Seeds Wonder of Borneo

CHAPTER 1

Why do some people live longer than others? Even as a child, I was fascinated by that question. Maybe it’s because I was born on Borneo, the world’s third largest island and home to one of the oldest rainforests on earth. It has long been thought that plants and seeds in the rainforest might hold the secret to prolonging human life. I would be given a chance to prove that true.

Rainforests once almost entirely covered this island. It’s worth noting that the forest is so rich in plant and animal life that every year previously unknown species are discovered. Such biodiversity is not only rare but also endangered.

Since the time I grew up on the Malaysian end of the island, Borneo’s landscape has changed tremendously. As reported by the Vancouver Sun on 10 January 2015, researchers from the Carnegie Institute of Science, using satellite images, concluded that up to 80 per cent of the rainforest on Borneo, especially in the two states of Sabah and Sarawak, had been destroyed or degraded in the past thirty years by legal and illegal logging and now palm-oil production. It was also noted that less than 10 per cent of the primary forest remained.

This was bad news for the indigenous inhabitants. They were the last hunter-gatherers in South East Asia. It had become impossible for them to remain nomads and carry on their traditional lifestyle, as their habitat had been destroyed.

The World Music Rainforest Festival was an annual event depicting the lives of the rainforest people on the island of Borneo. It was attended by researchers from all over the world. I had recently retired from government service, and as the festival date approached, I was busy answering calls from friends in China, Japan, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States who were all planning to visit and in need of my assistance.

Professor Wong Chung Huat came from China for the festival. When I met him at the airport, he was a bit reserved and didn’t say much. I put him in a taxi to his hotel and remained at the airport to pick up a friend from Japan. I met Professor Wong in the hotel lobby later, and he had so much to talk about, there seemed to be no stopping him.

Professor Wong was a research fellow at Peking University in Beijing, dealing with herbs from roots and trees. He had made some breakthroughs, especially on the potential of some roots and plants for improving human wellness.

‘How are you doing now, Mr Zaidi?’ Professor Wong asked. We had been communicating on social media since meeting at the previous year’s festival.

‘Doing well, Professor, as now I am a retiree,’ I replied.

‘I am really fascinated by what I see around your city,’ he said when we had settled ourselves at the sofa table, having our drinks.

‘What is it that really attracts you, Professor?’ I asked.

He was so excited when he told me what he had seen along the route from the airport to the hotel. ‘The green areas your people have maintained all over the place, really fascinating!’ he enthused.

‘You should go to the rural areas, Professor, to see more of our forest and its contents.’ I encouraged him to venture further and to see more of what our rainforest could offer. The forest was well known for the biodiversity of its flora and fauna, including different species of animals, birds, fish, and other wildlife.

‘Yeah, that is what I want to do, starting now. I intend to go deep into your forests and do research,’ he said in a serious manner. After being involved in research in the field of botany for a long time, he had become an activist with the NGOs in China, trying to save the forests in his country as well as the tropical rainforest.

‘That’s great, Professor. You should go ahead and do what you intend. Our forests may not last long for such a purpose,’ I told him. I knew our forests had been gradually depleted.

‘Is that so? Why?’ he asked in quiet manner. He was a bit surprised to hear that our forests were no longer what they used to be. He knew the rainforest was being depleted but not to what extent.

‘I will tell you later, Professor. We meet again at the festival site tonight, right?’ I asked as we concluded our meeting. I had to go to see my friend from Japan.

The World Music Rainforest Festival was held every year at the cultural village in Kuching, Sarawak. The village was a representation of indigenous dwelling houses depicting indigenous people’s living conditions and lifestyle. World and indigenous musicians came from all over the globe to participate in this unique event. The festival was well attended each year by music enthusiasts as well as those who did work related to the rainforest.

That evening, the professor and I met again at the cultural village, a showpiece for outsiders on the culture, nature, and adventures that were unique to the natives. Each house was built to represent an ethnic group. In each of these houses was placed the group’s handicrafts, and a local musician would play ethnic music for the visitors. There was also a cultural performance at a theatre located in a building at the centre of the village.

We went to watch a show that portrayed – through music and songs – the life of the indigenous people called the Dayaks, which consisted of several ethnic groups. I attended the cultural programme with the professor and became engrossed in the music of the indigenous groups. Though we continued to talk about his work, we could still appreciate the programme being presented.

A stringed musical instrument called a sape played by the local indigenous group had a very unique sound. It was quite similar to the Indian sitar, but the tone was more localised, reflecting the sounds and rhythm of the local surroundings. These natives lived in longhouses along the river banks. Some of them lived in the valleys and hills of the interior. Listening to the melody carried me back to an experience I’d had in a rural area of the country.

I was involved in an educational project undertaken by an NGO. The flight from the state capital to the northern region stopped over at an airport in another city in the north. From there, our group took a smaller plane to a small town. The group was sponsored by a logging company as part of its social corporate responsibility to the indigenous people.

We were to carry out an educational programme to help the people adjust to more settled lives. The target group was those who had been moving from one place to another like nomads. The government had just started a development project for them.

After half an hour, we arrived at our destination. Since it was almost six o’clock in the evening, we decided to settle for a night at the local hotel, Seri Malaysia.

The next morning, we proceeded to the project site using four-wheel drive. The journey involved following a winding and tortuous road left by the logging company. The vehicles had to cross small rivers, climb hilly terrain, and even be pushed once in the while when stuck on the muddy path.

It took us seven hours to arrive at the small village of indigenous folks called Batu Bala. They were living in makeshift shelters scattered all over the place. They had been encouraged to settle on small plots of land, where they did slash-and-burn farming, moving on once the land was depleted.

The educational project undertaken by our group was to involve adults and children in the community. Our group consisted of teachers, local representatives, and NGO workers. The community was still far behind in terms of basic development compared to those in the urban areas.

According to the person in charge, Ismail Razak, the project had been implemented a few months earlier. He had been appointed by the local NGO, HELP US, to spearhead the educational programme. Being a local person, he was familiar with the community and was readily accepted by the indigenous group.

‘The school project is well received by the community. The children are keen to learn, and they learn fast,’ he’d explained when he briefed us the night before. The group also provided other forms of assistance, such as helping the men learn carpentry work and the women the art of weaving. The goal was to provide aid for the needy by attending to short-term basic needs and empowering the natives to be self-sufficient in the long run.

‘The cost of the project is quite substantial, and because of that, the team can only go to the site two or three times during the project implementation,’ he said.

When asked what would happen when the project was complete, he said, ‘The committee at the village level will help monitor it.’ The committee consisted of community members selected by the villagers. They were to oversee project implementation and monitor progress and follow-up.

Ismail related the challenges that arose when they first started the programme. They had to organise get-togethers with the elders who were not keen for the children to know about modern things. They believed that once these young ones were exposed to the new and weird things, they would be influenced to do something against their community norms.

The villagers still held steadfastly to their customs and daily practices, which had been passed down from their ancestors. The norms, including the way of life in the community, had to be adhered to by the villagers.

In one of the get-togethers, there were a lot of arguments, and the villagers even wanted the project team to go back. However, a government officer who was also present told them what the programme would be about. The villagers were convinced that it would not disrupt their norms and ways. Thus, the project could proceed.

Ismail was confident that the children of the community would benefit from the implementation of the project. The team was well prepared in that they were willing to be more flexible with the programme. They were sensitive to the community they were dealing with. I was once an educator and now I was interested in rainforest research, so I was invited to join the group as an observer. My