Doctor trades stethoscope for spade in healing effort

Waste not: Dr Ng showing the food waste which is turned into compost at their farm in Ban Foo in Ulu Tiram.

JOHOR BARU: He traded his stethoscope for a spade and encourages his “patients” to visit a vegetable farm.

Dr Lemuel Ng believes that besides medication, there should be holistic healing that includes healthy food and environment.

Four years ago, the 30-something doctor, who studied at University of Calgary in Canada, turned to farming with his five close buddies.

They started Feed Our Loved Ones (FoloFarm) in Kempas here.

“We were all overseas but decided to come back and start FoloFarm after our god-sister who went for a medical check-up was diagnosed with renal failure at the age of 25,” he said.

This prompted them to research about food. They soon discovered that many of the vegetables in Ma­­lay­sia had a high content of pesticide.

“In some cases, the level was higher than those from China and Thailand,” Dr Ng claimed.

The six friends also discovered that a lot of animal feed here contained many types of antibiotics.

This got them worried.

“In the long run, this could result in super bugs being resistant to pesticides and antibiotics,” he said.

Dr Ng said he did not blame such farmers, who had to face risks like bad weather.

“They want to plant within the shortest time frame,” he said, adding that a high productivity level was expected.

So the friends collaborated with a local farmer known as Shifu Lek and started farming.

In the early days, Dr Ng said they knew nothing about farming.

So they picked up tips from YouTube and the Internet.

They started out on a 0.2ha plot of land belonging to one of their fathers.

“We now plant about 40 types of vegetables at our 4.04ha site in Ban Foo, Kempas.

“We also have another 2.4ha of land in Kukup,” he said.

The vegetables that they plant include lettuce, beetroot, brinjal, corn, bak choi and spinach.

These farms, he said, served about 150 families who would pay RM2,440 for a 24-week supply of fresh vegetables.

All their vegetables are grown organically without pesticides.

Dr Ng said that FoloFarm was a social enterprise which was getting support not just from the local community but also from the government via a RM100,000 grant.

“Everyday, we go around collecting waste materials from hotels and other places around the city.

“We then make our own compost which takes about four months before it is used to grow vegetables,” he said.

He said the farm also organises tours during the weekends.