We last left you starry-eyed after arriving in Singapore, ready to take on the world, excited about our adventures to come. Two months have passed since then, and a lot has happened in between. We spent many, many hours on buses, ferries, and trains. We tried a variety of delicious drinks and spicy and odd foods. We met interesting and inspiring people, but we have also been disillusioned by the state of travel. Through all the ups and downs, we’ve kept on moving and had the time of our lives. Now, let’s catch up!
Singapore is a hot, humid, and exciting place that is relatively small, yet with big-city vibes, with skyscrapers painted across the skyline. It’s also more expensive than the rest of the region, so after a couple of days, we quickly made our way into Malaysia.
Our first stop: the city of Malacca. We rolled into town on a “VIP” bus, which took around five hours and cost less than fifteen euros. Despite almost being left behind at the border, due to the fact that I always forget to write my middle name down on visa papers, the trip was comfortable and we soon stepped foot in the bustling river city on the Strait of Malacca.
Malacca is very multicultural, with Baba-Nyonya Peranakan Chinese houses and restaurants everywhere, as well as Portuguese and Dutch influence, after being colonized by the latter in the 1500s and 1600s, respectively.
Kuala Lumpur – the Big City
We continued our travels up through Malaysia, spending time in the very busy and overwhelming Kuala Lumpur. As we tried to find the charm in the rainy and hot weather of KL, we took the time to dig deeper into its culture, hoping to find something about the city that would attract us more. And like most big cities, what it lacked in beauty, its people made up for.
Our first volunteering project was with The Free Tree Society, a community-led cooperative focused on bringing biodiversity back to the city. The NGO ‘engages communities through hands-on environmental education, covering topics such as biodiversity, waste management, rainwater harvesting, climate change, and sustainable living.’ They organize at least two tree-planting workshops per week. Since 2013, they have distributed over 86,400 plants to homeowners, schools, marginalised communities, community gardens, and wildlife habitats.
“We are going through the sixth mass extinction. It is more critical than climate change. The two problems come hand in hand. We can adapt to climate change but we cannot adapt to biodiversity loss.” – Carolyn Lau, President of the Free Tree Society
Carolyn, president of the association
One very hot Saturday morning, we went up to the hills of Kuala Lumpur and joined twenty other volunteers scattered alongside the road of a nice residential area. Our goal: to plant over 400 trees next to a community farm in the area. Carolyn corralled the group together and spoke to us about the importance of biodiversity.
“All of life is a whole ecosystem that has a balance – which has become unbalanced due to humans.”–Carolyn Lau, President of the Free Tree Society
She explains that the oxygen we breathe comes from trees and from the ocean. The food that we eat comes from farms, which are enriched with good soil and life. And last but definitely not least, the pollinators: birds, insects and mammals that pollinate flowers and spread seeds, who in turn provide fruit and new plants. It’s all part of a balanced ecosystem, which humans are destroying by taking and using too much.
WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report found an average 73% decline in global populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians since 1970. According to WWF, three-quarters of the land-based environment and roughly 66% of the ocean environment have been significantly altered. As Carolyn says, “If we do not have biodiversity, we cannot survive.”
Two hours later, sweaty and covered in dirt – we had accomplished our mission and the ground was blanketed in new baby trees. This first experience in the field felt very rewarding. Instead of “rounding up our dollar to contribute to tree planting,” as we’re often prompted to do when buying something online, we were actually digging the holes and laying the roots by ourselves. One small step towards preserving biodiversity.
We continued to explore the Malaysian capital, and one day while walking around the Central Market, we stumbled upon a big neon sign, beckoning us to Come On Up! Furnished with upcycled and DIY pieces, Sustain.Ed, is a place where “people can learn about sustainability and social impact in one place.”
Sustain.Ed is home to the B Corp social enterprise Earth Heir, which sells only ‘Made in Malaysia’ products that support different communities and artisans, as well as The Sea Monkey Project, which aims to “reshape how we think about waste and sustainability.”
