Local fruits

Fruits  of  Malaysia

Malaysia lies in the tropics and is blessed with plenty of rain and sunshine. Then many types of trees and plants grow here. Among them are those that bear delicious fruits.     The "King of Fruits" is without doubt the durian. It is an oval-shaped fruit about the size of a rugby ball. Its skin is green or yellow and covered with many sharp thorns. Inside, however, the yellow flesh is soft and sweet. Its smell is very strong. "It smells like hell and tastes like heaven," is a common description of the durian, the national fruit. It has a thorny appearance and could hurt if you allowed it to fall on your feet!  It is even quite difficult getting at the fruit inside. Surprisingly good durians have pulp that are neither watery nor hard to touch. It is kind of the in-between that is considered most delicious. The locals love the durian, but foreigners find the smell hard to bear.     The reason why the durian is a seasonal fruit, because it normally is in season twice a year. So are other fruits like the mangosteen, langsat, duku, rambutan and mango. At the same time we consume these fruits in great quantities.     Furthermore other fruits like the papaya, pineapple, banana and star fruit are not seasonal. They are obtainable at all times. Again we quickly consume these fruits in large quantities. In a hot country like Malaysia, fruits provide us with much needed water and other nutrients that are vital for health. Often the fruit-stalls are crowded with people waiting to buy a slice of papaya, pineapple or watermelon to quench their thirst.     We are lucky to have such a huge variety of fruits. In addition to that we get imported fruits like apples and grapes. Unfortunately they are usually more expensive. Therefore we spend our money mainly on local fruits. Local fruits are in no way inferior to imported fruits. I would say that it is money well-spent. Our fruits are cheaper because they are grown locally. We save on transportation and handling costs. Our fruits have been discovered to have better food value than imported fruits. For examples, an apple does not contain as much Vitamin C as the local guava. Our king of fruits, the durian, contains a lot of protein and nutrients.

    In the end, as Malaysians we should always support our country. One of the ways to show support is to buy local fruits instead of imported fruits. When we buy local fruits, we are also helping our farmers and our economy. We should eat more local fruits for our own good and the good of our nation.