Daily Express reported today that paphiopedilum rothschildianum (sumazau slipper orchid) got the highest number of votes from the public at the Borneo Orchid Show 2007. There were 20 candidates and the sumazau slipper got 283 out of 1,047 votes, beating its nearest rival by more than 100 votes.

Now it only needs to be endorsed by the State Government and the Chief Minister before it can be called the official orchid of Sabah.

Some facts:

- endemic to Sabah’s rainforests, at elevations of 500 - 1200m above sea level.

- Commonly grows on land (usually nearby a river: it likes humidity) but can also be found growing as a litophyte in leaf-litter on non-limestone cliffs.

- Paphiopedilum is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). It has about 77 species native to South China, India, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

- a rare species

- can take up to 15 years to flower from seedlings

- known as the aristocrat of the slipper orchid, or King of the Paphs

- A large sized clear-leafed plant, it blooms with a tall inflorescense with up to 6 large flowers. It is unique in the Corypetalum group by holding its petals almost horizontally, hence giving it a very large appearance.

- Peak flowering period is throughout April to May.

- It’s the most expensive orchid on sale at several sites selling orchids online eg, nattsorchids.com

Stunningly beautiful, uniquely Sabahan in origin and shape: I think it truly deserves such title.

Some more pictures of it.

We are currently taking on one of the biggest projects an average individual could take in their lifetime: building one’s own house from scratch, as opposed to the more common path of purchasing a readymade house.

The project started almost 10 years ago with soil top-up due to the area being flood-prone. This alone has cost us about RM15,000. I expect the piling work itself to cost in the region of RM10,000. I think once the piling work is done we would’ve put in more than RM32,000 into the project, so far…

This is the view of the gate leading to the house area. The gate is mostly up (cost about RM6,000 all in)- you can see a dog in the gate post.

A view of the general area where the house is to be built.

Three piling logs (kayu bakau) are shown below. Each is more than 10 feet long and *very* heavy. They cost RM23 to 25 each.

Before piling is done, the surveyor marks the places where the piling logs will be hammered in. The piling plan was done by an architect friend. The translation of the piling plans to marking the ground with little red wooden planks cost us about RM1,000.

After piling is done it would look like this:

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It’s good to sometimes take a break from working on patch panels and do something totally different instead.

I am part of a team in organising a charity dinner to be held on 22nd October (Monday) at Magellan Sutera, Kota Kinabalu featuring Velvet AF4.

Tickets are priced at RM200, RM150 and RM100.

We hope to sell 130 tables.

We are looking for companies / organisations / individuals to purchase tables / tickets or sponsor lucky draws.

More details will be posted as they are finalised.

Take this opportunity to assist the deserving.

Thank you.

“SECEBIS BAKTI SEGENGGAM BUDI”

Note: her pic above is taken from her fansite