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Part 1 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World

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Also known as “Sabah’s Lost World“, Maliau Basin looks like a huge volcanic caldera from the aeroplane, which spans 25 Kilometers in diameter. This saucer-shaped geological structure, which is formed about 5 million years ago, is not the remnant of a dead volcano. In fact, it is a plateau gradually uplifted by volcanic & tectonic movements, and the middle was eroded to a basin due to weathering. The basin is a sedimentary formation comprised mainly of gently inclined beds of sandstone and mudstone, deposited between 15 million and 9 million years ago when Maliau was a coastal delta.

Maliau means “Land of the Giant Staircase” in Murut language. The reason Maliau Basin is called Sabah’s Lost World is because of its almost circular outer rim, with steep slopes and cliffs range from 300 to 1,600 Meters in height, creating a natural barrier that isolates the basin from the world (and “gene exchange”). Some flora and fauna, which are “trapped” in the basin for millions of years, may have evolved into new species. The only “opening” of Maliau is via Maliau Gorge, a narrow gap to South East, where Maliau River flows and joins Kuamut River outside basin, then to Kinabatangan River, the longest river of Sabah.

The Maliau Basin Conservation Area covers an area of sprawling 588.4 square Kilometers (nearly the size of Singapore!) in Tawau district, at the South Central Part of Sabah. The Basin itself is about 390 sq. KM in size, the additional 200 sq. KM is the buffer zones surrounding the basin for extra protection. The highest point of Maliau is Gunung Lotung (Mt. Lotung) on the north rim, which is over 1,676 m in elevation.

Sorry if you are bored with the geography stuffs above. However, those are the basic knowledge for you to really understand why Maliau Basin is such a special place.

Below is a 5-minute video of jungle trekking in Maliau Basin:

Forest Types & Vegetation

Because of its unique geology, topography, soils & range of altitudes from 215 Meters to over 1,650 Meters above sea level, Maliau Basin houses at least 12 forest types. They can be divided into 4 main groups:

  1. Mixed dipterocarp forest
    Occupy 12% of Maliau Basin. Tall rainforest trees with 25M-45M in height, greatest plant & animal diversity, dipterocarp means “two-winged fruit” in Greek, lianas & rattan crawling plant prevail.
  2. Lowland dipterocarp forest
    Occupy 11% of Maliau Basin. Tropical rainforest with abundant commercial timbers such as menggaris, seraya and ironwood.
  3. Lower montane forest
    750M – 850M asl, trees are only 15-30M high, fewer big tree but more epiphytes, conspicuous mossiness.
  4. Tropical Heath forest (kerangas)
    Occupy 21% of Maliau Basin between 900M and 1,600M asl. In Iban language, kerangas means underlying soils are unsuitable for growing rice, dense stands of smaller sized, small-crowned & shorter trees, up to 20M high.


Above: dipterocarp rainforest

Their distribution is complex, with many overlapping and transitional zones, which are called “ecotone” by the scientists. Researchers are pretty excited by ecotone, because the hybrid conditions produce unique plant form, some can be new to science. For travellers like me, walking from one zone to another is like entering a different world each time.

Above: heath forest (kerangas)

Over 1,900 species types of plant have been identified in Maliau Basin, including 9 species of pitcher plants, 440 tree species and 80 species of orchid. 54 plant species are endangered. For fauna, over 69 mammal species, 290 bird species and over 35 species of amphibians are recorded so far. A rare Rafflesia tengku-adlinii flower has been spotted in Maliau Basin.

Why Maliau Basin?

A 6-day-5-night “Full Loop” tour package to Maliau Basin costs me about RM2,000 (about USD$630) even after deep discount and exemption of some fees. Wow, with RM2,000, I can go to China, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and other foreigner countries already. Going to Maliau Basin is like paying $ to buy suffering, as the trip demands a lot of physical strength. Exploring Maliau is more like an achievement, an adventure, than a trip.

Why didn’t I use that $$$ to go to more popular tourist destinations? The first reason is, to me, popular means “many had seen it”, I dislike places that are too commercialized or frequented by millions of tourists. For example, just do a Internet search on Great Wall of China or Phuket of Thailand, you will find tons of info and photos. I want to see something pristine and less popular.

Above: Maliau Waterfall

For second reason, I love Sabah, so I would like to promote Maliau Basin to more nature lovers. To promote an attraction, we need a lot of beautiful photos and interesting info. Since not many photographers are keen to go deep inside the forest with heavy camera equipments, probably I can help to present Maliau Basin to the world with my blog.

