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Suria Helang Lui

Category: Development

Suria Helang LuiArticlesDevelopment
26 Apr 2017
0 Comments By admin Articles, Development, Farm Information, SHL Journal

SHL Development: Planning for 2018 and the future

After almost 8 years of developing the farm, both from the physical development to the product development, and after numerous experiments and tests from produce and products to marketing them, 2018 will bring some major changes to how we do things.  It is the fine-tuning of what we have been doing and also changes to how I want to spend my time.  One of the aspects that I love of what I do now is being able to produce nutrients-rich products.  The idea of enjoying tasty drinks that delivers nutrients that my body needs so that it becomes a natural part of my life is something that I want to promote to everyone.  Consuming natural food as opposed to processed and chemical enhanced food is something that I advocate.  Consuming natural food also doesn’t mean that you need a lot of time to prepare for the food nor does it mean expensive – often people forget to add the cost of medical services, supplements to their diet, etc.

In streamlining our end-products from the farm would be, we will have basically four types:

  1. SHL natural drink concentrates and teas
  2. Fruits and selected vegetables
  3. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO)  
  4. Fish

SHL Natural drink concentrates and teas
Over the last two years, we have market tested several varieties of drinks and teas based on what we grow at the farm.  Based on our finding as well as on what I love due to its taste and benefits, the selection was made.  The underlying principle is that it has to be organically-grown and provides nutrients and therapeutic benefits.  All our concentrate drinks are unsweetened and the choice to sweeten or not is left to the consumer.  The concentrates that we will produce are:

  1. Bentong Ginger and Turmeric
  2. Roselle concentrate
  3. Roselle probiotics concentrate
  4. Cold-pressed calamansi juice
  5. Cold-pressed calamansi juice with lemongrass
  6. Cold-pressed calamansi juice with blue sweet pea flower extract

The dried teas that we will produce are:

  1. Misai Kuching Tea
  2. Soursop Leaves Tea
  3. Roselle Leaves Tea

We will also produce other products in this category based on special bulk request.

Fruits and selected vegetables
Over the years, we have planted many types – over 40 types – and I have learnt a lot from it.  We will streamline this down to the following:

  1. Cabbage
  2. Kailan
  3. Choy sum (sawi)
  4. Spinach
  5. Long green beans
  6. French beans
  7. Tomatoes
  8. Pumpkin
  9. Mini cucumbers
  10. Corn

This will provide for a selection from leafy, to crunchy to fleshy and my favourites.  The area that we will use for planting them will also be streamlined.  We will also plant other vegetables but this will be in smaller quantity and mainly additional types of vegetables for my family.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
For me, this is oil of choice from its numerous benefits to it creamy, nutty taste.  The coconut trees that we have planted years ago started to fruit last year and as it matures will provide us with the base ingredients although it will not be like the large, plantations.  We plan to start adding coconut trees, selecting the variety so that we can have good harvests of coconut in the years ahead.  We use permaculture cold-pressed method which is time-consuming but produces the purest form of the coconut oil.  The production of EVCO has some down-time so it works well in scheduling our task and activities.

For 2018, we are targeting producing 50 bottles a month.  By commercial standards, this is not much but we aim at ensuring quality production and become the regular supplier to our existing customers and gain new customers due to the quality and taste of our EVCO.  On the personal side, this is something that I can see myself doing as I age as it doesn’t involve much physical activity but more on patience and attention to detail.

