A group of 29 young professionals comprising MAICSA members and students, lawyers, engineers, pharmacists, accountants, architect etc. gathered at downtown Kuala Lumpur in the early morning of 11 April 2008, waiting for an adventurous three-day two-nights tour of nature to Taman Negara. The trip was organised by the Young MAICSA Group (“YMG”), a special interest group that is formed for MAICSA members who were below 35 years old. The trip was led by the organisers, namely Jocelyn Ng and Jason Cheng.

Day 1

To break-the-ice in the bus on our journey, Jocelyn and Jason organised a game of ‘personality guess’. Each one of us has to write five characteristics that best described ourselves on a piece of paper. Then, it was put into a ‘lucky draw bag’ to be randomly picked and read out for everyone to guess the ‘owner’ of those five characteristics. As a reward, we gave out MAICSA’s trendy black bags which were sponsored by the Institute.

We had a pit stop at Jerantut, devouring some mouth-watering dishes at a local restaurant. After lunch, we continue our journey to Kuala Tahan, our final destination. Upon arriving at Kuala Tahan, we were transferred to the Mutiara Taman Negara Resort via a ‘motorised sampan’.

After checking in, we started our first leg of adventure - an exploration trip to the famous ‘Ear Cave’. In the ‘Ear Cave’, we encountered spectacular rock formations and discovered that it was a home to bats, spiders, centipedes and all sorts of creepy crawlies. We were made to crawl through narrow caveway, while simultaneously avoiding the inner stream which flooded the lower ground and the thousands of bats that nested atop our heads. After the adventure, we returned to the Resort to freshen up for dinner.

After a sumptuous dinner at the ‘floating’ restaurant (a houseboat moored permanently at the river bank of Kuala Tahan) we went on a guided night jungle walk. We visited a threestorey animal-watch tower called Tahan Hide and we managed to catch a glimpse of the spotted deers, bears and other animals as they quench their thirst at the man-made salt lakes 500 metres away from the Tahan Hide. We were told that animals, like the spotted deers were herbivore, needed to top up mineral salt in their bodies in order to stay healthy. This was an opportunity for us to observe them at a safe distance from the Tahan Hide. After that, we were led on a 30-minute walk through the dense forest, with the guide introducing us to the various nocturnal insects.

Day 2

After breakfast the next morning, we embarked on a journey to new heights - the canopy walkway. Installed at elevations above 40 metres and stretching over 400 metres, the canopy walkway is reputed as one of the world’s longest hanging bridge in the forest. Touted as a must-do activity at Taman Negara, we feast our eyes on the myriad of flora and fauna at the summit of the forest.

Then, we proceeded to trek three hours up the Bukit Teresek ridge. At the peak, we were rewarded with a panoramic view of a time-honoured natural civilization at the Bukit Teresek ridge. With verdant valleys, evergreen hills, and misty clouds surrounding the hilltop, it was really fascinating sight to behold.

After lunch, we were ready to shoot the rapids, travelling upstream from Kuala Tahan on Trenggan River. It was an experience of a 45-minute thrill. We were thoroughly drenched as we negotiate the seven sets of rapids. We reached an Orang Asli settlement where the native of the forest taught us how to start a fire merely using bamboo and rattan string. Adept with blowpipe, the Batek tribe people showed us how they catch their prey.

At night, we enjoyed a further introduction to our gifted mother nature’s treasure with a Taman Negara video show. We learnt that Taman Negara was indeed a sanctuary to hundreds of species of birds, butterflies, insects, fish and plants, not to mention the shy and gentle Orang Asli who lives on Mother Nature’s resources. We were also informed that the stated purpose of Taman Negara was to utilise the land within the park in perpetuity, for the propagation, protection and preservation of indigenous flora and fauna.

Day 3

To mark our last day at Taman Negara, we went on a MAICSA-subsidised excursion to Lata Berkoh. We were divided into groups of four and went by boat on a memorable journey into the dense tropical forest. We were amazed by a spectacular cascade that marks the limit of the river and the huge, leaning neram trees on our journey to Lata Berkoh. We had a picnic and enjoyed a swim in the crystal clear black water river.

On our way back, we stopped by at the Kelah Fish Sanctuary where we were introduced to the conservation effort to preserve the fish along the Sungai Tahan river. We were given the opportunity to feed the fishes as well as to adopt a baby fish by paying a mere RM10/-. A certificate of adoption was issued by the Sanctuary and we could ‘name’ our fish before setting it off into the river.

Finally, we bid Taman Negara farewell with heavy hearts as we departed to Jerantut for lunch. On our journey back to the concrete jungle of Kuala Lumpur, Jocelyn and Jason organised a lucky draw session where 13 of us were the lucky recipients of MAICSA exclusive Royal Selangor pewter keychain, generously sponsored by MAICSA in support of YMG.

Thank you…

We had a fantastic holiday and ‘break’ with wonderful people…many thanks go to MAICSA for the valuable gifts and generous sponsorship, friendly and cooperative participants in making the trip a success.