However, it’ll be too lengthy to cover the 6-day trip in one single blog, so I break the stories into 8 parts like below:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin (this blog)
Part 2. Day 1 in Maliau Basin
Part 3. Day 2 in Maliau. Trekking to the 1st camp
Part 4. Day 3 in Maliau. Maliau Waterfall
Part 5. Day 4 in Maliau. Entering the garden of pitcher plant
Part 6. Day 5 in Maliau. Skybridge & Night Safari
Part 7. Day 6 in Maliau. Leaving Maliau
Part 8. Conclusion & Notes. Useful if you plan to visit Maliau
BONUS! More photos of Maliau Basin…

Below are some important items that you should pack for the Maliau Basin trip.

Things to Bring

  • Backpack (avoid the bulky one. Best if come with raincover)
  • Torchlight
  • Clothing (T-shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, etc.)
  • Light sleeping bag
  • Mini towel
  • Anti-Leech Socks
  • Insect repellent (Mosiguard with anti-leech formula)
  • Raincoat
  • Water container / bottle (1 Litre or more)
  • Lunch box & spoon (for packed lunch enroute). Can seal to avoid leaking
  • Snacks and High energy bars
  • Cash
  • Personal toiletries (e.g. tooth brush & paste, soap, cloth pegs)
  • Adidas Kampung (rubber hiking shoes) or other good hiking shoes
  • Sandals / slippers
  • Plastic bags (to store dirty clothing or waste)
  • Hand glove (I’m ok without it. Recommended for lady with “soft” palm)

Camera & Accessories

  • Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera (LCD screen protector is a MUST!)
  • Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC, Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS.
  • Memories cards (a total of 18GB)
  • External Flash 580 EX II
  • Battery Grip (Phottix brand) and 50+ AA batteries
  • Tripod (ball head): Manfratto
  • Filters: UV, GND, ND8, CPL
  • Camera bag (with raincover)

After I packed everything, the total weight is about 17 Kg (about 10Kg are camera stuffs!). I hired a porter to carry 12Kg, so I only carried about 5Kg of weight, coz shooting photos around with 17Kg on my back was not very convenient. 3 day of porter service costs me RM300 (less than USD$100).

For long hours of jungle trekking, every pound counts. Keep your burden as light as possible or hire a porter. If you plan to carry everything yourself, I strongly recommend you to keep the weight between 6 to 8Kg only. 10Kg and above is for those who are really tough and experienced. You can wash your clothing so you can bring less clothing. I wore the same jean for 5 days. You think this is terrible? One of us wore the same cloth & jean for 5 days, I had to stay 10 feet away from this person while trekking, due to the strong smell like sour rotten food.

Above: the trail in red color was the trail I covered in 4 days.

Physical Exercise

Everyone says the Maliau Basin trip is tough and physically demanding. I was very lazy and never did any exercise for years, and I knew Maliau Basin trip was no joking matter. I felt really apprehensive when the Maliau Basin trip was only a month ahead and I was running out of time. Without hesitation, I started my intensive training. If weather permitted, I would jog about 4 KM every day. I also did some push-up and sit-up to strengthen my muscles, so I could carry heavy stuffs. Though the training was only one month, it did help me a lot. The Maliau Basin was not as terrible as it sounded. The trip was tiring but I was not totally exhausted, and that extra energy kept my photography going. Taking photos really can drain your energy. What I can tell is Maliau Basin is a nightmare to those who are lack of exercise.

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

>> Next Article (Part 2)

The Green Connection

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The Green Connection Aquarium is an eco theme park which showcases the remarkable biodiversity of Sabah. At first I thought it was just another new mini-zoo, until I saw its first-class facilities that are not found elsewhere in Sabah. This park combines zoo, aquarium and science discovery centre into one great environmental education experience.


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

A Walk into Sabah’s Biodiversity

Operated by conservationists, the Green Connection houses over 500 native species of animals from 9 major habitats. A friendly staff will guide you for an interpretation walk into different ecology zones: through limestone caves, dense jungle, muddy mangroves, magnificent reefs, coastlines and out into the open ocean.


Cave Zone: a cave-like environment for you to see some creepy cave dwellers such as scorpion and spider in the dark.


Rainforest Zone: information of status and threats of our Borneo jungle. A few big pythons wait to take photo with you.


River Zone: a collection of native freshwater lives such as blade fishes, terrapins, catfish and pig-nosed turtle. Say Hi to reptiles such as monitor lizard, crocodile and snake.


