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Category: SHL Project

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20 Mar 2012
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SHL Project: Aqua Jannah Part 2

The renovation works on the pond is still continuing.  Due to the frequent rains. work is progressing slowly but steadily.
Due to the shape of the pond, it has caused for access to the back portion of the farm a bit inconvenient.  The decision was made to build a bridge across. 
This bridge will also make for a pleasant chilling out place, with a nice view.  There will be additional finishing touches to be added, but this will be done after the fish holding area is completed.

To improve the harvesting process, a fish holding area is being created to enable the fish to be kept alive during the harvesting process. 

This will enable for the fish to be “Categorized” according to their grades easier as well as enable the buyers to make their selections.  As with many of the projects, the aesthetic aspects are not forgotten.  Access to the holding area is also made easier with the construction of steps.
With the recent rains and in view of the fact that one of the ponds borders with Sg. Lui, a retainer wall will be built to strengthen the wall of the third pond.  As the soil content is mainly sand and rocks, water from the pond seeps to the river which results in a weaker wall as well as compromising the control of water levels.  The area is a water catchment area with plenty of rain.  At times, with just a few hours of rain, the water levels can increase dramatically as well as causing strong currents in Sg. Lui.  This contributes to soil erosions on the river banks which can cause floods should there be a break in the banks.  This year alone, there have been 3 floods in the area due to the rains.  Hence, at the farm, we constantly watch the “health” of the river bank wall.  To improve the strength of the separating wall, this retainer wall will be built with concrete supported by iron bars.  This is the next major improvement to the pond.  Then, we will be ready to fill the ponds, stabilize it and put new fish in, insyAllah.

03 Feb 2012
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SHL Project: Aqua Jannah Part 1

In the past two years, I have learnt a lot from my aquaculture project of producing fresh water fish.  The main driving factor of this project was the good quality water supply and sufficient land space to create the fish ponds.  Recently, I decided to do a major harvest.  In order to performn the harvest, it was necessary to drain all the water out of the pond. 

During this process, I discovered that it was difficult to dry the ponds due to the fact that my ponds were deeper than the Sg. Lui water level.  On top of that, since the depth of the pond had touched the ground water level, this resulting in difficulty of drying the pond, almost an impossible mission.

The quantity of the fish was also low and it was discovered days later, that it is possibly due to two main factors: (1) a clan of otters and (2) a species of snake that consumes fish.

The quality of the fish harvested was very good, sweet tasting with no “muddy” flavour or strong smell.  This is attributed to the water quality and what the fishes eat.  As SHL is a no pesticide, no herbicide farm, this help to prevent water contamination.  Since the water is piped down from the source up in the hills where pollutants are minimal, this ensured good quality water with good oxygen content constantly entering the ponds.  The presence of small river shrimp as fish provided a good natural source of food for the fish, supplemented by tapioca and keladi leaves as well as good fish meal.  Chicken innards or animal carcasses is a bid no-no.  This contributed to the good flavor of the fish.
Based on my proof-of-concept fish ponds, I have concluded that SHL Aqua Jannah is a viable aquaculture project capable of producing good quality and tasty fish.  The species of fish that do well include tilapia, lampam, haruan, keli, jelawat, kelah, tengas and ketutu.
Moving forward, improvements are underway.  A third pond has been constructed and the existing ponds are being made bigger.  The depth of the first and second pond will be adjusted to enable ease of drainage with a catchment area at each pond to ensure that the fish is kept alive and prevented from injury during the harvesting process.  Each pond will be separated by a barrier to enable the types of fish in each pond to remain separate.
The water supply will also be increased with the upgrading of the supply pipes to support the additional pond as well as the increase in size of the existing ponds and also support of fountains for water aeration to ensure plenty of oxygen in the water – an important factor for fish growth – as well as providing aesthetic value.  Drainage pipes will be placed at the base of the ponds to facilitate draining of the ponds and enable selective drainage of ponds.  The pond banks will also be reinforced to prevent soil erosion.

In the next phase, with the improved ponds as well as the additional pond, the quatity of fish will also be increased.  By the grace of Allah s.w.t., we should be able to have a bigger harvest in about 6 months time.

