JanuaryMarch 2005

Vol. 2, Issue 2 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Malaysian Karst Society

Strictly for members only

On the Trail of the Civet Cat Inside this issue:

Lee Su Win reports

Not so long ago, going to Gua Musang, the scene before us, breathing in fresh The Enchanting Tasek 2
Kelantan was like going to the back of air and being serenaded by two groups Cermin
beyond. It was only accessible by rail of gibbons just below us.
until a road was built to connect it to Lion Rock 3
The scenery was fantastic as long
the rest of the world. This of course
as we were in Perak but heart-
benefited its inhabitants but removed
breakingly ugly once we drove over
much of its mystery. I stopped over at
into Pahang. Hillsides have been Gua Datok 4
Gua Musang on the way back from
stripped bare and it was ugly plastic
Kota Baru more than twenty years ago.
tents stretching into the distance for
I remember two rows of shop houses
flower and vegetable farming. It is our Cave With No Name 5
and the railway station with a
f ervent hop e that th e Pera k
spectacular limestone outcrop behind
Government will not allow this to
it. Thats it? I asked my friend. Yes,
happen on the Perak side.
thats it, he relpied. Our visit lasted all Uplands Trail 5
of 10 minutes but Gua Musang The road from Kg. Raja is the old
remained at the back of my mind as logging road but now macadamized
some place to explore one day. The until the highway is ready. The building Limestone Bedrock & 6
opportunity to do so came before of it is in progress. The unfortunate Sinkholes
Chinese New Year when Philip and I victims in this highland forest are the
decided to take the new Simpang Pulai Orang Asli living there with their once
Coming Trips 7
to Kg. Raja road. Why not Gua Musang pristine rivers now thickly silted.
too, we thought. So we asked Siak
Hong and Ghee Hong to come along.
The destruction of limestone hills
in Simpang Pulai is horrendous and The Perak State
disgraceful but once past the limestone
outcrops, the road winds through Government has
breathtaking scenery. You see hills, embarked on an
wreathed and blanketed in clouds, expansion
rolling away into the distance in all
shades of green and blue and purple. programme at Gua
We stopped along the way to take in Tempurung and its
The not-so-small backwater town of Gua Musang. immediate
environment which
The scenery changes as we includes an
approach Gua Musang. Limestone
outcrops can be seen in the distance equestrian park, a
and the drive into Gua Musang is motocross and
memorable as the road goes in more.
between two beautiful limestone
outcrops, which look different at Read about it in the
various times of the day. next issue.
Malaysian Karst Society, Syuen Hotel, 88 Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil, 30300 Ipoh, Perak Tel: +6(05) 254 2993 karstsoc@streamyx.com
 Page 2 KARST NEWS

On the Trail of the Civet Cat (continued)

A tight squeeze to get into Gua
Musang
The Star
26 Aug 2004
Highlighted MKS plea
to save Tasek Cermin
that was under threat
by quarrying activity.
Gua Musang is surrounded by unexplored.
limestone outcrops with the town
During the dry spell in March, the
growing at the foot of these
forest on two outcrops caught fire.
spectacular hills. The outcrops here
Instead of a lush green top, the hills are
are different from those in Perak
now brown. The fire apparently lasted
because they are younger. Many of its
four days and was only doused because
caves are not on ground level but
it rained. According to the locals, the
halfway up the hill and have been
fire was set by careless people burning
subjected to less weathering. The best
rubbish at the bottom of the hill. The
thing about these majestic hills is that
vegetation will turn green again in good
none of them have yet fallen prey to
time. In the meantime, the burnt tops
quarrying and we hope they never will.
serve to remind us of the danger of
We hope the powers that be in
open-burning.
Kelantan have more sense and
foresight than those in Perak and will We are planning to visit Gua
forbid above ground quarrying which Musang, so if you are interested in
only benefits short-sighted businesses. caving, watch out for this trip. Life in a
not-so-small backwater town is really
As our visit was very short, we
worth the experience.
only had time to explore Gua Musang,
which has many chambers. It took us
the better part of a morning.
We made another trip there again
recently. This time we made more
contacts and were shown more caves,
many of which look very promising.
Most of the caves in the peninsula are
well explored, mapped and
documented but the caves in Gua
Musang are relatively unknown and Scenic hike at Gua Haji, Gua Musang

