We met a couple from Tawau who are building their vacation home in the interior of Sabah that is about four hours' drive from the nearest petrol station. They are planting fruit trees for a start. Now they have a cabin that boasts of a large living area and a small bed room. In stages, they plan to add a kitchen, an indoor toilet and a wash room. Ultimately they want to have a self-sustaining farm to move to in a few years' time. They have a stream in their property so there is no real need to dig a well. For electricity they are thinking of solar panels and a small generator to supply a few energy efficient tubes.
This couple reminds us of another we met in Tanjung Malim. The latter bought a link house with some government idle land behind their house bordering a forest reserve. The part-time mechanic cum hospital assistant who was a pastor in his earlier years planted fruit trees, vegetables and root vegetables on the open land. He shares his harvests with his neighbors gladly and therefore no one has a motive to complain about his using the public land.
The idea of being self-sufficient is fairly attractive to me, born and bred in the city. But I suppose it would require a fair bit of effort to learn to plant crops, even for our own consumption. One has to be convinced enough to devote financial resources towards purchasing or leasing some land to create a sanctuary.
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