Reaping rewards from hot crop grown at home

ALOR SETAR: There seems nothing outstanding about a double-storey terrace house in Lorong Kelompang here.

But take a closer look and you will see leaves from rows of chilli plants on the balcony of the house.

Although the view from below only shows about 15 chilli plants, there are actually 260 of them along the 15.2m-long balcony over the front porch.

The plants are a source of extra money for house owner Eang Ah Seng, 72, as well as a way to keep fit.

Passionate farmer: Eang harvesting chillies on the balcony of his house in Lorong Kelompang, Alor Setar, yesterday.

 

Some of the plants are in plastic bags while others are in rows of pots that Eang and his wife Kee Mei Choo, 70, painstakingly hauled up from below using a bucket.

Eang said the chilli plants were planted about three years ago.

“At first I planted them in front of the house but flash floods and pests damaged them. I then moved the plants to the balcony and they have been there since,” he said.

Eang, who owns a fruit orchard in Changkat Jering, Perak, said he got the chilli seedlings from there and decided to plant them at his house here.

The father of nine children aged between 30 and 50 and a grandfather of 16 with one great-grandchild, Eang said he had worked as a farmer for about 40 years.

Although he has left his fruit orchard in Perak in the care of his workers, he still plants small plots of vegetables at his house here.

“I extended the balcony from about 1.2m to 15.2m about seven years ago. At first, I planted bitter gourd and long beans. Later, I switched to chilli,” he said.

Eang said he collected the chillies five times a month and sells them at several wet markets here.

He also sends some to his daughter, who operates a restaurant in Butterworth.

For each harvest he collects about 17kg of chilli and sells them at RM15 per kg.

Taking care of the plants has provided him with much needed exercise.

“I tend to the plants each day including watering and trimming them. This act is a good exercise by itself,” he said.

Eang said besides farming, he is also involved in construction.

“I renovated the balcony myself. I have also done construction work for friends,” he said.

Kee said her husband has been passionate about farming since they got married.

Initially, they lived in Tunjang where Eang planted vegetables to support the family.

“He has no serious illness and farming keeps both of us busy every day,” Kee said.

By EMBUN MAJID embun@thestar.com.my 

From Idea to Business: Persistence is Critical

In honor of Entrepreneur Month, today’s column is an excerpt from my newest eBook, The Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur, premiering on Amazon this week.

There is no impediment that seems too great for a successful entrepreneur

Persistence is a vital characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. Driven by an indomitable spirit, successful entrepreneurs never give up on their dreams of building a viable business. There is no impediment too great. This unflagging attribute is a key characteristic of triumphant business builders.

Entrepreneurs face and tackle bewildering and potentially catastrophic situations. They possess courage, hope and a deeply held belief that they can survive the moment and continue to prosper. Personal strength, greatness, self-confidence, maturity and wisdom are by-products gained through unfathomable adversity. It has been said that men become great mariners when sailing on troubled waters, not calm seas. The same axiom applies in the business world.

Serious hardships may be financial in nature. They might also be employee-, client-, vendor-
 or investor-based. They may arise through human error or market conditions. I can see, in
 my mind’s eye, the depressed face of an entrepreneur who can’t make payroll or has just lost a substantial client. I can sense an owner’s profound frustration upon learning a product has failed and there is a lawsuit to manage. We can empathize with a founder’s pain when there has been a fire, theft or betrayal. Consider the emotions felt with the death of a spouse or key employee. These occurrences are severe, somewhat common, and require a powerful and thoughtful response.

During my forty years in business, I have experienced several situations that elevated my blood pressure and caused sleepless nights. They were emergencies that had to be resolved or the business would fail. I can recall with clarity, in the early days of MarketStar, a small technology client in Canada that would not send payment for the services we had rendered. Cash from the client was critical to our continuance as a startup company. We had to have the money the client owed us to survive. I repeatedly called the client’s president. I sent multiple messages via fax. He would not respond to my pleas. I was desperate. I wondered what I should do.

