Monday June 20, 2005 -- AS the title suggests, "Malaysian Palm Oil - ASuccess Story" is a book about palm oil with one notable difference. Amarked departure from the usual jargon-filled, mind-numbing tome, this ispossibly the first coffee-table book about Malaysia’s golden crop.

Highly readable with only a sprinkling of technical terms, all of whichare clearly explained, this book reminds me of a well-written travelguide. Information contained within its hard covers is succinct yetcomprehensive, informative and entertaining. And like a good travel guide,all the facts, figures and nuggets of information are channelled towardsone specific purpose - to create awareness and stimulate interest in anagricultural commodity whose economic and social importance to Malaysia’seconomy has far too often been taken for granted.

Stunning photographs are one of the book’s major attractions. Some of themilluminate little known aspects of palm oil. A case in point is the photoof an empty fruit bunch on page 145. That the photographer has succeededin transforming an empty fruit, a common sight in any oil palm estate,into a photograph that could grace the walls of an art gallery is atribute to his skill.

Although many aspects of oil palm and its highly distinctive red-colouredoil are well known, the authors have succeeded in blending existing andnew bits of information to create, at times, a new perspective.

For example, while every schoolchild is told that oil palm originates inWest Africa, few are aware "the oil has been used as a food and energysource for millennia." "Ancient Egyptians used it - as attested by thediscovery of an earthenware jar containing residues of palm oil, in a tombover 5,000 years old at Abydos in Egypt," the authors say.

Similarly, the British are often credited with introducing rubber to thiscountry, but few are aware the Dutch planted the first oil palms inSouth-East Asia in Buitenzorg (now Bogor) Botanical Garden in Java,Indonesia, in 1848. Only in the 1870s did this country receive its firstbatch of oil palms from Africa via the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew,Britain, and its counterpart in Singapore.

However, the planting of oil palm on a commercial basis in this countrywas due to a Frenchman, Henri Fauconnier, the authors say. Using seedlingsobtained from palms in Sumatra in 1911 and 1912, Fauconnier first plantedoil palms along the road leading to his plantation in Selangor beforestarting the first oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1917 in BatangBerjuntai, Selangor.

Cleverly fusing oil palm’s early history in West Africa with itssubsequent transplanting and growth in this country and its evolution asMalaysia’s premier agricultural export, the book focuses largely on thevegetable oil’s versatility of use for edible and industrial purposes andits importance for this country as well as globally.

If, as many analysts suggest, oil prices are set to remain above US$40 abarrel in the medium term, interest in the palm oil should beconsiderable. For example, many countries, including Malaysia, arestepping up efforts to blend palm oil and diesel to create bio-diesel tocreate an environmentally friendly source of fuel.

Palm oil also possesses another attribute " it is trans fat-free.According to the authors, "trans fats are basically the product of amanufacturing process that adds hydrogen (‘hydrogenation’) to convertliquid vegetable oils to solid fats and to extend their shelf life."

"Trans fats are considered so harmful that the United States Institute ofMedicine of the National Academy of Sciences says that even the smallestamount is not safe," the authors write. With effect from Jan 1 next year,the US Food and Drug Administration has made it mandatory for trans fatsto be listed on food labels, a requirement that has sparked renewedinterest in palm oil.

Not only is palm oil trans fat-free, it also contains powerfulantioxidants that acts as the body’s first line of defence againstdestructive molecules that damage cells and tissues, leading to illnesseslike heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, the authors say.

Another little known but potentially exciting use of palm oil is forcosmetics and skincare products.

Yet another delightful surprise is the inclusion of a bookmarker withinthe pages of this book. Made from paper produced from oil palm’s freshfruit bunches, the bookmarker is an excellent visual reminder that everypart of the oil palm can be used. The bookmark’s thickness and texturesuggests fresh fruit bunches can be used to make high quality paper.

For business readers, the book comes with an Industry Reference Supplementthat includes a short write up of organisations who collaborated in thepublication of this book and corporate advertisers. These include industryorganisations as well as private sector companies involved in theplanting, shipping, trading and manufacturing of a crop that the authorshave described as "Malaysia’s gift to the world."