Year: 2022

MULLAIMALAR PRABAHAR Agroecology Starts at Home “We Make Our Own ENZYME CLEANER and GROUNDNUT MILK” (Part 2) During his family’s weekly temple visit, Mullai’s son, Lingesh noticed that the bulk of the limes used for the prayers eventually end up as garbage. He brought home the limes. His family eats fruit regularly. Lingesh combined the fruits and the lime peels and experimented with...

MULLAIMALAR PRABAHAR Agroecology Starts at Home (Part 1) The daily chores and activities of Mullaimalar’s family prove beyond doubt that agroecology starts at home. The family implements best environmental practices with great care. In the process, to a significant extent, they minimise the damage inflicted on the environment. Along the journey, they guide friends, relatives and acquaintances...

SOON CHOON LENG Gardening Radiates Happiness Septuagenarian Soon Choon Leng is an adept multitasker. She is a language tutor for the children in the surrounding neighbourhood. She cooks well and does catering on a small scale. Above all, she is an avid gardener who is reasonably well-versed in plants. The urban garden she set up in front of her house in Air Itam, Penang blossoms with a variety...

LETCHUMY SATHIAH A Simple Formula for a Thriving Urban Garden The environmental chaos and the agroecological concerns that we are addressing right now may not be within the understanding of Letchumy Sathiah. But her life, in many aspects, epitomises those concerns. Saving the earth is not on her agenda. Nevertheless, her daily activities are geared towards that end. She silently does her bid to...

SARA AYUNI HAMDAN The Real Patience and Perseverance that Nourish Life A visit to Sara Ayuni Hamdan’s home garden at Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, enlightened us on how much a home garden could help a family to sustain and prosper. In 2013, Sara worked at the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) for a short period. At that time, she was attracted to its then president, S. M. Mohamed Idris’...

The urban garden is an urgent need of the century. With food security threatened by conventional farming, it is the right time for consumers to take farming into their own hands. Everyone, regardless of profession, gender, economic or social status, can participate in gardening and farming, and hence contribute to safe food cultivation. The myriad natural gardening techniques can be manipulated...

WORDS OF APPRECIATION from Ms Lee Bee Choo, Teacher Advisor of Green Education Society, Han Chiang High School, Penang: “I would like to thank the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) for providing so many useful lessons. I took some lessons in CAP to get a head start in natural farming. I have learned a lot from the Consumers Association of Penang, i.e. how to protect the environment and...

KAMPUNG GOMBAK UTARA The Thriving Community Garden of Suburban Residents The sound of water splashing through rocks and pebbles in the pristine river at Batu 9, north of Gombak, and the greenery that adorns the fringe of the river, offer a spectacular view to passers-by. Kampung Gombak Utara is about 10 kilometres to the northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The Kebun Komuniti Gombak Utara (KKGU), the...

Bringing together the community and committing them to good ecological practices through a community garden enhances the environment by leaps and bounds and makes the world a better place to dwell in. At the same time, it instils a sense of responsibility and fosters unity and solidarity among the members. Community gardens in Tanjung Bungah, Penang and Gombak, Selangor, set a perfect example of...