Orang Asli in a village deep in the jungles of Kelantan have been unable to rely on their homegrown supply of staple food, but now, with the help of an organic farmer and his friends, their future is beginning to look more hopeful. SAM CHEONG writes. ASUT Uda lights up a stick of rokok daun (palm-leaf cigarette) and gazes down at a plot of charred land. It was once lush greenery trees stood tall, with creepers around them, reaching for the sky. To sustain his small community, much of the vegetation there was slashed and burned to plant wild rice.
He made a hospitable gesture accompanied by a wide grin, concealing his worries about the poor rice harvest from the previous season. For more than three weeks, the people at his village have gone without wild rice, their staple diet. This, of course, was an oversight. The 45-year-old Temiar, who is also the penghulu or headman, had not expected his food supply to run out. He thought he had stocked up enough wild rice to distribute among the five families in his village. Asut is hoping to replenish the much-needed supply by selling scrap rubber to a middleman who makes monthly trips to his remote village. So, this is the story of a man called Asut, his hopes and aspirations for a small community of Orang Asli in Kampung Halak in Gua Musang, Kelantan. Halak is located about 70km from the nearest civilisation and can only be accessed via four-wheel drive through red-earth logging trails. It takes about three hours to get there from Gua Musang. The last visit to Asuts village was in June. Since then, some progress has taken place, and there has been work on a self-sustainable organic farming project spearheaded by a small group of individuals. When met, we were greeted by the weather-worn village headman who was in the middle of managing his food-shortage crisis by barter trading 500kg of raw rubber for rice and fuel. "Beras kami dah habis. Susah nanti bila musim hujan dah sampai ... (We have exhausted our rice supply. Life will be hard during the monsoon season)," said the straight-talking village elder. But the rain, which is bound to come in November and December, was the least of his worries. Rumours that logging has been approved by the Kelantan State Government at Hulu Chamah, located upstream from the village, was not the sort of news he liked to hear. This added irony to his predicament. If what was said about the logging is true, the river that runs through this small village, which provides sustenance to the entire community, will become heavily silted. This has happened to some Orang Asli villages around Gua Musang already. Asut and his community may have the right to reside in their village, but they have no control over the land they are presently occupying. Despite the obvious setback, the headman has not abandoned all hope for better living standards in the future. He has hooked up with organic farmer Steven Leong, who visited his village in early May. After assessing the situation, Leong raised some concerns over the sustainability of the villages food production. One of his priorities was to get piped water into the area. "I spoke to Asut at length about this and he was very enthusiastic about the project. Initially, the main focus will be getting water to the village, then preparing compost for fertilising the crops," he explained. With renewed hope, Asut and his men wasted no time in setting up some 1,000 metres of piping to a nearby water source. The job was completed late last month. NATURES MAGIC: Bugs break down organic matter By the time Leong and his team of volunteers got to Kampung Halak on Aug 18, two compost-making pits were already built and being used by the villagers. Theyve also started a ginger seedling project that will, in the long-term, become a cash crop to supplement the villagers income. "Kami rasa projek ni boleh jadi. Nanti kita tak perlu harap sangat dengan bantuan luar sebab kita cukup makan (We think this will work and we wont have to depend on outside help when our crops are sufficient)," said Asut. He also gathered four family heads in the village to help out in the organic farming project; they were divided into two teams to produce organic compost for fruits and vegetables. Leong, who supervised the project with his trusted aide Y.P. Chan or "Ah Pan", said the small-scale planting work will ensure a steady food supply to the village, free from chemical fertilisers and pesticides. "The size of this village is highly feasible for such farming methods. They can make do by recycling their natural resources to fertilise the soil. This will, of course, work if they follow the basic rules," said Leong. He prdicted that the villagers would be ready to sow the first seedlings in late September once the compost has matured. "They can start by planting fruit trees. I will provide them with red dragon fruit which is suitable for this place. Besides that, Asut and his men will also be given vegetable seeds and, as a long-term plan to supplement their income, I will give them ginger plants." He added that since matured ginger fetches a good price RM6-RM7 a kilogramme the villagers will be able to sell their organically-grown crops to the middleman and continue to make good use of their land. "We started the ball rolling by getting water into the village so that the plants can be watered. Once planting has begun, the rest is up to Asut and how he manages his crops. And if he does it well, his village will be an example for others to follow," said Leong. With the monsoon season looming, the follow-up visit will be in the first quarter of next year as Halak will be cut off from the outside world. And Asut will have to sit out the storm and continue to monitor the growth of his crops ... The trek up to Halak "OKAY ah!", shouted "Ah Pan" (Y.P. Chan), our expedition driver and cook. Well, that signalled the start of our journey from the Klang Valley to Gua Musang, Kelantan, where our arrival would be eagerly awaited by a group of Orang Asli in a remote village. All four of us Ah Pan, Steven Leong, Vincent "the cake man" Chia and myself were pumped up over this trip. The last time I saw Stevens "adopted" Temiar tribesmen was in June. Our journey to Gua Musang via Simpang Pulai and Cameron Highlands was about 5½ hours. The time was utilised catching up on news. The ride was bumpy and Leongs aged Toyota Hi-Lux twin-cab pick-up truck was our only hope of getting there. She packs a 3,000cc turbo-charged diesel engine and has plenty of load on her cargo hold to make the 600-km haul. Ah Pan, whom we had relied upon to bring us, is adept at handling the Toyota. But somewhere along the way, while climbing the steep slopes of Cameron, we noticed steam billowing out of the vehicles hood. Time to stop and assess the situation. "Aiya! Empty already ah...", Ah Pan shrieked, informing us that the radiator had dried up. While waiting for it to cool off, Leong and Chia rolled some cigarettes and started puffing away while our driver trouble-shot the situation. Two hours into the journey, the halt proved to be a much-needed break for the ageing Toyota. By taking the Simpang Pulai route, there had been no need for us to stock up on our rations at Gua Musang. Slowly, but surely, our vehicle made it up to the Lojing junction at Cameron Highlands. Take a right turn and you are on your way to the south of Kelantan that was where we were headed.//NST 1 Sept 2005 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/ZP59lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perakan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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