The Enchanting Tasek Cermin

Law Siak Hong reports

Recently, a German 'friend of Ipoh' Against this backdrop, Ipoh's famous

came to swim in Tasek Cermin and
reported to MKS that quarrying was
going on outside this water-locked
wang at Gunung Rapat. Because of the
incident in August last year when a
quarry operator tried to blast through
the hills, we became alarmed and
decided to investigate the matter.
On the way there, we passed the
famous tourist spot - a stretch of old
and new cave temples skirting the foot
of cavernous limestone outcrops.
produce, the Tambun pomeloes were
sold in stalls right beside the trunk
road. Around the next hill, the new
Guan Yin Cave Temple Complex grew
'chocka-bloc-full' with 2.5metre tall
white statues of the Goddess Guan
Yin. Although we were concerned
about the proliferation of cave temples
and the damage they cause to the
natural formations, we accepted that
this land-use was the lesser of evils.
Indiscriminate blasting is far worse.
 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Malaysian Karst Society
The Enchanting Tasek Cermin (continued)
A little further on, a short dusty
road led us into the shade of the hills
outside Tasek Cermin. Once there,
we looked for evidence of recent de-
struction. We found no new work on
the hills; to one side, the quarry was
processing crushed stones for aggre-
gate. This, however, did not stop us
from wondering if an official notifica-
tion (stop work order) had been issued
to the quarry operator. We would
have to find out the resolve of the Au-
thority in stopping this wanton exploi-
tation.
Relieved and relaxed, we got
drawn to the light at the end of the
tunnel to Tasek Cermin. The tunnel
was quite dark so we walked with care.
As we came out of the tunnel and
stepped into the wang, we faced a pre-
historic splendour.
OUTINGS REPORTED
Lion Rock 2 January 2005
Named for its uncanny resemblance to
a lion, Lion Rock, officially known as
Kemuning Rock, sits majestically over-
looking Sg. Siput. This landmark in Sg.
Siput is located within the Kemuning
Oil Palm Estate. We thank the
management of the estate for granting
MKS access.
The climb was a straight forward
one. We hiked for about half a
Page 3
Like a wall, these upright, sheer,
weathered and mysterious ancient cliffs
edged the emerald lake. Growing in
the crevices of these cliffs were species
endemic to this group of hills. The long
dry spell had browned the vegetation
to autumn shades. A cool breeze
kissed the glistening face of the lake; if
you listened, you could hear the distant
chorus of Nature's voices.
The mesmerizing pre-historic
beauty left me speechless. We got
down to the water-edge of this
charmed place. All was quiet on the
waterfront. We wondered about the
depth of the lake. No, swimming was
not for me. Oh, perhaps a Loch Ness
Inside the wang of Tasek Cermin
monster lived here, where the cliffs
encircling the lake echoed eons of wild
existence. It is hard to believe that
Tasek Cermin was only a flooded
wang, due to limestone exploitation in
the adjacent hills.
Ed: Tasek Cermin was
Just then, the sun pierced the thus named by our
clouds and its brightness lighted up the MKS president who
wang a notch. We looked up and saw discovered it decades
the top of these majestic hills crowned ago when it was a
in gold by the late afternoon sun. In its 'mirror pool' of perfect
calm glory, I forgot the woes in the reflections. "We"
world beyond the enchanting Tasek refers to Ghee Hong
Cermin - a precious gift to this city of and Siak Hong.
vanishing hills.
kilometer to the foot of the hill and
since it was Musim Kemarau, it was no
easy task. Aside from the scorching
sun, the extreme dry weather had the
ants all out, foraging for food perhaps.
They were everywhere! And seemed
to have acquired a taste for human
flesh!
After trekking for about 20 Securing harnesses for the ascent.
minutes, we reached the highlight of
 Page 4
Kevin securing safety lines for the
rest.
Breathtaking view of Gua Datok
at approximately 1 oclock.
Liew of MNS leading the MKS
group.
KARST NEWS
the climb the 30-metre steel ladder
leaning precariously against the almost
vertical cliff. Kevin volunteered to
scale the ladder first a brave gesture
and a brilliant idea! After all, Kevin
would certainly put the structural
integrity of the ladder to the test!
Upon reaching the top, he
secured the ladder and lowered the
harnesses. One at a time, we strapped
ourselves into the harnesses and slowly
Gua Datok,Tambun 6 February 2005
A favorite among cavers, Gua Datok
has many multi-leveled chambers and
some pretty amazing formations. 24 of
us headed to Gua Datok to look at the
cave for ourselves.
Adjacent to Gunung Datok is a
limestone pinnacle aptly name Pencil
Rock a marvel of nature soaring over
100 feet into the sky. The entrance to
the cave is located 120 metres up on
the slope of Gunung Datok. While
trekking up the steep slope, we had a
rare encounter with a 12-foot python!
According to members who en-
countered it firsthand, while they were
hacking through shrubs, they suddenly
heard a loud thump. They saw the
huge serpent, probably alarmed by the
intrusion, slithering downhill, taking
evasive action. Snake! Snake! they
shouted, warning others below. The
python, sped downhill and in a matter
of seconds, disappeared into the thick
shrubs below. The encounter left us
with our adrenaline pumping.
The cave itself is beautiful, with
natural skylights illuminating its cham-
bers. We were also surprised to see
minimal graffiti or vandalism, perhaps
due to the difficult access to the cave.
Gua Datok is also filled with cave
life. In one of the chambers, roaches
and bats were abundant. The tunnel to
that chamber is quite narrow, so if the
bats decide to fly out, there is a pretty
good chance of capturing an image of
and safely ascended to a dizzying height
only to find out we were just half way
through the climb.
After more climbing, trekking and
ant bites, we finally reached the peak of
Lion Rock. I picked a shady spot with
a good view and sat there silently,
taking in all that I can, feeling exhausted
but accomplished. Then it struck me
this was only the first half of the climb.
We have yet to go down.
them in flight. However, the stench
