Reflections from Kebun Kaki Bukit

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Photo credits: All photos published here were taken by Nina Chabra.

This is a reflection of my experience at Kebun Kaki Bukit (KKB) , a progressive and breathtakingly scenic farm in Banting Malaysia. This experience, albeit being a few months ago, still refreshes me. The colours of the place are really lucid and I still remember the freshness of the air.

2 permaculture-oriented friends, Azim and Arafat have been managing the place for 4 months. I met them a year ago, through a Permaculture Design Course , run by Malaysia-based Eats, Shoots and Roots .

This mutuality brought me up from Singapore to volunteer with them. There were already a lot of volunteers that had come through (mostly via word of mouth or Workaway), even though the farm only started calling for folks since early Aug. Arafat jokingly mentioned that other organic farmers he knew were requesting him to find volunteers for them!

Which is why I had this reflection – the draw and magic of intentional/transient communities, personally, are always vibe-based. This is truly in sync with what you feel around Azim and Arafat. The easy-going nature of them speaks volumes of their personal life philosophies. Speaking to the other volunteers, some of whom have volunteered on countless farms internationally, definitely agree with this.

There needs to be a certain sense of ease when working together with and managing nature. Really rigid SOPs on farms are common and truly, I understand the (mostly practical) necessity of why it has to be so. But I also believe rules and methods need to evolve and be constantly questioned. For me, that is the beauty of evolution – that it is applied to everything and infinitely. Making volunteers feel they are collectively contributing not only to the farms’ future itself, but also to a long-term ideology. An idea of ‘ Even after we’re gone, the contribution is part of the Earth’s processes’, that kinda idea.

And at KKB, with the effusive personalities of the 2 dudes, I felt that. That we’re not only volunteering on this farm but that every action is a conscientious thought and contribution to the larger concept of nature and legacies.

That, ahem, is my spiritual reflection of my mere week-long experience.

The practical observations I had were ones that embarrassed me, yet gave me hope. Hope – not the kind of ‘salvation from civilised insanity’ kinda hope. More the ‘how to live practically and regeneratively, using available materials’ kind. I’m going to give a few examples, but really, I learnt too much about everyday issues that had such easy/simple applications. My brain was quite overwhelmed.

So there was a house-fly problem in the outdoor kitchen. Jessie, a young, ebullient volunteer from Canada, made this suggestion.The practical solution literally was a homemade solution of 1 part apple cider or white vinegar (whichever is available), ¼ part liquid soap and 1 part water in a spray bottle. Spray and wipe fly-prone areas. Fwah! No more flies!

Next, Arafat accidentally dropped his mobile phone into a tub of water. All of us saw it happening and didn’t know what to do. Jessie had a suggestion. Leaving it in a container of uncooked rice for few days. And Arafat had his phone back.

Another practical experience I had came only after I came back home. And it was spiced with a personal philosophy. I thought about all the common issues people have, living in a fixed community. And I felt it was quite similar even in a transient community. Constructive communication is imperative for embracing all the differences that we have, and constructive communication can bring an ‘open mind’ to an open dimension.

How does that fall under ‘practical’ then? It’s this – Allowing my mind to have fluidity, makes the journey ahead of me all the more mind-blowing.