Three Parrots

A man wanted to buy his son a parrot as a birthday present.





The next day he went to the pet shop and saw 3 identical parrots in a cage.

He asked the clerk, "How much for the parrot on the right?

The owner said it was $250.
"$250", the man said. "Well, what does he do?
"He knows how to use all of the functions of Microsoft Windows XP Professional”, responded the clerk. "He can do all of your spreadsheets and type all of your letters."

The man then asked what the 2nd parrot cost.
The clerk replied, “$500, but he not only knows Microsoft Windows XP Professional, but is an expert computer programmer.”

Finally, the man inquired about the cost of the last parrot.
The clerk replied, "$1,000."
Curious as to how a bird could cost $1,000, the man asked what this bird's specialty was.
The clerk replies, "Well, to be honest, I haven't seen him do anything. But the other two call him BOSS!”

More experiences with persons we call them BOSSES:

Incidence 1:
I remember one visit of my old boss to Pukin Estate. Spotting a patch of sheet lallang at the far end of the palm rows, Mr. Chan turned his head to my Assistant and asked in a sarcastic tone, ”Mr. Lee, when did we grow paddy in our estate?” I knew that he was shooting arrow the manager.

Incidence 2:
In the VA Questionnaire, the Manager wrote that all lallang had been tackled. Unfortunately, a sporadic patch of flowering lallang was spotted. The Manager quickly apologized,” Sorry, Sir. I had checked with my Senior Assistant and he had given me his assurance.” The VA asked, “Who is the Manager of the estate?”

Manager is the BOSS of the estate. Don’t take things for granted. At the end of the day, he is solely responsible for all works carried out in his plantation. Things will definitely go wrong if merely delegation without follow up. Always remember to check and cross check. Walk the fields more often. Seeing is believing. Solve problems at site. There is no short cut about it.

When the Manager queried his Senior Assistant,” How come you told me that there was no more lallang?” We can expect the answer from the Senior Assistant,” Sorry, Boss. My Assistant told me no more lallang.” When the Assistant was questioned, his answer was the same, “My Conductor told me no more lallang.” When the Conductor was bombarded by his Assistant, he could only answer,” My mandore told me so.” Finally, the mandore became the victim of the Conductor. He was yelled and shouted at by his BOSS!

Haze In Jambi, Indonesia (August - October 2006)

Photo 1: Aur Duri Bridge across Batanghari river. Motorists traveling with headlight on. (Date picture taken: 29 September 2006)

Photo 2: Man on mask carrying "Time for breaking fast" Board at Makalam bridge (Date picture taken: 4 October 2007)

Photo 3: Policemen on mask directing traffic at a road junction in Kota Jambi (Date picture taken: 12 October 2006)

Photo 4: Haze condition at Kantor Guburner Jambi (Date picture taken: 6 October 2006)

Photo 5 – Poor visibility due to thick haze condition along Batanghari River (Date picture taken: 18 October 2006)

A Trip To Padang On A Hazy Day

Photo 1 - Bridge over Batanghari River

Photo 2 - Hazy weather & wet road after rain

Photo 3 - Entering Minangkabau territory


Photo 4 - Even heavy rain couldn't disperse haze

Soils 2007 Conference Tour - Ringwood Plantation, Mukah, Sarawak

Meeting old friends and making new friends

Photo 1: Yeong Wai Seng (Boustead), Tan Huang Shen (StarAg), Mohd Nasir Ali (Boustead), Micheal Chang (Boustead), KP Loh (SMG), new friend, Leong Kam Hong (Java I.B.)

Photo 2: Rohani, Abu Bakar & Noordiana Hamzah (Borneo Samudra), Lai Woon Wui (Wargo), Lim Gim Seong (PT EMAL) & KP Loh

Photo 3: How Beng Keng (PT EMAL), Lah Jau Uya (Organising Chairman) & KP Loh

Photo 4: KP Loh, GS Lim & Dr. Lulie Melling (Senior Researcher, Dept of Agriculture, Sarawak)

A trip to Padang

Goh Boon Huk & me were having the delicious giant crab from Kepulauan Mentawai (a group of island facing Sumatra Barat) in one seafood restaurant in Padang on 21.10.2006. The crab weighed slightly more than 2 kg. We were in Padang to catch AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur (TLCC) on the following morning. I had to travel more than 10 hours from Jambi because all flights were cancelled as the Sultan Thaha airport in Jambi was closed down due to very thick haze. Pak Goh travelled all the way from Bengkulu and his journey took more than 8 hours.

