Maker of awesome automobiles

The Star

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

Stephan Schulte, VW’s managing director for sales and marketing in Dresden.

We arrived at the Braunscheig-Wolfsburg Airport in Germany in a private jet! It had been sent by the directors from Volkswagen (VW) AG to rescue us Malaysian journalists from being stranded at the airport in Copenhagen following an industrial strike, late last month. After that, we were whisked off in a couple of Volkswagen (pronounced as Folks-vagen, meaning the “people’s car”) vehicles to our hotel.

Riding in the premium-class and silent VW Phaeton – my first experience with a VW besides the Old Beetle – and travelling on the Autobahn (highway) with no speed limit, was an experience that could be compared with no other.

It was initially frightening when the driver accelerated up to 250km/h. During the 25-minute journey, a Bugatti, also belonging to the VW Group, whizzed past us. For a moment, I thought: “Are we on another planet?”

I was worried about safety until I had the opportunity to test-drive the VW Phaeton and the Golf GTI on the Autobahn from Wolfsburg to Dresden. At one point, when I was driving the VW Phaeton V6 TDI at about 180km/h and had to apply some emergency braking, I almost panicked, half expecting my chest to hit the steering wheel and the seat belt to pull so hard that it would hurt and the things in my bag to be strewn all over.

Nothing like that happened. The Phaeton was unperturbed and held me in confidence. It won my trust from that instant.

The Phaeton is handmade in Dresden, a town known for its artistic, cultural ambience and long tradition of distinguished craftsmanship in various skills. Phaeton car buyers get personalised service and get to participate in the building of their cars. They choose their own designs which gives each car its individuality and character, said Stephan Schulte, VW’s managing director for sales and marketing in Dresden.

“We use the point of production as a point of sales as well,” said Schulte who added that VW’s motto is Build every car as though it is your own.

Costing 100,000 euros (RM450,000) upwards, the Phaeton was introduced in 2002. Special additional features are notebook table, electric sunroof, solar cells, sunshade and a small fridge. Each car takes five working days to be completed.

Last year, 23,000 units of the Phaeton were sold in Germany, half of the sales volume of the Mercedes S class, said Schulte. Its production increased by 20% last year compared with the year before, he said.

The transparent factory in Dresden makes the Phaeton and the Bentley.

“We probably need three or four generations of the car before we can bring it to the level of the Mercedes. The Phaeton is doing well considering that they are produced in a more competitive environment than before,” he said.

Why do customers choose the Phaeton over other luxury cars?

“One customer thinks it is our openness. One biker on a motorbike tour dropped by our factory and saw how we made the cars and he decided to buy a 12-cylinder Phaeton. Others like the interior and skilled craftsmanship,” he said.

Driving on the Autobahn is the ultimate driving experience; it is no wonder that German cars are known for their precise engineering and craftsmanship. VW’s tagline – For the love of cars – describes the attention that goes into the making of its cars and the amazing qualities that make driving them a safe and enjoyable experience.

The Volkswagen Group (Malaysia) was established recently and had invited the Malaysian media to visit its factories in Wolfsburg and Dresden to test out their cars.

The Golf GTI, although a much smaller car than the Phaeton, is stable even at a speed of 200km/hour. The Touareg, an intelligent sports utility vehicle, can “climb” stairs, go on hilly slopes of up to 45° and over rocky roads and logs. It can also wade through 60cm-high snow. It has an automatic braking system when going downhill so drivers do not need to step on the brakes.

The VW Group has two brand groups for its passenger cars – Audi and Volkswagen. The Audi brand group reflects the sporty image and comprises Audi, Seat and Lamborghini while the Volkswagen brand group reflects the classic image and they are the Volkswagen passenger cars, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti.

From three-litre to luxury class vehicles, each brand retains its unique brand image and operates as an independent entity on the market.

The whole Volkswagen Group is coordinated from its headquarters in Wolfsburg, where strategically important decisions and technical innovations are made. There, almost every passenger car that zips past is bound to be a Volkswagen.

Spanning 6.5sq km, the factory in Wolfsburg is the largest among its 47 factories spread throughout the world. It produces the Golf and the Touran.

Up to 98% of the production at the factory is carried out by robots, said Alex Dumitrescu, the spokesman from the group communication and visitors’ services unit at Volkswagen AG.

The different parts of cars are produced simultaneously and they are pieced together as one, said Dumitrescu who showed us how the Golf was made at the factory.

Huge coils of sheet metal are rolled out and stamp-pressed into car body parts; six steps are required to shape each body part – doors, side panels and rear flaps – and six machines work one behind the other. Green press tools for making metal parts are carried by cranes.

The Golf GTI is a powerful vehicle.

“Welding is done by laser. It is clean and strong and hence less material is used,” said Dumitrescu.

Each robot, which looks like a big mechanical hand, has a specific function: to attach car parts, tighten screws and nuts, make spot welds or put batteries and bumpers. Another robot views a car and makes adjustments to fit the back windscreen. Fifty robots work together to weld the side panels.

“They work faster than humans and with hardly any errors,” said Dumitrescu.

The factory’s 157km-long conveyor belt system transports cars from one assembly station to another.

Workers work in three shifts and 3,000 cars are produced every day. There are 5,500 bicycles in the factory for workers to move around on.

When the upper and the lower parts of the car are ready, a robot stamps the chassis number and the “wedding” occurs – the upper part moves downwards and the power train comes up on a delivery frame from the basement and is attached to the body.

It takes 18 to 22 hours to make a Golf. The most powerful Golf is the Golf R32, a 250-horsepower car, said Dumitrescu.

