KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The Felda settlers of Jengka 15 in theMaran district of Pahang had depended on their oil palms aka the "goldentree" for their livelihood for about 25 years but poor prices and fallingoutput two years ago had taken a toll on their incomes.

This forced them to seek alternative jobs to supplement their incomes tomeet the rising cost of living. Eleven of them took up jobs as contractworkers, 37 as security guards, 42 as traders, 13 as carpenters, 41 asfactory workers and 38 as drivers.

Some others went into small and medium-scale industries which brought infar better incomes than palm oil.

There are some who ventured into the making of chilli and tomato sauce,traditional cakes like "dodol" and "kuih baulu" or the "songkok" besidescattle and freshwater fish farming.

Although they had limited resources, some of them had turned out to bequite successful.

SONGKOK TO THE RESCUE

One of them, Akmar bin Muluk, 49, is now regarded as a successful"songkok" supplier as his goods have penetrated the national market.

Armed with a venture capital of RM40,000 he turned his home in Jengka 15into a "factory" to produce songkoks which can now be found in 320 shopsin the peninsula.

With a staff of five skilled workers including his wife, the factorychurns out 40 common songkoks and 10 velvet ones a day.

Akmar said he could not meet the demand for songkoks during certainoccasions like the Hari Raya Festival, the marriage season or the start ofschools.

"I thank God that with the factory, I don't have to depend entirely onpalm oil for the livelihood of my family," he said.

Asked why he chose to go into the songkok business, Akmar said, "My fatheronce woke me up at 4.30 a.m. to catch the train from Kuala Lipis toJerantut. Armed with two boxes of songkok, my job was to brush thesongkoks in a five-foot way in the town while waiting for customers."

In this, he considered himself lucky because he inherited the skill ofsongkok-making from his father.

POTS AND PANS

For those used to work in the kitchens, venturing into sauce-making cancome naturally to some families like those of Cik Sayang Omar and SaatSulaiman.

Cik Sayang who "chanced" upon the idea of making chilli, tomato, oystersand vinegar for sale, is more than happy with the business.

And it all started when a relative moved in with them.

"I took over the business from that relative who had divorced his wife. Hecame to live with us with all his utensils to make the sauces," she said.

Besides learning the art from that relative, Cik Sayang sent one of herchildren to MARDI to attend a course on the business.

Now, her factory stands on a plot of land behind her house.

"At the moment, we supply our goods to the restaurants and sundry shops inPahang, especially Temerloh and Marang, because our output are limited bythe lack of workers," she said.

Cik Sayang and her husband are now devoting all their attention to thebusiness, while the aging oil palms are being re-planted by some hiredhands.

Like Akmar, Cik Sayang said they are making about RM4,000 nett a monthfrom the new venture.

SECOND GENERATION

One notable feature of Felda Jengka 15 is the interest shown by theyounger generations, the children of the pioneers, for ways to add totheir income.

Wan Salman Wan Ismail, 35, is one example. He is now the proud owner of apharmacy which he set up with a capital of RM100,000 and a computertraining centre costing RM150,000.

Both the pharmacy and computer lab which employ 12 people, are within thatFelda land scheme.

A graduate of UTM in architecture, he started off with a tuition centre in1997, before opening his computer lab and pharmacy. At that time, he wasunemployed because of the economic crisis buffeting the country andregion.

"Farmasi Salman" is managed by his wife, Faridah Mohd Ali, 34, who is alsoa pharmacist by training.

Wan Salman said he is prepared to take over the palm oil estate of hisfather but he would manage it differently.

"We will take over but manage it differently, like maybe engage others towork on the estate," he said.

He admitted that even though palm oil is no longer the family's onlysource of income, they would not forget the good services of the "goldentree" in particular and Felda in general.

Wan Salman pledges to maintain their valuable estate and re-plant it asrecommended by Felda.

Just like the days when it started opening lands for its scheme, Felda hasremained committed to raising the standard of living of the people. Thistime around, it is to help the second generation of the settlers tore-plant their aging trees to ensure that palm oil remain one of theeconomic resources of the pe