Latest news with #KanYawChong
Daily Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Express
A heart to keep fire of ‘Tenom Coffee' burning
Published on: Sunday, June 08, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jun 08, 2025 By: Kan Yaw Chong Text Size: Freshly-picked coffee cherries being sun dried in Padas Farm. TENOM Coffee is a household name in Sabah. It owes its reputation largely to the special aroma and smoky coffee flavour due to a guarded old tradition of wood-fire bean roasting practice. However, cultivation of coffee, mainly Robusta in this so-called 'Sabah's Coffee Capital' had reportedly declined from previous decades, counting no more than a few hundred hectares now. Advertisement But there is a willing heart to do the hard part to rejuvenate coffee planting. Tenom-born and patriot, Tham Yau Siong, brother of well-known adventure tourism veteran Yau Kong, has spent some years rallying a group of enterprising local land owners to get into the coffee planting act to keep the Tenom Coffee reputation going. Trend of surging global coffee culture is clear Actually, nobody can miss the trend of a rising global coffee drinking culture. Advertisement Look at the global size of the coffee industry. The global market size was USD245.2 billion in 2024, which is anticipated to reach USD381.52 by 2034, rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.32pc from 2025 to 2034. The escalating adoption of coffee drinking culture globally is leading this coffee market. The growth is fuelled by rising demand, driven by rising disposable incomes, change of lifestyles and a growing coffee culture worldwide, hopefully uninterrupted by conflicts and wars from geopolitical tensions. Given rising prices and a surging global coffee drinking culture and a willingness of Tenom coffee growers to take serious care of coffee plants, Tham argues coffee planting now makes economic sense. Nearer home to the north, coffee consumption in China, which vows a rejuvenation policy of 'Shared Future and Prosperity' for all, coffee consumption had reportedly surged 150pc over the last 10 years! The news is coffee imports had nearly tripled to 5.5 million bags (60kg) and expected to rise to rise to 5.6 million bag by 2025. Since China can produce only two million bags domestically because of limiting climatic factors, they must import the demand-exceeds-supply reality to satisfy this explosive growth in consumption. 'Prospective income & cost – the winner on the revenue side': Tenom patriots Tham sees not only opportunities opening for Tenom patriots to help keep the fire of Tenom coffee burning, but also cite numbers that pay for serious planters who accept doing hard things on the care side. Speaking from tried and tested field experience, Yau Siong said: 'If you take care of a coffee tree well, like diligent pruning, consistent fertilising, shading from excessive heat, one tree can produce 5kg dry beans per tree per year and at current price of RM24 per kg where we can plant 400 trees per acre at 10x10ft apart, means you get a revenue of RM48,000 per acre per year. If you plant just two acres, income is potentially RM96,000 per year, while the cost of production is about 50% of that so income is on the winning side, provided you are willing to do the hard part and take care of the trees seriously,' stressed Yau Siong, President of the 20-strong Tenom Coffee Entrepreneurs Association or Persatuan Pengusaha Kopi Tenom in Malay, formed in 2019. Plant essential nutrient-rich alluvial soil from ancient lake & high yield But a yield of 5kg per tree per year as asserted is extraordinarily productive. Yet it may not be surprising because geologically, it is believed Tenom was once flooded under a vast ancient lake, then over thousands and millions of years, the cutting action of water from the Padas River, maybe through a waterfall, broke a gap across the Crocker Range, drained the lake empty, carving out a deep gorge called the Tenom Gorge, leaving behind a huge area of nutrient-rich alluvial soil deposit that is rich in plant essential nutrients like potash, lime and phosphorous acid, making them highly fertile, typically well drained though lacking in nitrogen and organic matter, howbeit the nutrient content may differ with some areas rich in calcium, sodium, potassium, silicon and phosphorus. Since a coffee plant starts flowering in seven months, revenue generation is not a marathon wait either, Yau Siong noted. Optimistic that a serious 'just do it' effort can succeed, Yau Siong drove Daily Express to his 22-acre farm by the bank of a pristine Paal river, for an onsite showcase to prove Tenom can produce a lot more coffee beans locally and makes the money! 'Productive pruning prospers a caring coffee planter': Tham Here is a list of care a serious coffee planter would do to succeed. One, pruning. Diligent pruning coffee plants is essential for a number of reasons, including keeping plants healthy, improve yields, facilitate harvesting, control growth, ensure proper light and air circulation , control pests and diseases, Yau Siong cited. Firstly, prune to control height and shape. To prove what has already been done, he stood beside a coffee plant that is no taller than himself – about 3m, and said: 'This is the result of one important top pruning measure to keep my trees no taller than myself (6ft) for easy reach to harvest berries. 