When the cars are completed, they are transported via a tunnel to two 48m high transparent glass towers, a visitors’ attraction at Wolfsburg, that can store up to 800 new vehicles.

The factory also produces parts for VW car factories in Mexico, South Africa and China. There are 50,000 employees: 20,000 in the administrative section and 30,000 in the production section. Many of them have worked in VW all their lives; some families have worked there for a couple of generations. There has been no industrial strike although 97% of the workers are unionised, said Dumitrescu.

Every day 500 to 600 customers (30% of customers) from within Germany and neighbouring countries travel to Wolfsburg to collect their cars. Most make it a daylong outing for the family. They collect their cars from the KundenCenter at Autostadt, a 250,000sq m complex that features two glass car towers, pavilions for various car models (Volkswagen, Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini, Skoda and Seat), a museum of automobile history, a hotel and a restaurant, and entertainment outlets amidst waterways, bridges, lakes and parks.

Cars are polished and checked for the last time before they are handed over to customers who get 40 minutes of advice on how to handle their new cars.

Each year, 1.2mil visitors go to the Autostadt to see the technology behind Volkswagen. Entrance fee is 14 euros (RM63) for adults and six euros (RM27) for children.

Related story:

Looking East

Axel Barth, managing director of VW Group (M) Sdn Bhd.

The Volkswagen (VW) Group is eager to produce cars for the Asean region and is still looking for a local partner to produce the cars with, after talks with Proton failed.

“We foresee a 35%-45% growth in the Asean car production market because consumer expenditure is growing. As a group, we want to achieve 12% of the market share,” said Kevin Rose, executive director of sales international for VW.

In order for VW to be a market player, it needs a manufacturing facility, said Gerhard Thöne, general manager of Asia-Pacific International Sales Division.

“We’d like to see what Asians want in a car. This topic is likely to come up when we talk about local production based on the needs of Asian people,” said Axel Barth, managing director of VW Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. He said for the Asian market, VW cars made would be affordable.

The models that will be brought into Malaysia as completely built-up units in the next couple of years are the Polo, new Beetle, Touareg, Jetta, Golf, Golf GTI, Passat and Touran.

The VW corporate headquarters was officially opened in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, recently.

The Volkswagen (VW) Group is the leading car manufacturer in Europe and ranked fourth in the world with more than 80bil euros (RM360bil) in sales revenue in 2004. It has established four regional markets – Europe, North America, South America/South Africa and Asia Pacific.

The Group operates 47 production plants in 11 European countries and another seven in the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Around the world, more than 343,000 employees produce over 21,500 vehicles or are involved in vehicle-related services on every working day.

The VW in Germany produces Volkswagen commercial vehicles and the Audi, while the one in the Czech Republic produces the Skoda. The Bentley is produced in Britain, the Bugatti in France, the Seat in Spain and the Lamborghini in Italy.

With seven brands producing more than 50 different models, the VW Group sells its vehicles in more than 150 countries around the world.

The beautiful Bugatti.

“There is quality guarantee regardless of where they are produced,” said Thöne, adding that the Skoda, for instance, has a good reputation although it is made in Eastern Europe, he said.

Even in difficult economic conditions, the Group managed to increase the number of vehicles delivered to customers in 2004 to 5.079 million units (compared to 5.015 million units in 2003), making up 11.5% share of the world passenger car market.

The Volkswagen story began in Germany in 1904 when engineers believed that the future of the automobile industry lay in the mass production of inexpensive small cars. Then, only the rich could afford a car. Adolf Hitler had also called for the production of cars for the masses.

Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagen mbH was established in Berlin in 1937. The following year, the Volkswagen plant was established. Later that year, the company name was changed to Volkswagen GmbH.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Volkswagen plant was reorganised for the production of armaments rather than civilian vehicles; the armaments were later produced mostly by foreign forced labour. The American troops put an end to the production of military equipment and liberated the forced labourers.

In 1945, responsibility for the company seized by the Allies was turned over to the British Military Government for administration in trusteeship and was returned to the German Government in 1949. The first Beetle was sold in 1948 at 5,300 German marks.

That cost an average worker 19 months’ salary. The lowestpriced Beetle – at 3,770 German marks – was sold in 1957 because sales volume went up during that period. Today, the average German spends six months of their salary on a car, said Thöne.

Marriage of old and new

Architect Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah who designed the resort.

By LOH FOON FONG

Architect Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah is at the forefront of preservation efforts and his portfolio includes the Terengganu State Museum which successfully combines concrete with wood.

The scarcity of wood has made it almost impossible to build a fully traditional Malay house these days.

Twenty years ago, cengal, the most treasured hardwood used to build Malay houses, cost RM1,500 a tonne. Now it costs more than RM4,000 . Between 10 and 12 tonnes of wood are needed to build a simple Malay house, for which the cost of raw materials alone can amount to more than RM40,000.

Due to the high cost, the lack of other building materials unique to Malay architecture, and lack of interest among Malaysian building developers, this heritage is diminishing.

However, all is not lost. Architect Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah, who is regarded as the custodian of East Coast Malay architecture, said the preservation of traditional heritage can be achieved by a practical marriage between traditional elements and contemporary materials.

One of the projects that his company, Senibahri Arkitek, completed with amazing success was the Aryani Resort in Merang, Terengganu, which provided the breakthrough in his career because up to that point, no developer or contractor was keen on such a project.

“We maintained the use of wood on doorways, windows, columns and stairs and the clay singhorra tiles for the roofs. The design of a gateway at the hotel compound was also maintained. However, the walls were made of plaster, paint and brick work,” said the 50-year-old Raja Bahrin.

