The latest one she's shared with us is Bu House - the home of a man whose passion for bamboo has led to his creation of the Langkawi Carbon Exchange project. Tucked away in a hidden pocket of villages, Bu House is a sprawling homestead whose simplicity veils the important work that is being done there.
The founder, a Mr Chan, is a rotund fellow who didn't hesitate to welcome us onto his grounds and generously spent an afternoon telling us about his various projects. The one that caught our attention was his carbon exchange project which involves both Langkawi villagers and big businesses from around the world.
The idea is a simple one. Sell carbon credits to big businesses who need to pay penance for their pollutant ways by planting bamboo on local village land. The big businesses win and so do the Langkawi kampung folk. Apparently business is so good, Mr Chan can't keep up with the demand!
And the local folk who participate in the programme? Mr Chan tells the tale of how years ago, when the programme began, he only managed to persuade the local menfolk to permit the planting of a handful of bamboo thickets on their respective pieces of land. Now, several years later, some of these old folk have passed on, and their wives upon finding out how lucrative the bamboo have become, berate their late husbands for not allowing Mr Chan to plant more on their plots!
Judging from the figures Mr Chan shared with us, I can certainly understand why. A bamboo thicket nets the land owner about RM1,000 from the programme a year. All for doing nothing except allowing the bamboo to exist on one's plot of land, as all maintenance and culling is done by Mr Chan's team free-of-charge. An acre of land can host up to 270 bamboo thickets.
Anim did the math and almost decided against building La Pari-Pari! :-)
The money aside, we were very heartened to meet Mr Chan. Here's someone who has pursued a passion of his and not only made it pay off, but also figured a way to spread the wealth around. Now that's sustainable business practice.
Oh and the best part of visiting Mr Chan? We also got free reign to wander around his grounds which houses ducks, chickens, guinea fowl, a very playful dog and a clutch of goats from various parts of the world. One of them was even in the midst of giving birth when we were there and another was busy tending to her two-day old kid. It doesn't get more special than that.
To view photos, visit La Pari-Pari's Facebook page.
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