17 Jan 2012
7 Comments By admin SHL Products, SHL Project, Well-being Landscape

Misai Kucing Tea

I always enjoy a cup of tea, either in the morning or the late afternoon.  I enjoy a wide range of teas and I take this opportunity to add teas that provides me with health benefits without feeling like I am taking medication.  One of the teas that I have added to my selection is the Misai Kucing Tea also known as Java Tea or Cat’s Whiskers’ Tea (Botanical name: Orthosiphon Stamineus).  As I began my research on this tea, I discovered that it is a shrub that produces lovely flowers.  Hence I decided to experiment with it and planted two plants, to test how it would grow as well as to test the taste of the tea that is produced from it before I proceeded forward.  That was 2 years ago.  The first batch of tea was produced in July 2010 and served as a refreshment during my first Durian Fest at the farm.  From this small study, I found that those who drank the tea whilst consuming durian fared well whilst those who didn’t experience the normal effects from over-consumption of durian. 

The many health benefits that have been reported include :

  1. It has properties that enables it to be used to regulate the blood sugar hence is used as an alternative treatment for diabetes.
  2. This herb inhibits blood platelet from sticking together and has powerful hemolytics that can lower blood pressure thus making it an alternative treatment for high blood pressure as well as for reducing cholestrol, which is often used in traditional medicine.
  3. This herb has the ability to clean toxins within the blood hence it is also used in traditional herbal medicine in the process of detoxification and in removing metabolic waste within the body.  This in turn makes it a useful addition to weight loss efforts.
  4. It also has diuretic properties making it beneficial in the treatment of kidney stones and for flushing the kidney and urinary tract.  It helps to flush out the uric acid as well as block the production of uric acid.  This in turn also helps other conditions such as gout and inflammation of joints due to high uric acid levels in the body.
  5. Another health property of this herb is its ability to act as an anti-inflammatory hence its use in the herbal treatment for athritis and rheumatism.

In all my research on this tea, it has not been reported to cause any adverse reaction.  Based on my un-scientific study with the guests at my Durian Fest, the various properties of this tea ensured provided for a balance to the high-sugar durian enabling those who drank it to not feel the effects from too much durian.  Now this tea is one that I serve whenever I have guests over for rich, high sugar, high cholestrol feasts.  Personally, I consume it at least 3 times a week and have been doing it for the past year, mainly as a maintenance program for health, without feeling like I am taking medication, as I do love those raspberry yogurt cheesecake as well as many of our local sweet dishes.  Family and friends have also tried my tea and the response have been favorable.

To ensure quality and maximum benefits, it starts from the plants.  I do not use any chemical herbicides or pesticides on the farm and the water source for the plants is from a clean water source upstream or from the rain.  To me, it would be an oxymoron to use unhealthy products to produce a “healthy” product.  It requires more effort to maintain the plants as weeding will have to be done manually and the fertilizer used is the compost from the farm.  However, the effort is well worth it.

Currently I have approximately 200 plants and I am in the process of planting more.  The seedlings are produced on the farm from the existing plants.  I harvest once for at least every two months and this not only allows me to keep the plant groomed but also encourages new growth and flowering.  I find that tea produced with the flowers mixed-in results in a “sweeter” tasting tea.

The cut stems are rinsed and air-dried before the next step of the process.  The leaves, flowers and the flower stem is used to make the tea.  It is chopped and then placed in trays to be air-dried within a covered, netted box.  It is not exposed to sunlight or extreme heat to preserve its properties.
For sales, the tea is packed in loose-leaf form, in a plastic container that can be used to store the tea once the plastic package has been opened.  The tea is best prepared using recently boiled water, 1 flat teaspoon per cup.  It is left to steep for a few minutes, 5 minutes normally, and produces a lovely golden brown colored tea,  This tea can be drank hot, warm or cold.  For hot afternoons, I add ice and turn it into a refreshing iced tea.  Enjoying this tea makes taking care of my health a a normal course of my diet and not a pill-popping or additional act.

