Song Video...

Lyrics:

Verse 1:

On 1st June, we went to Johor.

Went to places and learnt a lot.

One place we went, was the wonderful Oil Palm.

It was very hot, and smelly too.

But we endured just to learn more,

see we so good, so must give us higher marks.

Bridge:

We shall tell you what we learnt in the chorus,

but for now let us introduce the Oil Palm.

It was introduced to Malaysia in 1910.

Chorus #2:

What we learnt were~

Stages of processing extraction of palm oil are:

1) Cleaning,

2) Steaming,

3) Sterilize,

4) Blend or Press,

5) Isolating,

6) and Vacuuming.

It is mainly used for cooking oil and cosmetics.

Verse 2:

Empty fruit bunch can be used for fertilizers and power generators.

Then we proceeded to the plantation

where we learnt how to know that whether

the trees are male or female ones,

and we learnt how to tell whether

the fruits are ripe or unripe

and how to harvest them with a pahat.

Chorus #2:

Actually we have learnt much more than this,

but we will stop here for now.

Hope you've enjoyed this geography song,

so it's goodbye... GOODBYE!

So on 1st June, we went to Johor... :D

Research on Oil Palm...

Oil palm was originated from Brazil and South Africa, and was introduced by Scotland and England in 1910.

The oil palms (Elaeis) are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to west Africa, while the American Oil Palm (Elaeis oleifera) is native to tropical Central America and South America. The generic name is derived from the Greek for oil, elaion, while the species name refers to its country of origin.

Mature trees are single-stemmed, and grow to 20 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, and reach between 3-5 m long. A young tree produces about 30 leaves a year. Established trees over 10 years produce about 20 leaves a year. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals.

The palm fruit takes five to six months to mature from pollination to maturity. The palm fruit is reddish, about the size of a large plum and grows in large bunches. Each fruit is made up of oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil. When ripe, each bunch of fruit weighs 40-50 kilograms.

Oil is extracted from both the pulp of the fruit (palm oil, edible oil) and the kernel (palm kernel oil, used in foods and for soap manufacture). For every 100 kilograms of fruit bunches, typically 22 kilograms of palm oil and 1.6 kilograms of palm kernel oil can be extracted.

The stages of processing the extraction of palm oil are:
1. cleaning(by water),
2. steaming,
3. sterilize,
4. blending/pressing,
5. isolating and
6. Vacuuming.

The empty fruit bunch can also be reused for fertilizer and burner/power generator.
The high oil yield of oil palm trees (as high as 7,250 litres per hectare per year) has made it a common cooking ingredient in southeast Asia and the tropical belt of Africa. Its increasing use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is buoyed by its cheaper pricing, the high oxidative stability of the refined product and high levels of natural antioxidants.

90 of the Malaysian palm oil are used for cooking oil and cosmetics.
Since palm oil contains more saturated fats than canola oil, corn oil, linseed oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and sunflower oil, it can withstand extreme deepfry heat and is resistant to oxidation.

Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_palm

Reflection on Oil Palm...

I’ve always heard that Malaysia is the second largest producer and exporter of oil palm in the world, after Indonesia. After visiting the oil (palm) processing factory in Malaysia, I finally understood the sentence......

On the way to the factory, the coach bringing us around Malaysia zipped passed many thousand hectares of land of oil palm plantation. I was amazed by the vast oil palm plantation and how neatly it was planted as I observed it through the coach’s window. It is impossible to see such scenery in Singapore.

As the coach inched closer to the factory, the chemical smell became so strong that even on the bus; we could not stand the excruciating smell seeping into the coach (even deodorant did not help). The tour guide explained that the pungent smell was the chemical, used for processing the palm oil by chemical extraction, using solvent extracts, which produces higher yields and is quicker and less expensive.

After passing by the somewhat endless oil palm plantation, we finally reached our destination: the factory. As soon as the coach’s door opens, the chemical smell flooded the entire bus. Having no other choice, we alighted the coach, and naturally the odour became stronger. At first, all of us could not stand the odour and we literally almost fainted. But slowly, we got used to it. However, besides that, the ground was really muddy, dirty, and naturally oily. Our shoes were dirty and smelly after walking! We could also see dark-coloured smoke coming out of the factories and we thought that factories are serious air polluters!

We gathered together while one of the staff of the factory explained the extraction process, the uses of palm oil, and more about the fruit/seed. He also passed around seeds for us to take a closer look, but most of us dare not touch them as we thought that they were oily. We were quite shocked when we found out that the palm oil is used for COOKING OIL and COSMETICS.
After that, we proceeded to the plantation to see how they tell between the ripe and unripe fruits, and how they harvest them. Fresh fruit bunch in tall palm is harvested by using pahat.
I personally think that I have gained a lot more knowledge about Oil Palm after visiting the processing factory.

Plantation:

Factory:

Research on Pasir Gudang Kite Musuem...

Pasir Gudang Kite Museum or Muzium Layang-Layang Pasir Gudang is the first of its kind in Malaysia. It is located on top of Kite Hill and has a unique working windmill whose mechanism works to generate enough electricity to supply the daily needs of the museum. It also hosts the annual Pasir Gudang international Kite Festival.

Layang-Layang Museum is also known as Kite Museum. It was opened to public on February 2002 during the 7th Pasir Gudang Kite Festival. It was opened as an appreciation towards the contribution of Malaysia's Kite Council and internationals kite flyers. It also serves as a tourist attraction not only to foreign visitors, but also to locals.

The suggestion to set up the country's first kite museum was proposed by Pasir Gudang Local Authorities (PBTPG) President, Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim, who is also Johor Corporation (JCorp) Chief Executive. The RM4.5million museum has an array of modern and traditional kites of various shapes, colours and designs. The opening hours are from 8am - 4.30pm during the fasting month. The entrance fee is RM2 per adult and RM1 each for children between the ages of seven and 12 years.

