RAHSIA KALAH PILIHANRAYA LAGI

 

How to become a durian bankrupt

How to become a durian bankrupt.

For a 10 acre plot, owners spent a staggering RM120,000 per year on fertilizer, workers, and electricity. That is RM840,000 down the drain during the 7 year waiting period for the trees to mature.

Everyone wanted to catch the golden Musang King wave, ripping up tens of thousands of acres of palm oil estates.

The big 2026 harvest finally arrived.

Instead of a massive payday, farmers are getting slammed by a massive oversupply.

Because everyone had the exact same brilliant idea, the market is absolutely flooded.

But wait, isn't China supposed to buy everything?

China only wants the crown jewels, paying RM30 to RM40 per kg for flawless Grade A and AB fruits.

The massive, crushing oversupply drowning the local market right now comes from younger orchards and newly matured trees. These younger trees produce smaller, oddly shaped Grade C fruits that are instantly rejected for export due to strict customs rules.

Wholesalers in the Segamat to Pagoh area are offering a pathetic RM3 to RM5 per kg. With prices dropping 20% to 30% compared to 2025, a farmer cannot even cover his current monthly maintenance of RM1000 per acre.

It is a mad race to the bottom because a rotting durian pays zero ringgit.

Social media is covered in ads screaming about Musang King or Black Thorn going for RM7 or RM10 per kg, with some local varieties plunging to an insane RM2 per fruit.

Consumers are ecstatic, buying premium fruit for pocket change, while the farmers are quietly drowning.

Desperate owners are now dumping their land at a brutal 50% discount compared to just 2 years ago.

To survive, they only fertilize trees that show flowers and leave the rest to starve.

Life is incredibly hard for these farmers at the mercy of middlemen. The next time you see a ridiculously cheap promo, remember the financial ruin behind it. 

MY COMMENTS:

If our local, super hardworking Chinese durian farmers who dominate the market are selling their durian plantations for half the price then what about the Malay farmers? What about those corporate folks who tried to take over other people's durian trees for free? It looks like karma has come around full circle.

Everybody is now a durian farmer. I have six durian trees in my yard.  It is only 1/3 of an acre. They should be fruiting soon. I hope. 

Here is something else that should be happening. If durian kampong sells for RM6 per kilo (750 meters away in Nilai) then mangosteen sales (at RM8  to RM10 per kilo) will also be affected. Why would I buy mangosteen at RM10 per kilo when durian kampong is selling for RM6 per kilo? So logically the prices of all fruits will also be coming down. 

Otherwise there is going to be a lot of unsold mangosteens, unsold bananas (RM7 per kilo), unsold rambutans (RM10 to RM12  per kilo). This is the miracle of the free market. The consumer benefits the most from all the price competition.

KICK THEM OUT: Apakah harga anda pada pandangan mereka?

 

Puisi lama oleh sdra Norman Fernandez. 
Di tambah sedikit rempah.

BERAPA HARGA DIRI ANDA

Mereka kembali lagi,
selepas lima tahun menghilang.
Serupa musim mengawan
gajah dan binatang di hutan
Dengan menganyam senyuman,
menghulur salam penuh mesra,
membongkok tanda hormat,
seolah-olah kita sahabat lama
yang sekian lama tidak bersua.

Mereka menjaja air liur,
berbuih di mulut serupa haiwan
menabur janji bulan dan bintang,
berikrar bekerja siang dan malam.
Segunung janji ditaburkan;
daripada anda tiada yang diminta,
hanya sehelai undi dipohon.

"Maaf jika ada kekurangan.
Maaf jika jarang kami datang.
Maaf jika tidak banyak bersuara.
Maafkan kami…"

Tin biskut dibawa,
sekampit beras dihulurkan,
minyak enjin motosikal percuma,
Mee Maggi, kicap, gula, garam
dan minyak masak diserahkan—
tanda akad membeli undi.

Di mata mereka,
itulah nilai diri anda.
beras, mee segera, tin biskut
Itulah harga anda.

Norman Fernandez
11 November 2022

FRIDAY NOTES (26/06/26) FROM THE QURAN - BARRIERS AND MOUNTAINS

Non Muslims can skip this.  But this is very brief. Two minute read.

It happens that sometimes the same Arabic word in the Quran is translated using different English words in different verses. 

Now with AI (ChatGpt, Grok etc) I can do my Quran research instantaneously and in fantastic detail. 

So the Arabic word remains the same.  
But the English translation of that word may change from one verse to another. 

For example in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn (18:93–98):

Surah 18:93  Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word.

Surah 18:94  They said: "O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog  do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them?

And here is another occurrence in 36:9

Surah 36:9  And We have put a barrier in front of them and a barrier behind them, and further, We have covered them up; so that they cannot see

Notice the words mountain and barrier. Both are translations of the same Arabic word  سَدًّا  (saddan) = a barrier, a dam, an obstruction.  This word comes from the same root س د د (s-d-d)

So the same Arabic root س د د (s-d-d) is translated in English as: 

18:93: السدين = two mountains
18:94: سدًا = a barrier 
36:9: سدًا = a barrier  

JABAL (جَبَل)  or mountain

Then there is the arabic word JABAL (جَبَل)  or mountain. 
The Qur'an uses جَبَل (jabal) when it explicitly means a mountain.

Examples:

• 2:260 – "Place a portion on each mountain (jabal, جَبَلٍ)."
• 7:143 – Allah manifests Himself to the mountain (jabal, الْجَبَلِ), and it crumbles.
• 11:43 – Noah's son says, "I will take refuge on a mountain (jabal, جَبَلٍ)."
• 59:21 – "Had We sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain (jabal, جَبَلٍ)..."

Root: ج ب ل (j-b-l)
Basic meaning:  mountain,  large natural hill or massif

In the story of Dhul-Qarnayn (18:93–98), the Qur'an does not use JABAL  جبل. 

FRIDAY NOTES (12/06/26) FROM THE QURAN - SURAH YASIN

Non Muslims can read this. Some general knowledge. Out of the 114 surahs or chapters in the Quran, chapter 36 is called Surah Yasin. This chapter has much significance because it is often recited during special occasions especially at funerals and when people visit the graves of their dearly departed. It is often recited as a prayer at the graves of the dead people.

However with the appearance of Salafism there is debate because the Salafis do not practise the reciting of the Surah Yasin at funerals or at the graves of dead people.

Of course the vast majority of non-Arab Muslims do not understand Arabic and so they do not understand what they are reciting in Arabic.

Here are a few verses from Surah Yasin (36:60-64) with English translation.

Surah Yasin (36:60-64) 

60  وَأَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَٰبَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ أَن لَّا تَعْبُدُوا۟ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ  

61 وَأَنِ ٱعْبُدُونِى ۚ هَٰذَا صِرَٰطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ  

62 وَلَقَدْ أَضَلَّ مِنكُمْ جِبِلًّۭا كَثِيرًا ۖ أَفَلَمْ تَكُونُوا۟ تَعْقِلُونَ 

63  هَٰذِهِۦ جَهَنَّمُ ٱلَّتِى كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ  

64 ٱصْلَوْهَا ٱلْيَوْمَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ 

Here is the English translation (36:60-64)

60 Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan—indeed, he is to you a clear enemy?

61 And that you worship only Me? This is a straight path.

52 And he had already led astray from among you much of creation, so did you not use reason?

63 This is the Hellfire which you were promised.

64  Enter it today because you disbelieved.

This is part of the recitation at funerals and at the graves of the dearly departed.