Coastal Zone: see feeding of turtle and stingray. There is a fish tank with a hollow in middle, where you can “pop” your head in and see yourself surrounded by corals and fishes. It is so fun!

The coral garden tanks show various hard and soft corals, sea anemone and giant clams in close distance, without making you wet. You will see highly venomous marine creatures such as sea snakes, stone fish and scorpion fishes.


Ocean Zone: the aquarium tank with 8-inch thick glass is the highlight as it is the largest in South East Asia. During feeding time, you will see cowtail stingray, black-tipped reef sharks, striped catfishes, guitar shark, blue-spotted ray and bat fishes in a frenzy for food.


Above: these bat fishes change color almost every minute.

An Outdoor Classroom

I remember one day I was in Sabah Museum, a boy complained to his parents, “I’m so bored. Can we leave now?” If you ask the children what impresses them in the zoo, they might answer that is the parrot that they touch earlier, not the charismatic animals such as lions and giraffe. Kids are more interested in Nemo than clown fishes. Kids see and learn the world differently.


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Therefore, that is why I think the Green Connection is more than a tourist attraction. It is a great outdoor classroom that stimulates learning because it encourages kids to see, touch, feel and smell things in fun way. For example, the Touch Pools allows them to touch starfishes, bamboo sharks and horse-shoe crabs. This should work very well because Malaysians have very itchy hands and want to touch everything.

The science and discovery centre with creative and interactive hands-on modules which are not only fun but an interesting demonstration of oceanography, biology, chemistry, physics, maths, technology & engineering concepts. Even adults find them fun. When you can make the children open their mouths to ask WHY and HOW, you know it’s great chance to educate them. My favourite is a 3D frog illusion projected by manipulation of reflection of light. The frog looks so real and solid but you cannot touch it.

Kids nowadays seldom get in touch with nature. I recall my childhood that is filled with memories of fishing, cycling, tree climbing and “loitering”. But when I look out the window, there are no children plays outside their house. Probably they are busy with computer, video game and TV? How do we expect the younger generation to conserve the environment if they do not love it? The Green Connection does an outstanding job to “connect” them to the nature and learn to love and protect it.

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>


Above: not everything is touchable. Like the stone fish above. A victim says, “the sting made my hand felt like inside the boiling water for 3 days. It’s so…. hurt.” Its venom can be fatal.

Contact & Info

The Green Connection is situated at 5 KM Tuaran Road, Likas (see Location Map). Just make a turn to the junction near Wisma Wanita, follow the sign and you will see it next to St. John Ambulance. The entrance fee is RM25 for adult and RM15 for children (2 to 16 years old). Please note that they have discount for Family and School groups.

Opening Hours: 9:30am-5:30pm every day (last entry 4:30pm)
Feeding Show: Weekdays: 11:30am & 4:00pm, Weekend & Holidays: 11:30am, 2:00pm & 4:00pm
Address (see Location Map): The Green Connection, Badan Sukarela Complex, Mile 2, Tuaran Road, Lorong Bunga Matahari 2, 88450 Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Website: aadcgreenconnection.com
E-mail: Enquiry@aadcgreenconnection.com
Facebook: Green-Connection-Aquatica-Aquarium-Discovery-Centre-Sdn-Bhd-OFFICIAL
Phone: +60 13-8978005, +60 88-263326


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Green Connection is quite big. I only show the photos of part of (not all) The Green Connection here, as a teaser. Personally I call it a must-visit place to family and recommend it to my friends. After they visit this place, they also become a fan and tell others about the exciting experience.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia

Giant Clams of Sabah

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Out of 9 species of giant clams (Kima Gergasi) in the world, Sabah has 7. Namely (number in bracket is the adult size of each species):-
1. Tridacna gigas (1.5M)
2. Tridacna derasa (40cm)
3. Tridacna squamosa (30cm)
4. Tridacna maxima (20cm)
5. Tridacna crocea (15cm)
6. Hipoppus porcelanus (40cm)
7. Hipoppus hipoppus (30cm)

Don’t be so happy yet. Due to overfishing, the two largest species, Tridacna gigas and Tridacna derasa, are now considered critically endangered in Sabah (some say they are locally extinct). All species of giant clams are listed in “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora” (CITES), which means they are endangered and should be protected.


Above: Tridacna gigas, the largest species of giant clam, can reach 2 M in length, weigh over 200 KG, and live to more than 100 years old! But sorry, locally extinct already.


Above: Tridacna derasa, also a locally extinct species. Very rare in the wild.


Above: Tridacna squamosa species


Above: Tridacna maxima species


Above: Tridacna squamosa species

Giant clams live like a plant, as their main diet is organic nutrients which come from the photosynthesis of millions of symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that live inside their mantle. In return, giant clams offer the algae a safe home.

Harvesting, trading and buying of giant clams are prohibited under the Malaysian Law. However, enforcement is different story. Just went to tamu (native market) in Kota Belud and see it yourselves. The hawkers sell and slaughter the giant clams openly. They don’t feel anything wrong about it, and didn’t even bother when I was photographing them.

Above: see the yellow and red boxes and two big white sacks behind the seller? They are all giant claim shells! There were many happy buyers and many giant clams were sold in just a few minutes.


Poor giant clams. They may have taken more than 3 years to grow to these sizes. They are eaten before they are mature enough to breed.


Giant clams live in shallow lagoons, reef flats, and the sandy and rubbly substrate of coral reefs in the tropical Indo West Pacific.


Giant clams were once everywhere. Now they are getting rare because human eats their meat. Humans are the worst predators of giant clams.


Giant clams do not get enough attention like sharks and turtles, though they are one of the most fascinating marine creatures.


Giant clams also uses a siphon to draw in water to filter and consume plankton. By absorbing and filtering nitrates, ammonia and other organics that are harmful to coral reefs, giant clams help to clean the water in marine ecosystems.


These giant clams were slaughtered for their meat and sold for RM5 (small) or RM8 (big) each.


Above: giant clams waited to be slaughtered alive. Business was good and they were unlikely to survive until sunset.

I also went to Gaya Street Sunday Market on the same day. More than 100 giant clam shells were sold as handicraft items such as soap dishes, ash trays, shell lamps and ornaments.

There were tourists buying giant clams. Under the regulations of CITES, giant clams, whether dead or alive, cannot be carried out of our country. I don’t blame the tourists don’t know they are sponsoring an illegal trade. But what the heck is happening to our authorities (Fishery and Wildlife Departments)? Are they blind?

Below: a big giant clam shell is sold for RM25 (about USD7.50).

More photos of giant clams sales in Gaya Street… It seems like giant clam trade has become an “industry”. It is very hard to find the whole complete set of giant clam shells on the beach, so very likely these shells were taken from live giant clams.

So you think that the problem is not serious enough? Just take a walk in dried seafood market nearby. You will see giant clams (as dried seafood) everywhere.


The most valuable part of giant clam is its adductor muscle, which is commonly sold as scallops, which cost over RM100 for a small pack in dried seafood markets.


Overfishing of giant clams is a serious problem, as they are considered as a delicacy and profitable seafood. Besides overharvesting, climate change and pollution are also factors that speed up the extinction of giant clams. Excessive CO2 from atmosphere makes the sea water more acidic and lessens the ability of giant clams to grow their shells. The rise in sea temperature will also disturb the symbiotic relationship between the clams and the zooxanthellae that nourishes them. The introduction of a coal power plant in Darvel Bay, which is located inside the Coral Triangle, would pose a threat to giant clams.

More giant clam handicraft items sold in handicraft market… My heart is broken.. FYI, giant clam in movies is always portrayed as a man-eater because it snaps swimmers’ legs by surprise and drowns them. Actually this is impossible. First, you have to find a really huge giant clam, which is extremely rare. Second, giant clams close very slowly and most do not close completely. They do not snap. They are not monsters ok.

Currently Sabah has two places that spawn and propagate giant clams and you can see all 7 species of giant clams in their sites. The first one is Marine & Ecology Research Centre (MERC) in Gayana Eco Resort of Gaya Island, and another one is Sabah Parks Hatchery at Bohey Dulang Island (see photo below) in Tun Sakaran Marine Park off Semporna. This hatchery was built in year 2004 and fully operational with a completed laboratory in 2009.

To start, the giant clams will be induced (by temperature or injection of chemical) to release their eggs and sperms for fertilisation. The eggs will be collected. A week later, the larva of giant clams will settle and find a spot to grow, then they are moved to settlement tanks.

The giant clam larva will spend half a year to grow up to 3 cm. Then they will be released to the sea inside a cage (to protect them from predators), until they grow to 9cm or more after a few months. At last, they will be released independently to the ocean bottom without a cage. Less than 10% of the eggs will survive at the end.

