Image via NST
There’s no food like Raya food. Lemang, ketupat, rendang. Just thinking about all of it is making us salivate like crazy!
via GIPHY
However, it turns out there’s a Hari Raya delicacy that’s threatening the Malaysian biodiversity! Pulut periuk kera is a type of lemang that consists of glutinous rice steamed in periuk kera (pitcher plant). The dish is well-known for its soft and fluffy texture, and it’s considered one of the best things to have during Hari Raya and Ramadan.
Image via Mohd Zarin
Based on a report by New Straits Times, A group of men in Segamat Johor, who are members of Kumpulan Pencari Periuk Kera have been spending the fasting month collecting pitcher plants in the forests. They have been aiming to collect 140,000 pitcher plants to meet the high demand from customers in Johor, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu for Ramadan and Hari Raya
Image via NST
Local environmentalists caught wind of this practice and have expressed their concern. A Chairperson of the Malaysian Nature Society Pahang highlighted the issue through a post on Facebook, informing her followers that the periuk kera plant is currently listed as a critically endangered species of plant.
According to her, aside from its survival being threatened by the widespread practice of pulut periuk kera, the plant is also facing a survival challenge from the global warming crisis. The pitcher plant flourishes in cool air, and with temperatures increasing globally, the plant has been struggling to transition to higher altitudes to survive.
Image via Diaries of Me
Thus, by encouraging a large-scale harvesting of the plant to satisfy our kempunans, we’re not helping the survival of the plant at all. Instead, we could become the factor that pushes the plant to an early extinction if we carry on consuming pulut periuk kera.
This is terrible, you guys! Have you ever had pulut periuk kera? Is it worth risking a complete extinction of the species? Should someone start farming these plants to satisfy both our cravings and save the species at the same time? We’re just throwing out ideas here.