“I don’t think you can have sustainability without social impact. You can’t look at the environment without looking at people. And you can’t just focus on people and ignore the environment.” – Sasibai Kimis, founder of Earth Heir
Sasibai Kimis, founder of Earth Heir
“I don’t think it’s one hard step. I think it’s hundreds of hard steps. Being an entrepreneur is hard, and being a social entrepreneur is even harder. But, I don’t think everyone should quit their jobs and start social enterprises. We need internal champions everywhere: in the government, in different industries and sectors who will support social enterprises. You can be in finance, and be a person of influence where you are.” – Sasibai Kimis, founder of Earth Heir
Being a person of influence where you are, doing something you’re good at, and working on what you’re passionate about seems like a good way to start. We can’t all do everything, but we can all try to do one little thing, which will add up to bigger somethings.
We interviewed both founders, passionate in their own ways about their projects and insistent about doing whatever they can to make the world a better place. Across the hallway covered in little turtles made of upcycled plastic bottles, The Sea Monkey Plastic workshop is grinding away at old trash, turning it into new treasures.
“Everybody can do something, and anything that anybody does is better than nothing.” – Carlos Steenland, co-founder of The Sea Monkey Project
Carlos Steenland, co-founder of The Sea Monkey Project
The Sea Monkey Project all started as a homeschooling activity for Carlos’ two kids. They were living and sailing around the world on their boat, The Sea Monkey. Seeing all the plastic waste floating across the ocean, they decided they wanted to do something about it. After a couple of years of tinkering, they were able to make a machine that shreds plastic waste and turns it into something new. The machine spits out a plastic sheet, from which they create everything from soap holders, keychains, and lanyards to storage boxes.
What started out as just an idea has grown into something so much bigger today. They have over 100 project sites globally and have made and sold over 200 machines. It is not just about the plastic upcycling; it is about community education and engagement. Carlos agrees that choosing to make a difference isn’t easy, but when you start to see the impact you can have, it inspires you to keep working at it.
“I can either choose to do what I’m doing and do the best that I can, or I could say ‘screw that’ and chase the money. But I can’t do that, that’s not me.”– Carlos Steenland, co-founder of The Sea Monkey Project
We left the space feeling inspired by their optimism and go-get-it attitude, our hearts warming up to the big city filled with passionate people.
Jungle Adventures
After two weeks in the capital, we ventured into the jungle. Taman Negara is Malaysia’s 130-million-year-old tropical rainforest. We visited through the town of Kuala Tahan, as most tourists do. The small village is on the Tembeling River, and to cross into the park each day, you pay about 50 cents to take a one-minute boat ride.
The forest is home to the ‘Batek’ native tribes, commonly called the Orang Asli. This nomadic tribe has largely settled in Taman Negara due to land and agricultural development across the forest. The list of wildlife living inside the vast park is long and spectacular, namely the endangered Malayan Tiger and Asian Elephant, the Sumatran Rhinos, Water Buffalo, Malaysian Tapir, and many more, but the possibility of spotting any is quite low.
We were warmly welcomed by Danz, a native from Kampung Kuala Sat, who not only owns and runs his own eco-resort, but also plays a major role in the community. He spoke to us about growing up in the forest, and how the community had changed throughout the years.
Danz said that tourism has had a great impact on the area, helping with infrastructure expansion, such as roads to the villages. One way that he follows the economic gains in the community is by looking at the boatmen. Ten years ago, there were maybe forty boats in the national park, now the fleet has grown by 20%, adding ten boats more.
“I remember living here in the 1980’s. There was no electricity, and you could only access the villages by boat. Before, you could spot elephants just crossing the river. But now, it’s really hard. It’s a different situation.” – Danz, Danz Eco Resort
When comparing how animals interact with the area and the people, he says you can definitely feel a change. When there are more tourists, the elephants and other animals stay further away.
“I still remember in the 39th day of lock down from COVID, elephants came right onto our resort and slept on our beach.” – Danz, Danz Eco Resort
Despite the help that tourism brings to the region, he believes that the entrance fee to the park should be higher. When we visited, it cost a measly 1 RMB to enter. In comparison, the entrance to the Mossy Forest in the Cameron Highlands costs 30 RMB.
To keep economic gains in the community, Danz makes a point in hiring only locals for his resort, which he opened ten years ago. The day we visited, two eager and sweet interns, whom he had taken under his wing, led us around.
“One hundred percent of my staff is local. I am proud. Our boatmen, our guides, they are tribes people, from the Orang Asli. All the tourism is positive for the local people.”
Not only does Danz run his eco-resort, he is also a proud organizer of the first Ultra trek through the Malaysian rain forest. This event focuses on some of the things he cares about most: the forest, his community, and staying active.
