Datai Forest of Langkawi Soon Be A Goner

"I will not be coming back to Datai resort anymore", said a returned Datai guest who was on her second stay a month ago. Her first experience in Datai Resort was ten years back and she found the place absolutely tranquil, balanced with nature.

She told me that on her second visit this time, she saw that there were more villas as compared to ten years ago. After witnessing the start of new development in Datai Resort, she was disgusted with the upcoming of fourteen villas and cutting of trees in the forest to accommodate another massive project by the Khazanah group.

I shared the same sentiments with her.

The Datai rainforest is unique because of its lush greenery on Malaysia's oldest land formation  which is the Machinchang Range.

Image taken from www.smarttravelasia.com

Tourists have asked me if there are any protection to this rainforest since Langkawi is a UNESCO's Geopark site?

My answer will always be Yes and No. I will leave my comments out from this post for now. 

I just want to post khazanah's evil Teluk Datai development plan on Machinchang in expense of her rainforest and our public's fund.

Overall khazanah's development plan

Hillside along the road

Hillside along the Datai Road, more bungalow villas

Development next to Andaman Resort, Shangrila will be the next one coming

ppsssttt... from the grapevine, these new villas will be equipped with modernized and computerised toilets. The bowl cover will be lifted up on it's own. Wow! no wonder these villas will cost more than couple of million ringgits each!

Development of 14 luxurious villas, the first stage, have started

 Wish I can throw a grenade on this one

A part of rainforest been sliced open

How conservation on Langkawi is possible when an island like this is perceived as underdeveloped by some of the influential businessmen and politicians? I understand that development is inevitable especially when it comes to eco-tourism, there must be a balance between development and conservation of the natural heritage. How much can one take and retain? How much development is considered as enough when Langkawi's attraction is her natural beauty, wildlife and her biodiversity? These greedy people just don't get it! They are breaking the rice bowl of the island.

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Pandora Forest Wishes...

Dear Bloggers/Followers/Readers:

SAVE OUR RAINFOREST 

AND NOT THE LAST TREE STANDING

"Only after the last tree has been cut down

Only after the last river has been poisoned

Only after the last fish has been caught

Only then you will find that

Money cannot be eaten"

- a Prophecy of the Cree Native American Tribe

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Good Old Temurun Waterfall

It has been raining for almost twenty four hours now. Drizzled, rained, stopped for awhile, rained, drizzled and over again. I simply love days like this because such days do not come often. 

A rainy day as such will perform magical and special effects on one of my favorite waterfall  which is accessible by the public. 

Temurun Waterfall at its BEST this afternoon

How is Temurun Waterfall like in the dry season?

Pictures taken in March 2010. Month of March is still the dry season

In March 2010, contractors invaded this waterfall by constructing these ugly dams

Temurun Waterfall last year (22 August 2010):

Today at Temurun Waterfall

Lots of water!!

WOW!

Monstrous water coming down! Do not underestimate the power of water

I had to do this very quickly. I was drenched by standing in front of the water for less than 10 seconds to take this picture. The tremendous wind it generated was so cool!

Dare to swim in this pool, anyone?

Temurun Watefall as seen from Datai Road

Temurun at its best and certainly the best time to visit. I observed that this waterfall area is at its cleanest during the fasting month. Better come soon to enjoy this waterfall before the festive season begins next week. When those picnickers return and so the rubbish as well.

Langkawi gets more sunny hot days than rainy days like this. I wonder why people get gloomy, upset and moaning over such wonderful day. 

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Iridescent

When I see a rainforest burned down 

and cleared for development, 

I feel sad for our existence. 

When I see the indigenous people lost their living forest, 

I feel frustrated for not having the ability to help.  

The anguish I have 

when I came to know that wildlife have been poached. 

My hatred towards these people with their asses on top positions whom were entrusted to do their jobs 

to protect and conserve; 

They failed to do so for their greed and corruption.

What else can I do in order to continue living in peace? 

I must let go; 

Just like how Linkin Park sang this song, "Iridescent"

I simply love these guys, Linkin Park!
and Transformers Movie has always been my favorite.

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3 In 1

Simply means I saw three of them in one day!

The first one was spotted by a lady on my boat. She has sharp eyes!

A Reticulated Python (Python Reticulatus)

What were the rest?

A lucky spot by me...

Mangrove Pit viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus)

...and the last one before the day ended. I was driving along Datai Road in the dark and my car almost ran over it while it was crossing the road. I stopped my car, ran towards it to check and it slithered into the undergrowth. I quickly ran back to my car to grab my camera and only managed to capture this.

Can you see its tail? I suspect it was a Elapidae, very likely a King Cobra (checked my Snake book shortly after)

People have asked me if there are any snakes in Langkawi. Well, I have seen three different ones in one day. What a lovely snaky day!

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A Reporter Reporting from Field

I have heard about sandwich man on the street but I have never seen one before. Not until today when a member of the campaign was walking in the Ramandan Bazaar at Kuah town, holding a cloth bag which read, "GO GREEN". While holding the green bag, he was chanting, "GO Green; no plastic bags; use containers and Langkawi Indah (Beautiful)". He was not exactly a full sandwich man as I expected, at least it served the purpose of advertising the campaign.

Selva, the "sandwich man"

We didn't have a radio deejay this time to help us with the announcement. Therefore, any technique will do. I thought this was fun and so I joined him. Being an absolute introvert person, I was not as loud as Selva, not much of chanting and just busy taking photographs.

How did the crowd respond?

Selva and me "harassing" the crowd ... hee hee

They thought we must have gone mad. Only a handful of traders smiled at us. Some of the locals were either frowning at us or gave us some awkward stares. 

It started off with the gathering of a group from a local college, MRSM, led by Kak Zuraidah and MNS Langkawi chairman, Eric Sinaya. Having to see some support from a group of expatriates was a positive sign. The college students were briefed by Kak Zuraidah and Eric before they distributed those pink and yellow bags. They were to bring the "no plastic bags" messages across especially to those who wants a free bag.

Briefing by Kak Zuraidah to the college students

Vanessa and TC were the handful of "Mat Sallehs" raring to go with their food containers

Students wearing creative looking tags to carry the messages across

Less than forty of us headed into the Ramadan bazaar with our food containers. 

A lady choosing the colour of the bag. May she make good use of the bag.

A victimised plastic bag - Someone was carrying a plastic bag with a bag of syrup, dropped it and the water spilled on the ground

Iris "bungkus" her favorite dish with her food container

A student with a tiffin carrier

What did I bungkus for dinner today? There were so many choices to choose until I didn't know what I wanted to eat. In the end, I opted for nasi campur - rice with ikan keli sambal and a vege dish.

From of the number of participants who turned out for the campaign, minus the college students, the adults there were mostly mainland people working on the island and Mat Sallehs. Whatever happen to those local Langkawians?? I didn't see any authorities joining our campaign today.

It is not an easy habit to change. We grew up with the convenience of using plastic bags and polystyrene to pack our food. I must admit that it was a bit difficult for me initially. In the beginning, I tend to forget to bring my food containers and ended up using plastic bags and the "white coffins" (polystyrene). And feeling guilty after that. 

Langkawi have a long journey to go before the mentality of the locals here can be changed. It will take some time. Therefore, the campaign must continue for at least once a month and may this group grow larger to show the local Langkawians that we are serious about this.

To Kak Zuraidah and team, Chayoh! Chayoh!

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