The flight from Padang to Kuala Lumpur took us just 1 hour & 10 minutes.

Boon Huk & me were in IOI’s Regent Estate, Gemencheh, Negeri Sembilan, in 1994/95. He was my Senior Assistant then. Both of us resigned for better prospect in other plantation companies in May/June 1995. He went to work in Sabah and later in Kalimantan Barat. Then he came back and rejoined IOI and was posted back in Regent Estate as Manager. I last caught up with him was during the Chinese New Year in 2005 when he was the Manager in Segamat Estate. We did not meet up again after he returned to Indonesia working in Bengkulu since May 2005.

It was a joyful evening when we met again in Padang as both of us were catching the same flight back to Malaysia during the long holidays of Lebaran (Hari Raya Puasa). We laughed and talked about the good old days in Regent Estate. We used to have the best coffee in Gemencheh town at Alek's shop after working hours and once in awhile we went for dinner in a Chinese restaurant, Tebung. The owner was Mr. "No Problem" who was a good karaoke singer. After dinner,we used to sing along just to release our stress and having so-called "lung exercise". We were happy working as a team together with the other Assistant, Micheal Tan, our Chief Clerk, Mr. Narayanan, and our field conductors. With such a close relatioship, we were seriously committed during working hours.

Always Allow Your Boss To Speak First

A junior manager, a senior manager and their boss were on their way to a meeting. On their way through a park, they came across a wonder lamp. They rubbed the lamp and a genie appeared.

The genie said, "Normally, one is granted 3 wishes but as you are three, I will allow one wish each"

So the eager senior manager shouted, “I want the 1st wish. I want to be in the Bahamas, on a fast boat and have no worries for a month." Pfufffff and he was gone.

Now the junior manager could not keep quiet and he shouted aloud, "I want to be in Florida with beautiful girls, plenty of food and cocktails for a month." Pfufffff and he was also gone.

Then it's the boss's turn, and he said calmly, "I want these two idiots back in the office after lunch"

When Pukin Estate was taken over by IOI in May 1985, I was reminded by my new boss that he was a planter meaning I could not hide any problems from him. It was usually not easy for old staff to survive in new management but thank God, I somehow managed to last for 10 long years in the company with 5 transfers until I resigned in June 1995 by accepting a better position offered to me by another plantation company.

I just want to share a few valuable incidences with Tan Sri, my XiFu, during the good old days:-

Incidence 1:

When Tan Sri came for a visit, he stopped at the 1st palm and pulled out some weeds from the trunk. As we walked along I quickly started pulling out the weeds from the next palms before he did it again. He had shown us a very good example of “Lead by example”.

Incidence 2:

Tan Sri used to ask us 3 FAQ (frequently asked questions) when he visited our estates,” Have you ever come here?” “Did you see this?” “Why no action had been taken?” After answering “Yes” to the 1st two questions, we ended up being bombarded by his 3rd question.

Incidence 3:

In the earlier days, when Tan Sri was angry at the unsatisfactory field condition, he used to challenge us, “I will come back in 3 months time.”

In one occasion, I challenged him back after my transfer to Morisem Estate, Sabah, in December 1988. He came for his 1st visit in April 1989 and was not happy with the backlog of crop in the fields and the over ripening bunches on the palms. Such problems were, unfortunately, the consequence of non-stop raining weather dragged on for months since December 1988.

Nevertheless, we were working hard to repair the main access road outside the estate leading to Jeroco Palm Oil Mill. At that time our only outlet was Kretam Palm Oil Mill but we had to send our FFB lorries across the Kinabatangan River by scow towed by a tug boat. We could manage 1 trip a day, if lucky, due to poor condition of main access road to Sandakan and the tidal problem of the river.

I said sorry to Tan Sri and admitted my mistakes for not able to clear the crop backlog and some bunches were rotting on palms. I told him that should he come again in 3 months time and find no improvement or still not satisfied with my work, then I would bag and go. Of course, I stayed back since I did not fail my work commitment.

"Thank you, XiFu. I have been using your doctrine nowadays whenever walking the fields with my General Managers, Senior Estate Managers and Estate Managers. That should be the ways plantations are best managed."

My Boss & Me

When I take a long time
I am slow.
When my boss takes long time
He is thorough.
When I don't do it
I am lazy.
When my boss doesn't do it
He is too busy.
When I do something without being told
I am trying to be smart.
When my boss does the same
That is initiative.
When I please my boss
I am apple - polishing
When my boss pleases his boss
He's co-operating.

