meteorite with crazy appetite to wallop the entire Bolehland had crash-landed into the back yard of our office. The first visit to the field really saddened me. Padang jarak padang tekukur.  200 hectares of vast and barren land waiting to be filled by lifeless concrete jungle.

Against the backdrop of the past glory, greedy ghosts of modern warfare are actively assaulting all the civilization built by our past co-workers. Only time will tell if there is any left for the future to admire.

March 2012 - A second  visit to the landing site. No alien or any alien workers were in sight but seeing this had made me lost my appetite for the day.  

The freshly opened road leading to the  newly developed site. The Sg. Buloh series (a type of soil) won't benefit any  rubber plant no more. It will soon be molested by giant claw of urban technology.

August 2012 - the most recent visit revealed many covert activities by foreign subjects that alienated the green lung of the area. The trees that once provided life essential have now becoming  silent witness to  human gluttony.

How could I look at this and go back to live in my present world? How could one continue life as before?

It is 84 years after the felling of the jungle started and now the life cycle started one more time.  This time however, the cycle is more vicious and full of unpredictable. 

Too many interesting stories were untold and don't trickle down to our  ipad and Starbuck generations. Too little history has ever made out into the brain domain of our pampered kids. These untold stories are still perfectly kept in the dark domain of the  unknown waiting to be discovered  . I have been wondering, will  our rich history, someday, ever bring our degraded society back into the reality? Will it break  the barrier and  close the gap between generations?