THE unique Penang International Paddy Festival (PIPF) has achieved a rare distinction by winning the Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA) Excellence Award 2019.
The award ceremony will be held on Aug 14 this year at the St Giles Wembley Hotel in George Town.
Organised by Penanti constituency service centre and Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency service centre, the first edition of PIPF took place in August 2018 and the second edition last year at Kampung Terus in Penanti.
Thousands of visitors and tourists thronged the three-day festival during each edition that was held at one of the oldest padi heritage sites in Seberang Perai dating back to the 1800s.
The objectives were to preserve and promote the 1,015 acres of heritage padi fields in Kampung Terus and to support the local farmers in their efforts to preserve the padi heritage that could be used for food security and at the same time to develop the place as a tourist attraction.
One of the unique elements of PIPF was that it featured at least 15 padi sculptures of interesting shapes such as buffalo and scarecrow that were made from discarded rice straws and were fully handcrafted by the Kampung Terus villagers.
Other exciting activities included catching of fish in the padi fields, painting of local sceneries by local artists, kite exhibition, tug of war activity in the padi field and football competition with traditional clothes (kain pelikat) in the padi field.
The person behind this successful project was none other than state Agriculture, Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin.
Dr Norlela, who is also the Penanti assemblyman, said the win was unexpected because of the fierce competition under the Government Category – Green Initiatives Award. It attracted more than 100 submissions from other government agencies nationwide.
“I submitted the PIPF entry last year and when I received a letter from the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) informing me about the result on March 2, I could not believe it. It was like a dream come true. I am truly grateful for that.
“But the credit goes to the villagers from Kampung Terus, who gave their best efforts to make the festival a success.
“Almost everything from the padi sculptures to the setting up of booths to sell fruits, vegetables, food and drinks, were all done by them. We did not get any funding from anyone.
“Hence, this shows the highest level of commitment that they had put in to make PIPF a successful festival and at the same time to promote their village. As their elected representative, I am so proud of them.
“This would not be possible without their contributions. So, I thank them for that,” Dr Norlela said in an interview with Buletin Mutiara at Wisma Parti Keadilan Rakyat Pulau Pinang in Bayan Lepas recently.
This year marks the 12th edition of MLAA, which aims to inspire the creation and implementation of new design trends and direction of landscape development in Malaysia and beyond.
As such, it recognises the contributions of exceptional landscape architects, contractors, government agencies, developers, researchers, consultancy firms, the media and individuals at home and abroad in shaping Malaysia’s landscaping sphere.
MLAA also is part of ILAM’s many prestigious programmes and it was first created when Malaysia was selected to host the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress in 2007.
As a matter of fact, the MLAA award ceremony this year will be held simultaneously with the IFLA World Landscape Architects Summit 2020 at the St Giles Wembley Hotel in George Town. It will be hosted by ILAM itself.
Apart from that, Dr Norlela hopes to further develop Kampung Terus with houseboats project along the Sungai Terus to boost the eco-tourism in the area and benefit the local community.
“The idea came from my previous visit to Kerala, India.
“The houseboat cruises there give me an idea to implement the same thing in Kampung Terus with Kerala-style houseboats.
“We want to have a houseboat that looks traditional from the outside but fully equipped with great accommodation inside such as having a nice bedroom, kitchen and others.
“We plan to start with six boathouses first and for this year, we hope we can make at least three of them.
“Of course, the cost is not cheap. It is estimated at around RM2 million each.
“Thus, I have sought grants from the state government.
“Any private investors interested in this project are welcome for a joint venture with the villagers’ cooperative,” she added.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad