30
COLUMN
@ Forest | July-August , 2022
Appreciate the gift of nature
Saving the planet from environmental disaster will have to start from our own homes
Lush greenery .
Flowers for nectar and kelulut . The customised house .
BY THE GREEN DUDE
THERE is a saying , “ Fools rush in where angels fear to tread ”. But not for Prof Zaidi Md Isa and his family of professionals . “ I want a place with a clear stream flowing !” was the brief given by Prof Zaidi , a Prof of Entomology , to his real estate agents as he was looking for a natural retreat to live during his retirement days .
It is not surprising for this classmate from Penang Free School , whose life was spent studying insects . To his credit he has discovered some 20 new species , new to science , with joint authorities , either with his then specialist colleague at the University of Amsterdam or his graduate students at University Kebangsaan Malaysia .
The result was two plots of land within a secondary jungle . One was a 1.5-acre plot which fitted their needs and another three acres of rubber land adjacent to it , which the owner insisted was part of the sales package .
It was located at the fringe of Kuala Kelawang town in Hulu Jelebu , Negeri Sembilan , of all places . The 1.5-acre plot by the river boasted of 15 durian kampong trees which the owner claimed fruited yearly .
Even more surprising to him was that his wife and daughters all fell in love with the place and were willing to cough out their share of funds to acquire it . That was a real commitment for him even though they all already owned houses back in town .
Legal ownership was split between the second daughter Aimi Ihsan who owns the 1.5-acre riverside plot . At the same time , eldest daughter Ili Ihsan and youngest daughter Faza Ihsan shared the three-acre hillside rubber plot .
Our classmate with jungle warfare experience Lt Col ( R ) Izhar Saad , and my brother Tjandra decided to take the trip to this jungle retreat which we had so far only seen over his WhatsApp and social media postings . We met him at Ampang Gepu , just 3 kilometres from Kuala Kelawang and jumped into his 4WD truck for that one-kilometre trip into the jungle .
A breath-taking view
The initial narrow tar-covered road was alright as it passed a number of houses occupied by the kampong folks and some retirees like him . After we passed the last house , it was an even narrower dirt road up the hill where only a 4WD could make it .
We arrived at the top of a hill which was the location of his youngest daughter Faza Ihsan ’ s house , still under construction , and designed by her . It overlooked the valley with a breathtaking view of the jungle .
This soon-to-be-married daughter is doing her PhD in Building Construction Management at UiTM and this project
was like putting theory into practice . This explained the key reason for her commitment and determination to live in this jungle .
Prof Zaidi ’ s “ Impian Damai Riverside Orchard Garden ” ( which legally belongs to Aimi Ihsan ) was just a few hundred meters below . Based on Aimi Ihsan ’ s wishes , the building of the house was also designed , and Faza Ihsan supervised construction .
Prof Zaidi had planted other fruit trees and reared some chickens , ducks and geese . Unfortunately , the six young chicks had just been orphaned by an eagle which had swept down and killed their mother for lunch a couple of weeks back .
They are now being taken care of by their rooster dad . Prof Zaidi also planted flowers for nectar for the stingless honey bees or kelulut for the farm he had created .
According to him , it was this second daughter Aimi Ihsan who mooted the whole project idea and was willing to finance it , leading all the other family members to commit on it . Prof Zaidi and his wife in turn , happily became its full-time caretakers .
When we arrived , his wife had prepared nasi lemak for us with her special sambal to die for . And of course , to top it all there were durians for dessert .
The traditional way of sustenance
The cascading river in front was so clear and tempting that we did not hesitate