In Aryani Resort in Merang, Terengganu, the modern interpretation of East Coast Malay architecture is seen in this traditional Malay wood carvings on the arch and the singhorra roof tiles above it.

“We try to retain the essence and not be too literal,” he said.

The use of too much cengal for buildings may also not be appropriate because the wood turns very dark after a few years and is not suitable for the interiors, he said.

Other woods that can replace cengal are tengkawang and merbau. Tengkawang is half the price of cengal and comes in a brighter shade. The merbau is dark reddish brown and is almost as expensive as cengal. However, these woods are also getting scarce.

“Even if we can get them, they are not mature enough for building construction. The quality is suspect. If wood is not properly treated and is used for flooring, it may twist and warp. A resort in Langkawi had to close 30% of its rooms because the wood swelled,” he said.

Besides wood, the singhorra roof tiles too are now rarely found, unlike 10 years ago. At present, they can only be ordered from Bachok, Kelantan.

While other Malay houses use thatched roof (attap), the east coast Malay houses use singhorra tiles, which are similar to those used in southern Thailand.

The best feature of East Coast Malay houses, like other Malay houses, is their good ventilation. Building wooden houses on stilts, and creating huge windows and small gaps in between the strips of wooden flooring encourage good airflow and reduce heat. Air-conditioners are not needed and it is more environmentally friendly.

It makes more sense to erect buildings that suits local climate rather than masonry buildings that retain heat. Can that be done when houses these days are built with concrete and not with wood on stilts?

“It can be done but it will not be as good as the wooden structure and flooring,” said Raja Bahrin.

Singhorra tiles are also used for the shades flanking the pool at Aryani Resort.

“The main heat comes from the ground. To minimise the heat, you can elevate the building above ground on concrete pillars. The slabs do not touch the ground,” he said.

“The singhorra roof tiles too can be used. The tiles have small gaps in between and hot air that rises to the roof can escape through the gaps. The 45-degree angle on which the tiles are arranged allows rain water to run fast and not enter the gaps, unless there is a major storm,” he said.

Although a singhorra tile may be smaller than the usual roof tile, the overall cost of building a whole roof is comparable, he said.

He said the singhorra roof tiles are suitable for small to medium-sized domestic houses but not for large structures. He also warned that truly traditional houses cannot be built in a normal residential estate as they need plenty of space.

In one of his early works, the large three-level Terengganu Museum, Raja Bahrin retained the use of woodcarvings for the doors but used lightweight concrete as panels. The man-made stream below the stilts of the museum added a cooling and calming effect.

Raja Bahrin lamented that there is a lack of confidence among Malaysians in their own architectural heritage.

“In 1979 and 1980, the government imported a lot of prefabricated materials from Japan without realising that we already had that in our traditional architecture. Why do we have to go so far and not look into our own heritage? There is a lack of attention and self-confidence. We need to change this perception,” he told 80 students in Terengganu who attended his talk the Terengganu House: Past, Present and Future,recently.

Raja Bahrin is one of five personalities selected by DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd to promote the preservation of Malaysia’s heritage among rural youths and children , under its corporate social responsibility project called the Amazing Malaysians.

“We should try and understand what the Malay tradition is and how it can be preserved. We should not just receive everything from the West without understanding the concept behind their architecture that may not be suitable for our weather,” he said.

The door of the souvenir shop at the resort has carvings mostly at the top portion, a feature of Malay traditional woodcarving.

Malay architecture is amazing for it is nail-free and can be assembled and disassembled when the occupants move to another place.

The government may have come to realise the value in our heritage and set up the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry. However, awareness itself is not adequate. A conservation plan is needed, said Raja Bahrin.

Besides the Aryani Resort and Terengganu Museum, Raja Bahrin’s projects include Istana Melawati in Putrajaya, the floating mosque of Tengku Tengah Zaharah in Terengganu, and the Andaman and Lanai resorts in Langkawi.

Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, who is concerned about conservation, also consults him about development in Terengganu.

Raja Bahrin’s passion in preserving Terengganu Malay architecture started when as an architecture student he stumbled on the old Malay houses of Terengganu.

He decided to use the intriguing architecture for his thesis and graduated with First Class Honours in Design in 1981 from Melbourne University, Australia.

“I felt that more should be done to preserve these houses. That’s why we at Senibahri Arkitek try to create more awareness especially in Terengganu,” he said.

When Badan Warisan, an NGO that guards the nation’s heritage, was formed, Raja Bahrin undertook its first project. He supervised the move of Istana Tengku Long from Kampung Raja, Besut, to the Terengganu State Museum site in Losong, on the outskirts of Kuala Terengganu in 1983.

Norhaiza Noordin, a master woodcarver who teamed up with Raja Bahrin in 1994 on the Terengganu Museum project, said: “He has a deep understanding of Malay traditional values.

“I am glad that an architect from the Terengganu royal lineage is trying to preserve this tradition. Raja Bahrin is firm when it comes to maintaining the intrinsic message of traditional values in architecture,” Norhaiza said.

Reaching great heights with the Terengganu Malay house

By LOH FOON FONG

The Terengganu Malay house is unique as it is more easily and quickly erected than other types of Malay houses, said Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah.

“All you need are ropes and well-trained workers (to pull up the whole structure). No cranes or heavy equipment is needed.”

A century ago, the floors in Terengganu homes were sometimes raised as high as eight feet above the ground – a peasant’s hut might be supported on bamboo posts but the Sultan’s palace was built on elaborately-carved timber pillars. The height kept the occupants safe from floods and wild animals.

A model of a Terengganu Malay house.

The same raised floors are also found in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. This supports the theory that the Terengganu Malay house may be of Khmer-Indo Chinese origin, said Raja Bahrin in his book, The Terengganu Timber Malay House.

Terengganu, Kelantan and Southern Thailand’s Petani probably constituted the great Malay Kingdom of Langkasuka located in the north-eastern coastal region of Malaya which lasted from the second to the 16th century; this could explain the similarity in design.

In Terengganu, people normally describe the size of a house by the number of posts holding up the roof structure. A house with six supporting pillars or posts is called Rumah Tiang Enam, while the bigger type with 12 posts is called Rumah Tiang Dua Belas.

The beauty of the Terengganu house is in its simplicity and functionality. The intricate woodcarvings can be found only on its gables and windows.

The cengal wood keeps the house cool. The large windows, extending almost from roof to floor, let in abundant light and air. The space under the house is used for various activities and storing large objects.

People sit, eat and sleep on the floor. The walls and ceiling are sometimes made of tightly woven bamboo mat (pelupoh) instead of hard wood. Most of these houses are not painted but varnished with damar minyak, a translucent termite repellent that gives the wood a rich hue.

The houses usually face the north-south axis, so that it will not be heated up by the rising and setting sun.

Restoring tradition in Kuala Terengganu

By LOH FOON FONG

Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah and Jon Eddy, DiGi’s Chief Technology Officer, at the ceremony.

The Terengganu state government is going to turn Kuala Terengganu into a waterfront city soon. The master plan for the Shah Bandar area is being finalised and is likely to be shown to the public later this month.

“The state government will then call all stakeholders to respond,” a conservationist, who declined to be named, said.

Under the plan, Masjid Putih (Zainal Abidin) will be rehabilitated and more public places and boardwalks culminating in Kampung Cina and Pasar Payang will be created, she said.

While new public plazas will take on Islamic designs, the Chinese theme in Kampung Cina will be preserved, she said.

“There are proposals to build shop houses on stilts or on some reclaimed land in Kampung Cina. These shop houses will be fronting the sea and will be similar in design to the old shop houses that have the back facing the sea,” said the source, adding that houses with illegal extensions will have to be demolished.

“Most premium locations in other countries are the riverside and sea front. But in Terengganu, backs of buildings face the sea and people treat it as a dumping site. So there are plans to have buildings face the sea so that it is appreciated as an asset,” she said.

Besides Shah Bandar, other areas earmarked for development are Gong Bada, Seberang Takir, Kuala Terengganu, Tanjung, Bukit Besar, Losong and Kuala Ibai, she said.

“The Menteri Besar wants to conserve the cultural and historical past of Terengganu and is careful about what goes up in Terengganu. It’s refreshing for people who are concerned about conservation,” said Raja Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Shah, who is advising the Menteri Besar on conservation.

Khairiah Talha, secretary general of Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Housing, pointed out that many cities in the world cannot be distinguished because they all have similar looking skyscrapers. However, people remember landmarks such as St Basil’s cathedral in Moscow, the Big Ben in London, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris for their unique and outstanding architecture.

“They preserve their architectural heritage that are centuries old,” said Khairiah.

“Successful cities must have a rich history, are recognised worldwide, create a sense of belonging and have a mix of old and new buildings which blend well,” she said.

In 1990, 45% of Malaysians lived in urban areas. In 2002, the percentage increased to 56% and in 2020, it is projected to be 75%. With rural areas fast disappearing, there is a need to preserve the past as part of our identity, she said.

Khairiah spoke on Successful Cities and Civilisations to 80 students aged 14-18 from Terengganu who were later taken on a tour of restored houses at the Terengganu Museum site.

This month, Raja Bahrin and his team will restore a 97-year-old Terengganu Malay house called Rumah Tiang Enam. Only 30 students will be selected to help out in the assembling and restoration of the house, which will take about eight weeks.

Some men setting up the Tiang Seri – the main pillar of a Malay house – during a ceremony to mark the beginning of the restoration of a Terengganu Malay house.

“The walls, roof and floor will be restored and the extensions made to the house removed,” said Raja Bahrin.

After restoration, the building will serve as a handicraft centre where many dying arts and crafts of the Malays will be kept alive, said Raja Bahrin.

The project is in line with Terengganu’s own plans to establish Kuala Terengganu as a heritage city, said Jon Eddy, DiGi’s Chief Technology Officer.

The Amazing Malaysians project started in March with conservationist Balu Perumal who instilled his knowledge of wetlands to children in Kuala Gula, Perak. The children also set up an education centre and a wetlands park.

Others identified for the project are lion dancer Siow Ho Phiew from Johor who will teach children various aspects of lion dancing and lion head making, ex-journalist Diana Rose from Sarawak who will educate Melanau children about their heritage, and story teller Romli Mahmud from Perlis who will share the joys of expressive storytelling.

Enduring ties

StarTwo, The Star

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my
  
IN 1933, a couple of American missionaries came to Asnah Puteh's house in Masjid Tanah, Malacca, and persuaded her parents to send her to the Methodist Girls' School in town.

Asnah's uncle who was studying at the Anglo Chinese School and staying at the MGS hostel which had a special section for Malay boys, also coaxed Asnah's parents to send her to an English school. Her parents relented and Asnah became the first Malay girl to enrol at the Methodist Girls' School in Malacca. She was 11 years old.

Asnah stayed on the ground floor of the Pastor's Manse, which had been turned into a hostel for Malay girls. "When I first went to school, there were only six or seven Malay girls in the hostel and when I left in 1939, there were 18 Malay girls," says Asnah, 83, at her home in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

The other girls were from the surrounding villages, Tampin and Alor Gajah; some were from other states. At that time, schools were only found in towns.

Asnah Puteh, the first Malay girl to study in MGS, and her husband Ismail Mohd Amin, at their home in Bangsar.

At the end of Standard One, Asnah jumped to Standard Three and later that year, jumped to Standard Five. "I completed my schooling in six years," says Asnah who became the first Malay girl in Malacca to sit for and pass the Senior Cambridge examination. She was even featured in the newspapers.

"I was proud of myself. Our papers were corrected by the Cambridge University in England," says Asnah.

The subjects she took were English, English Literature, Malay, History, Geography, Mathematics and (Christian) Religious Knowledge.
 The Malay language was taught in Jawi as well as in Romanised forms by the American missionary and pastor of the Wesley Methodist church in Malacca, R.A. Blasdell.

"He was very good in Jawi," says Asnah.

There were hardly any Malays who went to English schools then; they attended Malay schools instead.

"I was in Malay school for a short while before going to MGS," says Asnah when her husband, Ismail Mohd Amin, 84, interjects: "Please don't ask her about her life in the Malay school. It was a total rojak. She went to four Malay schools within a short period of time.

"She followed her great-grandfather wherever he went. She was his pet. He was an emotional man. Whenever the old man had problems with his family members and felt a little hurt, he would drag his favourite buffalo with his favourite great-grandchild sitting on the buffalo and off they went to another relative's place to stay.

When he went to Masjid Tanah, she went to a school in Masjid Tanah. When he went to Malacca town, she went to the school in Klebang.
"I was very young then," says Asnah.
"Both could not be separated. Her great-grandfather loved her and she loved the old man," adds Ismail.

"Whenever there was a kenduri, she would be sitting together with the men because her grandfather would let her sit with him, to the annoyance of her mother."

"My mother didn't like that because girls and women were not supposed to sit with the men," says Asnah.

One day while she was studying in MGS, Asnah's relatives came and told her that her great-grandfather was very ill and wanted her to go home. "When I got home, I found that he had passed away. The shock was too much for me and I fainted," recalls Asnah.

Ismail studied at the Tranquerah English School and stayed at the Shellabear Hall (hostel) for two years. However, he did not meet Asnah until he was transferred to the Malacca High School. They met during a school function.

"I was involved in acting and he'd come and watch me perform on stage. When there was a debate between the two schools, I saw the way he debated and I was attracted by the way he spoke English. That was how our connection started," says Asnah.

Thereafter, they got in touch with each other through letters. "I gave him the address of a Chinese schoolmate who lived across the street from the school. We sent letters to each other through her," says Asnah.

The letters escaped the scrutiny of the missionaries who screened all the students' letters. The two continued their correspondence even after Ismail moved to Singapore to work as a clerk at the Education Ministry.

One night at about midnight, Asnah heard a voice calling her name softly. She looked out the window and was surprised to see Ismail. He dared not meet her during the day because boys were not allowed into the compound.

"I walked through the Malay graveyard in front of the hostel, crossed the compound and went to the Old Manse where she was sleeping. I called her name softly and she got out.

We sat on the pavement and talked for half an hour. Then I left. That was foolhardy. If Rev Blasdell had caught me, I could have gotten Asnah into trouble," says Ismail.

Asnah was supposed to go to England for a three-year Montessori course, but when the Japanese landed in 1942, her plans were thwarted. Ismail told Asnah that his prayers had been answered as he was praying that she would not leave for England.

The couple married the following year. Asnah was 22 and Ismail, 23. They later had three children.

The Wesley Methodist church started a private school and Asnah taught at the school. When Ismail was transferred to Kuala Lumpur, she went along and taught at the Methodist private school there.

In 1966, the family left for Australia when Ismail was appointed welfare officer at the Malaysian Students' Division of the Foreign Service. They returned to Malaysia in 1978 when Ismail retired.

Recalling his stay at the Shellabear Hall when he was 12, Ismail says: "There were about three dozen Malay boys then. There was a Malay cook to prepare food specially for the Malay girls and us. I missed home during the first few months."

Ismail remembers sneaking out of Shellabear Hall with a couple of friends to watch a movie.
"My uncle visited me that day and gave me 20 cents. That was a lot of money then. It was enough for me to buy a cinema ticket."

Ismail headed for Capitol cinema together with two other boys. "We bought the 'Parliament seat' because it was right in front of the screen. I think we were watching a movie starring Dick Powel, an American singer and dancer. He was my favourite," says Ismail.

"We sneaked into the hostel that night but we were caught. I heard Rev Blasdell calling me, 'Ismail, tomorrow you come and see me after school,' and I said, 'Yes, sir."'

The following day the three boys went to see Rev Blasdell, and were given three strokes of the cane on their bottom.

"But I like him very much," says Ismail. "Before he died, we went to the US to see him and his family, and as we were walking out of the door, he called after me and told me: 'Look after Asnah,' and I said, 'Certainly, sir, certainly."'

The couple visited Rev Blasdell and his family in Washington in 1969 and in Buffalo in 1983. Not long after, Rev Blasdell passed away. He was over 90 years old.

One of his two sons still sends Ismail and Asnah Christmas cards every year.

"If it were not for the Blasdells, I would not have learnt English," says Asnah.

"We will always remember Rev Blasdell for his kindness," says Ismail with a tinge of nostalgia.

Palm dilemma

Section 2, The Star

By LOH FOON FONG

CLUSTERS of coconuts lay wasted by the roadside and in the plantations of smallholders. Some plantations are overrun with undergrowth. These are common sights in the main coconut-planting areas in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Teluk Intan and Bagan Datoh in Perak, and in Batu Pahat, Johor.

