Jungle adventure
A veteran journalist draws on his experiences working alongside scientists and researchers to write a tale set in the wilds of Sabah.
VETERAN journalist Emin Madi’s new book, The Green Gold Of Borneo (GGoB), is not only an adventure-packed “documentary fiction”, but it also provides insight into Sabah’s forest conservation efforts.
The book’s protagonist is a determined journalist obsessed with uncovering the secrets of the unexplored saucer-like summit in the middle of the famous real-life Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA), also known as Sabah’s Lost World.
The fictional journalist doesn’t heed a Murut shaman’s advice and continues his digging only to encounter unusual happenings and strange events.
“In many ways, although the plot is mostly fictionalised, GGoB is all about the natural environment, particularly the fate of the last remaining undisturbed rainforest in Malaysia, and Sabah in particular.
“I came to realise that natural wonders, and in this case the totally protected forest in Sabah, are a very interesting topic for fiction,” Emin, 69, says in a recent interview.
“I was very fortunate to have participated in many resource and wildlife surveys of Sabah’s natural wonders so I thought I should write something more interesting than news reports, which is why I decided to do a documentary-adventure-fiction.
“It took me all of 2016 to complete the manuscript, after which my former colleague, Zahir Ahmad, edited the first copy before sending it to UK-based Austin Macauley Publishers,” Emin says.
The Bernama freelance reporter and photographer’s first foray into environmental reporting was in the 1980s when he participated in a scientific expedition into the now world-renowned Danum Valley Conservation Area in Lahad Datu, Sabah; the expedition involved local and foreign researchers, including some from Britain’s venerable Royal Society.
In 2013, Emin, who hails from Kampung Bayangan in Keningau, Sabah, spent 10 days in the deep jungle of the MBCA with local researchers who were carrying out a resources and wildlife survey.
“It was at Maliau Basin that I felt a deep urge to write an environmental-based story, especially after some expedition participants related to me many mysterious events that took place in the area.
“So I got an idea to start writing GGoB using the MBCA as a central theme and also based on my own experiences working alongside scientists and researchers.
“From my observations, the findings from the field work are very important as they can be used to communicate facts about the stature of Sabah’s protected forests.
“On top of that, I was also very motivated by the tremendous and commendable efforts undertaken by the Sabah Forestry Department with the strong support of the previous state government to protect the state’s natural heritage.
“I hope the current government will have as strong a commitment to protect our pristine and undisturbed forest as well as to continue and encourage more research activities and international research collaborations,” he says.
As of November 2016, Sabah’s totally protected areas stood at more than 1.8 million hectares or 25.46% of the state’s total land area.
In 1997, the Sabah State Assembly elevated the Maliau Basin Conservation Area into a Class 1 Protection Forest Reserve and increased its size from 39,000ha to 58,000ha to include the outer northern and eastern escarpments and Lake Linumunsut, the largest lake in Sabah.
According to historical records, the Maliau Basin was spotted in 1947, when a British pilot flying from the west coast of Sabah to Tawau in the east coast nearly crashed into the steep cliffs rising over 900m above the jungle floor.
Emin, a former press secretary in a Federal Ministry, has also authored two environmental-based fiction books in Malay. – Bernama