I am always thankful to my old boss, Mr. Chan Fong Ann, who took me in as an Executive Field Manager for Pukin Estate in Keratong, Pahang, in July 1978 and made me a “Planter”.

Here I wish to recall a few incidences whereby I had learned some valuable lessons from him.

Lesson No. 1 * Who is smarter? *

When Mr. Chan appeared in the witness stand of the Muar High Court for the case of claiming crop damages by fire spread from a neigbouring estate, he chose to speak through a Mandarin interpreter.

The defending lawyer somehow sensed that my boss could understand English and he was irritated,” Mr. Chan, I put it to you that you are a liar. You can speak English!”

My boss just turned his head to the interpreter,” Ta shuo shen mok? (What is he saying?)”

Lesson No. 2 * A Born Linguist *

My old friend, Mr. Song BS of May & Bayer, asked me when he came to Pukin Estate, “Is your boss, Mr. Chan, a UK graduate?”

“What makes you think so?” I answered him with a question.

“When I called him, he spoke with an Oxford accent!” Song told me.

In actual fact, Mr. Chan was such a born linguist that he spoke fluent English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teow Chew and Hakka, his own dialect. I was told that he did not receive much education during his younger days.

So expat planters in Indonesia, we need to master Bahasa Indonesia.

Lesson No. 3 * Quit smoking *

When I decided to quit smoking in 1981, Mr. Chan helped me to push away cigarettes offered to me by other smokers. He used to remind them,” Don’t be a devil. The doctor told Loh to give up smoking. Can’t you see that he has been coughing badly these days?”

The success of quitting smoking is not only the strong will to stop buying cigarettes, but also the power to reject the evil temptation when cigarettes were offered by others. Thank you, boss.

One Indonesian Manager told me that he had stopped buying cigarettes but he ended up as a Sumitro (Suka minta rokok), always asking cigarettes from others.

SS Quek, my Senior Assistant in Swee Lam Estate in 1990-91, quit smoking successfully but he ended up being addicted to “Hacks” sweets. I just told Pak Jalailuddin of Kebun Plasma Wilayah Pall 8 of PT BSS not to replace cigarettes with “gula – gula”. I noticed that he popped in a sweet every now and then and he carried a pocket full of sweets with him.

A trip to Bengkulu

This photo was taken on 13 May 2007 at Bengkulu beach. On the right is Pak Lim Gim Seong, standing beside him is Pak Goh Boon Huk, and I am standing by the side of Pak Fauzul (Pak Lim's driver). Pak LGS and me decided to meet up Pak GBH in Bengkulu after I dropped in his kebun in Pauh to see his new planting on peat on 12.5.2007. His kebun is about 3 hours drive from Jambi.

Proposal of Marriage in Peatland

Leaning of oil palm planted on peat soil is inevitable and normally occurs progressively 5-6 years after planting but the haphazardly leaning is always a headache to plantation management. Instead of maintaining palm circles in a weed-free condition, it is advisable to spray the so called “drop zone” for collecting harvested bunches and loose fruit. Induce directional leaning at time of planting or 1 year after planting had been proposed and should be practical for planting oil palm on peat.

The above photo was taken during the Soils 2007 Conference Tour in Mukah, Sarawak, in April 2007.

May be we can look at the leaning problem with a good sense of
humour. Hahaha…..

Thank you John for the Father's Day photo

Happy Father Day

Thank you, God, for today is a very SPECIAL day to all fathers on tjis earth! It's Father's Day, falling on 17 June 2007 (i.e 3rd Sunday of the month of June). This is the day when all children will have the opportunity to honor their fathers. However, it is also true that all men who act as a father figure such as stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers, and adult male friends are all honored on Father's Day too.

Do you know how did Father's Day come about? I have downloaded the story of Father's Day from the internet :-

"Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart.

William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a "father's day."

In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day.

Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.

President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972."