Fish
This year, our fish pond is undergoing a major renovation, to allow us to better manage our fish operations as well as providing for better environment for our fish.  We are building walls all along the pond which is shaped like a flowing river as well as sectioning it.  Experts has indicated that we can have at least 500,000 fishes at any one time but I highly doubt that is what we will do in 2018.  However, it does leave us with substantial growth capacity.  What is important for me is that we produce quality, “sweet” tasting fish without the nasty door often associated with fresh water fish. Over the years we have experimented with different feed, water conditions, pond maintenance and fish rearing practice and we have learnt a lot.  To date, we have received no complaints on our fish and many are surprised at the taste.  We do not introduce any waste products such as carcasses and chicken innards as feed to the fish and we will continue this policy.  I eat my fish and I certainly do not like muddy-taste, smelly fish.  I also like to choose the method of cooking from steaming to frying to roasting so the taste of fish is important.
By middle of this year, we will re-start our fish operations which means the earliest harvest will be in 2018.  The farm dogs play a role in our fish operations as they catch the monitor lizard (biawak) and the river otters (mermerang) which can cause substantial loss of the fish population.  The investment put in to build a wall around the property has also helped to reduce the invasion of the river otters.  We are working on minimising external dependence on feed.  Keeping the water flow optimum is important as with the in-flow of water, comes natural food in the form of small river fish and shrimps, which would provide the proteins.  At the same time, we feed them “greens”.  Our choice of feed and constant water flow has definitely made an impact on the quality and taste of the fishes.

MyOrganic Certification
We are currently undergoing certification and hope to have the certification by 2018.  This will definitely be an achievement for us as well as a validation of our practice.

Fertilisers and Pest Control
We will continue to produce our fertilisers and pest control products which we use at the farm.  It will be made available for sale on request.  For me, it is important that I continue to have truly organic fertilisers that have not had the source materials be contaminated by chemical pesticides or herbicides.  It also serves as a way for me to recycle my organic wastes and I look forward to the addition of goat manure as an ingredient in my fertilisers.

Sales and marketing
I have always believed in selling directly to my customers but the toll of doing market every Sunday whilst still producing is getting harder.  As such, we will probably cease to do Sunday morning market in 2018 but focus more on “order selling”.  I know it will probably be tough in the beginning as I build a customer list but the plan is to provide delivery to the customer door-step and delivery charges will be subject to minimum order and area of delivery.  We will set-up 2 days where we will do the delivery

Events
I love hosting events and having people visit the farm so this is one area that we will still continue to do.  In shaa Allah, we will have an Open Farm Day focussing on selected plants and products in support of having your own garden as well as our fresh farm produce, and also Durian Fest where you can come and buy “original” durians and eat at the farm or bring it home and whatever other fruits and vegetables we have available for sale at that time.  A new event that I am thinking of doing a “Restaurant Pop-Up Day” to coincide with our fish harvest featuring our fish and vegetables and fruits, and drinks from the farm with a limited number of seats.    I love challenges and I think this “Restaurant Pop-Up” event will be one.

So, all in all, although 2018 is many months away, I am sure that time will seem to fly by.  However, having devised a plan and direction, it will help in us working our way through the rest of 2017.  Being agriculture-based, things need time to grow and produce many things need to be planned months or even years ahead 🙂

07 Jan 2016
0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Development

SHL 2016: What we are

Many have visited our farm during our events and many have asked about our farm.  This farm was born out of my passion for edibles and therapeutic plants and trees as well as to prepare for my old age.  Since I have always been busy and active, I couldn’t envision myself without activity once I reached the retirement age and forced to retire.  So, I opted to leave the corporate world and begin an adventure in natural organic farming – producing quality, healthy produce in an integrated farm
environment, maximising nature’s bounty and maintaining an environmental balance.  One of the underlying core principles of the farm is to work with the natural resources and not destroy it.  The farm is slightly over 1 hectare (2.5 acres) in size and is located in Sg. Liu, Hulu Langat.  It took me 10 years to find the right piece of land, one that met my criteria.  Amongst the criteria was the location must be under 2 hours from K.L., availability of infrastructure (road, electricity, communications, etc.) as well as an abundance of one of the most basic resources: fresh, natural, uncontaminated water.  Anything else is considered as a bonus.  When I first got the land, you can play Tarzan – it was jungle-like with vines hanging from trees that was thick and strong enough for you to swing on.

