MAH COTEK

I have a friend, Ramli aka Mat Jali who is a hunter, an angler and a diver. Ramli was in the scouts with me and he has the love of the outdoors until today. I remember him trapping birds when all the rest of us were busy doing revisions because the exam was near.

Ramli knows a lot about the jungle and the herbs inside. He told me about mas cotek, the small plant that grew in Merang. The tea from boiled leaves of mas chotek can be drunk to help in many ailments like haemhorroids, hypertension and otherthings which I forgot already. But I remember Ramli telling me that the tea will also tighten some parts of married ladies especially after childbirth. I thought of sending some to friends in USA hoping that it would take off. I packed the leaves nicely in ziploc bags and labelled each one and sent out several bags to various friends in the US. One reported feeling high everyday and didnt feel tired even though she was then 70 years old. Others wanted to wait for the constricting effect to take place before telling me anything and paying for the leaves. None sent me any money.

The plants are taken out from Merang and sold for about RM10 each. The people in Merang did not bother to sell mas cotek. They used the plant to feed their goats. Hence the happiest looking billy goats in Terengganu are in Merang.