Profiting from bamboo
SUNGAI SIPUT, Perak: Striding towards a clump of healthy-looking bamboos growing about 12 metres away from his house, here, Ahmad Mazlan Othman inspects the structure of the stem and leaves of one of the tall woody plants.
Whilst flicking through the leaves and softly knocking on the stem to find out if the bamboo was mature, he said: “This particular one that I’m looking at is the ‘Betong’ bamboo – it is Asia’s best and most hardy bamboo species and has, in fact, been dubbed the ‘king of Asian bamboos’.”
Ahmad Mazlan, 61, who is a civil engineer by profession and a bamboo enthusiast as well, said ‘Betong’ was among the 70 bamboo species found in Malaysian forests.
Worldwide, there are about 1,500 bamboo species. Pointing to the ‘Betong’ growing lushly near his house, he said those were planted by him.
“I’ve planted 35 species of bamboo in my backyard and they comprise a mix of local and foreign species. When I was planting them, a lot of people asked why on earth I would want to do that as they regarded bamboo as something that has little commercial value as it was mostly used for making fish traps and chicken coops.
“What they didn’t realise was that just one piece of this ‘Betong’ bamboo, for instance, is valued at RM200, so you can imagine the value of a whole clump of bamboo,” he told Bernama. Courses on bamboo The bamboo is an evergreen perennial flowering plant that belongs to the Poaceae grass family. Southeast Asia and East Asia have some of the largest bamboo forest areas in the world.
Ahmad Mazlan runs his own engineering firm that specialises in bamboo-based constructions.
He and his daughter also operate Bamboo Jungle Adventures which, among other things, sells bamboo seeds and seedlings and various bamboo products, and offers short-term training courses on bamboo to people interested in bamboo carpentry and fabrication of bamboo furniture.
Bernama’s interview with Ahmad Mazlan took place during a recent Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) media familiarisation trip to the northern states.
Among the places visited were Ahmad Mazlan’s bamboo grove near his house and workshop located at Kampung Talang Trosor, about eight kilometres from Sungai Siput.
The economic potential of bamboo, Ahmad Mazlan pointed out, was enormous but sadly not many people were aware of it.
Countries like Indonesia, China and the Philippines, he added, have succeeded in harnessing the commodity and were producing downstream products worth millions of ringgit. Obsession with bamboo Ahmad Mazlan’s self-confessed obsession with bamboo started in 2010 when his work as a civil engineer took him to several countries where he came across bamboo innovations that not only impressed him but introduced him to the vast potential of the natural resource.
The father-of-four said in countries like China, Indonesia and South Korea, the injection of creativity and technology in the bamboo industry has succeeded in yielding a high-value commodity that can be utilised for building houses and making furniture.
In Bali, Indonesia, he was struck by the bamboo villas and furniture that featured contemporary and traditional designs. He was also mesmerised by the bamboo forest in South Korea’s Damyang county, which also has many modern buildings built out of bamboo.
The international airport in Madrid, Spain, which features a bamboo ceiling, has also captivated many a tourist.
“Bamboo has 1,001 uses... in fact, the entire plant is beneficial to humans,” said Ahmad Mazlan, adding that it was a pity that Malaysia’s bamboo industry was stuck in its old mould although the natural resource grew well in the country.
After bamboo piqued his interest, he started reading up on it extensively and even attended seminars and courses to improve his knowledge and expertise. He also met up with players in the bamboo industry in Vietnam, Japan, China, South Korea and other countries to get further insights. Social enterprise Taking his passion for bamboo to the next level, Ahmad Mazlan set up Bamboo Jungle Adventures (BJA) in 2013, together with his daughter Anum Nazahah, 27, who has a degree in electronic physics.
Their mission is to promote and commercialise bamboo-based innovative products and erase the existing perception that it is a low-value product. BJA’s range of bamboo products includes furniture, gazebos, guitars and bicycles, all of which are made at its workshop at Kampung Talang Trosor.
It also offers services for the construction of bamboo-based building structures featuring high-value, contemporary concepts.
Among the building projects undertaken by BJA that have become the talk of the town are Masjid Buluh in Kuala Kangsar and the clock tower in Grik, both located in Perak and completed at end-2016.
“My 27 years of experience as an engineer came in handy for me when I started constructing bamboo-based building structures,” said Ahmad Mazlan, adding that BJA was run like a social enterprise.
“We want to help the local community as most of them are rubber tappers and farmers. Our workers are all from around here and we are also willing to train youths and women who want to learn the skills to make bamboo products.”
Good demand but not enough bamboo
The demand for BJA’s bamboo products over the last six years has been encouraging and it has also been awarded several building projects. However, the company is finding it a challenge to procure high-quality bamboo locally and find enough skilled workers.
“For example, right now we are in the midst of completing a new building at the prestigious Datai resort in Langkawi and we are forced to import bamboo from Indonesia,” he said, adding that currently in Malaysia, bamboos are harvested from the forests as it did not have dedicated plantations that can yield high-quality bamboo.
Ahmad Mazlan is all for the opening of bamboo estates as Malaysia’s bamboo resources were limited considering that only seven per cent of the nation’s forests consist of bamboo plants.
“It is costly to harvest and transport the bamboo from the forests. It is also costly and timeconsuming to import bamboo. One container of bamboo costs RM10,000 and we have to spend another RM18,000 for the load to be transported to our site,” he said.
Malaysia has the potential to develop and commercialise the bamboo industry as its climate and soil conditions are ideal for the cultivation of the plant on a large-scale.
“Furthermore, planting and maintenance are not only uncomplicated but the costs are also low. It promises high returns to anyone who ventures into the industry,” he added.
In September last year, Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok was quoted as saying that proactive steps need to be taken to propel the growth of the nation’s bamboo sector as it only recorded RM300,000 in exports in 2017.
“Previously, we only made products such as baskets or satay skewers using bamboo. Now, we need to produce higher value products such as furniture, laminated boards, construction materials and innovative novelty products,” she said, adding that innovation and creativity to create high-value products must also be cultivated. — Bernama