Here are some meaningful quotes about father :-

"It is a wise father that knows his own child." -- William Shakespeare

"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." -- English Proverb

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was." -- Anne Sexton

"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" -- Lydia M. Child

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection." -- Sigmund Freud

"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons." --
Johann Schiller

Sorry to say, I had never celebrated Father's Day with my late father, who had left this world 20 years ago. Nevertheless, whenever I think of him, I am so grateful to my old man who struggled hard to send me for further study overseas. He was a tailor by profession and he operated a tailor shop by rental in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaysia. My father was not a Rich Dad. He was, indeed, a Poor Dad. He left his parents, younger brother and sister in Da Bu, Guangdong, China, at the age of 16, to join his uncle in Malaysia. He did not work long in his uncle's shop in Yong Peng, Johor, Malaysia. Somehow he ended up in tailoring business in a small town known as Kuala Lipis. One thing I am still proud of my father because he might be a poorest dad he had left his children the richest inheritance, i.e. giving them higher education abroad. I am sure my 2 younger brothers, Kong Fatt and Kong Teck, will fully agree with me.

My father seldom talked to me during my boyhood days. He was always busy doing his tailoring business. But in later years, whenever I had the chance to travel long distance with him, inside the car we tried to catch up with long conversation of what we had missed in my younger days. I told him that I not only wanted him to be a father, but also a friend so as to bridge up the so-called "Geberation Gap". I am sure all fathers would like our children to be able to talk and communicate with us just like all christian fathers are able to talk to God in prayers.

My children are calling or sending me SMS wishing me "A Happy Father's Day" as I stay back in Jambi, Indonesia because of work commitment. For my friends who are also working in various parts in Indonesia, I am sure your children will do call or sms you too. Perhaps we can celebrate Father's Day throughout the year when we are back home with our children whenever we are on leave.

HAPPY FATHER DAY! PRAISE THE LORAD.

Never Offend (or Test The Wisdom Of ) An Old Man

Do U look like a “Peacock”?

Read on…. I bet u will laugh. Hehehe…

An old man was sitting on a bench at the mall.

A teenager sat down next to him. He had spiked hair that was red, orange, yellow, green, blue & violet. The old man stared. Whenever the teen looked, the old man was staring.

Finally, the teenager said sarcastically: “What’s the matter, old boy, never done anything wild in your life?”

Without missing a beat the old man replied, “Got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. I’m just wondering if you were my son.”

Morale of the story:

Never offend an WOM (wild old man). He may be a COM (cunning old man) or a DOM
(dirty old man).

If any of the following stories sounds familiar to you, it could be just a coincidence.

Story 1:
One Estate Manager was stagnant at his position for years because he had once offended his superior, trying to test the wisdom of someone who was older and wiser.
“Prove me wrong and I will promote you,” that’s the remark from his CEO.
He was finally promoted only after the CEO’s retirement from the company.

Story 2:
Another Estate Manager tried to please his Plantation Advisor telling him that he had spent nights of patrolling to chase away the elephants from intruding.
“Our company can’t afford to pay a watchman with such a high salary,” the Plantation Advisor told him bluntly.

Story 3:
When a Head Office guy called the estate and the Manager not around, the usual answer from the CC, “Manager’s in the fields, Sir.” In one particular estate, the CC answered differently, “Manager’s in the workshop, Sir.” The Head Office guy just wondered, “Is he a Plantation Manager or a Workshop Manager?”

Story 4:
During the Chairman’s visit, the Plantation Manager kept a tin of biscuits in his vehicle trying to impress the big boss that he was very hard working so he used to skip meals.
“Have you prepared lunch for us?” the Plantation Director asked him.

Problem Solving?

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went on generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it.

The next day the same thing happened. Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. So this went on and on, one day after next, and so forth.

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way. Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" the driver stood up, glared back at him, and screamed, "And WHY NOT?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has a bus pass."

Moral of the story:

"Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one."

The way I look at it:

Practical planter always tries to solve any problem on site where he can see for himself, make analysis, trace to find out the root cause of the problem and take appropriate action to solve it. Afraid to commit oneself on the first place, based on false assumption or wrong information, is already the beginning of failure. Never fear of tackling a problem but make sure it is a real problem and not an excuse for not doing the job. Ever heard of, “Failure is the mother of Success?”

Being professionals, we must able to do the impossible (especially in Crisis Management) and not finding excuses not to do the possible (routine work and operations).

(The IMPOSSIBLE MISSION always turns out to be POSSIBLE!)

Engineer & Manager!

Guess the moral of this short story?

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degree north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am", replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The man below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same situation you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault”

The way I look at it: -

A professional must be responsible to the job assigned to and be committed to achieve company’s goals and targets. When consulting others on problem solving, do not try to point fingers and expect problems be solved by others.

Knowing Where To Tap

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed?

