Photo Appeal

Nature photographer Peter Ong, in collaboration with Roots Shoot Malaysia, dedicates a photobook to the conservation of flora, fauna, and human history.

- ANANDHI GOPINATH

Before first stepping foot into the Perlis State Park located just 3km from the border town of Wang Kelian earlier this year, nature photographer Peter Ong had barely known of its existence. The Kuala Lumpur-based lensman was searching for the stump-tailed macaque as part of his Project Monkey initiative, which aims to document and photograph the country's 26 primate species.

Ong not only eventually found the rare species, known locally as "beruk kentoi" in Wang Kelian, but many other uncommon flora and fauna as well, some of which few people knew even existed in our rainforests.

Few outside of Perlis, that is. Impressed by what he saw in this state park and by the knowledge of the local NGOs, Ong was inspired to produce Wang Kelian, Perlis - The Forgotten Valley. The objective of this picture-heavy tome is to bring this region's unspoilt, untouched beauty to coffee tables all over the country, which Ong does by playing up the imagery and providing readers with a glimpse into a world they may never know.

FOR CONSERVATION'S SAKE

This collaborative project between Roots & Shoots Malaysia and Perlis Nature and Wildlife was partly funded via a grant from Think City with support from The Habitat Foundation and Jabatan Perhutanan Perlis, who were looking to support work to record the biodiversity in the northern region of Peninsula Malaysia. This allowed Ong to expand the project’s reach to include a 30-minute documentary, which was broadcast on Astro throughout September 2023.