from the guano and roaches will make
you wish that you did not have that
nasi lemak for breakfast.
One of the most interesting fea-
tures of Gua Datok is the Picasso
Chamber. The name was given by Ma-
laysian Nature Society (MNS) members
who thought that the swirling lines of
its chamber walls looked rather like
the Maestros work. We think the
style is more consistent to that of Van
Gogh. Picasso Chambers unique back-
drop makes it one of the most impres-
sive chambers that we have visited.
At approximately 1 oclock, the
rays of the sun penetrates through the
skylights into the main chamber, illumi-
nating the cave. This awe-inspiring
sight is caving at its best.
Picasso Chamber
 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Malaysian Karst Society
The Cave With No Name 6 March 2005
Cave in Paradise Valley
Paradise Valley is in an enchanting
space in Gunung Rapat but the cave
entrance to the cave is within view of
the North-South Highway.
Nineteen persons turned up for
this trip on a hot Sunday morning. We
trekked in the bright sunlight for about
20 minutes to the cave entrance
through vegetable gardens, fish ponds
and fruit orchard as well as an
abandoned Indian shrine.
This cave was previously known
only to the Malaysian Nature Society
RECENT EVENTS
Penang International School (Uplands School)
establishes Uplands Trail
In line with our strategy of getting the
young involved with the preservation
of our karsts, fifteen students came to
Ipoh to commemorate 50th anniversary
of their school by tagging red arrows
pointing to the peak of Gunung Rapat
381m (Iron Hill). But conditions
proved too difficult and the trail could
not be finished. MKS's Philip, Kelvin,
Su Win and Ghee Hong teamed up to
ensure the group had a memorable
experience. MKS is grateful to them,
the students and their teachers for
their enthusiasm to mark this trail for
public access. These teenagers from
Page 5
(MNS) members and now MKS was
going to explore it.
Markings on the wall just beyond
the cave entrance attested to its use as
a communist hideout during the
Emergency (1948-60). Although the
Army blasted the entrance to prevent
the communist from using it. An
alternate obscure passage way was
discovered. We had to belly-crawl
through this narrow passage tp get into
the cave proper.
It was a rather dry cave with lots
of bats flapping around. (we must
remember to bring garlic along next Old graffiti, perhaps a remnant
time). The cave cuts through the hill of the Communists.
and opens out to Paradise Valley
below. To find the entrance to the
upper chamber, 7 of us climbed over
sharp-edged rocks to get there. Its
was tough-going but the rewards of Markings on the
perching on sheer rocks 50 metres wall just beyond
above the ground was an exhilarating the cave entrance
experience.
attested to its use
as a communist
hideout during
the Emergency
(1948-1960)
Indonesia, Japan and Korea had quite
an adventure. We hope their failed
attempt will sharpen their resolve for
their next MKS project.
Students tagging markers to
Gunung Rapat 381m.
 Page 6
The MKS booth at the orchid show. limestone hills?
Body of heavy
machine
operator
recovered from
sinkhole
BIDOR: Rescuers have
recovered the body of
heavy machine operator
Chai Wai Chon from a
pool caused by a giant
sinkhole in Pekan Pasir near
here.
Officer-in-charge of the
Bidor fire station A. Ravi
said the body was found
near the surface of the 9m-
deep pool beneath a fallen
tree at 8.50am Sunday.
The body has been sent to
the Tapah Hospital for a
post-mortem.
Chai, 40, from Kampung
Coldstream, and the
backhoe he was operating
had gone missing since the
60m by 45m sinkhole
appeared in a plot of
former mining land on
Friday morning.
http://www.thestar.com.my/ne
ws/story.asp?file=/2005/4/17/
KARST NEWS
A Lesson in Karst for Orchid Lovers
Intra- and inter-state orchid-lovers converged at No.16 Jalan Tambun, Ipoh on
Sunday, 20 March, for the Perak Orchid Society Annual Show. MKS was invited to
join them. As part of our campaign to create awareness, MKS set up a booth with
a slideshow presentation on the issues of Malaysian karst conservation. MKS
acknowledges our volunteers, MKS members Kevin, Regina and Yong who helped
jaga the MKS stall. Do you realise that many species of orchids are endemic to our
KARST NEWS IN BRIEF
Living Dangerously NST 24 March
Jothy and his family of eight live in fear, in a ramshackle hut at the foot of Gunung
Lang. The recent rock fall at Gunung Bercham still clouds their sleepless nights.
He pleaded to the authorities to look into their situation and offer them an
alternative home. Five other families in the vicinity are also facing the same plight.
These modern "cave-men" squatters must be re-located and we trust the
authorities will do so as soon as possible.
Limestone Bedrock and Sinkholes
Geologists in Thailand have pointed near Jeram, Kinta South where
out that these sinkholes are very likely agriculture has turned ex-mining land
due to aftershock effects of the recent to profitable ventures. They appeared
earthquake. again in nearby Kuala Dipang and a
L i m e s t o n e b e d ro c k , wh en house has progressively fallen into the
dissolved by underground stream, widening hole. In both cases, they
forms cavities, which become bigger followed the Sumatran earthquakes.
over time until the thinning layer of Reports of post-tsunami sink-
limestone breaks. Sand then trickles in holes in Kg. Jeram - Kg. Kuboi
and is sucked into the hole (territory of Sultan Idris, 1887-1916)
underground, creating the depression have raised concern.
on the surface sinkhole. The director of the Mineral and
Sinkholes are unwelcome Geoscience Department of Perak told
surprises. They appeared in Kg. Kuboi, The Star (11 January 2005) regarding
the incidents, The earthquake could
have caused the sinkholes although
tremors were not felt in the affected
area. However he was not sure if
there was a link between the two
incidents.
Sinkhole occurrences are not exclusive to
Malaysia, they happen in all karts regions.
The satellite picture on the left shows a huge
sinkhole in the United States which swallowed
trees and infrastructures.
 The Quarterly Newsletter of the Malaysian Karst Society Page 7

Coming Trips & Events

Perlis State Park - 30 April, 1, 2 May 2005
We are organizing our first trip outside of Perak. Perlis has many limestone hills
and caves including Gua Kelam I, Gua Kelam II, and Gua Wang Burma which we
shall visit. 32 participants have registered for this trip. Look out for the report of
this trip in the coming issue of Karst News.

Gua Musang 4, 5 June 2005 (Agongs Birthday)

Gua Musang, a timber town in the karst region of Kelantan, is only 2.5 hours from
Ipoh along a new highway with magnificent views! In contrast with the karst region
of the Kinta Valley, the limestone hills of Gua Musang are still pretty much pristine
as there is little quarrying activity.
We will visit Gua Musang, the cave after which the town is named.
Gunung Gua Musang
Then from the cave, we will climb up to the top of Gunung Gua Musang (about
830 ft.)
We will put up a night at the Etnobiologi Centre, a state-run facility in Gua Musang.
Their new chalets are clean with attached-bathroom, and air-conditioning. Other
facilities include an ostrich farm, a herb garden, and rock-climbing walls.
There are plenty of caves to explore in Gua Musang, most of them are still in a Read more
pristine state while many others have not yet been discovered. So if you decide to
extend your stay in Gua Musang, you could do so at your own expense. about Gua
A full-payment of RM60 (non-refundable) will be required upon registration. Musang on the
Transportation will not be provided, so try to car-pool. front-page of
this issue.
Meet at Simpang Pulai Toll Gate
Time 8.30 a.m.
Duration 1 day, 1 night (extension of stay is optional)
Price RM60 per head per night, excluding food
Register by 20 May 2005

Climb Gunung Kek Lok Tong - 10 July 2005 (Sunday)

Rock-climbing skill not required but you should be fit and agile.
Not recommended for children.
Meet at Kek Lok Tong Cave Temple
Time 9.00 a.m.

Duration 2 hrs

Essential Gears Proper attire, water, lunch

Challenge rating
 Vol. 2, Issue 2

Malaysian Karst Society

Syuen Hotel
88 Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil
30300 Ipoh, Perak
Malaysia
Phone: +6(05) 254 2993
Fax: +6(05) 253 5507

Email: karstsoc@streamyx.com

Views and opinions expressed in this

newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of
the Executive Committee of the Society.

Above: Uplands
School on
establishing
Uplands Trail by
Daniel Chau.
Volunteers Wanted
MKS needs volunteers to: Left: Caving in
assist on trips, Gua Kandu by
jaga exhibition booth, and Lina of Uplands
School.
contribute to Karst News
If you have time to spare, please sign up as a
volunteer and we will contact you when we
need help.
Call Hong @ 05-254 2993 for more info.