“Auntie, there’s a snake over there! Don’t go!”Two young men ran toward me in Taman Persekutuan Bukit Kiara (TPBK). They stopped, breathless and wide-eyed with fear.
“Don’t worry,” I laughed, pausing in front of my favorite tree, a massive Strangler’s Fig. This was my usual spot to practice deep breathing and mentally release negative energy into nature. Looking around, I pointed at the footpath, “Do you see it following you? Why run so fast lah? That snake was probably crossing from one side to the shadier side because it is almost noon, it is getting warmer lah. Snakes like cooler places!” I chuckled, ”By now, it has run away already! ”
As a regular walker here for three decades, I’ve seen my fair share of snakes—green, brown, grey, and red. I’ve encountered massive pythons, wire-like garden snakes, and fast-moving painted bronzebacks. Once, while answering nature's call in the bushes, I even mistook a camouflaged Asian Vine Snake for a regular stick!
“Snakes are actually afraid of us,” I assured them as their breathing finally slowed.
Hands on their knees, they looked at me with confusion. “Auntie, how come you’re walking here now? There's no one else around! Aren’t you afraid?” The Malay man was very concerned. “We came here because it’s our day off!”
The other man, a Chinese, chimed happily, “We’re best friends since childhood. We want to lepak (hang out) together.”
“The forest is the best place to cleanse your mind,” I smiled. “And I’m not alone. Look!”
Right on cue, an 83-year-old Chinese man from PJ appeared. He walks here daily between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. because the noon sun triggers active photosynthesis, maximizing oxygen levels.
“You see that bamboo patch on your right?” the elderly man pointed. “Bamboo produces 30% more oxygen. I stand there for five minutes every time I pass by this spot.” He is a cancer survivor, absorbing pure oxygen helps keep his body alkaline, preventing cancer cells from thriving. The dappled sunlight also provides vital Vitamin D to maintain his bone density.
“Free medication for an old man with no pension!” he chuckled before briskly walking on.
The young men were visibly impressed. One of them, a chiropractor, took a deep breath of the crisp air. “Wow, I never thought about that. The air in my clinic, located in a mall, just circulates round and round.” He turned to his friend, who is a marketing assistant for a health company. “We should come here more often.”
The friend sighed. “My boss always asks me to postpone my Monday off days... geram lah (so frustrating).”
“Open your own business lah, like me!” the chiropractor teased. “See? Every time you’re free on a Monday, I’m free to lepak with you!”
The marketeer nodded wistfully. “Good idea, but I takut (afraid). Running a business is no joke!”
“I can do it. Try lah, never try never die. Jom ( let's do it) !” His friend challenged him.
I chimed in. “Take one small step at a time.”
I gave him an idea - Malaysia is an aging society. Why not partner up and market affordable exoskeletons or mobility aids to seniors? Look at all the elderly folks walking here to maintain their muscle strength. There are more who want to walk but they cant do it on their own.
The marketeer's eyes lit up. “Yeah! I never thought of that!”
“You two would make great partners,” I urged. “He can endorse your products in his clinic. You both have different skill sets, and most importantly, you have years of childhood trust.”
The two friends looked at each other and then, smiles spread broadly. “We really need to think about how to do this!”
“Just make it a win-win, and learn from nature,” I said, pointing up at the giant Strangler’s Fig tree. I explained how a bird dropped a fig seed onto a branch of a host tree. The fig grew downwards, sending aerial roots into the soil. Slowly, those roots fused, completely wrapping around the trunk of the host tree and choking its root system. Meanwhile, the Fig's canopy grew so thick it stole all the sunlight.
“It’s a slow starvation of the host tree. Eventually, the host died and rotted away, leaving that giant hole -the hollow cage- you see inside the surrounding aerial roots of the Strangler’s Fig. Look at the wide space of at least ten feet surrounding the Strangler’s Fig? No other tree could grow around it! Only a few shrubs survive at the edge of the tree cover! ”
Stunned, they took photos of the tree. “It’s just like a relationship,” the marketeer mused. “Personal or business. If one person dominates so much that they suffocate the other, the relationship dies.”
“Exactly,” I said, pointing to a nearby tree growing at a sharp, slanted angle. “But look at this one. It survives because it manages to grow sideways, away from the Fig's massive leave shade and root system. Look, it reaches out to the space in the sky until it finds its own sunlight, its leaves are growing away from the Strangler’s Fig’s leave cover!”
“May be we see you here soon on Merdeka day?” The young men thanked me warmly, walking away, deep in animated conversation.
My phone buzzed. A trending news alert popped up, already gaining thousands of views. A politician delivered a speech, implying that non-Malays whose ancestors came from other lands have no rightful claim to this land.
Such proclamations have gotten louder and louder in recent years. A familiar ache settled in my chest. Why does it still hurt so much to hear this as a retiree? My mother's side of the family alone can trace six generations born and bred on this soil, and we don’t belong here?
The slanted tree reminds me of so many lower income non-Malays’ typical family stories. When systemic barriers or local university quotas block their path to a higher living standard, they think completely out of the box to start small businesses. Many sell their houses, work two to three jobs, send their children overseas to study. The children receive overseas university scholarships, work study very hard, then find high paid jobs overseas because of excellent academic results. They grind away far from home, sending money home to buy back the family houses or send the younger siblings overseas to study. The families continue to work hard. Through sheer resilience and determination, their families still manage to rise into the middle class all on their own. Like the smaller slanted tree besides the Strangler’s Fig.
I looked back at the lush canopy and sighed. There is so much love in the air, so much oxygen to breathe, and so many green harvests in the forest to share —if only those who are fearful could exorcise the fear of scarcity.
I thought of the two best friends walking ahead of me. I wondered if the young Malay man would take today’s lesson back to his community. Will he remind them that they must never live like the Strangler’s Fig, suffocating others because of own fears. If we allow each other to grow side-by-side toward the light, we stop being isolated trees. We become a magnificent, diverse rainforest—strong enough to weather any storm, rooted together in the same rich Malaysian soil.
When trees grow big together, there is more richness in the whole forest!
Chong Sheau Ching (sheauchingc@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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