The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"

So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer…………….$ 2.00
Knowing where to tap……………….$ 9,998.00

Likewise, old or rather senior planters like us are paid well because we know where to tap to lower cost of production reasonably by increasing crop production and OER (Oil Extraction Rate)%. Afterall, experiences gathered over the years and knowing where to make an effort in plantation management makes the real difference!

Another Weekend in Jambi

Time flies. It's another weekend since I returned last Sunday (3 June) from my leave in Segamat. I took the 11.10am ferry from Stulang Laut, JB, to Batam but it left the jetty after 11.30am. When arrived at Batam Center, it's almost 1.00pm WIB. Luckily, the taxi driver told me that he would take the short cut to Batam airport and it would take him 15 minutes to reach there. My flight to Jambi was scheuled at 1.50pm.

When I checked in to get my boarding pass, I was informed that the Mandala flight to Jambi would be delayed to 3.30pm WIB. My friend, Pak Lim (Alex) of PT EMAL, was supposed to pick me up and introduced me to his wife who just made the 1st trip to Jambi. Pak Lim started work in December 2006. He was introduced to me by Pak Goh BH of PT Ukindo and Mr. Seow CL, who is the Agronomist Consultant to his plantation company. I called up Pak Lim and suggested to him not to wait for me since he planned to go to his plantation with his wife. It's not advisible for them to start the journey late as it would take them @ 3 hours to reach the kebun. Instead, I contacted Pak Hardi, our FC (Finance Controller) to fetch me.

Well, flight delay is quite common in Indonesia. We used to joke about it, "Delay is BIASA, on time is LUAR BIASA!" We are so used to it that we just have to take it easy while waiting for the plane to take off. This is the time we can do some extra reading to pass the time.

Nevertheless, I met Pak Lim's wife on Friday (8 June) night when they came out from plantation in Pauh. We had dinner in Terkenal Restaurant with some Jambi friends. Lim's wife is leaving today and Pak Lim accompanies her to Jakarta. She is taking Air Asia tomorrow to TLCC but Lim says he has to come back to Jambi to attend to urgent matters. That's work commitment! Afterall, we are true professionals.

I am writing this in a WARNET (Warung Internet) after church service. That's how I passed my time on Sunday mornings. Then will meet up some Malaysian planters for lunch. Later in the afternoon, will go for regular exercise at Novotel's gym.

Also to keep in touch with other Malaysian planters in other lokasi, we used to sms to each other. Pak AC Liew, Pak Tan PH & Pak How BK in Medan, Pak Goh BH is in Bengkulu, Pak Pun KC & Pak Vincent Hee in Pekanbaru, Pak Choy KW & Pak Paul Chin in Palembang, Pak Saw See Hong in Lampung and Pak D J Ho & Pak Chuah Meng Hap in Padang. Pak Ravi Grill, Pak Goh HS, Pak Kow CC, Pak Boon CC, Pak Kong TC, Pak Tan Ah Kow are all in various parts in Kalimantan.

Communication with friends is essential especially most of us are alone here. Leaving the families behind in Malaysia and feeling loniness most of the time is just an occupational hazard to expat planters. My wife used to come to visit me. Just received a call from Pak Kow that his wife visits him for the 1st time since he came over 2.5 months ago. Well, thank God that our wives are so understanding and supportive of us. Guess for every successful planter and a responsible husband, there is always a strong lady who supports us from behind. Praise The Lord.

Poor Roads Hamper Productivity

This is my 1st article published in The Planter (Vol 65, No. 763, October 1989) It was written after I was transferred to Morisem Estate, Sabah, in December 1988. Such bitter experiences of crop losses due to poor roads often damaged by rainy weather about 20 years ago, sad to say, are currently being repeated in many plantations in Indonesia. Hope other planters can comment and share their experiences too.

XiFu

As the Chinese goes," Once a XiFu (Master), always a XiFu" I believe this is true to us whose profession none other than planters.

There were so many things to learn, from jungle clearing to nursery establishment, land preparation and planting of cover crop, road construction and building log bridges, and finally the planting of our crop, be it rubber, cocoa or oil palm.

As the rubber, cocoa or oil palm trees grew, we gathered our planting experiences and grew from young planters to senior planters.

Then we chopped down rubber trees for planting oil palm as the old tappers retired, and we also chopped down cocoa trees for oil palm when cocoa price dropped drastically.

When we started to replant oil palm to oil palm, normally at 25 years cycle, then we realised that we have also grew old. Nevertheless, for old planters like us, we always remain as proud planters.