 |
| The by product of the Agarwood manufacturing is incense. Joss sticks spread out to dry on shelves |
 |
| To avoid busy Route 5, we decided to take a 4 km gravel route. |
 |
| Bird nests |
 |
| Petai tree |
 |
| Wild flowers in full bloom |
 |
| We stopped for drinks near Tanjung Resort and struck a conversation with Cikgu Zain, the headmaster to SK TAH and mastermind behind Tanjung Resort. |
 |
| Sungai Pontian Besar is a host to crocodiles and Udang Galah |
 |
| Tanjong Resort is Cikgu Zain's brainchild. He hopes to promote the area as a fishing port equipped with accommodation and boat for hire, ensuing economic viability for the village folks |
 |
| He also invited us to visit his school! |
 |
| Even though the total enrolment is slightly more than 100 students only, Cikgu Zain's unwavering motivation to educate is noticeable at every corner of the school. Every available space and corner is turned into a reading corner |
 |
| Essential oil is extracted from the agarwood through a distillery process |
 |
| Aquillaria tree branches |
 |
| The aromatic bark is cut into pieces... |
 |
| ...and milled |
 |
| After the bark is removed, the remaining wood will be used to make prayer beads |
 |
| Distillery pots in the foreground |
 |
| After the oil is extracted, the pulp is dried in the sun for further process. The distillery process is only able to extract 60% of oil from the wood hence the pulp is still fragrant |
 |
| The pulp then goes through a mill... |
 |
| ...and a sieve... |
 |
| Further process to turn it into dust |
 |
It is very dusty here. Note the joss sticks spread out to dry on shelves and packed in bundles
|
 |
| A Myanmarese employee stacking up the spiral joss sticks for packaging |
 |
| The finished product |
 |
| The finished product |
 |
| The sales room |
 |
| Essential oil is made into perfume... |
 |
| ...hand sanitizers, shampoo, etc |
 |
| Prayer beads |
 |
| Joss sticks |
 |
| ...and even tea! |
 |
| Certification |
Today, we were honoured to be received by Six Incense Agarwood Sdn Bhd. This company not only cultivates its own Aquilaria tree in Benut but has developed a technique to produce Kynam quality Agarwood resin. Imagine a USD 1 million dollar tree!
It's manufacturing plant in Pontian which we visited, manufactures products made from Agarwood. Essential oil is initially extracted from the wood through a distillery process. This oil is then used to make perfumes, hand sanitizer, etc. The by product of the wood is incense.
It seems, nothing goes to waste when it comes to the Aquilaria tree. Even the leaves can be made into tea. Let's have a cuppa!