I decided to fly to Vancouver to meet him at his office, unannounced. He was startled to see me. “I’m here to collect payment,” I said. “I won’t leave until I have a cashable check for $50,000 in my hand. I will sit in your office as long as it takes.”

A few minutes later, I had what I had come to obtain and returned home satisfied with my actions and the results. Gratefully, MarketStar would not be added to a long list of defunct businesses. A treasured personal motto learned in my youth served me well: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

For some heavy-laden founders, the obstacles are insurmountable and they quit. The dream they pursued comes to an inglorious end. As I visit with former entrepreneurs I have learned that immobilizing doubt and fear rule their thinking. They become paralyzed and unable to act. Disheartened, they feel helpless. They can see no good options, no appropriate answers to their state of affairs.

Having started and failed at four startup businesses myself, I can authentically sympathize with their dilemma. In many cases, the best decision is to turn out the lights and close the doors. For dedicated and persistent entrepreneurs, business failure teaches invaluable lessons — lessons that can be applied in the next venture. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle; it’s an everlasting journey.

Most successful entrepreneurs have started and stopped several ill-conceived enterprises. I know of only a few lucky executives who have launched an award-winning business in their first try. Most of us need multiple attempts. We are, by nature, persistent souls.

If you plan to start your own business or you run one now, may I provide a few suggestions to help you when the going gets tough?

1) Don’t panic. Don’t give up. Be at peace. Have faith. Know you will develop an answer.

2) Take time to ponder and understand the situation. Obtain all the facts. Find out what happened and why.


3) Consider every option and every possibility to solve the problem.

4) Invite a trusted mentor to advise you on the matter.


5) Engage employees who can help.


6) Make a decision, then act.


7) Evaluate the results. If they are unsatisfactory, try something else.

Great leaders are survivors. They have weathered life’s stormy seas. They have moved heaven and earth to accomplish their business goals. They will never give up.

Alan Hall, Forbes Contributor

Speaker, author, investor and catalyst for entrepreneurial growth.  

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Malaysian Internet users to become victims of Evidence Act; Rampant hacking puts online accounts at risk!

Hackers may cause Internet users to become victims of Evidence Act

Rampant hacking is putting numerous account holders at risk of being prosecuted for offensive material on their website which they did not publish with the newly-introduced Evidence Act putting the onus of proof on them.

According to Cybersecurity Malaysia, an average of eight personal accounts, blogs and websites are being hacked in Malaysia daily.

“It doesn't take an expert to hack into personal accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mail,” said Cybersecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Lt-Col (Rtd) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri.

“Any computer literate person can learn how to do it.”

He added that Internet users who did not secure their personal accounts were the easiest targets.

By P. ARUNA and TASHNY SUKUMA, The Star/Asian News Network

Hackers have their ways to tap into accounts

A graphic designer was not aware that pornographic pictures appeared on his Facebook page until a friend alerted him.

The 25-year-old man, who wanted to be known only as Shan, said he had been asleep at home when he received the call from his friend.

“I found that I could no longer log in to my account as the password had been changed.

“Someone was using my account to post the content under my name,” he said, adding that he then contacted his friends and asked them to delete the compromised account from their list.

Cybersecurity Malaysia CEO Lt-Col (Rtd) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri said there were special devices in the market that enabled anyone to “sniff” WiFi networks.

Lawyers: Act will result in more cautious Net users

The newly-amended Evidence Act will potentially result in a wave of more cautious Internet users, say lawyers, as the onus is now on the person to prove they did not post or create offending material.

If one is hauled up, however, maintaining innocence might prove to be tricky unless Internet users are more thorough with safety measures, they said.

“Witnesses or documents would suffice, depending on circumstances.

“However, if you're a website owner and someone posts such comments, there's no way out,” said Bar IT Committee co-chairman Foong Cheng Leong.

> For more story in The Star today.

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Warning to Malaysian Internet Users: an Amendment to Evidence Act 2012 May 27, 2012