Suria Helang Lui produces this pure Misai Kucing tea that is sold in 20gm packages at RM 8 each as it is being introduced to market.  For more information on purchasing these tea, please e-mail suriahelanglui@yahoo.com.   This tea is also available at:

  1. Organic Shop and Life Cafe, 125, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
  2. POLIKLINIK NORIHA, 19 Jalan Teratai PJU 6A, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Damansara, 47400 Petaling Jaya

If you have diabetes or high blood, you should monitor your levels.  For treatment of conditions, you should check with your medical practitioner.

10 Nov 2011
0 Comments By admin SHL Project

Project Rawdah

One of my goals in developing Helang Lui is to provide a practical example of how land can be developed maximizing existing features on the land.  Alhamdulillah, I was presented with an opportunity to work on a project to develop a property into a retreat, a place where a family can enjoy their weekends in as natural setting as possible in relative comfort.  The property is located in Ulu Langat with a size of 3.1 acres on a hillside, with some sections of steep terrain.

Before I started on this project, I had several good conversations with the owner to understand what his goal and vision for the land was.  It was also important for me to understand how the owner feels about this property as this will influence the direction of the development.  Prior to my involvement, he had met with others and the main idea had mainly been to bulldoze the land to clear it and then start anew.  I tend to shy away from this concept of land razing, especially land that has decades worth of trees.  You can discover many wonderful treasures and in this instance, we found durian, cempedak, manggis, petai, kerdas and jering trees as well as plants and trees that can be used for various purposes such bertam and buloh and also other trees that can produce good lumber as well as provide shade and beautify the land.



Steep boundary line



The first step was to perform a site survey, to see what is on the land, the contour and the terrain.  Getting to the property was a workout as it required about 15 minutes of high grade hiking and walking within the property was another workout but definitely well worth it.  The site survey provided great insights as well as realization of how many beautiful trees there are as well as what types of trees was present as well as what produce can be obtained.  Bull dozing the land would have caused a lost of many of these trees.

Following the site survey and further discussion, a project plan was developed.  This is key to ensure that I know what I need to do for this project as well as will enable me to create a project budget as we proceed.
The first phase was to clear the boundary lines to enable the owner to have a clear sight of the boundaries.  During this phase, trees that were not designated to be retained were chopped.  Locating the boundary markers was essential, and armed with the land plan, we were able to locate the markers, although getting to some of the markers was a challenge.


Sloping boundary, a challenge to fence



The second phase is to fence the property.  This is important to delineate the property and to discourage encroachment as well as unauthorized access.  Due to the previous state, the property had the appearance as a forest and there were signs of unauthorized access as well as rubber tapping activities. 



Wood fence post with green barbed wire



A major challenge in this phase was to come out with a fencing plan that will maximize on what was available on the land and minimize what needed to be brought in due to no road access to the property, just a pathway.  As such, the fence post was produced from the trees felled and green barbed wire is used.  The choice of the fence post was mainly due to two factors:
  1. Difficulty in bringing construction materials
  2. Cost
Metal fence post was not a consideration due to the attractiveness to thieves who would steal them for scrap metal.  The barbed wired were brought in on the motorcycle – albeit it had to have all-terrain tires on it.
Throughout the two phases, pathways were created to ease access on the property, especially in light of the hilly and steep terrain in sections of the land.  With the season rains, terrain challenge and farm commitments, the fencing work should be completed in by end of this week.  I am looking forward to the completion of this phase and I can already see how the appearance of the land has changed, providing clarity and clear demarcation of boundaries.

The remaining phases are :

  1. The third phase is to enable a water supply to the property.
  2. The fourth phase is to create a rest area.
  3. The fifth phase is to clear the remaining property off unwanted plants and trees.
  4. The sixth phase is to perform plant maintenance.
For the third phase, providing water supply, it is clear that there is a nearby water source as pipes have been found along the stream that passes this property.  It is anticipated that we will embark on this next phase in January with a survey the water source as well as the possible routes for the laying of the polypipe as well as solution to enable water supply to the highes possible level on the land.  There are many factors to consider, another challenge in the development of this property.
From here on, with scheduled maintenance, this beautiful property can become a great weekend retreat.  I look forward to the completion of this project 🙂