Happy 130th, Penang Botanic Gardens: Gardeners share their best memories Gardeners and visitors recall fond memories of the Penang Botanic Gardens, which celebrates its 130th anniversary this year. A cool morning breeze and golden sunshine streaming through dark green foliage welcome visitors to the Penang Botanic Gardens. While joggers and visitors admire the scenic surroundings, many do not realise that Mother Nature had a little help to look this good. Through the years, gardeners and volunteers have played a role in keeping the 130-year-old dame beautiful. Brothers Ansari Abdul Rahman, 71, and Ahmad Abdul Rahman, 68, joined the Gardens at ages 21 and 18 respectively. Now retired, they were among some 80 staff tasked with caring for the plants in the early days. Reminiscing about the days of yore, Ahmad said they were at the Gardens from 7:30am to 4:30pm come rain or shine. There were always tour buses with visitors coming from as far as Taiwan and Japan, Ahmad noted. “I was happy. I’d water the plants, show visitors around and warn them not to touch anything. We could even fine those who parked their cars on the grass RM75, which was a lot of money then as our salary was only RM100. Playing ball on the grass was also not allowed. The gardeners used to walk or cycle, but today everyone scoots around on a motorcycle.” Ahmad confirmed that the Penang Botanic Gardens Department’s grouse of visitors releasing fish and turtles into the streams and ponds were a problem even back then. Stolen plants, he said, were also a headache for the staff. Asked about the Gardens’ best kept secret, Ahmad whispered: “The Japanese tunnel made with wooden beams by the lily pond.” It’s now hidden by rocks and lost to the ravages of time. He said there was even a shed and a concrete platform where the Japanese made their torpedoes. The soldiers had excavated tunnels near the lily pond, turning the whole place into a naval store, ammunition dump and torpedo assembly station. When the British came back in 1945, much cleaning up and restoration work had to be done, according to A Guide To The Penang Botanic Gardens. The waterfall is one of the Gardens many attractions. - LIM BENG TATT/The Star The waterfall is one of the Gardens’ many attractions. Mornings and evenings see walkers and joggers flocking to the Gardens. Mornings and evenings see walkers and joggers flocking to the Gardens. The sprawling lawns of the Gardens host various activities. - LIM BENG TATT/The Star The sprawling lawns of the Gardens host various activities. When in bloom, the cannon ball trees (Couroupita guianensis) colour the Gardens a bright red. When in bloom, the cannon ball trees (couroupita guianensis) colour the Gardens a bright red. As good as Kew Ahmad waxes lyrical about the natural beauty of the Gardens, said to rival even Britain’s magnificent Kew Gardens (officially known as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). “I’ve been there. Our Gardens was once just as beautiful. If you want to relax your mind, there is no better place than here,” Ahmad insisted. He grew emotional when asked if he has been back since retiring. Shaking his head, the widower said he could not bear seeing how the Gardens has deteriorated through the years, with many precious plants destroyed. “Me, my brother, uncle and grandfather, Mohamad Haniff Kupey Pitchey, all worked in the Gardens. Mohamad Haniff taught the world about the secrets of Malaysian plans. He was employed as a botanical apprentice in 1890 and was guided by the British assistant superintendent, Charles Curtis. Curtis was credited with the blossoming of the Gardens, but lack of funds and direction during the Japanese Occupation, coupled with the effects of World War II, left the place in bad shape. “Mohamad Haniff rose up the ranks to be the deputy of the Singapore Gardens assistant curator in 1925. He loved the Gardens so much that he sold off his property and possessions to pay for the staff’s salaries when the British left. He would always blow a buffalo horn at knock-off time, signalling that it was time for the workers to pack up,” he said. Mohamad Haniff was a pioneer botanist, having collected thousands of herbarium specimens and collaborated with prominent botanists like H.N. Ridley, I.H. Burkill and R.E. Holttum. Newly discovered species were even named after him, Ahmad shared as he dug out a stack of neatly bound typewritten notes on the country’s medicinal plants. “These pages contain natural remedies of everything from insect bites to diabetes,” he said. The family has botany blood coursing through their veins, quipped Ansari, who never married. He had tended to the fern and orchid houses, and loved entertaining curious visitors with interesting nuggets of information. “You know, I killed at least 120 snakes there and ended up with cobra, python and green snake belts. We had so many ferns and orchids that I lost count. We had the best orchid collection in Asia. The tiger orchid measured 12cm when in full bloom ... the biggest in the world. The visitors have never seen anything like it and would tip me because they were so happy. I learnt so much being at the Gardens. Every day was a surprise. I saw beautiful flowers that smelt like rotting meat. The monkey cup was my favourite because it can hold water and eat insects!” Ansari Abdul Rahman, 71, and his grandfathers buffalo horn. Ansari Abdul Rahman, 71, and his grandfather’s buffalo horn. Ahmad Abdul Rahman, 68, was only 18 when he started tending the plants in the Gardens. Ahmad Abdul Rahman, 68, was only 18 when he started tending the plants in the Gardens. Datuk Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim and Dr Liew Kon Wui. Dr Liew Kon Wui. Evening drives To Heritage of Malaysia Trust president Laurence Loh, a visit to the green lung