T. gigas and T. derasa have the fastest growth rate. They may reach up to 9-12cm after a year. The suitable release spot will be clean and well-illuminated sea about 10 feet in depth or less with mild water current. Giant clams reach maturity very late, at about 7 to 8 years old.

Bohey Dulang Hatchery Station has a mini exhibition hall and a settlement tank area, which are open for public to visit. You can see at least 5 species of big giant clams in their display tank, great for an education tour. To visit the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, you need to get a permit from Sabah Parks first.

However, no matter how hard and how long these two centres try, they are only able to increase the population of giant clams in limited scale, not the whole ocean around Sabah. The conservation has to be started from you, the consumers. Just don’t eat and buy any giant clam product and the killing will stop. Eating giant clams is as bad as eating shark fin and turtle eggs. The key obstacle of all conservation efforts in Malaysia is the mentality of “if I don’t kill them, others will”, a selfish excuse for greedy mouth of Malaysians. Well, that’s why our country is so dirty, as everyone thinks, “if I don’t throw rubbish, others will.” Anyway, if I can make only one of you to stop consuming giant clam, this blog already worths my time and efforts.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu & Semporna, Sabah Malaysia

Tawau, the ecology desert

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Last month I was on a morning flight to Tawau and sat next to the window. When the plane approached Tawau and started to descent, I took out my camera, hoping to snap some beautiful aerial shots of Tawau. It ended up as a big disappointment because I saw only sea of oil palm, on the land, on the hill, next to the river, everywhere… There was also evident of forest being clear for planting of oil palm.

Actually you don’t need to be on the sky to see this. Just drive from Lahad Datu to Tawau. Along the way, you will see only oil palm. Everytime I passed by, I sighed in my heart, “the ecotourism of Tawau is over..” Most tourists also find this view an eyesore, as they know oil palm plantation is mainly responsible for clearing of Borneo rainforest and destroy of orangutan habitat. The tourists, who go for diving in Semporna, don’t even want to stop over in Tawau for a night. “What to see here? Oil palm forest?” I feel sorry for people of Tawau. They have no orangutan, proboscis monkey, elephant…

Currently Sabah is happily harvesting the fruits of ecotouri$m, as most tourists want to see our well-preserved nature. We are enjoying the success now, due to the right things we did 10 or 20 years ago. If we don’t stringently protect our forest now, we may not see the negative effects until 10 years later. Even Sandakan, our ecotourism city, can end up like Tawau one day, and it will be too late to do anything. The recent serious flood of Kinabatangan River was NOT the act of God. It was caused by overlogging and excessive land clearing. Do you know that oil palm plantation is taking 70%++ of Kinabatangan Floodplain now? Of course the politician will not want to highlight this.

Under the regulations, slopes that are too steep should not be clear. But look at the photo above. Oil palm is all over the hilly region. Can the authority explain why this happens? Who is responsible? Forestry Dept? Land and Survey Dept? Or Environment Protection Dept? Where is the enforcement?

Probably the only forest Tawau left are Tawau Hills Park and Bukit Gemok. Look at the photos below, and you will see oil palm is engulfing the forest area. It is so saddening. No wildlife can survive in such small patches of fragmented forest.

Maliau Basin (a.k.a. The Lost World), though not really inside Tawau district, should be monitored closely. It looks like a volcano crater but it is not. It is a disastrous decision that government allows the logging of timber in its buffer zone. Even politicians from Peninsular Malaysia are dripping for this natural treasure, which is full of coal and timber. The building of coal power plant would threaten this pristine forest, as it opens up an excuse for government to mine its coal. Remember the lesson of copper mine of Mamut? Its pollution is such a disaster that nobody can resolve it until today. We better watch out what government is doing, to prevent it from making second Mamut.

Just say NO to coal power plant. Politicians want to make it sounds like the only choice, “No coal plant = No electricity.” The fact is – we can have both electricity and a clean environment with alternative energy such as hydro-generated power. If you believe what the government says, you die lah. There is no such thing as “clean coal”, like there is no “clean shit”. If WWF says coal power plant sucks, then it sucks, no matter what others say.

Related post
The Land Below the Oil Palm

Photos taken in Tawau, Sabah Malaysia

The Land below the Oil Palm

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If you drive along the road at Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu, you will see an endless sea of oil palm, instead of scenic countryside covered with lush forest. Funny thing is – Tourism Malaysia setup some ad billboards, right in front of some oil palm plantation, portraying Sabah as the ecotourism destination. The disappointed tourists would ask, “is oil palm your primary forest?” The oil palm plantation is such an eyesore, whenever I know that it is strongly linked to the miserable haze that attacks our land every year. Indonesia has been a lousy neighbour and Kalimantan seems to have problem to stop farmers to clear the land by burning forest. A predict mentions Kalimantan will lose all its rainforest within 3 years. Great! They will have Nothing to burn soon.