Smallholders lament over the poor demand since late 1999 when the price of coconut plummeted to an all-time low. Since then life has been rough for many of the 60,000 smallholders who make up 95% of coconut planters in the Peninsular.

"Nowadays I don't harvest coconuts anymore because it costs more to harvest than to sell," says Muhajil Taib, 67, pointing to the clusters of unsold nuts in his 2ha plantation in Kampung Parit Baru Baruh, Sabak Bernam, north of Selangor. Some of the coconuts have germinated while others have gone bad.

It costs farmers RM50 to hire workers to lop every 1,000 coconuts and another RM50 to husk them. The coconuts are sold to middlemen at RM100 or less per 1,000 nuts.

"There's the added cost of transportation, pesticides and land clearing," says farmer Shahlan Rijau, 53, who gathers coconuts and sells them to middlemen.

Another farmer from Sabak Bernam, Deman Dimin, 83, says he paid workers to harvest coconuts from his 4ha plantation and on both occasions, the nuts were hardly sold. "I'm too old to lop the coconuts myself. I had to pay people to do that and I incurred loses," says Deman.

If the farmers are fortunate, they earn a paltry RM40 for each harvest of 3,000 nuts. Since it is not cost-effective, many farmers are harvesting the nuts only twice or thrice a year.

A wholesaler in Sabak Bernam, Tan Pak Chong, says profit is marginal. "At least half the nuts are of poor quality. We have to throw them away because they have germinated, gone bad or are too small."

Tan pays RM100 for every 1,000 nuts. The good quality ones are selected and sold at 40 sen per nut.

According to industry sources, the good weather worldwide had resulted in a glut of coconuts last year.

Raudah Abdul Hamid, 11, from Kampung Parit Baru dropped out of school last year because her father could no longer afford to send her to school.

"I miss my friends and teachers," says Raudah.

Her father, Abdullah Abdul Hamid, 59, who has 10 children says life has been hard on the family since the coconut price fell.

Abdullah lops the coconuts himself and sells them to customers. He earns RM300 for a two-month harvest. He sells bananas and does odd jobs to supplement his income.

Muhamad Jail Ikhsan, 42, a farmer from Kampung Parit Baru in Sabak Bernam blames the dire situation on the excessive number of import permits issued by the government during the coconut shortage in 1998.

"The government was too hasty in controlling the price and gave out too many import permits and that affected us. We want the permits to be removed," says Muhamad.

Going nuts over shortage

While farmers lament the lack of demand, ironically manufacturers are at their wits' end in trying to get enough coconuts to meet their needs.

"We need more than one million nuts a month and we can't even get half of that. We're incurring losses every day," says Mohd Ghufran Mohd Irfan, personnel and administration manager of Linaco Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd in Batu Pahat. The company exports coconut cream powder to Europe and the Middle East.

"In Johor, nobody's interested in harvesting coconut because of the low market price. We've also asked Fama (Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority) to supply us with coconuts but they too had not been able to meet our demands," says Mohd Ghufran.

The company imports 40% of its coconuts from Indonesia.

"We would like to use 100% Malaysian coconuts but there's just not enough," says Mohd Ghufran.

Status Point Sdn Bhd in Teluk Intan is another company that does not seem to get enough nuts.

"We need 120,000 nuts a day but we can only get 60,000 from our own plantation and from United Plantations," says K. Ramakrishnan, the factory manager.

Status Point produces desiccated coconut, coconut shell flour and Nata de Coco, a popular dessert. It exports its products mostly to Europe, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Ramakrishnan says the company needs high quality nuts and does not buy from smallholders because the quality is inconsistent and poor.

"When we first started out in 1994, we bought a lot of coconuts from smallholders and also imported from Indonesia, but that did not work out well. One-third of local nuts had to be rejected and the rest were of questionable quality. Despite our careful selection, clients complained that the quality was inconsistent and the nuts were rancid at times."

Ramakrishnan says the company also stopped importing from Indonesia because the nuts were of poor quality or infested with beetles.

"The market is very competitive. Our clients want quality. Local farmers have to change according to the requirements of the world market."

Ramakrishnan added that smallholders do not have proper husbandry and do not harvest at the right time, partly because most young men have migrated to the cities and the plantations are in a state of neglect.

Amy Mok, marketing manager of Emanate Marketing Sdn Bhd in Sabak Bernam says she does not buy coconuts from smallholders because many of their trees are old and too high, so it is difficult to harvest young nuts. The company needs 200,000 to 300,000 young nuts a month to quench the thirst for coconut water.

Meanwhile, United Plantations Bhd research director Dr Gurmit Singh says Malaysia is short of 250 million coconuts every year. United Plantations produces 40 million nuts a year.

In response to the plight of smallholders, the government has drastically reduced the number of import permits for coconuts. Statistics from the Agriculture Ministry show that 2,114 permits were issued in 1999 to overcome the shortage of coconuts. The number was reduced to 315 last year.

"The government is putting pressure on factories to buy from local smallholders but we cannot completely stop the issuing of permits because the industry needs a constant supply," says Chan Han Hee, director of Industrial Crops and Floriculture Division at the Agriculture Department.

Chan says the ministry has asked Fama and local farmers' organisations to serve as collection points for buyers.

However, manufacturers and farmers feel that Fama has not effectively linked them together.

"They do not have the infrastructure or the capacity to do so," says Mohd Ghufran.

Missing link

Why are the needs of farmers and manufacturers not matched?