'Harvesting will become a nightmare if you let your tree grow wild – too tall and too big.' Cut the unproductive 'Secondly, cut unnecessary branches, such as sprouting young shoots that suck up a lot of nutrients but don't fruit. Prune to keep the larger stronger productive arms to ensure bigger and healthier berries.' Everything he said in the field trip is confirmed by an educational article on 'why pruning a coffee plant is essential'. All agree that dense, unpruned growth can block sunlight, photosynthesis and airflow, hindering the plant's ability to produce flowers and fruits, while removal of unnecessary branches ensures needed light and air to reach all parts of the tree, boosting all round health and productivity. Coffee trees age and need rejuvenation, somehow, pruning not only excites growth of new, more vigorous shoots which are more productive than ailing woody branches but also extends a tree's productive life for years, it is noted. Nip sickness & disease in the bud And, since pruning also removes dead, diseased and damaged branches, it helps the planter detect early signs of disease outbreaks, nip them in the bud to reduce production losses. 'Conventional planters don't feel the need to service the plant but now we want to keep our trees at certain height by pruning,' Yau Siong kept at it. The May 27-8 DE visit was a wholly instructive agro field trip on what it takes to improve yield and fruit quality, controlled pruning control to ensure proper light and nutrient distribution, and consistent fertilizing to improve both the quantity and quality of coffee beans produced that fits the bill of agrotourism. Climate change- beating an unexpected challenge From pruning, Yau Siong zeroed into climate change – a least expected problem in coffee planting but has become a real challenge to reckon with. But how? 'Look at the shade trees,' he said. 'Shading is necessary now because of climate change. 'In the past, planters dismissed the need for shading, they argued coffee trees could stand the sun but now we must accept that climate change is a fact. When it is hot, it gets very hot, when the sun is too hot, it withers leaves, injures the tree, disease comes, production affected.' To impress on this reality, he took me to an unshaded tree which had a lot of berries but they were small while the leaves had turned yellowish, withering and folding. 'So, I have to plant shade trees to filter at least 30pc to 40pc of the sunlight to create a conducive environment to help them. 'On the other hand, coffee is conducive integrated farming, we can plant fruit trees for shading but that's something to think about later,' he added. Robusta thrives in Tenom, not Arabica On coffee facts, Tenom is limited to Robusta coffee which thrives only in warmer temperatures and Tenom is warm at an average altitude of 577m (1,900ft), a tropical region where 22-30C (72-86F) is considered the optimal temperature range. Since Robusta does not tolerate temperature above 32C, it imposes a need to plant shade trees, that's the real cost of climate change for stubborn climate change deniers to think about. Robusta and Arabica are the two main types of coffee beans Though Arabica coffee is more preferred due to its smoother, sweeter and more nuanced flavour compared to Robusta, Arabica needs an optimal 18-21C (64-70F) for quality and yield, that is, it needs much cooler altitudes between 1,200-1,860m (4,300-6,000ft) which rules Tenom out for planting. But the point of this Special Report is a determined move is underway to fortify Tenom as a strong coffee bean production region. 'We already started on the production side and think downstream to add value by the possibility of eventually putting tourism into the picture. The idea is to make coffee production worth more for the coffee farmer. Tourists may do the trick Yau Siong cited two practical concepts that are 'very common' in Taiwan. One, Deep tourism. Two, Agro-tourism. Deep tourism refers to a mindset or approach to travel that emphasises meaningful, immersive (completely involved) and transformative experiences beyond its surface level, deep engagement with a destination, its culture and history, fostering a more profound understanding and appreciation. Agro tourism involves experiencing agricultural areas and farms. It encompasses elements like farm stays, U-pick operations, farm tours, workshops, farm-to-table dinner and festivals. These elements allow visitors to engage with farming practices, learn about local food production, immerse themselves in rural life, while providing farmers with additional income streams. A five-fold income boosting Taiwanese showcase Yau Siong believes value adding packages can help bring back coffee bean production in Tenom because of a potentially more lucrative industry. He cited a lime farm in Taiwan he knew. Before they started agro-tourism, the income was one million Taiwanese dollar from just lime production alone. After creating an agro tourism package, income rose to 4-5 million, with elements like educational courses for visitors, U-pick operation, or pruning when not fruiting, fertilization, spraying, yet they are not afraid of exposing trade secrets, in fact better, because when visitors see minimal use of chemicals, they help spread the good word-wow, environmentally friendly programme with minimal use of chemicals, the fruits must be good for consumption, sales improve. In this way, whether the lime farm is fruiting or not, it still has visitors and cash flows from agro-tourism,' Yau Sing argued. A clear agro-tourism vision to prosper The Taiwanese example inspires a vision for Tenom coffee. 'My point is we don't just talk about a product, but besides being an agro product, it is a tourism element, visitors come, they drink a cup of coffee produced at site, then see the process, from planting to to drinking, we bring them to the farm, see the planting, and come May or June, join the pruning, experience how to prune. Come October, pick coffee berries, see how we dry coffee berries, the dehusking process, roasting coffee, till drinking the coffee,' Yau Siong described his dream to Daily Express . So, keeping Tenom's reputation as 'Sabah's Coffee Capital' in the fuller sense of the word is on the way. The potential is not far-fetched on account of the rising global coffee culture, given a rising coffee drinking culture, such as an explosive growth in demand in China, which we have already highlighted.
