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.

For a while, a circadian clock got me back on track

I read with interest and utmost fascination on a recent article sent personally through e-mail by my retired mentor. He authored and published that article (and many other beautifully written articles) after retiring from his research domain five years ago. He wrote on a very interesting subject I once indulged long long time ago and almost obliterated from my small but still actively functioning brain hippocampus. The article was on a very peculiar circadian rhythm, a natural biological phenomena that happens in all living kingdom.

I guess several and regular knocks on my head while taking a powerful nap after having a sumptuous calorie-laden brunch really did a marvelous job in erasing many my long term memories. Luckily the knocks didn't wipe out entirely my sweet memories of my heart-thumping relationship with my significant half. That could be explained by a high level testosterone activity that vigorously kick-in once in a while, which I also believed plays an important role in preserving well our intimate ventures.

What impressed me most was that, despite having no more exclusive access to any laboratory to carry out any of his psychic experiments, my mentor is still scientifically productive . He is still keeping his prolific writing prowess alive. This ability I have not seen emerging yet in the current research prodigies. Having not enough problem in brain-drain that plagued our organization, now the new pandemic of dead-brain disease has started to crept in. Even our well-stocked library has become so ghostly eerie. Nobody seems to be interested in doing the reading anymore, what more the writing. Thus scientific endeavor can be pronounced dead.

Motivated solely by that article and my mentor's unrelenting passion (actually more on the prospect of becoming one of the artifacts in a living museum) I started to tickle my dormant brain cells with incoherent questions. My search for answers has brought me back from my long and deep slumber into the uncharted territories I left for quite some times. With that in mind, one beautiful evening I strolled and ventured deep into the rubber forest pondering upon the questions and once again subjected myself to copious amount of mosquito bites. I believed the latter, a form of self mutilation could induce my synapses to become active again.

Rubber tree as many knows is an amazing tree. This one God-send gift that single-handedly transformed our nation from eating lempeng for their breakfast into a nation who can't missed their cappuccino with toasted bread before punching in their working clock. That is how big the impact this tree has made into our bouncy daily life. Nobody realized that I supposed.

So unique, this tree demands to be taken on its own term. This tree has fascinated me since the first time I smell the nice scent during its flowering season after it shed its leaves twice a year. Why this tree, it place of origin (the Amazon basin in Brazil) which shares similar humid weather as ours but behaves like their cousins in the temperate regions still puzzled me and many discerning scientist around the world. Does the tree needs to 'winter' before flowering and later bears the fruits? How does this tree never fail to set their brain to 'winter' twice a year exactly almost at the same period of time? As wintering affected tapping period, productivity thus also affected. This can be 3-4 months a year. These question has been confronting me ever since.

But what puzzled me most during my recent venture into the rubber plantation (actually just at the back of my office) was how ingenious and creative rubber tappers in this current millennium are (look at those photos). These tappers are contract workers whom actually come from our neighboring countries, as many locals don't want to dirty their hands with this sticky and smelly tree sap anymore. These creative exploits however, in the long run will harm the trees. Both the tappers and the trees will succumb economically to their natural death soon. Pity to both of them.

It is so comforting though to simply know that I still have that passion burnt deep inside me. Some kind of blood-lust hungry for answers. At the same time I always remember this saying by Sir Isaac Newton of which many have forgotten - "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulder of giants". Which reminded me of all my mentors.