PEOPLE on the tourist island of Pulau Redang, Terengganu have turned their hand to farming to survive the pandemic.

Campsite owner Aziruddin Majid said one could consume the harvest or sell it for income.

He said he did not know how to farm but he had to learn to help himself and his two workers whose salaries he could no longer afford to pay.

“This is the only way for us to live through the Covid-19 pandemic. We have no choice because life on the island is not like life on the mainland. 

“We have heard people there saying the cost of living has increased but here on the island, the cost of living has not merely increased but it has doubled. And when tourism stops because of Covid-19, it is a problem for us,” he said.

Aziruddin told The Malaysian Insight tour operators on the island could not do business at all this year.

Yet at the same time, he said they had to continue to pay rent, workers’ salaries, and the bank for their loans.

Aziruddin, 36, said he was shocked when the government announced a full lockdown in June.

He said the ban on interstate travel had prevented local tourists from visiting Pulau Redang. 

“When we were shut last year, we had to bear the debt and costs. This year with the full lockdown we really don’t know where we’re going to find the find money,” he said.

Tourism is the state’s second-most important sector, after oil and gas. In 2009, the east coast state received 5.25 million tourists, which declined to just 500,000 people in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Aziruddin said he sold his antique car for RM11,000 for capital to start his farming project.

He said he did not get any assistance from the state or federal government.

“I don’t know how the others (tourism operators) are faring but so far we have not received any direct assistance from the government.

“And we really can’t just sit around and hope for help.  Maybe the government has given (some aid) but many here need help. 

Aziruddin said he was in the process of applying for a grant from the Agriculture Department to grow produce on his camp site.

“I hope it is approved. Because i have big plans – we want to plant aquaponically and we want to generate the electricity ourselves using hydro methods.

“I also want to offer ecotourism packages. For example, tourists come to pick vegetables which they can also cook here,” he said.

He has planted about 300 varieties of vegetable, including chilli, eggplant and okra. He also rears freshwater fish such as tilapia, puyu and patin.

“We harvested the vegetables after Hari Raya but did not sell them. We eat it ourselves. It saves us money.”

As he cannot afford to pay his workers a salary, he gives them the food that they grow.

Restaurant owner Marzuki Abdullah, 45, started a small farm when business dwindled. 

The Pulau Redang native said he earned at least RM500 to RM600 selling chillies to resorts and villagers on the island.

His investment of RM1,000 has yielded good results. His chillies fetched up to RM28 per kg during Ramadan. They now sell at RM18 per kg, which is still a “very high” price, said Marzuki.

“I grew some chilli before the MCO but have only started growing and selling other crops in the last three months.

However, he said they did not earn him as much as his restaurant business. 

“The restaurant made about RM100,000 a year and I earn only RM500 to RM600 a month now. Even so, it helps to ease the burden because I don’t know when I will be able to open the restaurant again; we depend a lot on foreign tourists for business,” he said

When he does open the business again, Marzuki plans to diners a new “from garden to plate” experience. His vegetables are organically grown without the use of pesticides.

In the meantime, there’s work to be done on the farm.

 “Right now I am trying to grow hydroponic plants,” he said.

Wan Muhammad Ashraf Wan Suhaimi, 32, has had to closed down his business of selling coconuts due the pandemic. So he took up farming instead. 

He said he started working on his chilli orchard in  December to support his family. With RM15,000, he was able to invest in 400 chilli plants.

However, luck was not on his side at first as chilli prices dropped.. 

“I had hoped to sell the chillies on the mainland but when it was time to sell, the price had dropped drastically and it continued to drop.

“I couldn’t even get half my capital back.”

He was not deterred, however, and took the trial as a lesson.

“I felt the loss but I decided to learn from it. After all, I had never planted anything before in my life. I chose to stay on the path.

“Look around the island, you’ll find that agriculture is foreign to the people. I hope to open the eyes of the villagers to it.” – July 5, 2021.