Daily Express
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Express
‘Second Death March' in Murut heartland
Published on: Sunday, June 01, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jun 01, 2025 By: Kan Yaw Chong Text Size: Rubin and Tham beside a huge boulder at Lanut Carved Rocks Garden. WAGE a war, lose it, and you are a soldier of the vanquished empire – the victor will grab and march you to death, no mercy. Sabah actually holds a track record of two different WW2 death marches, when we became a battleground for hegemonic control. Here's the first, and most publicised. Advertisement The 1945 Sandakan-Ranau Death March wiped out 2,434 Allied prisoners of war, merely six survived – 99.8pc killed! Why? Britain lost, Japan won, in a battle for Malaya and Singapore, allied captives bundled to Sandakan to build an airport for the victorious Japanese empire which eventually marched the captives to death At least though, Aussies and Brits converge in Sandakan each year, to remember their dead, with large information generated on the fate of nearly each one collected and assembled by historian Lynette Silver. But, here is the second death march, far deadlier, yet almost unknown, when the fortune of the two empires in war reversed. The untold 2nd death march This is the untold, or untellable 2nd Death March. Starting with 6,000 Japanese soldiers deployed in deep interior Pensiangan and ordered to march to surrender when Japan lost, it ended with a mere 400 alive in Beaufort! The tragedy – nobody remember them, dying in vain! And information on them and the event is practically zero, the whole story muted, probably on account of shame and disgrace. I just had the luck. One day in early 2023, I was working on a story of the Rundum rebellion, I googled for info, suddenly the most unexpected snippet popped out. Here it is, and probably the one and only brief account on the suppressed 2nd Death March, written by American anthropologist and ethnographer, Thomas Rhys Williams, who was in North Borneo 1960-61 to do a very rare research on Murut Customary Behaviour. Thomas later published an article entitled 'The Form of a North Borneo Nativistic Behaviour'. Note, however, the American researcher and author never used the words '2nd Death March' which was later coined by author Maxwell Hall but the number of deaths was apparently so big or the survivors so drastically reduced, that it didn't escape his attention while more famous British historian like Owen Rutter avoided it completely. Vivid account by American on what happened Here it is, Williams' writing, quoted verbatim: 'On Dec 17, 1941, the Japanese invaded North Borneo with a force of 25,000 men. The main centres of occupation was established in Murut area at Tenom, Keningau, and Pensiangan. For three years large patrols of infantry regularly moved from these points through Murut territory, conscripting labor for construction of airfields, women for army prostitution centres, commandeering rice and other foodstuffs, imposing head taxes, fines and punishing offenders. In late 1943, allied guerrilla agents, parachuting into the area, enlisted Muruts in a force for raids on Japanese Patrols and outposts. Reoccupation of North Borneo by the Australian 9th Division led to heavy fighting through Tenom and Keningau. The 6,000 Japanese stationed in Pensiangan were ordered to stack arms and marched 150 miles to the coast and Beaufort to surrender. Australian army records show (only) 400 Japanese reached Beaufort. The remainder were killed by Muruts along the line of March (Tregonning 1958:221).' Died in the nether gloom for nothing There it is, as clear as it can be – there was actually a 'Second Death March', which I first published on February 5, 2023, in a Daily Express Sunday Special Report entitled 'Mystery of Sabah's 2nd Death March unravelled', although Thomas did not call it a '2nd death march', possibly because he wasn't aware of the first. Assuming Thomas' numbers were dead accurate, a death toll of 5,600 is far worse than the 2,434 Allied POWs dead in the 1st Sandakan-Ranau Death March, most of whom (about 1,400) actually died in Sandakan POW camp. For the eventual Japanese losers – all died in ignominy – public shame and disgrace covered up, accorded zero mention, compared to the annual heroic commemoration treatment for the Allied POWs killed in Sandakan-Ranau death march. That's war for domination, a zero sum game – losing soldiers die for nothing. Generals and emperors who order them to battle in the nether gloom of hostile distant jungles to cut down enemies for control and power, abandon them in the end. Track records: Two harbingers of death This is the sobering geopolitical lesson for serious reflection, in a world now simmering with war hawks in high places calling for a battle for national supremacy, beating up war drums and actively preparing war, instead of diplomacy for common prosperity. Since unsung Sabah had hosted the horrors and sorrows of two killer death marches, these