Part 1: Mankind's modern tragedy

I am frankly quite proud of our little experimental organic farm high up on Gunung Jerai. What started as a challenge to prove that it is possible to grow commercially viable Shiitake mushroom in a tropical setting has turned into a passion for sustainable farming.

What price progress?

While I am awed by the speed and brilliance of mankind’s technological progress that has resulted in the rise of the standard of living, I am at the same time, appalled by the way we are poisoning our planet and ourselves.

But what choice do we have? The world is not in good shape and although as individuals, we can only do so much, it is not an excuse to do nothing at all.

Exploitation and more exploitation

Population is growing at a tremendous rate. We need to accelerate the exploitation of our planet’s resources to keep all of us happy and comfortable. Food production becomes a problem as we eat more and waste more. The air we breathe is getting poisoned and climate getting warmer and less predictable. To grow more food in an environment where arable land is getting scarce and climate becoming increasingly hostile, we start relying more and more on artificial means. Chemicals are synthesized to fertilize our land, pesticides developed to kill pests, herbicides to kill unwanted plants and fungicides to kill microscopic organizations at bay. Actually, a lot of things get killed just to get our food on the table in a form that we like. It seems we like to believe that the things that we use to kill other creatures and vegetation will not also kill us. Maybe we do not have a choice, so we just sweep this under the table and hope that we do not get sick.

A matter of priority or apathy?

In the course of my work, I come into contact with people from all walks of life. Most times, I make it a point to ask what they think of this large scale poisoning of our natural habitat. What scares me most is that most people do not care, don’t know or are resigned to let others worry about it. The pursuit of fame and wealth takes a far higher priority than this minor issue of poisoning the very place we live in. For example, people will only switch to smaller cars when fuel cost gets too high, not because smaller cars pollute less. Scary isn’t it? This, in my mind, is the tragedy of our modern times.

Part 2 - The Beginning of Our Journey