under the Gardens’ first and last Malaysian botanist curator Cheang Kok Choy, was always a “magical sensory experience”. Growing up in the 1950s, Loh and his siblings looked forward to the after-dinner outings where his father would bundle everyone into the family’s old Morris and do a circuit of the town – Botanic Gardens, Gurney Drive, Esplanade and back home. The cooler temperate inside the Waterfall Gardens, as it was affectionately known to his generation, offered respite from the heat. “Back then, cars were allowed into the Gardens. I will always remember the slow drives on the tar road. The familiar fragrance of the Ceylon ironwood trees lining the entrance into the Gardens would welcome us with their unforgettable scent. It was as if we had ventured into another realm. These childhood memories still send a tingle down my spine,” recalled the renowned heritage architect. During his teens, the drives centred around “hunts for misted up cars” though Loh admitted to being quite naive then as to what was really going on inside the vehicles. “Couples were parked in the dark and the rest, I leave to your imagination.” Picnics by the stream were also memorable for the family. Jumping into the crystal clear water was always a treat. To a young Loh, the sprawling Gardens appeared like a planet in itself. The trees that coloured his youth started to wither after Cheang’s retirement and were later replaced with cannonball trees, Loh lamented. Sharing how Cheang spoke to the trees and plants every day, Loh is convinced that that was the secret behind the Gardens’ lushness. “Learning about trees and plants was automatic as one explores the Gardens. Unless the authorities work very hard to recapture the botanic mission of the place and control the crowds, the sense of a living library cannot be conveyed. Most visitors today see the place merely as a recreation park.” Monkey business Friends of the Penang Botanic Gardens Society (FOPBGS) president Datuk Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim has both fond and funny stories to share. Her love affair with the Gardens started long before she was appointed chief controller there in 2010. One day, the young mother decided to take her toddler for a picnic and just as the two were about to settle down to enjoy the spread, they found themselves surrounded by monkeys. “I panicked. Grabbing my daughter in one hand while swinging my bag around and attempting to fold the mat and pack the picnic basket, I must have been quite a sight,” she said, laughing. In the late 70s, monkeys were part of the attraction; the place was even known as Monkey Gardens then. The monkey population soon grew out of control, thanks to visitors who fed them bananas and peanuts. Tengku Idaura recalled military bands playing at the bandstand and a stream teeming with fish. “The stream, shaded by low hanging boughs, flowed from Penang Hill and lovely lilies were always in bloom. The Formal Garden is an area that I absolutely adore. It is a typical English garden, symmetrically designed so that the rows of plants create a mirror image of each other. Filled with flowering plants, it is the most colourful part of the Botanic Gardens,” she said. Calling the place “a very special beauty”, she pointed to the serene, calm surroundings, and natural hills and valleys, as features that set the Gardens apart from other emerald sanctuaries. However, one memory she would like to erase is that of the mini zoo where a sun bear, a wallaby and deer were among the residents. “I will always remember the orang utans, Impi and Impu. At the time, visiting delegates were encouraged to present an animal for the zoo. It was a very sad time for the Gardens as the zoo was very poorly maintained. My heart broke for the animals.” People’s park Former Universiti Sains Malaysia school of biological sciences professor Dr Liew Kon Wui was told by friends to “make sure you visit the beach, Penang Hill and Botanic Gardens” when he packed his bags and left Kuala Lumpur for the northern isle. A visit to the Gardens decades ago marked the start of a life-long love affair – one peppered with frustration, annoyance, joy and determination to make things right. “When I came, the vast open lawns, big boulders and gullies, struck me. The Gardens comprised lawns, each with a particular feature. “The great diversity of trees you see is Curtis’ legacy. He had amassed a great collection of trees from the Commonwealth because that was his interest. His concept was to blend the Gardens with its surrounding natural landscape while focusing on native trees. “Before the second world war, we already had our own herbarium. The Hong Kong Botanic Gardens even sent their collection here because Penang was thought to be safe. But when we were under threat, lock, stock and barrel were moved to the Singapore Botanic Gardens,” he said, pointing out that the Gardens in Penang and Singapore are duplicates of Kew. Dr Liew who is also an active FOPBGS pioneer member, hopes the hill-slope trails in the secondary jungle will be reopened and the endemic trees identified before the Gardens celebrates another milestone. He lamented how the public is in the dark about the future of the Gardens in the absence of a masterplan and the delay in the implementation of a new management plan. “I’m not a politician but I do have a slogan I’d like to share ... Kembalikanlah Kebun Bunga Kepada Rakyat (return the Gardens to the people). There are many who want to volunteer and contribute towards the Gardens’ betterment, but we lack a good mechanism to co-ordinate and follow up on these offers. Related story: Plans to safeguard Penang’s botanical garden for the future
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 06:37:36 +0000
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