Buku-buku Rukayah Aman tentang Tumbuhan Malaysia

by frugivore on Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:02 pm

Books written by Rukayah Aman, a longtime (40 years) MARDI worker, on Malaysian fruits and vegetables,are luckily have been published only in Malay.

They are so superficial,sloppy and sometimes even factually wrong that they would be an embarrassment in English.

For example, on page 34 in her book "Buah-buahan Malaysia" she puts a picture of a new pineapple shoot and calls it "pineapple flower" (bunga nenas). Even a not so bright Malay housewife would not do this on her Blog site, and certainly we would expect something better from people of her credentials.

At least, half of the illustrations are so blurry that they are hard to recognize!

On page 263 Asam kandis (a Garcinia sp.) listed under Leguminoseae,
on page 264 Langsat hutan (Lansium sp.) is listed under Moraceae,
on page 265 Remayong (Salacca magnifica) is listed under Passifloraceae.
Shocking! My ten years old boy knows better than that.

In her "Ulam dan Sayuran Tempatan Semenanjung Malaysia" she's done similar things.

In her "Ulam dan Sayuran Tempatan Semenanjung Malaysia" she's done similar things.

On page 73 in this publication she lists the Lampato fruit as a vegetable. Well, none of the Prainea spp. can be used as vegetable, even when the fruits are inmature! It only shows again her ignorance about her native flora.

Frank Juhas
http://sites.google.com/site/malaysianedibleflora

[img]http://yfrog.com/b8img6554vj