After a challenging 7 years, today the farm is an integrated farm that produces natural, organic produce from fruits and vegetables, chicken and eggs, to fresh water fish as well as organic fertilisers and sprays as well as seeds and plants.  We have a very lean operation with  2 workers working with me.  This means that I am very hands-on.  Most of the seeding and planting as well as quite a bit of the maintenance work is done by me.  Being a stickler, I have specific things that I want done specific ways so my workers are there mainly to assist me and to take basic care of the farm and its inhabitants when I am not there.  It is pretty much on a small scale still but we hope to be able to bump up production substantially this year.  We sell our produce at the Sg. Penchala Sunday morning market and throughout the years, we have built relationships with our customers, many of whom are our regulars.

Another aim of the farm is to preserve our banana diversity.  We do not have any genetically modified bananas but focus on the many wonderful varieties of local bananas – many of which are difficult to find in the market.  We more than 25 varieties of local bananas and week to week, we have different varieties of bananas.  We have managed to weather the various problems that have occurred with the banana plant diseases and continue to be able to grow them healthily.  Of course we take quite a few preventive measures.  It is gratifying when people come to us looking for the rarer species.

Over the years, I have experimented with papaya trees and have finally settled to the few varieties that we have which are sweet and the flesh is either red, orange or like cantoloupe in colour.  Not all the papaya trees produce fruits – we have both male and female plants.  The male plants are for the flowers and leaves.  Our other fruit trees include rambutan, pulasan cempedak, nangka, mangosteen, mata kucing, pomegranate, soursop, jambu madu, lime, calamansi and abiu.  Not all have made it to market as they are enjoyed by family and friend, and some have just started to “learn” to fruit.

Chemical pesticide free vegetables are important to me and since I began the farm, I have planted many varieties and got to enjoy many of them.  I have learnt a lot regarding growing them, caring for them, soil composition and fertilising.  Looking forward to 2016, we are getting more organised in producing them as well as hope to have finally obtained the rhythm so we can have a continuous supply for our weekly market.  By not introducing toxic chemicals, I have discovered that many varieties of vegetables can be eaten raw where it is at its best.

I never used to enjoy fresh water fish like catfish (keli), tilapia and lampam.  I always associated the muddy taste as well as a strong, unpleasant smell with them.    With the availability of fresh, clean, uncontaminated water at the farm as well as the natural contour of the land at the farm, I had a fish pond built albeit it is not like the many fish ponds that you see at the fish farms.  Our fish pond resembles a flowing river with water flowing in and out all day long, every day.  Without feeding the fish wastes like chicken innards, carcasses, etc. like many fish farmers do and keeping the water clean, our fish tastes great without any muddy taste and a natural sweetness to it.  The ultimate test was when I have friends and customers who have steamed them and said that they taste good.  If you are familiar with steamed fish, you know how unforgiving it is if the fish is not fresh or good.  Our plan this year is to be able to bring fresh catfish once a month to market and to be able to produce about 10 kg of smoked catfish per month.  Both these items are a favourite with our customers so our aim is to be able to be consistent.  The tilapia and sampan will take longer to bring to market.

Another area of interest that I have and which I pursue is the area of herbals and therapeutic plants.  Over the years, I have collected and planted many plants from all over our country.  I enjoy using these natural flavourings in cooking, eating them as a salad as well as producing teas.  We have numeric, white basil, Thai basil, Holy basil, Small galangal, citronella, lemon grass, cekur, belalai gajah, misai kucing – to name a few.  When I walk around the farm, I graze a lot – picking a leaf here, a leaf there, a fruit here and a fruit there.  It feels great to be able to do that without worrying what chemicals are on it.

We have all sorts of other plants and trees not mentioned in this article but covering them all would make this article too long.  From time to time, we have open farm days where we accept visitors and have our produce on sale at the farm.    Due to the lean operations and the workload, we do not have daily or weekly visiting hours.  Weekdays are filled with our farm operation activities and weekends are busy with preparing for market and going to market as I am particular regarding the freshness of our produce.  Moving forward in 2016, we hope to be able to increase our yields, work more efficiently and get the infinite satisfaction from producing quality, healthy great tasting produce.

11 Aug 2014
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In search of seeds and seedlings

I am always on a lookout for good seeds and seedlings and today I finally made it to two places that I have been meaning to go to for years but never got around to it. About a couple of months ago, a good sahabat gave me some seed packets that he got for me from there and it worked out well.

The first stop was Pusat Jualan Benih MARDI in Serdang which is located near MAEPS next to UPM in Serdang.  To get there, you enter through the main gate of MAEPS and at the first Y junction, keep to your right.  Just follow the road as it winds through the grounds and you will see a lake on your right hand side.  About 100m from there you will see Pusat Benih on your left.  The sales counter is on the back on the building.  They sell vegetable seeds such as chillies, bird’s eye chillies, aubergines (purple round and long varieties), french beans, long green beans, tomatoes, okra (bendi), angle bean (petola), kacang botor, and sweet corn.  Needless to say, I got them all.  They were priced at RM 2 per packet and the sweet corn was RM 5/100gm which is considerably lower than the packets that I normally buy from Pusat Peladang Bt. 14, Hulu Langat.  They also have information brochures for each of type that they sold. nThey did have some plants for sale too but unfortunately not what I was looking for.

My next stop was Pusat Jualan Pokok of UPM, which is located near Pusat Golf UPM.  Follow the road that takes you to Lembah Silikon and you will find Pintu 14 that has a guardhouse.  Just tell them you are going to the Pusat Jualan Pokok.  After you enter the gate, about a few hundred meters you will come to a roundabout and take the left or 9 o’clock.  Follow the road and just after you pass under a bridge, you will see it on your right hand side.  I was happy that I made the trip as I found the plants that I was looking for – kafir lime (lima purut), soursop (durian belanda), delima, tenggek burung, pulasan, and keladi mawar also known as keladi hitam.  They also had different varieties of cempedak, rambutan, turmeric (kunyit) and jackfruit (nangka). With these plant purchases to add to the number of plants and trees that I already have, I am done with my list of trees for now and the farm will have all the trees and with the quantity that I want and the tree planting areas will be maxed out.  The prices were also reasonable.

To go to these locations, I suggest that you go in the morning before 12 noon to avoid the lunch break as well as the hot afternoons.

So, you can guess what I will be doing tomorrow – transplanting the plants in the location that I want and if I have more time, to sow some seeds in the greenhouse.

14 May 2013
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Water features at Suria Helang Lui

I love water, I love being close to water, I love hearing the sound of water.  With the wonderful, clean, water source, I try to maximize what I can do with it, both from food production, household water use and aesthetic landscaping.  The beauty of it all is since the water is from a continuous flowing water source, the water needs to continuously flow out or my pipes will burst so I have no guilt feelings of using the water in all these ways.  When necessary, all the plants are also watered from this same water inflow hence continuing the no chemicals concept on the food production.  My suggestion to those of you who are looking for a place for a retreat, always check the water source options.
At the farm, the water is used for household use including as a drinking water source.  For years now, I have been drinking it direct.  I feel no guilt in taking long, cool showers as the water has to continue to flow out.

One of the main farm activities is to produce tasty fish and the water plays an important role.  The water continuously flow in and out of the ponds, keeping the ponds clean and providing good quality water for the fish to grow and breed.  The pond itself was created based on an old stream which still has a pretty shallow water table.  This also serves as a flood prevention pond as this area has been known to flood albeit not very often.
I spend a substantial amount of time at the farm and I have a home there, my getaway from the busy, hectic Kuala Lumpur, and it is less than an hour
away.  To this end, I like to add features that would further provide for a peaceful and relaxing environment.  It took a couple of years but I finally have my landscape fish pond by the front entrance of the house with a mini waterfall as the water outlet.  There is a lot of river stones all over the property which as we work the land, we have “collected” and this pond features the use of these stones.  The sound of the water flowing into the fish pond is relaxing to hear and makes the area as a great place to have my breakfast, a wonderful way to start the day. 
Another water landscape feature is planned and this one is by the patio of my bedroom.  InsyAllah, this will be ready this year as will the house.

14 Nov 2012
0 Comments By admin Armchair journal, Development, SHL Journal

Being a small farmer Part 4 – Selecting the inhabitants

The basic principle that I follow for “inhabitants” of the farm is that if they serve as food or therapy, then I will select it for introduction or retention at the farm.  The second principle is: I plant or grow only what I like :).  The third is the preservation of our natural heritage.  In selecting the plants, I have chosen to have plants that I consider to be short term revenue producers like the vegetables, mid term revenue produces such as fruits and long term such as surian.  However both the long term and mid term can generate revenue in the interim.  Annuals and perennials as well as evergreen are also taken into consideration as this will affect the maintenance work that needs to be done.  The plants and trees that we have at the farm include:

  1. Fruits: Bananas, Rambutan, Soursop (Durian Belanda), Durian, Jackfruit (Nangka), Cempedak, Mangosteens, Jambu Madu, Longan (Mata Kucing), Mango, Calamansi (Limau Kasturi).
  2. Herbs and therapeutic plants/trees: Cat’s whiskers (Misai Lucing), Ruku, Selasih, Lemon Basil (Kemangi), Cosmos Caudatus (Ulam Raja), Tumeric, Lemongrass, Senduduk Hutan, Cilantro, Lengkuas, Ginger, Ginger torch (Bunga Kantan), Jeruju, Bebuas, Surian, Kaffir Lime (Limau Perut).
  3. Roots and Tubers: Tapioca, Sweet potatoes, Yam (Keladi)
  4. Vegetables etc.: Kailan, Sawi (Choy Sum), Cabbage, Tomatoes, Kangkong, Spinach, Bird Chillies (Cili Padi), Long Beans, Aubergine (Terong) and Turkey Berry (Terong pipit).

As there are various soil types at the farm, careful consideration is taken when selecting the location where it is planted to promote healthy plants and trees.  Thought is also put into how the plants can co-exist so as to promote benefits for both such as a tree providing a semi-shady area for plants that prefer semi-shade.  I have found that many plants or trees serve multiple purposes – some as food and at the same time can be used for therapeutic purposes or even as a bio-cleansing agent or pesticide.  I continuously seek to increase my knowledge on each plant or tree at the farm and I am continuously surprised at what I find.  Nature is definitely bountiful.

In line with making it an integrated farm, I have elected to rear chickens and fish.  Chickens of course provide not only meat but also healthy eggs.  They also function as my insect-control mechanism feeding on the ants and various other bugs and grass.

The fish that I have selected as the primary fishes to rear are tilapia, catfish (keli) and lampam.  I find that these fishes are really versatile as they can be eaten fresh, dried and salted either with or without herbs,  and smoked.
 I have also found that both tilapia and catfish can be filleted to produce beautiful fillets that can then be prepared in various other ways for consumption other than the normal Malay or Chinese style of preparation.  I am considering having some local goats – not so much for consumption – but more for its “weed-eating” capability as well as an additional source for fertilizers.  However, more research needs to be done so that I can provide the optimum living conditions for the goats as well achieving a balance with the other inhabitants.

I am pretty much done with selecting inhabitants though I am always on the lookout for interesting plants and trees.  Now we have basically moved away from the development phase and on to the “growing” phase to increase production quantity and quality.  The journey continues……

    06 Oct 2011
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    Building a personalized home – Part 2 : Dream bathroom

    I consider the bathroom one of the important parts of the home.  It is one of the first areas we see in the morning and one of the last areas before we go to sleep at night.  It is also an area where cleanliness is a top priority.  At the same time, it can also be a great relaxation area.
    My principle of all areas of the house is usage of natural light, easy to clean and maintain, comfortable and definitely easy on the eyes.  This same principle was applied to my bathroom.

    Since this is a bathroom, I needed to ensure privacy from other eyes yet allow lot of natural light.  To accomplish this, the part of the roof over the bathroom has a 2’x2′ skylight and the walls facing the exterior of the house has many glass cubes.  This allows for lots of light to enter while ensuring privacy.  The use of white tiles and the glass cubes keeps the bathroom bright and at the same time contribute to low maintenance and ease of cleaning.  At the same time, I wanted the walls to look “artistic” so I included the use of   brown-beige trowel stones, also an easy-care wall component.  by not using windows, I will not have to worry about window treatments such as blinds or curtains, which will add work to the maintenance.

    I have the luxury of pure, clean water from a source up in the hills, with the added benefit that if I do not use it, I have to release it to the drains or my pipes can burst.  So, what does this give me?  It gives me the luxury of taking long showers and baths.  With good water pressure, I had a “rain” shower installed.  It feels so good to have a nice, cool shower after farm activities.  To complete my options, I will be installing a water heater so that I can have a warm shower for those cold early mornings.

    I find it relaxing to hear running water like in a stream or river while having a bath hence a custom bath tub, complete with river rocks that the water can flow over, Nature’s music.  I can have the illusion of  bathing in the rain by turning on the shower at the same time.  It also helps to have something beautiful to look at hence the tile, glass cubes and trowel stones on the wall.
    Being custom-made, the other end of the bath tub is designed to accomodate comfortable placement of my head as I lie in the tub, complete with water streaming over my shoulders, offering a soft shoulder massage.
    I have cleaned it up and started to enjoy my bathroom – absolutely wonderful, relaxation therapy.  Alhamdulillah.
    07 Sep 2011
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    Building a personalized house – Part 1

    Amongst the things that I love at the farm is the bounty of nature’s beauty.  I also love a lot of light – I think it is a shame when during the day, you would have to turn on the light indoors.  At the same time, since it is at the farm, the house needs to be built functionally, allowing me to carry out my farm activities with ease without having to worry about spending a lot of time organizing and cleaning the house.  I want to be able to spend the majority of my time on farm activities and not housekeeping chores. 
    To start with, I made the decision to use tiles for the floor and for the walls as this will make it easy for me to clean.  Here I exercise my uncommon style – I use many different types of tiles and colors to delineate the different areas.  I also use the tiles to create a frame for my treasured pieces such as in my surau.  The tiles are used to frame the two beautiful, Belgian wall hangings that are of great meaning to me – the Al-Fatihah and Ayat Kursi.

    I also like lots of fresh air and prefer natural cooling to air-conditioners.  As such, the external walls are topped with lattice to allow for air to circulate with fresh air coming in constantly from the outside, even with all the doors closed. 
    In my bedroom, to allow for lots of natural light, I have a door leading to the outdoors, that when completed will have 14 glass panes and two panes will be a swinging “cat’s door” to enable my cats to go in and out at will.  The door size is also larger than the standard size at 42in. by 72 in.
    On the roof, are skylights and there is a lot of glass tiles on the exterior wall, to further allow light in.  As a result, I do not have to turn on the lights from around 0630 until 1900, contributing to less electricity consumption and being earth-friendly.  I opt to use glass tiles because I didn’t want to be bothered with having to install curtains – this way, light comes in but you cannot see inside, only able to see fuzzy shapes.  My bedroom is divided into 4 areas, the solat area, sleeping area, storage area and bathroom.  It has an open concept and I use entryways to define the areas.

    I like to have little designs added in to reflect the purpose of the area so the entryway to the solat area has a nice cupola shape and as it has 2 walls to the exteriors, there are clear glass tiles positioned to add more light to the area.  Separating between the sleeping area and the solat area, I love the blue glass tiles, to add a contrast that is cool to the eye.  I also found an interesting wall finisher that is made up of tiny stones that is applied to the wall in the same manner as plaster.  This enabled us to have a nice finish to all those curvy lines in the entryway as well as adding an interesting feature to the entryway.  In keeping with the allowing fresh air to circulate all the time, the top of the wall is finished with lattice-work.

    I love having people over and I have an event, insyAllah, that I hold every year, the Durian Fest.  With the aroma of durian and many guests, I needed to have an area that is large enough to house this event.  This is the third area that was built on the farm following the leggo style of building.  The living room is a 24×24 tiled open space from which the areas are attached to and with two double-doors, one the main entrance and the other to what I hope will be a picture-garden when I am done :).  When all the exterior doors are opened, I love the airy feeling.  I have yet to decide if what type of furniture I will place in this room but for the moment, it just houses the tv stand and my bookcases.  
    I like leaving this area uncluttered as it connects to the surau so whenever I have solat jemaah, there is a lot of room.  To reduce distractions but yet give a bright and fresh feeling to the surau, the walls are also topped with the lattice-work and although there are no windows, there are clear glass tiles positioned as well as skylights for maximum lighting without making it too warm in the afternoon. 
    I have still got quite a lot of work ahead but I am having fun in this adventure.  I can’t wait to have it completed because it is a distraction from my main activity, farming.
    23 Mar 2011
    0 Comments By admin Development

    Suria Helang Lui – The Story Behind It

    Nature’s bounty
    When I was growing up, I often heard stories at meal times, mainly from the older generation, of how one leaf or another is good for you and how it has been eaten for generations.  Most of these came from plants and trees that seem to grow easily in the Malaysian tropical weather, with its warm sun and plenty of rain.  Some grow in the forests and jungles bordering the villages, some grow in the area surrounding the houses, some by the streams and rivers and in marsh areas but the one common element it that they seem to require no care, just happily growing.  Through the years, with development and easy access to stores and supermarkets as well as the change in lifestyles, our diet has changed and some of the natural diet benefits have been reduced or lost.
    With the commercialization of farms and push for “quantity production” and profits, how our food is produced has changed.  Chemical pesticides and fertilizers as well as polluted waters now are often used – all in the name of producing larger quantities faster and cheaper.  All these chemicals are introduced into our food, which even after cleaning or washing, would still remain within them, albeit in trace quantities.  After years of consumption, the amount of chemicals within our bodies would increase.  Our bodies become more “open” to illnesses and disease.  So, what do we do, we start spending more money to strengthen our bodies with vitamins and supplements and go in search of better quality food.  This is fine for those with bigger disposal income but what about those who don’t.  Cheap food doesn’t mean quality food but at times, for some people, there is no alternative.
    Over-run by vegetation

    It is from these thoughts within my head, that Suria Helang Lui was born, with a determination to go as natural as possible.  When I acquired the land, it was an overrun of weeds, shrubs and trees and lots of unknown creatures that had overtaken this over 50 years of abandoned paddy field.  Over time, the river and streams had also changed its flow including some additions and deletions of streams, with the last major change occurring in the early seventies after a major flood in the area.  It took me about one year to study the land, looking at the soil, the contour of the land, the vegetation in existence, the sunlight movement, rain pattern and several other factors, before I formulated my development plan.  In my estimation, it would take me about 5 years before it would reach what I would call “maintenance mode”.  This land is rich in its bounty and my development principle was to maximize its features.

    I received a lot of advice that the easiest and cheapest way was to bring in a crew with bulldozers and just bulldoze the land to clear it and then I can start building quickly.  This would only take a few days to do and then the land would be nice and clean for me to do whatever I wanted.  The flaw in this advise would be by razing the land, the beauty and natural contour would be lost as well as the top soil – one of the important elements for quality soil for agriculture.

    On-off stream, depending on rain
    On-off stream, now a fish pond

    Not only that, nature had provided for a natural draining mechanism to this land via its “stream-like” pattern on the land.  This is also another important element as this area receives a lot of rain and the streams and rivers can overflow causing floods so why mess with the natural drainage pattern that had protected this land from  major floods.  My intention was to maximize this and turn it into my fish “pond” and start an aquaculture project thus achieving two objectives: flood protection as the fish pond would be my water overflow containment and producing another food source, fish.

