Not for sale: Orang Asli man turns down offers to buy rare tiger orchid

Gua Musang: An Orang Asli resident, Razali Ayeh, has declined offers to purchase his rare tiger orchid, despite visitors' persistent attempts to buy it. The 51-year-old has nurtured the Grammatophyllum speciosum, also known as the sugarcane orchid, for over a decade in his home forest area, near Kampung Redip. Razali discovered the seedling while working in the forest and found it particularly special as it held sentimental value.

The residents and Razali have been eagerly awaiting the orchid's second bloom, which occurred in 2021, eight years after its first flowering in 2018. The orchid's vividly colored, striped petals have since become a major attraction in Kampung Redip, a popular destination for homestay visitors. Razali explained that the orchid's unique growth habit and the difficulty of finding it in the wild made it an especially prized specimen.

Despite the orchid's breathtaking beauty and the allure of potential buyers, Razali firmly refuses to sell his cherished plant. He stated that the orchid's natural habitat is the high branches of trees within the forest, making it both rare and difficult to locate. Razali carefully maintains the orchid's health by using coconut coir and placing it in an open area with ample sunlight, allowing it to grow into a large cluster of stems.