Malaysia Travel and Tour Information Portal

FOR adopting good agricultural practices, Tambun Valley pomelo farmers received Malaysia’s Best Accreditatiofl award from Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).

The award recognises the farmers’ efforts to produce good quality pomelos that have become an attraction for visitors and tourists in Tambun, near Ipoh, Perak.

Twenty far.mers received the award from Fama director general Haron A. Rahim.

The label “Malaysia’s Best” is given to farmers who not only produce good quality fruit but also ensure safe consumption and are able to meet market demand.

Haron said there is a need to increase production to achieve the country’s annual export target of RM2 billion worth of fruits by 2010.

“Farmers are encouraged to use technology to increase production as the fruits are now in demand by both local and international markets. Fama is setting up offices overseas to promote local fruits in Singapore, Dubai, Japan, China, Netherlands, Thailand, United States and Australia.

Guests who attended the presentation ceremony were taken on a tour of pomelo orchards and had a taste of the juicy Limau Tambun, now hailed as Malaysia’s Best.

A temple buried for three decades by a mudslide will find a new lease of life, writes DIANA YEOH
A BANDONED and forgotten for 32 years ago, Da Seng Ngan Buddhist Temple was resurrected when a group of devotees from the Ipoh Benevolent Society accidentally came across it. The temple is located along Jalan Gopeng, next to Sam Poh Tong Caves.
The devotees regularly release fish into ponds and they found the temple when they were looking for more ponds.
Excavation works were then carried out and over 100 pieces of artefacts were uncovered in and around the abandoned temple.
These include incense burner stands, porcelain plates, cups, bowls, copper prayer items, bells and gongs, candle stands, ancestors plaques, lamps, a bronze Buddha statue and porcelain God of war statue.
These are believed to have been made during the Chinese Yuen Dynasty (1426-1435). Among the many interesting items is a century-egg urn which has become crystal-like.
The temple was “lost” when a major landslide covered the temple in earth and mud. Society president Loke Yee Fatt said the society will carry out more excavation works costing RM1 million to restore the temple.
“It will take three months and artefacts will be displayed. We will also renovate the existing halls and rooms formed by the natural stalagmites and stalactites.”
The temple area is 90 metres wide, and the arch of the main entrance is 15 metres by 18 metres. This structure will remain intact. Ever since the temple was rediscovered, Buddhist devotees, locals and tourists have come to view it and devotees have put up a box to collect donations.
The society’s members will continue to look for more artefacts as well as the remains of any monk who might have been trapped in the mudslide.

MALAYSIA’S POP PRINCESS WEDS: Siti Nurh-aliza Tarudin, the darling of Malaysia’s music industry, and businessman Datuk Khalid Mohamad Jiwa, tied the knot in August in what was billed as the ‘Wedding of the Year’. Their wedding reception, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, was attended by some 3,000 people. It was telecast live on TV3 with viewers said to number 6.3 million. Siti is unarguably Malaysia’s top artiste, having been singing for the past 10 years and winning numerous awards.

FINISHING AN UNFINISHED TALE: J.R.R. Tolkien’s unfinished the children of hurin has been deited by his son into a completed work and will be released ext spring. Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on the epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of The Children of Hurin, which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and other works, have previously been published. The new book will be published by Houghton Mifflin in the United states and HarperCollins  in England. J.R.R.Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy has sold more than 50 million copies and was also adapted into a blockbuster Academy Award-winning trio of films. A stage version is  scheduled to open next year.

ORANG ASLI IN ECO-TOURISM: For the Orang Asli of Kampung Ulu Geroh in Perak (Malaysia), their village is their beloved home. It has also been the site of the Malaysian Nature Society’s Rafflesia Conservation and Ecotourism project since 2000. The village is also a haven for the rare Rajah Brooke’s birdwing butterfly, a protected species in the forest habitat.

TWO SURGEONS PICKED FOR MALAYSIA’S FIRST ASTRONAUT PROGRAMME: Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and dental surgeon Kapt Dr Faiz Khaleed, both bachelors, have been selected to undergo 12-month training in Russia. They were chosen from 11,000 applicants since the Malaysian National Space Agency (ANGKASA) started screening candidates in 2003 for Malaysia’s first astronaut programme. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced their names on Sept 4 at the Bunga Raya complex at the KL International Airport. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar, 34, is attached to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, while Kapt Dr Faiz, 26, is with the Malaysian Defence Forces.

A BIT OF RUSSLA IN VMY 2007: Check out a six-storey space shuttle from Russia that will be an attraction next year as Malaysia celebrates “Visit Malaysia Year”. Called Buran, the space shuttle will be flown into the country by a special aircraft and exhibited at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang. Malaysia’s Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the aerospace exhibition, on now until August next year, will also commemorate the send-off for the country’s first astronaut into space, which is scheduled at the same time.

CROCODILE HUNTER KILLED: Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the “Crocodile Hunter”, was killed on Sept 4 by a stingray during a diving expedition near Low Isles Reef. He was 44. Irwin was reported to have been filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier reef in Queensland, the northeastern Australian state, when the accident occurred. “Crocodile Hunter” was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel. Credited for developing the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction, he was Australia’s best-known export. A passionate conservationist, Irwin was also seen as a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in Australia. He is survived by his American wife Terri, and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.