Three nights ago, after a failed attempt to watch Dead Man's Shoes on my laptop, I managed to get What Rainforest: Wake Up and Smell The Palm Oil? running on DivX Movies. It wouldn't be a fair comparison to put the psychological thriller and the 36-minutes documentary side by side but I watched the latter with great interest nonetheless.
Hilary Chiew & chi too highlighted the fight of an Iban native, Segan Anak Degon of his land against the oil palm plantation in Kampung Lebor, a village near Kuching. The man is the only person out of 101 families affected who stood his ground and left unaffected by the oil palm plantation. The documentary tells the plight and the fight of a native and his family and what the government (and public) are unaware of when it comes to 'developing' a nation.
I am not going to defend my ignorance when it comes to native customary rights (NCR), so my hope is that the film has justify what needed to be said although not yet done. Credits to Chiew & co. for making that wake-up call for a Sarawak native like me, and hopefully many others, of what this land is made of and not take it for granted. Oh, and to Steven Lee & Benjamin Ujang for making the DVD available for an Iban in Scotland. :-) Cheers, guys. Keep them coming!
Hilary Chiew & chi too highlighted the fight of an Iban native, Segan Anak Degon of his land against the oil palm plantation in Kampung Lebor, a village near Kuching. The man is the only person out of 101 families affected who stood his ground and left unaffected by the oil palm plantation. The documentary tells the plight and the fight of a native and his family and what the government (and public) are unaware of when it comes to 'developing' a nation.
I am not going to defend my ignorance when it comes to native customary rights (NCR), so my hope is that the film has justify what needed to be said although not yet done. Credits to Chiew & co. for making that wake-up call for a Sarawak native like me, and hopefully many others, of what this land is made of and not take it for granted. Oh, and to Steven Lee & Benjamin Ujang for making the DVD available for an Iban in Scotland. :-) Cheers, guys. Keep them coming!
2 comments:
Flo, what is your take on the palm oil plantation itself? Do you think that it does not benefit the people of Sabah and Sarawak?
Hi Tommy,
It does benefit the people who are directly and indirectly related to the palm oil plantation as much as doing the damage. I believe the issue is not about the palm oil plantation but HOW certain plantation projects start and affect the lives of people who did not want it at the first place. This can involve not just palm oil - it can be any plantation.
The problem with palm oil plantation is, it has an irreversible damage (deforestation & post-plantation soil waste!). What happens to life after palm oil plantation?
Anybody out there? x
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