IF you fancy hiking sticks that are natural wood, visit the Orang Asli on either side of the Sungai Perak rest area along the North-South Expressway.
The north and south-bound rest areas are hard beside Sungai Perak and on both rest areas, off to a corner, are booths run by Orang Asli of the Temiar tribe offering a number of products found in the jungles near Kuala Kangsar, Perak.
“We have to shave off the thorns, use fire to straighten the cane, then sun-dry them for about a week before they can be used as hiking sticks,” said Ikar Abdullah, 41, an Orang Asli of the Temiar tribe. A traveller on the North-South Expressway stopping for a break at the Sungai Perak rest area and checking out the many sticks and staves made and sold by Orang Asli.Its Malay name literally translates into “dense bamboo”, and Ikar said they are cut green and sun-dried for at least seven days till they turn beige.The base of the bamboo shoots are what become hiking sticks, and one will actually be holding it upside down, using the fatter base of the shoot as the hilt of the stick.
While it has no importance as timber, its bark is proven to contain anti-cancer and anti-tumour bioactive compounds and pharmacologists around the world are actively researching this.A stand full of hiking sticks, mainly of rotan semambu, treated and dried by Orang Asli to make them extra strong.