The Star Lifestyle
Saturday November 3, 2007
Want to learn about the medicinal properties of plants? Take Dr Abdul Ghani Hussain’s herb tour.
By LIZ PRICE
I couldn’t believe the variety of plants neatly arranged in pots in the garden. They were all labelled, and the plants looked well-cared for.
It takes Dr Abdul Ghani Hussain more than an hour each day to water his green babies.
Dr Ghani, 54, came out to meet us with a big smile on his face, and introduced us to the “herb walk in my garden”.
Knowledgeable guide: Dr Abdul Ghani teaching a visitor about the herbs in his garden.
He has lived in Langkawi for more than 20 years and has a deep interest in the medicinal value of plants. He has collected more than 500 species of plants that are used in traditional Malay medicine.
And now he shares his knowledge by running “herb walks” for anyone interested. I chose to tour his garden, although he also does tours in the rainforest and mangroves.
In the two-hour tour, Dr Ghani explains about the plants. Some of them are familiar and have been used for decades to treat common ailments, while others are exotic varieties used for more complex problems such as sexual dysfunction and haemorrhoids.
Dr Ghani is a qualified medical practitioner who spent his working life practising Western-style medicine. But during that time, he had also been looking at the medicinal value of plants. His research was spurred by the fact that his wife Dayang suffered from allergies to modern medicine.
Eventually he found a common local weed that could help his wife. From then on, he began to delve deeper into the rainforests and mangroves of Langkawi. When he is not outdoors, he is busy on the Internet researching medicinal plants.
Traditional Malay medicine is one of the oldest forms of healing and encompasses the use of plants, minerals and animal products.
Malaysia has one of the world’s richest areas of biodiversity and has a huge range of natural resources growing in the wild. Now many of these plants are growing in this amazing garden in Langkawi and are available for people to see.
You can find out what value plants have hidden in their leaves, stems, roots, bark, fruit and seeds. One of the most famous traditional plants is Tongkat Ali, which is a species of Eurycoma, but not many people know what it looks like.
Enjoying a Malay meal in Dr Ghani's garden balai. - Liz Price
Ginger or halia is another well-known remedy both in Asian and Western traditional remedies. Here you can see a variety of gingers.
Ipoh in Perak is named after the Ipoh tree. The sap from this tree is used by the Orang Asli as a poison for their blow darts. The latex is present in the bark and foliage. Dr Ghani, having made sure his small son was out of harm’s way, carefully pulled off a leaf so we could see the white sap oozing out.
I was particularly excited to see a couple of Cycas in pots. Cycas is a genus of the Cycad family, an ancient group of plants dating from the Jurassic period. Cycads are found in the tropics and can be seen clinging to sheer limestone cliffs. This was my chance to see one at close quarters.
Unfortunately, cycads are being indiscriminately harvested as they have great value as ornamental plants. They resemble palms or ferns but are actually related to neither.
Recently, Dr Ghani received a visit from the British Paul Penders group. The Paul Penders skin products cover a range of natural herbal cosmetics, anti-ageing preparations and organic skincare products.
Paul Penders himself is an active environmentalist and avid animal rights activist. His products have no chemicals and are not tested on animals.
Dr Ghani led Penders and a group from Japan on a two-hour tour of Langkawi’s rainforest. The group went deep into the jungle, up steep inclines and down craggy ravines, crossing clear mountain streams and dodging low-hanging brush.
They were shown wild pegaga growing at the side of the road. A member of the parsley family, pegaga has long been used in Malaysia as a nutritious food and as medicine.
Its leaves are a rich source of vitamin K, magnesium and calcium. It also helps alleviate fatigue, reduces the effects of depression and insomnia, improves memory and concentration, and boosts circulation.
It is now used in one of the Paul Penders preparations.
One of Dr Ghani’s family members came out with some rambutan for us to munch on. Surprisingly, these were not from the garden but from one of Dr Ghani’s grateful patients. As we continued to walk around, we saw quite a selection of herbs and spices, which could be used in the kitchen as well as in different remedies.
My attention was drawn to a collection of pottery oil lamps of various colours and designs. Dr Ghani explained that his son makes these but hasn’t started marketing them yet.
Having walked around the garden, we were then led to the balai, a traditional wooden building on stilts, with creepers and rattan decorating the railings. As we sat down on the floor, we were served rice and a delicious selection of Malay dishes. Once we were sated, fruits arrived, as well as hot coffee.
As we relaxed and allowed our newly acquired knowledge to settle, Dr Ghani told us how his training in Western-style medicine expanded into Malay, Islamic, Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines.
He is now collecting old books and manuscripts pertaining to ancient medicines and herbs etc. Some of these books are written in Arabic, which he is able to read.
He is certainly a fountain of knowledege. If you are in Langkawi, do visit this amazing garden and learn about these plants.
For more information, visit http://herbwalk-langkawi.com. For bookings, e-mail herbwalk@herbwalk-langkawi.com or call 012-4523404 (Dr Ghani), 012-3695762 (Adil) or 012-5616410 (Dayang). The herbwalks come with breakfast, lunch or high tea.
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