Awards for three enterprising farmers
TUARAN: The recent Hari Peladang, Penternak dan Nelayan Sabah (HPPNS) 2017 award ceremony has proved that the agricultural industry can benefit almost anyone, even highly-educated people.
While some people may classify the agriculture industry as a lessfavourable business approach, former civil engineer Kah Chee Hong would beg to differ.
Yesterday, the Beaufort-based farmer received the Peladang Jaya Lelaki Award. This was his second award as he was previously given the Penternak Jaya award back in 2015.
“My interest in agriculture began in 2005. During that time, I had started breeding goats. Before that, I was actually working as a building contractor. I was a former civil engineer.
“I did building contracts for almost ten years, after which I had decided to go into the agriculture business full time,” the 55-year-old said.
He now runs a kelulut bee (or also known as stingless bees) farm and he is planning to turn it into an ecotourism hotspot.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya (UM) Quantity Surveying graduate Arthur Davis Lim was given the Usahawan Siswazah Pertanian Award, yet again debunking the stereotype that agriculture is not suitable for people who are highly educated.
At such a young age, the 28-yearold has been enjoying tremendous success in his business as he is able to generate a yearly income of RM845,747 through his palm tree, rubber, pandan coconut and banana sales.
“This was all started by my father. Now my job is just to maintain the farm, seeds workers etc. The base is already there,” Arthur added.
He explained that he is still a quantity surveyor and that agriculture is just his part-time business.
He stressed that the agriculture industry is full of opportunity and has no limits and all that one needs to achieve success is hard work.
Sariyaman Sabur, 35, added a fourth award to her collection yesterday, as she was given the Peladang Jaya Wanita for her ubi kayu (cassava) based products.
Just like Kah and Arthur, Sariyaman also has strong educational background as she had a Diploma under her belt. Prior to venturing into the agriculture business, Sariyaman had opened a restaurant in West Malaysia.
She learned her skills from her mother and she went on to develop it further with the help of the Agriculture Department and the Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia.
Her products, which comprised cassava chips and cassava nuggets among others, are able to generate a monthly income of RM6,000.
“I am actually a manufacturer of cassava based products. I have a few agents under me who will distribute my products both in and out of the country,” she said.
It is understood that her business has now expanded to Tarakan and Vietnam.