Hundreds square miles of land in Sabah is now an ecology desert. Now this tree is invading area such as Pitas and next to new road from Keningau to Tawau. Trying to fool us that our forest conservation is doing great, government declares 12 new forest reserves earlier. Do you know that our forest reserves are surrounded by oil palm? So these forest reserves do not connect to one another and each reserve becomes an isolated island. Wildlife is locked in small patches of fragmented forest so they can’t move to other reserves for food and breeding. Orang-utan, pygmy elephants and rhino cannot migrate anywhere else.

Musa Aman said National Geographic praised Sabah has done a marvelous job in protecting the forest. Bull shit! I have read the article and National Geographic only said Sabah is not as corrupted as Sarawak and Kalimantan, so our conservation is only “slightly” better off than Sarawak. Just read the National Geographic article below:

Click Here to read the full article “Borneo’s Moment of Truth” by National Geographic and judge it yourselves.

Some extracts from the article..

But if you want to see the real Borneo, the Borneo of the first decade of the 21st century, it would be good to be the crested serpent-eagle perched in a tree across the river. Then you could soar high above the Kinabatangan [of Sabah] and see how quickly the unruly forest gives way to neatly planted rows of oil palm trees, stretching for mile after mile in all directions. The palm plantation is lush and green, and the arching fronds of the trees give it an exotic beauty, and for the incomparable biodiversity of Borneo it is inexorable death.

“Virgin rain forest is a dead concept now in Borneo,” says Glen Reynolds, chief scientist at the Danum Valley Field Center in Sabah. “All of the big areas of primary lowland forest that can be conserved already have been.

The natural world fares better in Sabah, the Malaysian state in northeastern Borneo. Though oil palm plantations have burgeoned here, more than half of Sabah remains forested. Much of the forest has been heavily logged, and more and more acres converted to commercial tree plantations, but Sabah sustains some of the best surviving examples of high-quality rain forest: the Danum Valley and Maliau Basin Conservation Areas…

…It retains some of the best rain forest on Borneo, but, since it occupies less than one percent of the island, it makes a negligible contribution to the overall conservation picture.

“… So you can log forests and still save that biodiversity. But the thing you can’t do is convert the whole thing to monoculture plantations,” such as oil palm. “Then of course you lose everything. It’s a biological desert.”

WWF geographer Raymond Alfred shows me around Sabah’s state-owned Ulu Segama Forest Reserve, where the forest has been thoroughly—and legally—logged, leaving woodland that seems downright puny compared with the skyscraping rain forest at nearby Danum Valley.

From the coal power plant, expensive Mt Kinabalu climbing fee and oil palm cases, by now we should aware that foreigner organisations do not love our land, so we should learn to love our land and protect it ourselves, instead of counting on government who loves those big companies and disregard the warning from citizens and NGOs such as WWF.

Undoubtedly, oil palm plays an important part in our economy. Oil palm itself is not a “sinful” crop. However, it is only the way oil palm companies plant it cause a lot of environmental problems. Hopefully, they will strictly follow the Roundtable Sustainable Oil Palm (RSOP) guidelines to strive for a balance between profit and environment. The western media like to point fingers at the negative impact of oil palm in our country. But they should realise that their countries want cheap palm oil instead of costlier palm oil produced under RSOP. So please stop to be hypocrite.

Everyone knows the recent storm “Morakot” flooded half of Taiwan, and landslide killed many people and some area was buried under 4 and 5 floors of soil and rocks! The Taiwan government acknowledges that the disaster was caused by over-development of hill area. Our government attitude is very different though. When over-logging caused flood in Tenom and weak hill structure made whole housing collapsed, they just attributed these as “Act of God”. And as usual, no government officer need to be held liability. When the slope is clear, the rain will wash the soil into the river causing a shallow and narrow river. One day, if the rain is pouring and the developed hill can’t hold the water as effective as hill forest, big flood will happen.

According to State Forest Enactment, any development and farming is prohibited on the slope steeper than 25 degrees I think? However, I saw many many steep slopes are clear for planting of oil palm. Isn’t it illegal? Hill development was asked to be stopped many times. But who are still approving such projects? One day when tragedy like Morakot happens (touch wood!), you will not surprise to hear government says that such man-made disaster is Act of God again. Good luck!

