Stuffs about our Staffs: Botanist

This time in Stuff about our Staffs is featuring a very special and experience person in the farm, Mr. Zaino Alam or better known as Pak Alam. He is the botanist of Penang Butterfly Farm, responsible for the plant care and the landscape.

He’s been serving the farm for a really, really long time. He was involved with the farm setup before the opening in 1986, before leaving some time later to work elsewhere for a few years. He then came back to work in Penang Butterfly Farm in 1999 and had been faithfully serving until now. However Pak Alam’s job as caretaker of plants dated way back before then. He started in 1974 as a garderner, with the salary of RM30 per month. Yes, you read that right, RM30 per month (approximately 9.90USD). He was only 16.

His skills and experience are not just plant care but deeper into the beneficial uses of plants for medical purposes and survival skills of venturing in the forest. His passion for botany started as a teenager, alongside with the love for bonsai, and antiques. He had to leave school after completing Primary 6 (12 years old) due to poverty, but that did not stop him from learning and doing what he enjoy most.

When I asked what is his favourite plant, he smiled widely and said, “Orchids. Definitely orchids.” As I join in his giggles, he adds “but not the common and easy orchids. I love the wild ones, the challenging ones. The orchids that people tell me it is difficult to rear, difficult to bloom, that is the orchid that I’ll love. The more difficult it is, the better. Like this one…” and he pointed to an orchid plant. “Bulbophyllum beccari. People told me it takes 1-2 years to see it bloom. It takes me just a few weeks,” he said with a smile of a humble victor.

Just by hearing him share a little knowledge about an orchid, you’ll know how experience and how deep his passion is for plants without directly hearing him saying so. It’s almost unbelievable that this man never attended high school. “I learn from people who are more experienced and knowledgeable than me. I humbly ask them questions and learn from them,” he said with his wrinkled yet gentle smile when I asked where he mostly get his botanical knowledge from.

He then talks about how we should humble ourselves to learn and never feel afraid of sharing this knowledge to anyone.  He said, “We should never stingy with knowledge and should never be afraid that people who absorbs knowledge from us become greater than us.”  He continues with his principal, “There’s a piece of meat in here,” as he points where the heart is, “and if that piece of meat is stinks, the person as a whole stinks.  I want live what my religion taught me.”

My last question was what would he advice young people who are still pursuing their future careers. “Go for what you love, not money. You know what is the problem of young people these days? They go for the money, and live an unhappy working life. Loving what you do means, things you enjoy doing at home are the same as what you do at work. And more importantly seek for the experience, not the certificate. Experience is priceless. You can have as many certificates to form a long line, but in the end of the day its your experience and skills that people look for.”

Hope you’re inspired by Pak Alam’s wise words! We are grateful to have this great botanist. The next time you come to Penang Butterfly Farm, feel free to learn from him if you happen to spot him.

Posted in Stuffs about our Staffs