Bintulu Trees By Airmail !

If one were to drive along the Tg. Batu scenic road , passing the Taman Tumbina , one would notice a line of trees that grow luxuriously on both sides of the road shoulders and also at the central median.
This stretch of road was planted with Tecoma pentaphylla or commonly called" Poui".

Believe it or not, the seeds of these trees came in an envelope on 19th July 1985.

The sender was Mr.George Alphonso. The moment I received the seeds I asked Ibrahim to straightaway germinate them in a soil mix of very coarse sand and to be kept damp.
By about 2 weeks, we had thousands of these seedlings in our nursery. Later they were transplanted in polybags of various sizes and some ended in planting holes along the Jalan Temasya after they were about one meter high.

Fom these trees we were able to obtain more seeds. The story goes that from Bintulu these trees began to find home in Miri, Sibu and other smaller towns in Sarawak. What made me choose these trees? It was a trip to Singapore that left a strong impression of the beauty of these trees. After all these trees do well in coastal areas and flowers best where there is a distinct dry spell. It prefers too ,the salty sprays of coastal regions like Bintulu and Miri.
All these to show that we cannot underestimate the power of an envelope!

Poui trees along Singapore roads.

George's letter (above) accompanying the seeds.

" Poui" trees along Jalan Temasya / Tanjung Batu scenic road.

( Re-post from my blog "my BINTULU history" - http://mybintuluhistory.blogspot.com/2007/07/bintulu-trees-by-airmail.html )

Bintulu's First Horticultural Consultant

Photoshoot with Arthur George Alphonso in my office at BDA 

Fondly called as 'George' , Mr. Arthur George Alphonso's appointment as 'horticultural consultant' to BDA was most timely.  George was a Kew -trained horticulturalist and most avid plant collector with special interest in propagating new and exotic orchids.

He was Senior Curator under Burkhill ( Humphery Morrison Burkhill was the Director of Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1957-69) and took post of chief administrator of the Gardens after Burkhill left.


George through his tenure ( 1970 - 1976) carried on the Holttum tradition of furthering the Gardens reputation as a world famous garden for the collection of orchids species, hybrids and advice on hybridization.( Ref: Bonnie Tinsley (1983)Singapore Green.Times Book International, Singapore)

George's deep understanding of horticulture and early experience in the greening of Singapore were successfully transferred to Bintulu which started its greening programme as early as 1980. George's contribution on the landscaping of Bintulu covered these varied projects which were all funded by the BDA :-

1) Bintulu and Kidurong roadside tree planting and roundabouts.

2) Bintulu Golf Course ( 1 st Nine Hole)

3) Bintulu Wildlife Park ( later re-named Taman Tumbina)

4) Tanjung Batu Coastal Reserve Park

5) Children's Playground at MLNG and BDA Housing Areas

6) Sungei Terus Park Landscaping

7) Bintulu Divisional Mosque Landscaping( later re-named Masjid Assyakirrin)

8) Speaker at various courses organised by BDA for landscaping participants throughout Sarawak Brunei and Sabah

9) Setting up of BDA Plants Nursery at Sungei Plan,Kidurong.

Despite his mature age and problems with eyes sight especially in early 1990's, he was extremely dedicated and committed as a professional and a true friend.

His services continued even after he left Singapore to migrate to Australia. Around 1993, due to a frail old age, his visits to Sarawak and Bintulu which he was always keen and looking forward to became less frequent. We continued to met in later years as friends because by then I had left the BDA to join the private sector as a landscaping contractor.

(Re-post from my blog "my Bintulu history" - http://mybintuluhistory.blogspot.com/2007/09/bintulus-first-horticultural-consultant.html )

In the year 2013, an Ecopreneur I became

A nature park in Bintulu 

In the year 2013, an ecopreneur I became.  Is there a time in your life that you can have the greatest fun doing what you love?  I have, and that happened in 2013 when I decided to call my eco-farm in Bintulu - the Kambatik Park.  It is the culmination of my strengths in landscaping, writing, photography, wildlife, aesthethics, planning, entrepreneurship, healthy life style, and passion in plants and life-long learning.  Here I build an eco-model for the cultivation of oil palm.  The sub-heading of the Kambatik Park's blog reads:" A private nature park developed by MOOD based on the principles of ecological diversity, oil palm integrated agro-forestry practices and Kambatik landscape design philosopohy and aesthethics".  You don't have to visit the park to experience it.  Making use of internet  technology I blogged on the development and happenings at the park for the whole world to see.  It has been more than two years since  and the story and discoveries keep on coming.  My ultimate vision is to see the model adopted along the 1000 km length of Sarawak trunk road such that it become a chain of 'kambatik park', the longest nature parkland  developed by rural entrepreneurs in Sarawak.

Sarawak - you are just so beautiful.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak.

( This is the 13th and final posting for my writing contribution on what it is meant to be a Malaysian as a way for me to celebrate Malaysia Day this year, 2015)