Clearing of forest for oil palm plantation is a win-win situation. Timber companies got their wood, oil palm companies can use this clear land to plant cash crop, and you all know, some politicians and government officers will win fat cash under table. The losing side is the rakyat (citizens), who will get flood and pollution. 90% of workers in plantation are cheap labour from foreigner countries, so this industry does not create many job opportunities for locals like government claims. FYI, the oil palm companies love our rainforest soil, coz it almost doubles the yield of oil palm.

After 308, anyone who still believe Barisan Nasional government is an idiot. Remember Musa Aman asked the plantations, which encroached the river side of Kinabatangan, removed their trees or “faced the music”? He said it twice on the newspapers in 2004 and 2007. But anything happened? No. He was really singing only. The encroaching oil palm are still there. Furthermore, the oil palm mills still dump tons of toxic chemicals into the Kinabatangan River. Many fishes die and the water is getting dirtier to drink, affecting thousands of locals who rely on the river.

Zoom in the photo above and you will see one of the ocean of oil palm, scary… Sabah is becoming the Land below Oil Palm. This is a common scene in Lahad Datu.

Above is a forest reserve being surrounded by oil palm. Isn’t this so-called forest reserve look more like an island?

Before the land was clear for oil palm plantation, there are beautiful forest with tall trees like photo above. These trees survive because these trees are in forest reserve, but is nothing if compared to the size of oil palm land next to it.

Looking at the photo above, may be you wonder why this tall tree in the oil palm land was not cut down. Usually the oil palm planters will purposely keep a few tall trees in the farm, but not for conservation. This tree is for bird predators such as eagle and owl to rest on, so they can help the planters to control the pest such as rats. What an exploit.. However, this tree does remind us that this land was once covered by many big trees like this. Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC) claimed that no new forest areas had been allocated for planting oil palm since 1990. The photos here prove that they are liar.

Photos taken in Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Marine Ecology Research Centre (Gayana Resort)

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Many years ago, I went to “pulau” (island) a lot with my father who owned a boat that time. I can tell you that Sapi and Manukan Islands today are NOTHING compared to their past. There were so many (and dense) beautiful corals that I could even see them from the beach. After more and more tourists flow in, now the corals don’t stand a chance to grow near the shore when so many people step on them every day.

That’s why I like what Gayana Resort (of Gaya Island) is doing now. Not only their restaurant has removed shark fin from their seafood menu, they also put a lot of efforts on conservation and being environmental friendly, so their business won’t impact the surrounding environment negatively. When they take, they also give – what we call responsible tourism. Besides recycling the waste, this eco-resort also replants the corals at Gaya Island.

Their Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC) is an education and aquarium centre worth checking out. It has some display of live hard and soft corals and giant clams, which they also try to cultivate and release to the sea. Their staffs are also very knowledgeable and introduce us the cuttlefish that can change colors, pretty bamboo sharks and other interesting sea life.

The centre claims to have 7 out of 8 species of giant clams in the world. Giant clam is very sensitive to pollution and grows very slow. Even after 10 years, its size still can be smaller than a fist. Their population is declining fast and listed as protected species, though many fishermen don’t care and still eating them.

They label each coral and clam with number, for their coral and clam restoration programme, so the tourists, who release them, can come back and visit their “baby” years later. Last time I had very bad impression about MERC coz the previous management seemed like never cleaned the fish tanks. They improve a lot after the new management took over.

There is a tank with two turtles. They were excited to see people and came to us. I am not sure if they want to play with me or bite me. Below is a photo of hawsbill turtle at the front and green turtle behind, both are endangered species. This hawksbill turtle was sick and was rescued from the hands of children who played with it on the beach. It is doing well and looks healthy after treatment by UMS (University Malaysia Sabah).

Below is a photo of green turtle that “smiled” at my camera. Many of them are killed by swallowing plastic bags that look like tasty jelly fish to them. And also a lot of them are trapped and died inside the net of fishing boats every day.

The government sector needs to work harder. Fish bombing still happens even in marine park as close as Sapi. Many scuba divers will tell you that they hear it and there are less and less fish species in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. I also hear a lot of stories about the corrupted marine police (at east coast) who disregard fish bombing and more interested in constantly harassing the fishermen by taking away their caught. Turtle eggs are still readily available at the market if you know how to signal that you want to buy.