A spokesman from Fama, a government agency which helps farmers to market their produce, says the body is only one of the many buyers in the market besides the middlemen, manufacturers and consumers. It does not function like Bernas which is the sole agent for buying rice, regardless of quality, at a fixed price.

"There was hardly any demand from manufacturers last year. Moreover, demand is based on the quality needed by buyers," said the spokesman. "Manufacturers are paying a low price for coconuts and farmers are not interested in harvesting them. They neglect their plantations and due to the irregular harvest, the quality deteriorates, pushing the price lower. It's a vicious cycle."

Farmer Muhamad Jail pointed out that Fama could have played a bigger role. "They can easily gather the coconuts from us and supply them to buyers."

Mohd Sofiyuddin Ahmad, chairman of the Saving the Nation's Coconut Industry Committee (Sabak Bernam branch) set up last October, calls on the government to set up an agency to handle the marketing of coconuts more effectively.

"Some smallholders were given seedlings of the new hybrid, Matag, but there was no follow-up after that. The shoots were either attacked by Rhinoceros beetles or uprooted and eaten up by wild boars," says Mohd Sofiyuddin.

"Some of us went to the Agriculture Department to ask for seedlings of the new hybrid but they did not have any supply.

"The committee sent a petition and recommendations to the Agriculture Ministry last year but apparently nothing has been done," adds Mohd Sofiyuddin.

Under the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000), a replanting and rehabilitation programme was drawn up to revive the coconut industry, but its implementation leaves much room for improvement.

Chan says the government hopes to intensify efforts to revive the industry in the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005): 7,000ha will be replanted and 10,000ha have been identified for rehabilitation.

Vast potential

More than 20 years ago, coconuts were planted to provide shade for cocoa plants. When cocoa price plunged in the mid-1980s, smallholders turned to coconut as a source of income.

Coconut was never considered a priority crop and it is not surprising that coconut planting areas have been shrinking over the years. In Peninsular Malaysia, there were 116,000ha of coconut trees last year compared with 219,558ha in 1984. The rate is declining at 4% a year, according to statistics from the Agriculture Ministry.

"Although there is a steady decline in coconut planting areas, there is consistent demand in local consumption," says Chan. "The government recognises the substantial demand for coconuts in many processed products and wants to revive the industry."

Seventy per cent of local coconut supply goes to factories and rest is for domestic consumption.

The enormous potential for coconut products is demonstrated in the case of Status Point. The company started out with producing just copra six years ago. It has grown tremendously since it branched out into providing downstream products such as desiccated coconut for export.

"The coconut is fast becoming a high value added product and traded throughout the world. The World Trade Organisation is setting standards for coconut products. There are so many uses for coconut and it is nature's best health drink," says C.S. Chung, director of M&S Food Industries Sdn Bhd in Ipoh.

Downstream coconut products such as desiccated coconut, coconut milk, and spray-dry coconut have come up very strongly, says Gurmit Singh.

In view of the commercial potential, manufacturers are calling on the government to play a more dynamic role in supporting the coconut industry.

In the Philippines, the government helps farmers by providing seedlings, technological aid and marketing infrastructure, says Ramakrishnan of Status Point. He added that perhaps this could be implemented in our country, too.

Indeed much can be done to give the local industry a boost. The quality and yield of the nuts can be improved, and the farmers educated on disease and pest management. More importantly, marketing strategies need to be seriously looked into by Fama and other cooperatives to better match the needs of farmers and manufacturers.

Page 5

Hope for the coconut

By LOH FOON FONG

COCONUT is the most important palm of the humid tropics with over 11 million hectares planted in 86 countries. About 96% of the crop is grown by resource-poor smallholders. Besides the traditional products of copra, coconut oil and copra meal, coconut is used in a variety of food and non-food products.

Despite the vast potential of coconut products, farmers worldwide are suffering due to declining yields and decreasing farm productivity, says Pons Batugal, senior scientist and coordinator of the International Coconut Genetic Resources Institute (Cogent).

"There is a need to develop improved varieties with high yields to increase the income of farmers," says Batugal.

However, genetic erosion or the loss of important coconut germplasm in coconut-producing countries is occurring at a rapid rate due to the inability of many countries to collect and conserve germplasm which are threatened by natural calamities, urbanisation and the shift to other crops.

These countries also lack the ability to characterise and evaluate the field performance of conserved germplasm or to exchange disease-free germplasm with other countries due to the tedious nature of export clearances and the lack of disease-indexing capacity.

To safeguard the future of the coconut industry and the future of smallholders, the Italy-based International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), with the endorsement of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, established Cogent in 1992 to promote an international collaboration programme on genetic resource conservation and use.

That same year, Cogent established a multi-site International Coconut Genebank (ICG). Consisting of a regional genebank in each of the five Cogent regions, namely Southeast and East Asia, South Asia, South Pacific, Africa and the Indian Ocean, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The germplasm conserved in each regional genebank will be contributed by country members of each region. Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Brazil were identified as suitable countries to host the ICG in their respective regions.

Malaysia started participating in collecting native germplasm in 1994. Currently, 44 varieties have been collected.

"We hope to bring in germplasm from other countries this year to carry out studies here," says Batugal.

"However, we can only exchange plants at the embryo stage due to the danger of foreign plant diseases. We teach the locals how to grow the plants from test-tubes. We have trained two Malaysians to carry out the work."

(Germplasm can be in the form of seedlings, embryos, pollens or fruits.)

Cogent has 1,338 coconut varieties conserved in 20 countries. Besides offering new hybrids, consultants advise farmers on intercropping and teach them to utilise all parts of the coconut for high-value products.

"In the past, farmers sold coconut in the form of copra, earning US$450 a year. However, if they sell all parts of the coconut, their income can increase five- to 10-fold," says Batugal.

Cogent has 35 member countries which are committed to sustaining coconut production.

Getting a fair share of safari surprises

Sunday Star, page 12 & 13

By LOH FOON FONG

A BLOATED impala carcass lay on its side under a bush. There were no bite marks or any form of injury. It might have been knocked down by a car or died of natural causes.

A hooded vulture gnawed at the abdominal flesh in between the hind legs with its beak. Above, more than 10 vultures were either circling in the air or perching on tree tops, a sign that something riveting was about to happen.

Sitting quietly in the van in Kruger National Park, South Africa, we a German, a Dutch, a Scottish, a Malaysian and our Bundu Bus Tour guides, Sean and Merle waited patiently for the predators.

The vulture suddenly seemed to feel all alone and flew away.

We were puzzled. Why didn't the vultures above plummet to wipe out the enticing meat "right under their beaks"?

We gave up waiting after half-an-hour. Sean started the engine and steered the van away, when a tour guide from a bus beckoned us and pointed towards the bushes.

Lifting our binoculars, we spotted a young lion, with a slight mane, and later two lionesses as well.

That explained why the vultures wouldn't land!

But the lions suddenly looked threatened and moved deeper into the bushes, leaving us even more puzzled.

"Look behind you," said Sean.

We saw a man standing on the roof of his car videotaping the lions.

"Silly man! They (the lions) could smell him," remarked Sean.

(The man was soon joined by a woman and a child but was later warned of the danger.)

The dead impala created a domino effect the vultures waited for the lions to depart, the latter for the humans in five cars to leave.

After some time, most of the cars left, and we moved in to be the closest to the carcass, about nine meters away.

A jackle moved in and ate where the earlier vulture had left off. When it stepped away, the group of vultures swooped in and gobbled the impala as though they had not eaten for a long time.

They were however rudely interrupted by the lioness which sprang onto the scene like a gust of wind. The vultures flapped away.

Within a split second, it sunk its teeth into the impala and lifted it effortlessly.

Just as the lioness was tucking in, the lion raced forward and fought it away from the former. Another lionness joined the fray and they tussled over their food, gradually disappearing into the bushes.

Lions are typically chauvinistic.

"The lioness usually hunts for food, while the lions feed on it first.Left-overs are for the lioness and cubs the reason for the cubs' high mortality rate," said Sean, who constantly furnished us with details, an advantage in joining a tour.

We counted ourselves fortunate to have seen the real-life documentary unfolding before us in just one-and-ahalf hours of waiting, a rare occurrence that writers and photographers would wait for weeks and months to capture.

It was the last day of our two-night and three-day stay in Kruger Park, before proceeding to the Drakensberg route.

The trip to a safari park in Africa is always exciting and full of surprises, even if you have been there several times.

During a special drive organised by the park for instance, a humongous creature suddenly appeared before our jeep, giving us quite a fright.

Maria, who was nearest the hippopotamus screamed, startling the poor animal. For a second, the both stared at each other; she tried to move away and the hippo quickly escaped into the bushes.

More surprises awaited us the following day. While taking a slow drive, an elephant emerged out of the bushes, sauntered towards us, stopped about six meters away and stared. Sean started the van, all set to speed off if the elephant should attempt to attack us.

He warned that bull elephants could be dangerous, and related stories of how a car was rolled over while others were chased for no apparent reason.

Besides the lions and elephants, the other "big fives" like the rhinos, buffaloes and leopard are also found in the park.

Stalking animals, and observing their behaviour, that's what the safari is all about. Waking up as early as 5.30am and driving about 300km daily, we discovered the beauty of the many animals which we had never seen before but on television.

We were also taught how to identify the various antelopes. Sean never failed to point out that the antelope with a white ring on its buttock, is the waterbuck, or that the biggest in the antelope family, with cock-screw horns, is the bull kudu.

We discovered the warthog at close range, with its over-sized head and warts on the face, undeniably an ugly beast, trotting away on its small feet; in contrast to the elegant long-legged giraffe which browsed around in such a gentle and 'cultured' manner.

Even little creatures have fascinating lives, as we discovered when Sean pointed out to a heap of dung on the road. The dung beetles rolled the elephant dung with their back feet into the size of a marble and occasionally got rolled over by the dung itself.

But they quickly regained their balance and went on to make more tiny dung balls.

"These dung beetles would push the balls back to their nests and lay eggs on the dung. When the eggs hatch, the tiny beetles will feed on the dung," Sean explained.

According to a brochure, the park has 300 different types of trees, 49 species of fish, 33 types of amphibians, 114 reptilian species, 507 species of birds and 147 species of mammals.

We camped at Berg-en-dal one of the 12 main camp sites in the two million-hectare park (350km in length and 60km in width), where we were fenced away from the animals. Amazingly, facilities are also provided for wheel-chair bound visitors.

When you are backpacking alone in South Africa, a tour like the Bundu Bus Tour (Bundu means 'wilderness' in Swahili) is worth hopping onto. Costing R550 (RM400), the tour is economical and it saves a lot of hassle.

Departing from Johannesburg, it provides sleeping facilities (sophisticated tents, sleeping bags and blankets) and two meals a day.

You need to rough it out, all right, but it is fun and exciting. You get to make friends from all over the world and the minimum number of people in the van is four while the maximum nine, thus it is cosy and you get personalised attention from the guides, unlike the upmarket tours that carry huge bus loads of people and everything is rigidly scheduled.

* The Bundu Bus Tour can be contacted at 27-11-6931621.