(From left) Saiful Nizar Hasbollah, Mohd Fahrul Ruze Abu Bakar, Azrin A. Karim, Mohamad Ansar Derani dan Nor Adnin Mat Nayan have forsaken cushy jobs to make a living growing bananas.

2007/06/08

KEPALA BATAS: They could have settled for air-conditioned offices and comfortable salaries, but the five graduates decided to grow bananas.

Have they gone bananas? The close friends, comprising civil engineers Nor Adnin Mat Nayan, 25, Mohd Fahrul Ruze Abu Bakar, 26, and Mohamad Ansar Derani, 25; together with linguist Saiful Nizar Hasbollah, 26, and social science graduate Azrin A. Karim, 26, do not think so.

In fact, they are convinced that opting for a less travelled career path may not necessarily be a bad thing, especially since there is a high demand for the fruit locally and globally.

And yesterday, they received a boost when they were selected to participate in the country’s pilot franchise farming project at the Ara Kuda near Tasek Gelugor in Penang.

Through the programme, which comes under Perbadanan Nasional Berhad’s (PNS) Youth Franchise Scheme, the five were each given a loan of RM500,000 to venture into their chosen field.

Azrin, a Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) graduate, is excited about the venture.

He said he inherited his interest in agriculture and livestock from his father who had a cattle farm in Ringit near Batu Pahat, Johor.

"I decided to go into the agriculture sector as I saw great potential in the industry.

"I heard about the good prospects in growing bananas and decided to venture into it after getting blessings from my father," he said.

Civil engineer Nor Adnin, also a USM graduate, said he grabbed the opportunity when told about the project.

"I do not know why, but I had already made up my mind to go into farming even when I was still studying.

"I know it is not going to be a cushy job but I am willing to go for it," he said.

Mohd Ansar, from Parit Buntar, used to earn about RM2,500 as an engineer with a private firm but quit the job after a few months.

"I was more interested in self-employment," Mohd Ansar said, adding that he was confident of doing well in his latest venture.

The five friends received their loans from Enterpreneur Development and Co-operative Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at Synergy Farm (M) Sdn Bhd’s banana farm at Bukit To’ Alang here yesterday.

Also present were Synergy Farm executive manager Datuk Dr Zinuddin Wazir and PNS managing director Rusdi Ibrahim.

Synergy Farm is the franchisor of the project.

Thestar