Sorry that I don’t have a lot of photos to show coz I stayed there only for a short while. BTW, Gayana Resort has RM68++ dim sum buffet promotion (include transfer to/from Gaya Island and free visit to MERC) during Chinese New Year (Jan 26,27 and 31 if I am not mistaken). FYI only, I don’t work for them. I let you know coz I think it is better than buying the RM100 BBQ lunch package of other island trip (I read the reviews that their food taste like sh*t for that price).

Photos taken in Gaya Island, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Our cousin will extinct one day

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Many years ago, the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary was an open space. The tourists could walk among the orangutans and played with them. Now they are separated from tourists, which is good, coz human would spread deadly diseases to them, as both are so genetically identical.


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Therefore, taking their photos (at Sepilok and Lokkawi Park) from a far distance is the only option. I was so excited to photograph them few feet away, in a photograh session organised by photographer congress (FAPA) in early December. I heard they spent thousand something to rent two orangutan as models.


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Meet Marsha and Girly, both are orang-utan still at the playful age of 9 and 12 years respectively. It was fun to see them acted like pamper human baby. Looking into their eyes, and you can see that they are the clever animals that can think and have emotional. They didn’t realise what was happening and how to respond, when they were surrounded by so many photographers.


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After having some banana and fruit juice, they seemed to be more relax and in good mood. They even smiled. But don’t go too near to this curious animal who likes to get their hands on anything that interests them. A few photographers was kissed by Marsha. I found that she was only interested in young male. There were a few fool wanted “monkey to climb the tree,” so they could get the shot of the year. Orang-Utan is NOT monkey.


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Everyone loves this superstar of Borneo. Orangutan means “The Man of Forest,” so it also means “No Forest No Orangutan.” It is the most endangered ape in the world due to deforestation. In fact, orang-utan is the icon animal of Sabah. If they are gone, it will be a very very big discount to our tourism value. Since NRD enjoys issuing green card to foreigners. Probably they can issue MyKad IC to orangutan coz they more deserve it.


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JFYI, 60% of the orangutan lives in unprotected forest. The unprotected forest would be logged or farmed (e.g. oil palm), so the orangutan there will lose their habitant. They will extinct soon, if we don’t start doing something. If we bully orangutan and make them extinct, the whole world will be very upset about us. Many countries are being pressured to go green with their product and import. I won’t be surprised if other countries ban the import of oil palm from Malaysia one day. Of course I don’t wish that happens.


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There are hopes. Even children donated money to save orangutan. For conservation, for tourism, for country’s images… orangutan must live. They don’t ask much and they don’t want to be a super star, all they want is only forest and freedom.

Related Posts:
Sepilok Oangutan Sanctuary
Cute Orang Utan

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sabah VIPs in Poverty

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(This actually an old post, but I add more new photos at bottom. The last photo will blow you away, haha…) They don’t give boring speech, and thousands of people from overseas want to meet them. They are the key contributors of our billion-dollar eco-tourism business but they would leave us forever… But those, who threaten their lives, live in big houses, drive luxury cars, and pollute the earth…

Yes, the VIPs that I talk about are our eco-tourism Superstars, i.e. Orang-Utan, Proboscis Monkey, Pygmy Elephants, and Sumtran Rhino (四大天王). With wildlife and nature as selling points, our eco-tourism promotion is so successful that even the fellows from Peninsular Malaysia think we live on tree. Our hotel occupation rate climbs to 95%. Our future seems bright.

They are our rice bowl, but many of them die of hunger or losing their homes. They are only 1 or 2 steps away from extinction. Just look at the table below and see what is really happening. Their combined population is even less than the population of Ranau town. If we don’t do anything, I doubt if the tourists can see them again in the wild years later.


Sources: IUCN Red List, CITES Appendix, WWF. For more intepretation detail on the conservation status, please refer to IUCN

Deforestation and oil palm plantation have long been recognised as one of the major threats. Research has shown that the conversion of forests into oil palm plantations leads to the complete loss of 80-90% of mammals, reptiles and birds.

In Support of “Malaysia Wildlife Conservation Awareness 08”:

Please blog about wildlife conservation to support this campaign.

Development is important but it should be carried out in a more sustainable manner, which lessen the impact to the environment. Frankly, I can’t tell you if I could see those superstars again after 10 years, but most of us would live long enough to see them disappear from the earth forever. Anyone knows the status of the oil palm encroahment at Kinabatangan? Please share with me the most recent photo if you have any.