are harbingers of death – omens, signs, symbols that foreshadow possibly a march towards worse recurrence approaching us and beyond, if the solid track records of two death marches in Sabah are not remembered and taken to heart and finally inspire no transformative impacts. So, maybe there is more value to peace-making to highlight lesson from Sabah's two death marches – two killer track records driven by relentless hostility, cruelty ending in deliberate, wilful mass slaughter. Eloquent venture capitalist Eric Li who understands investment risks best says he trusts only proven track records. Here is little Sabah, which hosted two track records of death marches where two empires take turn to lose wars and suffered. So, who won? Map on 2nd Death March route So, I was determined to dig into what this obscure 2nd Death March is all about, after being over exposed to the first. When Tham Yau Kong invited a trip to visit Tenom last Tuesday to see the little known Lanut Carved Rocks Garden yonder further down famed Sapong, somehow, this field experience magnified what was a pure academic interest two years ago. The reality of the 2nd death march escalated from what I published on 5 Feb 2023 purely as head awareness. First, like the Aussie army Mud Map which plots the whole length of the 1st death march that Lynette gave Tham in 2005, leading to a full identification of the direction of the track, Tham gave me Maxwell Hall's map from his book 'Kinabalu Guerrillas'. This map indicates main connecting dots Maxwell calls the '2nd Death March', as follows: Pensiangan-Rundum-Kemabong- Sapong-Tenom-Beaufort. Field trip to Layan Carved Rocks Garden Glad to be back to my old love as 'roving reporter', 28/5/25 headed for outback destination Layang Layang, 8km from Sapong and 28 km from Tenm town. Arriving, you see first a flourishing cabbage farm stretching far yonder, dubbed second Kundasang. Our real interest, however, was the carved rock garden – a one kilometre walk into a jungle one kilometre above the cabbage farm. Rubin Kumuah, land owner of Layang Layang, led the uphill trek. We came to a big boulder – one of a scattered dozen that was covered by green moss. Botak, Rubin's loyal decades-old Indonesian worker, cleared the mosses, carvings surfaced but they looked like abstract art to me. Straining harder for a mind of the carvers, I saw possibly a deer head and other guesses. Rubin: 'My parents reported many Japanese here' So what did land owner Rubin Kumuah had to say about Lanut Carved Rocks Garden which he owns? He cited his parents: 'Papa dan ibu saya cakap banyak Jipun berkhemah di kawasan ni.' Translated, it means 'My father and mother (Lanut) said many Japanese army camped here'. To pit camps in the rock garden, the Japanese must have walked on existing tracks that passed by here. So, even though Layang Layang is not marked on Maxwell's map, it could well be a passage or approximate track of the 2nd death march, which gives us at least a mental grip about the reality of this major WW2 episode in Sabah. Of course, the inevitable question is: who did these rock carvings? Rubin said again: 'According to my parents, the Muruts of old did it but according to my brothers, when words were out that they were treasure maps carved by passing Japanese troops, treasure hunters went digging but found nothing'. Prospects for tourism The question is, can a combination of rock carving, Japanese camp site and passage of the 2nd death march be developed into a tourism product? Tham answered: 'In 2019, Rubin introduced his Rock Carving Garden to us, it attracted a few groups of hikers but when the Covid Pandemic struck with strict movement control, hikers stopped completely.' 'When we restarted trekking in mid-2024, we discovered no less than 10 carved boulders and when Rubin suggested this site be named after his mother, we came up with 'Lanut Rock Carving Garden'. Rubin's goal: 'I wanted to conserve these carved boulders for future generations who may benefit from rural tourism development.' Tham added: 'The Layang Layang area has at least 20km of tracks used by Muruts to walk from village to village, British officers used these as pony tracks to go from Tenom to Kemabong.' Heavy presence of Japanese in Murut heartland As Thomas Phys Williams noted, the Japanese military deployed a strong presence in Tenom, Keningau and Pensiangan – all Murut heartlands. In the case of Tenom, they set up a military headquarter in Sapong, complete with an airstrip in its rubber estate into which General Baba flew into and out. To deploy 6,000 soldiers in Pensiangan, they only way then was to walk 150-mile over pony tracks or hunting trails from Tenom to Kemabong, Rundum to reach Pensiagngan and vice versa later, on the 2nd death march. In my maiden visit to Pensiangan in December 2021, local Murut leader, Ansom bin Putiang recalled Japanese military camps studded the banks of the Saliu river downstream Wreckage of Liberator bomber In the end, Tenom, Sapong, like all other owns