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"Come back in a week. I'll have it all tidied up.

Don't worry," the landlord, a middle-aged man, assured him. But when he returned ten days or so later the expatriate house hunter was totally flabbergasted.

So unpleasantly surprised and distressed he was. Surveying the desolation the unfortunate man stood rooted to the ground for sometime, unable to take in the reality. It was such a shock.

All the trees were gone. Only burnt-out stumps, brutally amputated and blackened by fire dotted the ground. "Nice? You like? Ah, I cleaned up everything, lah.

Cost me a lot of money, you know. No mosquitoes now. Bangladesh workers are not so cheap nowadays," announced the beaming landlord triumphantly, no doubt, very pleased with his handiwork. Displaying a wide grin and a set of sickly yellowish uneven teeth protruding from a pair of thick lips, he showed his future tenant around. Obviously he was waiting to be congratulated.

The house hunter looked dazed. What a terrible thing to do. He felt a sense of anger slowly rising out of the bottom of his belly. From the pit of his stomach it welled up until it seemed to choke him. He found it hard to contain a strong desire to strangle this self-satisfied beaming fellow then and there and set him on fire just like he did to those beautiful trees in the garden.

The -expatriate had particularly chosen this house because the previous tenant had planted various shady trees that cooled the surroundings. By the time the last family had vacated it the house compound was lush with greenery and a most restful place it had become. And in the morning the songbirds that had come to nest would awaken you. He had previously inspected other homes. Some had their lawns completely concreted. "It is very good for parking cars when you have a party," the estate agent told him. But he had no intention to live in a car yard or in the midst of bare concrete. So he rejected it along with many others that had no trees or vegetation to soften up the place.

This particular one was different. It was so peaceful and when the cool breeze blew and the sweet melodious whispers of the swaying branches were particularly soothing. Here he could live forever. Or so he thought. And so after viewing umpteen properties he picked this one. It was the magnificent trees that he fell in love with. But now there were all gone, imagine his pain. It was a pity he had lost ten valuable days. So with the limited time now left the unfortunate home hunter had to continue his search. You may think that sort of episode is rare. But unfortunately it is not.

Many people in Brunei have an intense dislike when it comes to trees. Especially so if they happen to grow in their front garden or there about. They are in permanent state of war with the trees. There is even the sad story of the over enthusiastic landlord who axed all the trees in the yard when the tenant was away on long leave.

There is a prevailing mindset to get rid of trees from your yard. The first thing many people do when building a house is to clear every single tree from the plot. There is a phobia. "I do not want to live in a jungle," a friend said. Then he proceeded to chop down every tree in sight. What we need is education. The young must be told of the importance of preserving the environment and in the eco cycle which the trees provide a vital link. But many young people are beginning to appreciate this. The other day you watched a landlord and his young daughter inspecting a property. "Those trees must go," said the man. "They attract bees and insects."

But the young lady begged to differ. "Oh no, Daddy, these trees provide shade. They are so beautiful." Yes, she is right. It takes many, many years for a tree to grow and reach maturity. But it takes so little time to cut it down. And that is often a great pity. And as we get rid of our trees there is another danger:

That of erosion. How many times have we seen slopes naked of trees and vegetation sliding down because they are exposed to heavy tropical rain? That, unfortunately, is a common sight.

Then the owners spent a fortune building a concrete retention wall. And there is no guarantee of success. If he had left the trees alone most probably there would have been no worries. The local perception is that any tree that does not bear fruit, durian, mangoes or rambutan or whatever, is an enemy which should be cut down. But what is needed is a national tree day whereby trees are appreciated. Schools should'' also include in their curriculum a subject on the value of trees.

There should also be laws against indiscriminate cutting down of trees. Those sort of laws are enforced in many other countries especially in the West. Perhaps that is asking for too much in the present day outlook of many in control of environment issues. But something must be done sooner or later to save our precious heritage. Trees are not our enemies. They are, in fact, our friends. 

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