When we asked Danz to come visit for an interview, he surprised us with a candlelit dinner to celebrate our honeymoon. We ate under the 82 meter tall grand Koompassia Excelsa tree, one of the tallest tropical tree species. A heartwarming example of Malaysian hospitality.
After spending time among the trees of Taman Negara, spotting a wild Rhinoceros Hornbill, and a lot of free-running and tree-climbing chickens and roosters, we headed further north to the Highlands.
Cameron Highlands
All our travels until this point have been by bus, all of which are big, spacious, clean and cool – not to mention affordable. To get to our next stop, the Cameron Highlands, we rode high up into the mountains, along winding roads flanked by greenhouses, tea plantations, and one random hobbit land.1
Up in the highlands, where the air is chillier and the influence British, we visited the BOH tea plantation, a gorgeous landscape of hilly and sprawling green leaves. The rolling hills were attractive, less so the labor work done solely by immigrants paid only thirty cents ringgit per kilo, according to our guide.
We hiked through the ‘Mossy Forest’, with its bouncy forest beds and indulged in some of the best Indian food we had in all of Malaysia, as well as some yummy scones with strawberry jam.
The chill of the hills made way for the street art of Penang, our next stop.
George Town
George Town, a cool urban city with art covering its walls, is lively and full of good eats. One of our stops: the Instagram-famous Big Bowl Noodles, off of the Chew Jetty. There are 7 remaining jetties in Penang, floating villages where Chinese immigrants settled in the 19th century, living and working in wooden homes on stilts over the water. The concept of big bowl noodles is exactly that: delicious homemade noodles in a big bowl.
George Town’s streets are lined with traditional Chinese shop-houses. Here, families used to sell their goods out the front of their homes and have their living quarters in the back. We spoke with the Penang Heritage Trust, who reminisced about the strong community that these traditional houses brought to Penang neighborhoods.
Back in the day, when artisans and salespeople had their shops in the front, everyone spent more time together: the children would be out front playing, the grandmothers would sit and gossip with each other, and families and neighbors would meet on the streets. Now that most traditional shop-houses are just shops, everyone goes home after closing, leaving the streets quiet and empty – the neighborhoods lonely.
Penang boasts not only the city of George Town, but has a lot more to offer. While we didn’t explore everything, one of our favorite stops was Penang Hill. Up a quick funicular ride, the train dropped us off at the hilly reserve in the clouds. We went for what we thought would be a hike and ended up being more of a stroll along a road through the forest. Despite walking on concrete, the spectacular views made up for the lack of a nature trail. This is also where we spotted our first Dusky Leaf monkeys! They’re recognizable by their black fur and white spectacled eyes.
Macaca Nemestrina Project
We left craving more nature, monkeys, and exciting projects. Which is how, a couple of online searches later, we found ourselves chasing monkeys in the Segari Melintang Forest Reserve. We spent two days at this small coastal village, surrounded by palm oil plantations, following the pigtailed macaques with the conservation scientists of the Macaca Nemestrina Project.
We showed up to camp, bright-eyed, excited, and very naïve. After driving from the charming town of Ipoh, about two hours away, we finally arrived ready to hit the ground running. We were wearing jean shorts, t-shirts, and hiking shoes, but after seeing Dr. Iza prepare for the trek with long sleeves, pants, and leech socks2, we quickly realized we had to change.
Dr. Nurul Iza Adrina Mohd Rameli
Thank goodness we did, because that day the monkeys took us deep into the forest. We fought our way through thickets of sharply spiked palm trees, climbing over dead leaves and roots, and even macheteing a path through fallen-down trees.3 Over four long hours, we tracked the monkeys. Dr. Iza and her field assistant took notes every ten minutes of their activity: their position, what they ate, and what they did.
The project is the first and only study ever conducted on pig-tailed macaques. They currently follow two groups of around 25 to 30 pig-tailed macaques. According to Dr. Nadine, who started the project back in 2011, the biggest discovery and the most exciting to her, is one of the first ones she made: finding out that the macaques eat plantation rats!
“The first time I saw them feeding on the rats, it was an ‘Oh my god! What is happening?’ moment!” – Dr. Nadine Ruppert, founder of the Macaca Nemestrina Project
Online interview with Dr. Nadine Ruppert
This discovery was so important to Nadine, not only because when looking at primate evolution, 70% of macaque food intake is fruits despite being omnivores – but most importantly, it provided her with an angle to approach farmers.