of North Borneo were heavily bombed. Tham recalled in in the 70s, he saw near the Perkasa Hotel ¾ of wreckage of a Liberator bomber, either shot down or crashed during such bombing runs but in 2000, he saw only chunk of metal left, the rest all cut as scrap metal. The point is, given such big military deployment in deep interior of Sabah, Japan, had reasoned that as a rising industrial power , they had the right to colonise foreign lands, just at Britain, USA and all the European power had done. They had planned and no doubt expected to colonise entire Borneo long term but alas, after just 44 months of occupation, America whipped up a complete surprise – dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a hydrogen bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, and Japan surrendered abruptly on August 15. Pensiangan too far for 9th Division to attack Although Japan formally surrendered on August 15, their forces in North Borneo continued to fight and elements of the Aussie 9th Division which landed in Labuan on June 10, continued to face combat in Tenom, Keningau and Beaufort was not taken until Sept 11, 1945. Pensiangan was apparently too deep going for the 9th Division which apparently did not target it for attack. What we know is, as Thomas Williams reported, 'the 6.000 Japanese stationed in Pensiangan were ordered to stack arms to march to Beaufort to surrender' but only 400 arrived . Maxwell Hall coined '2nd Death March' Maxwell Hall was the author who explicitly called this 'a second Death March', this time involving the Japanese and Muruts '. He wrote: 'The Murut warfare continued… When the Japanese soldiers left Pensiangan to march northwards to surrender to the Australians, they marched fully armed. By this time, the Muruts were masters of the route, which extended two hundred miles from Pensiangan to Beaufort….Death and dying spread out the whole way…..When they surrendered, the survivors were suffering all forms of tropical disease. It was a death march of Japanese… Just another example of bloodshed that took place…' In a discreet conversation in Pensiangan in December 2021, one time Murut headman, Ansom bin Puntiang, told me the locals were distributed guns towards the end of the war, what they did with it Ansom declined to say. Neither did Maxwell explain what he meant 'by this time, the Muruts were masters of the route'. 'All empires become arrogant' – Commentator Has the world learnt from the horrors of wars for power and control, like Sabah's two death marches? 'Fundamentally no,' says Hugh White, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies and the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra. 'All empires become arrogant, it is their nature,' observes Edward Rutterford. 'The earth is littered with empires that once believed they were eternal,' noted Percy Bessshe Shelby. On a parting note from Cliff James: 'The temple of empires comes tumbling down, the names of the mighty forgotten. Here is a parable: Power never last.' Transformative tip from the 'Good Samaritan' So what virtues and values last? When will the nations drop their hostile minds and lust for power and domination? Here's just one transformative tip from the story of the Good Samaritan, who not only lived by extraordinary kindness but radically blind to ethnic superiority and racial barriers.
Daily Express
23-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Upscaling Sabah's creative industries via summit
Published on: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 Published on: Wed, Apr 23, 2025 By: Kan Yaw Chong Text Size: The inaugural Sabah Creative Economy '25 held at SICC on April 14-15. Kota Kinabalu: One burning question at the inaugural Sabah Creative Economy Summit '25 was what it takes to upscale the State's creative industries for success. Daily Express asked two of the panel speakers, Geoffrey Sinn and Ekin kee Charles, for their input. 'Several critical elements must be in place to build a sustainable creative industry ecosystem in Sabah that can thrive locally and expand into international markets,' said Geoffrey Sinn, a notable digital content producer in the Sabah. 'First, there must be a strong focus on talent development through structured, industry-relevant training,' he said. 'Many creatives in Sabah have potential but lack access to programmes that equip them with practical skills in digital illustrations, animation, storytelling and entrepreneurship.' 'Training initiatives must be hands-on and outcome-driven, ensuring that the participants graduate with a polished portfolio, showreel and digital presence for both freelance and studio work. Subscribe or LOG IN to access this article. Support Independant Journalism Subscribe to Daily Express Malaysia Access to DE E-Paper Access to DE E-Paper Exclusive News Exclusive News Invites to special events Invites to special events Giveaways & Rewards 1-Year Most Popular (Income Tax Deductible) Explore Plans Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
