Educational and fun-filled visit to Kedah Rice Bowl

by Teoh Gim Eong
30 Sept 2016

It was Monday, 5th of September when the Nestlè Retirees made their way to Sungei Petani to start a 3-days educational and fun-filled adventure in Kedah. Some even enjoyed their senior citizen discount by using the train.

The main purpose of this trip was to learn about rice used in Nestlè Baby Cereals. Firstly, we visited the Nestlè Experimental rice station where we saw one month old padi plants in neat plots. At the Nestle Paddy club, we were informed about the 300 padi farmers who are taught environmentally-friendly, innovative agricultural practices to increase yield whilst reducing the dependence on chemicals.  All of these is essential to supply rice that meets the high quality and safe requirements for baby cereals. 


Nestlè  Experimental Rice Station       



                             Gim Eong examines  one month plants

Bags of dukong and langsat awaiting us 

                     Enjoying the fruits in light drizzle   



Rice Mill Ban Eng Hin 

    
         
Raw harvested padi is sent to the rice millers. At Ban Eng Hin Rice Mill in Kerpan, we were overwhelmed by the mountain of raw padi and saw the machines used to remove the outer husk and some dust and stones, to give brown, wholegrain rice.
                        
      

 Mountain of Raw Padi

Following this de-husked rice, we visited Nina Maju Sdn Bhd. Polished white rice is obtained by removing the bran layer. We were impressed by the high technology machines to remove stones, threads, discoloured grains, metal fragments, chalky grains as well as dust to produce clean rice grains.

       Mr Tan Chor Eeow (2nd from left) with Nestlè Retirees infront of NinaMaju       

                     
We had earlier visited Feed The Seed Sdn Bhd. which uses agricultural `waste’ to produce biodegradable products. Padi straw and husk, sugar cane fibres, empty palm fruit fibres are used to produce disposable plates and trays which are all certified food grade by the relevant international bodies. There were also trays for frozen pizza which could be used in normal ovens as well as microwave ovens. Mr. Ramaness, the CEO patiently explained the processes involved as well as the interesting products which are exported globally. How encouraging to know that all parts of the padi is used. It is indeed `zero waste’.

Prof. Ramaness (in the centre) with Nestle Retirees, visiting the plant which produces biodegradable packaging materials

Another stop in this `Rice Bowl’ of Malaysia, was the Padi Museum which featured a large display on rice cultivation. Large murals were painted on the walls on the upper level creating a realistic impression of a panoramic view of the Kedah rice fields and surrounding area. A revolving platform took us around these paintings.

Archeological Site Map

Apart from padi, we also visited the Bujang Valley which is an archaeological site, also known as Sungei Batu of about 1100 sq km. Archaeological work has revealed a jetty site, iron smelting/ processing area and also a chandi (temple) area with buildings using bricks that is dated 110 BC, indicating these to be the oldest man-made buildings in

Archeological Site where the  digging is  

South-East Asia. We visited one of the archaeological sites as well as the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum at Batu Pahat, Merbok. The archaeological collection in the museum confirms that this area was an international trade center frequented by traders from China, India as well as Malays from the archipelago since the 5th Century AD. Relics also display the spread of the Hindu and Buddhism in the South East Asian region between the 3rd and 12th Century.      
       

     
   

           Tamadun Tertua di Asia Tenggara, Sungai Batu

Another stop was KEDA Agrobiz at Jalan Gurun-Sik too view the coffee & herb plantation. Mineral water is also produced here and there are chalets as well as team building facilities. Due to heavy drizzle, we were not able to see much .

Making our way up Gunong Jerai, also known as Kedah Peak, we were rewarded by a magnificent view of the area and cool air. At a height of about 1,100 metre, this was visible from the sea and was used as a landmark by sailors who called it Pulau Serai.
            

            What a magnificient view at 1000m above sea level

The grounds at Regency Hotel, Gunung Jerai is beautiful and looks very well maintained. We plan to make another trip back here for another get-together in the future.

Beautiful Hydrangeas planted around 

                 Group photo with restaurant at the background

        Lovely garden and compound surround the chalets

What is a trip without food, especially where the Nestle Retirees are involved! There were local fruits like dukong, duku langsat and kampong durians which we enjoyed typical Malaysian-style, i.e. `tepi sawah’ and `tepi jalan’. And the highly recommended `gerai’ for fresh ikan keli and ikan kembong.  Also thank you for the generous hospitality of En. Rahman Senayan for inviting us to a barbecue at his home, as well as June Lim Jun Way for taking some of us for local street food.

This trip had it all! Educational, historical, scenic, gastronomic and in the company of our friends. Many of us look forward to future trips and hope more retirees are able to join in. You don’t know how much you miss!!

Thank you also to Mr. Yong Li Keng and En.Razak of Agricultural Services and to `Feed the Seed Sdn Bhd’, Ban Eng Hin Sdn Bhd and Nina Maju Sdn Bhd for accommodating us. Last but not least to Mr. Chong Min Sin for co-ordinating the arrangements as making last minutes changes to itinerary.

 

Next to come: MNRA Sabah Gathering at Rasa Sayang Resort, Kokol Hill , Manggatal, Kota Kinabalu – 29th -30th October 2016.