    Nature’s beautiful gift

    The method I used to develop this land is in a way, more manual.  I started by studying the land with many “walkabouts” on the land, using a machete (parang) to clear my pathway.  Then I started using a brush-cutter. I had help, sometimes, from good friends.  This enabled me to see the contour and flow of the land as well as identify what vegetation I wanted to retain and what I wanted removed.  It was a slow process but the benefits were great as I found many plants that I wanted to keep, some that are harder to find, some that were considered as weeds by other but were medicine or food source for me, and some that were just beautiful for landscape.  The additional benefit was that I got a good workout as a bonus while breathing in clean air with lots of oxygen and less pollutants.
    I envision this land will become a beautiful farm with comfortable living quarters surrounded by Malaysian plants and trees that are not only beautiful but are a food or medicine source.  Of course, I foresee some farm animals like chickens and geese.  After all, no farm is complete without some animals.The planning for a house with features that take into account the purpose of the farm makes it a bit complex.  I have to plan for work areas for preparation of produce, storage areas for produce and equipment, disposal of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, water and power consumption, ease of access and of course, ease and comfort for my visitors.  All this would take time, effort and money so I had to prioritize.  As such, I use the “Leggo” building method, building in phases with “build-on” concept, starting with a bathroom/storage.  After all, there are limits to time, effort and most of all, money.  Thus the adventure continues……..

    10 Mar 2011
    0 Comments By admin Development

    Sunday Morning market at Sungai Penchala

    Fresh vegetables
     Fresh herbs

    One of my personal goals is to be able to contribute towards providing healthy, affordable food to the regular people.  So often, vegetables that are labelled as organic are priced out of affordable range for regular people.  As the production levels are only able to meet the once-a-week sales supply, I opted to do the Pasar Pagi at Sungai Penchala.  The produce for sale are what is produced at the farm and vegetables available from the surrounding area.  The decision to do the market once a week is due to philosophy of selling what is obtained fresh from source (i.e. the farm and surrounding area) that is chemical pesticide free.  Basically, what I would eat is what I will sell.
    I enjoy selling at this market – it is almost a social event.  I have regular customers who often chide us if we are a bit late.  Mind you, late for them is if we arrive at 7.15am.  As it is a morning market, we usually arrive between 6.30-6.45 allowing us a few minutes to set up before being ready to sell.  This means that our day starts at 4 am, loading the items, driving from the farm to Sg. Penchala, which takes about 1 hour.  It is fun listening to their chit-chat, as they tend to exchange news and joke with each other while waiting for us to get ready or while selecting the produce they want.
    Every once in a while, we get customers who insists that they should be sold produce at half-price on claims that everyone else is selling at that price.  With the maxim that the customer is always right, I take the line that maybe they are better buying at that place, of course said in a light banter.  Some opt to go and perform a circuit at the market and return to buy whilst they are others who complain that the other places don’t have what we sell or have smaller “bundles” or are less fresh.  To the latter, sometimes I wish I can say, “Well, Duh!!!!”.
    I also once in while, get customers who are “arm-chair quarterbacks” who have tell us that they can do better.  These people, I tend to engage in conversation.  9 times out of 10, they have never done the practical and only the theory.  The 10th person is someone who works for a place that has unlimited resources such as a research institute or a government agency. What I do, I just smile :).  

    Smiling faces of my customers at 7.33am

    On the other side of the coin, I have some great customers who say things like “I love the freshness of your produce”, “The bananas are the best-tasting that I have had”, “I had never eaten that vegetable before but I got it from you last week, and it tastes good”.  The best satisfaction is seeing people who come and buy week after week.
    I learn a lot from these experiences – patience being the key – and take joy in the human interaction.  For all these, Alhamdulillah and SubhanAllah.

    07 Mar 2011
    0 Comments By admin Development

    Wonderful cool water

    Water is key to Suria Helang Lui.  Clean, fresh and as natural as possible.  Part of the development and growth of the farm hinged on reliable supply of this precious natural resource.  Alhamdulillah, this place is blessed with this ability.  



    In order to have access to water for human consumption, approximately 2 km of polypipe was laid, utlizing some physics priciples.  Approximately 1 km of the polypipe has 2″ diameter with the last kilometre being 1″. A “water-capture” area was created at the source. 



    In order to ensure that the pipes do not burst due to the pressure, the overflow flows into the fish pond, thus creating a constant supply of natural water for the aquaculture activities.