time and manages a cruising speed of
nine knots, more than enough for wildlife
watching, where about four knots is
more appropriate. Moreover, it is quiet.
Remember that submarines are driven
by electric motors. By gliding silently,
passengers are able to get close to see and
hear the wildlife which is impossible with
a roaring outboard. Absent, too, is the oily
water that one finds in the bilges of the
boat and the nauseating smell of petrol
and exhaust fumes.
Leaving the river, he enthusiastically
shows me his projects. He has established
everyone else, sought rural postings. Not
long after being posted to KL, he resigned
and started working in tourism, which
brought him closer to nature. But it was
still not enough: he needed to understand
as well as appreciate nature, so he
started studying nature systematically
while working as a nature guide, later
studying taxonomy and curation at the
Natural History museum in London. His
reputation as the jungle man of Langkawi
grew and he was soon sought out by local
as well as international TV crews. As of
2019, Irshad has appeared in a number
of international documentaries such as
National Geographic’s “Mysteries of the
Malaysian Rainforest”, Toby Amies’s “The
Rough Guide – Trips of a Lifetime”, and
projects for the Discovery Channel. He also
participated in TEDx World Wildlife Fund
talks in Singapore.It is not that frequent that visitors see
genuine environmentally sound tourism in
Asia where an all-too-common experience
is to find oneself with an ignorant guide
contributing to destructive practices. It is
very pleasing to find someone like Irshad
who was drawn to the environment not by
money and who has really made a positive
difference. In 2007 he was nominated
by the public to receive the Amazing
Malaysian Award, as a person who had
made an outstanding contribution to
natural heritage, and over a decade later,
he continues to do just that.Not surprising for someone who as a
10-year-old on watching his favourite TV
programme announced to his father, “I
want to be like him!” as he pointed to the
botanist David Bellamy.Though this interview was initially conducted
several years ago, Irshad still conducts daily
interpretative walks at The Datai Langkawi
today – when he’s not in the field. Bookings
can be made on +6019-225 2300. Please visit
http://www.junglewalla.com or http://www.thedatai.com
formoredetails.a seed bank and pays a villager to raise
seedlings which are planted by volunteers- schoolchildren or companies like DiGi
and HSBC. His reach extends to the sea
and together with local residents has made
coral aggregation matrices to place on the
sea bed and encourage coral growth. These
efforts need the involvement of the local
community to succeed and he gives talks
to hotel staff, schools, and the like.
Irshad’s childhood was spent running
around the forests and kampungs of
Pahang where his father was a policeman.
As an adult, he joined a bank, but, unlike