“I want to talk about palm oil and sustainability and habitat protection, and this is such a cool angle to talk to farmers! The macaques aren’t harming the harvests, they’re beneficial to it!” – Dr. Nadine Ruppert, founder of the Macaca Nemestrina Project
According to their 2019 published study,“Each macaque group is estimated to reduce rat populations by about 3,000 individuals per year and the damage by macaques is up to 17-fold lower than the crop damage reported for rats.”
That first day, we followed the monkeys until sunset to track their place of rest, which changes every day. It’s important for the scientists to track their patterns, and also know where to find them when they wake up!
After an intense day of fighting through nature, it was time for a much-needed dinner break. We sat down with the rest of the team at the only restaurant open in the village, where we enjoyed delicious, home-cooked fried rice and soup.
The next morning, when the sun rose bright and early, so did we. We headed back to the same area we had left the monkeys last night, to see how the macaques were getting along with their day. Luckily for us, they too seemed tired by yesterday’s game of hide and seek and were happy to lounge in the palm trees all morning – eating seeds, fruits and even rats.
On the palm oil plantation, it was a lot easier for us to get closer (while still maintaining a safe and respectable distance) and to see them clearer, thanks to the open layout of the trees. We were lucky enough to observe them like this for hours, as they lounged on the palms, swung from tree to tree, and groomed themselves and each other.
The monkeys weren’t always as open to being watched and followed. According to Dr. Nadine, it took about two years before the macaques would allow the scientists to come close. When the project first started, the monkeys would run away as soon as they saw humans approaching. They would move quickly, high up in the trees. This made it even more complicated for the team to find the monkeys each day.
Eventually, after years of habituating, and continuous observation, the monkeys grew more accustomed to their presence.4
“Habituating means that we never interact with them, we never give them food, we become a neutral part of their group. I don’t know how they perceive us; I think they think we are some strange monkeys.”– Dr. Nadine Ruppert, founder of the Macaca Nemestrina Project
Now, fourteen years later, the monkeys are so accustomed to the group that when we visited, they basically ignored us. They didn’t seem to care how close or far we approached. Although sometimes the younger monkeys, the juveniles, would show us their poker face; puckering their mouths as a way of saying, “Stay away!”
“All wildlife has its own role in the forest. Conserving them helps to conserve the forest. The macaques here are seed dispersers, so they regenerate the forests. Without them, something would be missing, different fruit species and plant species wouldn’t be able to regenerate anymore.” – Dr. Nurul Iza Adrina Mohd Rameli
Dr. Nurul Iza Adrina Mohd Rameli
While writing this blog, I came to realize how each of our stories and interviews connect, just as the ecosystem that Carolyn from the Free Tree Society spoke of. Conserving macaque monkeys is important because they regenerate forests and farms. Traveling sustainably and supporting local businesses and artisans, such as Danz or Earth Heir, promotes healthier tourism that focuses on community, and growing in a viable way.
Everyone can do their part by volunteering to plant trees, upcycling their water bottles, supporting locals, or by letting the macaques roam free so that they can provide biological pest control on palm oil plantations.
If you take anything away from this post, I hope it’s the reminder that power is in the people. We all have the opportunity to do our part in making the world a better, brighter and greener place. No action is too small.
We spent two months traveling across Malaysia, finding new places to call home each week, growing to love its food (❤️ roti canai, and of course, 🍚 nasi lemak), being welcomed by its people, and learning so much from its lands.
Once we left the coastal forest where we followed the macaques, we made our way to the island of Langkawi, our last Malaysian destination before heading towards Thailand. We had a week ahead of us, and we settled in to make something out of all the content we had gotten. Unfortunately, it was here that we realized that our hard drive broke down. Not only did we lose memories from the past ten years, but we lost two months’ worth of interviews and videos from our travels.
It has taken me a while to move past this, and we are still trying to recover the files, but for now here is this little update – with more details on each project to come.
Yep, you read me correctly! Leech socks. Because apparently in Malaysia, and also Thailand, there are small, albeit not poisonous, ground leeches! ↩︎
Seriously, every single plant and surface was protecting itself from intruders like ourselves by becoming as pointy and pokey as possible. ↩︎
The reason we are all wearing orange shirts is to help with the habituation process, the team only goes into the forest decked in this bright color, so that the monkeys recognize them as safe observers. ↩︎
