Malaysian Farmer Donates Vegetables Amid the CCP Virus Crisis to Prevent Wastage

Illustration - salmon-negro/Shutterstock

A Malaysian farmer has found a way to help his community and prevent food wastage during the CCP virus crisis by donating surplus vegetables to people in need.

Simon Leong, the president of the Sabah Kundasang Agriculture Operators Association, has run a 40-acre farm in the Malaysian town of Kundasang in Sabah for over three decades. In the wake of the spreading pandemic, Leong has taken it upon himself to ensure that neither his nor his fellow farmers’ vegetables go to waste.

Since Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented on March 18, 2020, farmers have struggled to retain their customers. Leong, fearing that ripe crops would be wasted, was among the first to start donating vegetables to needy members of the public and front line health care workers in the nearby city of Ranau.

“I have been giving vegetables from my farm to people, including those at the Ranau food court, Ranau hospital and health clinics, as well as the district police,” Leong told New Straits Times. The farmer also donated vegetables to orphanages, food stalls, and coffee shops.

“I had no choice, as the vegetables needed to be harvested or else they would turn bad,” said Leong. “Some city folks are in need of them, while in Kundasang the people have to discard them. Might as well give them to those who want them.”

Footage of Leong’s benevolent efforts was uploaded to Twitter by the farmer’s friend, Shahrizal Denci, on April 10. To date, the video depicting Leong’s delivery truck laden with donations has been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Kundasang’s highland vegetable farmers experienced an 80 percent decrease in sales after the MCO came into effect, reported The Borneo Post. Local clients stopped collecting fresh produce in person; around 1,000 farmers and their collective daily haul of approximately 100 tonnes of vegetables suffered greatly as a result.

“Up to 50 percent of the vegetables produced here are exported to Brunei, Sarawak, and other places,” said Leong, “while the remaining are supplied to the local market.” After the MCO, however, no lorries came to collect produce for a total of 10 days; under normal circumstances, city-bound lorries make up to 16 trips a week.

Leong told the outlet that it is imperative for the farmers to harvest their vegetables when ripe to avoid damaging the ecology of the farms. He estimated that despite donating a huge amount of produce, farmers nonetheless discarded around 800 tonnes of produce worth over 1 million Malaysian Ringgits (US$229,674) during the 10-day embargo.

Illustration - Alexandr Podvalny/Unsplash

Illustration - tristan tan/Shutterstock

Leong told the New Straits Times that his efforts to avoid food waste extend beyond donations; he is also helping himself and his fellow farmers find ways to avoid financial destitution amid the ongoing crisis due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Leong enlisted the help of three politicians—Ranau Member of Parliament Jonathan Yasin, Inanam assemblyman Kenny Chua, and Karamunting assemblyman Hiew Vun Zin—who readily agreed to purchase discounted vegetables in bulk for their constituents. Leong called the bulk deliveries “sponsored vegetables.”

“I am helping to load the produce from the farms using my lorry,” the farmer said. “After that, I will liaise with those handling the logistics to send the vegetables around Ranau, Inanam, and Sandakan.”

Illustration - Daniel Fazio/Unsplash

For the farmers, bulk selling is not a money-making venture as much as it is a way to avoid food waste, help people in need, and make enough sales to purchase rice and other essentials for their families while freedoms are restricted.

As of early April, Leong and his fellow highland farmers are gradually replanting their crops in the hope that movement restrictions will be relaxed and the market will gradually recover.