Have a Cuppa Tea...

Boh puts the Ummph in Your Life!

The Tea Tree - must be many years old, looking at the moss-covered trunks and branches

Sunday 31 October 2010

Today, I went up Cameron Highlands just to accompany my other half who has some work to do up there.  What a wonderful time we had  visiting the Boh Tea Plantation at Sg Palas. We also visited the Tea Cafe, the Tea Gallery as well as the Tea Factory owned by Boh Tea Plantations. The moment we reached the Tea Cafe, I felt like I was in some foreign land because the weather, the ambiance, the feel and the facilities around were clean and welcoming. It was only later after touring the Galeri and Exhibition that we found out that Boh Tea Plantation is owned by a Md Salleh, Caroline Russell, the great, great grandchild of the founder, John Russell. Way back in the1930's, John Russell foresaw the potential of tea production in Cameron Highlands, which is situated about 1,500 metres above sea level. Boh Tea's tagline is Boh Puts the Ummph in your Life! I rather like the tagline of another tea plantation, Bharat Tea Plantation, down the road at Tanah Rata. It says Any Time is Tea Time, very Malaysian  indeed!

NB : The Chinese history of tea began in 2737BC when Chinese Emperor Shen Nung sat beneath a tree waiting for his servant to boil drinking water. A leaf from the tree fell into the water and he decided to try out the brew from the wild tea tree. The Indians too have a saga on the tea. It was said that Gautama Buddha tore his eyelids off and threw them on the ground because he fell asleep despite vowing to remain awake during a pilgrimage. His eyelids took root and germinated into tea plants that sprouted leaves the shape of eyelids.

Legends abound, the tea have found a permanent place in the lives and hearts of diverse people in the world for over 4,500 years. The English enjoy their afternoon tea with hot scones. The Muslims in Mecca break fast with their tea (called chai) and dates. Malaysians are now mixing their tea with all the specific herbs, Misai Kuching, Mas Cotek, Pandanus Leaves, not only for the flavour but also to benefit from their healing properties. Assoc Prof Dr Faridah Qamaruz Zaman of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia(UPM) told me that the University had come up with tea made from oil palm leaves. I suppose this is to take advantage of the abundance of the vitamin E content in the palm leaves.

It is well known fact that tea drinking is a healthy habit. Tea leaves contain flavanoids and other antioxidants which are healthy for the total body system.

Psst...Have you had your cuppa today?

Visiting London

28 October 2010
Through Facebook, I discovered that an old friend of mine has gone into the travel and tours business. She and husband is operating a holiday service to visit London, providing accomodation and other travel facilities in and around the UK. Go to http://www.mhhlondon.blogspot.com/ and you can choose all the attractive travel itinerary to the popular tourist attractions in UK. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye for first-time travellers to the UK; trip to the Cotswalds for the nature lovers; Stratford-Upon-Avon for the literary enthusiasts; Roman Baths for the history lovers, and many many more.
I have always loved London since my University days in 1975. Being a student then, I seldom had the chance to travel because of study commitments and financial constraints. The city of London has certain charms that only someone who has been there knows how to describe them. Somehow, once you visit London, you want to go back there again and again and again.....
Pssst....I love London but that does not mean I love Malaysia less!

Happy Birthday Celebrations

23 October 2010
What a wonderful time we had at Tan Sri Salleh's 70th birthday bash at Pondok De Rimba situated at his hometown, Dangi, Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan. Invitees who came all the way to celebrate his birthday came from all walks of life, I could see that. Old friends and families came by the dozens....His so called pondok is so sweet with a beautiful tangga Melaka going up the house. Tan Sri Salleh obviously documented all of his life achievements by framing all his credentials and displaying them on the walls of his Anjung. What a meaningful personal gallery he has there for him and his friends to reminisce his track record of achievements.
The Palm Oil man Tan Sri Augustine S H Ong was there with his charming wife, forever looking young as ever.  Its the palm oil, I think that is behind the heathy ageing and living.
Tan Sri Salleh told me personally, just as we were leaving, that he shall invite us over again for his 110 th birthday!  InsyAllah.....Tan Sri, dipanjangkan umur, di murahkan rezeki. We shall be there...

Melaka 2010 - Developed City

20 October 2010

20/10/2010 is a proud day for Malacca - the historical state in Malaysia. Today, Malacca (Melaka in Malay) is officially declared as a "developed state" and finally recognised  so by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Jon Hall, who has been leading the OECD's Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies, said Malaccans had higher than the OECD's minimum levels in virtually all indicators.
To commemorate this auspicious occasion, the Malaccan government launched the monorail along the Malacca River, running from Taman Rempah (Spice Garden) in Pengkalan Rama to Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai in the heart of the historic city. The RM15.9m project is part of the state's aim to further tap the potential of the Malacca River as a tourist attraction.
Reliable sources told me that the Malacca River Cruise will in future be expanded to cruise along the Linggi River. Hope this will come true because way back in the late 90's, 3 of us bought an orchard lot each in Linggi, for reasons of our own. Hopefully, we can harvest some returns from our investment with the expansion of the River Cruise., insyAllah....

Oil Palm - Replanting

19 October 2010
The Star today carried a news column on oil palm replanting, highlighting the role of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board(MPOB) on this issue. This semi-government agency under the Ministry of Plantation Management and  Commodities is entrusted with the job of encouraging oil palm smallholders to replant their trees with higher-yielding clones once the palms passed thier economic life of 25 years. The smallholders will be given cash of RM1000 per acre if they undertook this replanting scheme with MPOB. However, response from the scheme has been lukewarm. The big players in the palm oil industry too are delaying to replant oil palm because of the relatively high prices that the commodity is fetching in the market place. If both the smallholders and their big brothers are unwilling to replant for reasons of their own, our country is going to be affected in terms of national oil palm productivity. We may no longer be the No 1 Palm Oil producer because our neighbour Indonesia is slowly overtaking us sooner than later!
Psss.....Do the smallholders need a much bigger incentive to replant oil palm???? 

Golden Age of Palm Oil

18 October 2010
The other day on ASTRO, there was a documentary and interview with Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, the former Minister of Primary Industries on Palm Oil. Despite his retirement from the industry years ago, this man is still passionate about our Golden Crop. My personal opinion is that he had been the champion of palm oil during his Ministerial days, after taking over from YB Datuk Paul Leong Kee Siong during the mid 1980's. In fact, the period of mid 80's till 2005 was the golden age of palm oil, to my mind. It was during this period that PORIM (now MPOB) made such a big impact in the edible oils and fats industry in the world. We made breakthough discoveries on the nutritional values of palm oil, fighting off the Anti Palm Oil Smear Campaign waged by the American Soyabean Association(ASA) with the positive results MPOB obtained from the research grants given to various established Universities all over the world to conduct research on palm oil. MPOB then was the premier research institute on oil palm and palm oil, true to its Mission and Vision statement. For the past 5 years, MPOB gradually lost its oomph somehow, even though Malaysian Palm 0il remained as the No 1 Oil in the world. (Pardon me, if I am wrong). Leadership plays an instrumental role in the rise and fall of an organization. It is Leadership also that make or break an organization.
I was happy and proud serving MPOB during the golden age of palm oil 1982-2005. During this period, Tan Sri Yusof Basiron was the Director-General of MPOB and YB Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik was the Minister of Primary Industries of Malaysia.http://www.mpob.gov.my/    

Oil Palm Replanting

13 Sept 2010
At our Raya Open House, I had wanted actually to request my old classmate Mr K Perumal to explain to my 2 brothers the economic feasibility of planting oil palm on rubber land. But the ocassion, I suppose, was not right, simply because it was Hari Raya and people do not want to discuss any heavy issues. I hope there will come a good time to discuss whether it is now timely to convert our rubber estate to oil palm. Our family rubber estate of 13 acres is now more than 25 years old, nearing its lifespan. Something needs to be done on the land, even though my aged mother convinced me that she is still getting some income from the rubber estate. I suppose I have to put this conversion idea on hold for some time yet.
Previous discussion with Perumal made me want to convert it immediately, but it would have to be a family decision when to embark on it. Once planted, it would take 3 years for the oil palm to bear its fruits, as compared to rubber which takes 7 years to harvest.