The museum which was once a windmill was renovated into a museum and gallery which showcases an exciting collection of breath-taking kites including various types of traditional wau, modern wau, a collection of more than 200 kites which once roam the skies of Bukit Layang-Layang as well as kites from all over the world.

It also offers the chronology of International Kite Festival and audio-visual presentations on kites. Kite making workshops that demostrate the art and precision of kite making can also be arranged.

The word "Wau" is derived from the "wouw" (Dutch word) vocabulary which means kite. It is also originated from the sound derived from the hummer of the kites when in flight. The main feature of "wau" are mainly characterised by its head, wings and tail section. It also houses a collection of ceramic vases.

Credits:
http://lynnmohamed.blogspot.com/
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/
http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/

Reflection for Pasir Gudang Kite Museum...

Firstly, we felt quite honored to be able to visit the FIRST kite museum in Malaysia! It opened its door for the first time in February 2002 during the 7th Pasir Gudang Kite Festival, when we were only 6 years old! When visiting the Pasir Gudang Kite Museum, I was surprised at the many different types and designs of the kites there. The kites were of many colours and varied in sizes - some of the kites were about the same size as an exercise book, others could be as big as a person! The kites were meticulously crafted and some even took on the shapes of animals, such as eagles. I still remember all of our faces when we first saw the kites - shocked face with eyes wide open and mouth agape, and made comments such as "WOW!", "COOL!", "OMG!", etc. As the Pasir Gudang Kite Musuem is dedicated to the traditional Malay kite known as the Wau, it showcases the art of kite-making and displays a collection of traditional kites or wau, in spectacular colours and designs to preserve and promote as part of the Malaysian craft heritage. It also houses a collecion of more than 200 kites which once roam the skies of Bukit Layang-Layang. There were people who demostrated to us the making of kites - the carving of patterns, etc and we can honestly say that making kites are not as easy as we often think. Other than kites, we also found out that the museum has a unique working windmill whose mechanism works to generate enough electricity to supply the daily needs of the museum. Beautiful ceramic vases were also sold there, but because we had insufficent time, we did not buy them. If given a chance, I would like to make a kite on my own. To conclude, the Pasir Gudang Kite museum and the kites are WONDERFUL, MARVELLOUS, BEAUTIFUL, and INDESCRIABLE IN WORDS! Thank you!


Outside of Pasir Gudang Kite Musuem:



Teachings of how to fly the Wau:

Different kites found there:

Tools used to make the kites:




Decorations in the museum:

People demostrating:

Research on Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Museum

The museum occupies the Istana Besar (Grand Palace) which was specially commissioned in 1864 by the Father of Modern Johor, Sultan Abu Bakar. Completed in 1866, the Grand Palace incorporated some of the Sultan's creative ideas in its architecture.

In the early 1990s, Johor's present ruler, His Majesty Sultan Iskandar, decided that members of the public should be given the opportunity to view the Royal Family's collection in a proper museum setting. His Majesty consented for the Grand Palace to be converted into a museum but concurrently it still serves the traditional royal and state ceremonial functions. Sultan Iskandar officially declared the museum open on May 11, 1990.

Housed within the museum are vast arrays of treasures, works of art, antiquities and furniture belonging to the Royal Family. The picture gallery features past and present rulers of the Sultanate and their consorts. There is also a large collection of their personal memorabilia, an impressive array of Orders, Decorations and Medals in the gallery.

Other rooms within the Grand Palace display silverware, crystalware, gold and silver jewelry, priceless vases, furniture, traditional Malay weapons, the State Regalia, a numismatic collection, silver trophies and other family treasures within their natural setting.

Although the building look simple with some formal Islamic style but it give us a sense of clean , peace and most importantly , a sense of surprise when u r inside the building... there is quite a lot things too see and explore in this johor royal museum ... but it could be quite boring is you know got totally no knowledge about simple johor history in the "precolonise" era... Myself think it is probably the best place to visit at around Johor ...

Credits:
http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/destination/sultan%20abu%20bakar%20royal%20museum.html

Reflection on the Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Museum

The first place we visited after entering Malaysia was the Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Museum. We had to take off our shoes before we enter, I think it was because of religious purposes and also to prevent dirtying the museum. The museum stores all the collection of treasures and artefacts of the Royal Family and also shows the details of the rulers that had ruled Johor before. The treasures and artefacts look so elegant and expensive! No wonder it's said to be PRICELESS! Many of us were quite jealous when we saw that the Sultan was so rich! We learnt that the museum was officially open to the public on May 11, 1990 in conjunction with the celebration of Sultan Iskandar's birthday so that the public had the opportunity to view the Royal Family's collection in a proper museum setting. There were many rooms in the museum - the Sultan's room, the meeting room, the children's room, the cultery room, the hall, etc which have so many beautiful and shiny furniture and artefacts. When we saw the children's room, we actually did not know it was the children room, because the design was quite old, and there were no toys, etc which children likes to play, so we pitied the children there. One part of the museum showcases the bones of huge animals such as tigers. elephants, bears, etc which was hunted long ago. That made most of the girls scared at first, but it was interesting as we got used to it. It also looked like a jungle to some of us. Until now, the museum is still used for important meetings or important presentations, etc. Althought the building look simple with some formal Islamic style, it gave us a sense of clean, peace and most importantly, a sense of surprise when we were inside the building as there are quite a lot of things to see and explore in this royal museum. Me myself think that it is probably the best place the visit at around Johor!




We did not manage to take many photos, because taking photos was prohibited inside the museum...


Outside the museum:













This guard allowed us to take photo of him outside the museum: