20 April 2021 (Tuesday) – The Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) has presented another new record certificate for Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) to Director General (DG) Dr Khali Aziz Hamzah yesterday, this time for ‘Most number of Malay Traditional Practitioners interviewed for Traditional Knowledge (TK) on Medicinal Plants’.

The records is for the project ‘Pendokumentasian Secara Komprehensif Pengetahuan Tradisi Melayu berkaitan Tumbuhan Ubatan di Semenanjung Malaysia’, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI).

Jwan Heah (left) presenting the MBR certificate to Khali Aziz.	From left: Toh, Jwan Heah, Khali Aziz, Norini and Nik Musaadah posing for a picture with the certificate.

The certificate, dated 21 September 2020, was presented by MBR Marketing Director Jwan Heah at MBR Headquarters, Kuala Lumpur. Also present, the Malay TK Project Leader, Dr Nik Mustapha Musaadah; the Project Coordinator, Dr Norini Haron; FRIM Corporate Communication Head Toh An Nee and MBR General Administration Executive Officer Siti Hajar Johor.

A total of 2,934 traditional practitioners were interviewed on the practices and medicinal plants used by them in a census conducted in Peninsular Malaysia. The project, which started in 2013 until now, is an effort to document the use of medicinal plants.

This documentation is important to preserve and conserve traditional knowledge, prevent biopirac y and misuse as well as to ensure the sharing of benefits resulting from the use of genetic resources based on traditional knowledge.

Members of the FRIM TK Project.

This project is carried out in collaboration with the Herbal Development Office, MAFI; Traditional and Complementary Medicine Division as well as Institute for Medical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia; Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia; National Library of Malaysia (PNM) and Herbwalk Consultancy.