CHUAH, June 11 (Sin Chew Daily) — Three friends turned the vacant plot beside a house at Sungai Nipah New Village into a small vegetable farm during the lockdown, and are now sharing the harvest with the rest of the village.

Yu Min Qi, 49, said many people were staying home during the Movement Control Order (MCO), unable to work. He and two of his friends thought of farming to kill the time. After discussion, they came up with RM5,000 to start their small vegetable farm.

As Yu had previous experiences in vegetable farming, handling the small farm was a piece of cake for him. He planted several types of vegetables – choy sum, coriander, bitter gourd, French beans, pineapples and others.

"The lockdown is close to three months. The greens have grown. It is time for us to harvest the greens. The mini farm is a testimony of our effort. We are happy," he said.

Yu stressed that the greens planted are free of pesticides with only natural fertilizers.

He said he was happy he could share the greens with the villagers. In a way, the villagers were closer to one another due to sharing of greens. Hence the three men decided to share their harvest with the rest of the village.

He added that he was there at the farm every evening. Villagers would drop by to request for greens, which are given away on first come first served basis.