Perlis may be a small state, far from Malaysia’s capital, a sea of green from the air thanks to the many padi fields (rice fields), dotted with small kampungs (villages). But in among the padi fields a quiet movement is growing. Many of the people living in the kampungs are banding together to form co-operatives, to help them promote and sell Perlis products and services, while attracting visitors to the state.
They are assisted by the Malaysian Cooperative Commission and the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Perlis, DYMM Pemangku Raja Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail who takes a keen interest in this area. The Crown Prince officiated at the inauguration ceremony for the National Cooperative Month 2024 at JPS Complex Bengkalan Asam, Kangar recently an event we were privileged to attend with our friends from Gaya Travel.
Perlis products on show at fair
In conjunction with the National Cooperative Month 2024, we had time to look around the many stalls showing off and selling Perlis products and those from other states, all produced by cooperatives.
The previous day, we’d visited the Felcra Scheme at Lubuk Sireh, where the Koperasi Peserta Peserta Rancangan (Co-op members of) Felcra Lubuk Sireh Bhd has two on-going projects, the products of which they were showing off for the three day festival to launch the month long festivities. The first was the development of seedlings of the herb Kacip Fatimah, which is added to other products like coffee to make a strengthening potion for women. Men can also use it, but they may prefer the more specific ‘tongkat ali’.
The seedlings can only fully develop in a cooler environment, so they are sent to a cooler state to grow, before coming home to be processed and packaged as Kacip Fatimah LS coffee. We were able to purchase the coffee during our visit, but while you can’t find it, or the honey, in shops, it’s available from online shopping sites.
Stingless bees, called ‘kelulut’ in Malaysia, are very important for pollination and are even popular in home gardens as the bees are harmless. They also produce honey with a distinctive and pleasing taste which is said to have health benefits.
We also visited other cooperatives across the state including Koperasi Wahyuni Perlis which offers Shariah compliant ladies only beauty treatments. The foot massage this writer enjoyed at their outlet in Kampung Sena in Kangar was certainly a cut above. Prices are reasonable and they also offer a range of beautiful massage oils, jamu and similar products, also available online. Koperasi Wahyuni also runs training programmes.
You can find them at three outlets, two in Kangar and one in Alor Setar in Kedah. We also visited the Lubuk Sireh budget hotel project in Titi Tinggi, which will be included in a different story.
We also stopped off at Harum Manis Hutan Temin in Kg Oran, where they produce the highly sought after Harumanis mangoes. After the season is over, they freeze the extras to produce Harumanis smoothies for the rest of the year. They are every bit as good as the fresh fruit.
The three day fair concluded with a ceremony where Lieutenant General Datuk Ahmad Norihan bin Jalal (B), the Chairman of the Cooperative Commission Malaysia, said a few words and presented awards to representatives of excellent Perlis Co-operatives, including from those mentioned above.
…. The government has taken an initial step to help cooperatives involved in the tourism sector to promote their products and services in order to get a wider market whether at domestic and international level. Therefore, starting this year 2024 this Ministry has allocated as much as RM2 million under the Tourism Cooperative Program (Program Jom Jelajah Koperasi) (JEJAK) where assistance will be given to cooperatives involved in the tourism sector to increase the market power of their tourism products, such as hotels, homestay, resort, chalets, tourist transportation services, handicraft products and so on.
As on the first day the programme wrapped up with a lucky draw and the top prizes of a new motorcycle each day went to winners who’d promptly give them to their fathers.
More information on Co-operatives in Malaysia
Malaysian Cooperative Commission Tower, Changkat Semantan, Off Jalan Semantan, Bukit Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2083 4000 | Fax: 03-2083 4100 | E-Mail: [email protected]
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