The Masarang Foundation and Masarang Arenga Forest Sugar

The Masarang Foundation was founded 20 years ago in 2001 by Dr Willie Smits.

For over thirty years Smits, has been working for the conservation of endangered primate species such as the orangutan. During this time he has expanded into related areas including sustainable agriculture, reforestation and forest monitoring.

Masarang’s mission is to find solutions for the most urgent global problems of our time: deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change, poverty and underdevelopment.

The activities of Masarang take place in Indonesia but they play a regional and global role. After all, the environmental problems in Indonesia have an impact on Singapore and on the entire planet. Ongoing deforestation is leading to massive carbon dioxide emissions with great consequences for climate change and the environment. Masarang is tackling these issues at their heart and works to find sustainable solutions which will work long-term.

Dr Willie Smits built a sugar factory in North Sulawesi with the support of the Indonesian Government. This factory is powered by residual steam from a geothermal (green) power plant, meaning that the energy used does not damage the environment. The factory collects the sap from the palms and turns it into a sugar with very special properties. Not only is the product eco-friendly and fair-trade, the sugar also has more flavour than white sugar and is much healthier. While sugar can easily lead to obesity and diabetes, the palm sugar does not. Part of this remarkable feat is caused by the slow absorption in the blood which prevents an unhealthy rise of blood sugar levels and enables energy to be gradually released. Also, the sugar contains anti-oxidants, amino acids and vitamins which have a positive effect on one’s health. Willie has been responsible for creating the process which is used to produce the sugar.

The Arenga tree is also an important environmental  conservation tool. The Masarang foundation provides a livelihood to aborigines who tap the palm sugar, helping them resist the option to sell forest land to corporations that bring about large scale deforestation.

The palm sugar is sold and marketed in Singapore by Straits Wholefoods. https://straitswholefoods.com

Masarang Arenga Forest Sugar is a delicious, USDA certified organic, low- glycemic sugar tapped from the Arenga Pinnata.

It is the healthiest choice of sweeteners that is mineral rich and has lower glycemic load than cane sugar and honey. It is versatile and can be used to replace cane sugar in recipes. It has a naturally creamy caramel taste and a heavenly aroma. 

Straits Wholefoods Organic Masarang Arenga Forest Sugar (300g)

The Thunder, Perfect Mind

I was sent forth from the power, 
and I have come to those who reflect upon me, 
and I have been found among those who seek after me. 
Look upon me, you who reflect upon me, 
and you hearers, hear me. 
You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves. 
And do not banish me from your sight. 
And do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing. 
Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or any time. Be on your guard! 
Do not be ignorant of me. 
For I am the first and the last. 

Why, you who hate me, do you love me, 
and hate those who love me? 
You who deny me, confess me, 
and you who confess me, deny me. 
You who tell the truth about me, lie about me, 
and you who have lied about me, tell the truth about me. 
You who know me, be ignorant of me, 
and those who have not known me, let them know me. 
For I am knowledge and ignorance. 
I am shame and boldness. 
I am shameless; I am ashamed. 
I am strength and I am fear. 
I am war and peace. 
Give heed to me. 
I am the one who is disgraced and the great one. 
Give heed to my poverty and my wealth. 
Do not be arrogant to me when I am cast out upon the earth, 
and you will find me in those that are to come. 
And do not look upon me on the dung-heap 
nor go and leave me cast out, 
and you will find me in the kingdoms. 
And do not look upon me when I am cast out among those who 
are disgraced and in the least places, 
nor laugh at me. 
And do not cast me out among those who are slain in violence. 
But I, I am compassionate and I am cruel. 
Be on your guard! 
Do not hate my obedience 
and do not love my self-control. 
In my weakness, do not forsake me, 
and do not be afraid of my power. 
For why do you despise my fear 
and curse my pride? 
But I am she who exists in all fears 
and strength in trembling. 
I am she who is weak, 
and I am well in a pleasant place. 
I am senseless and I am wise. 

I am the one who has been hated everywhere 
and who has been loved everywhere. 
I am the one whom they call Life, 
and you have called Death. 
I am the one whom they call Law, 
and you have called Lawlessness. 
I am the one whom you have pursued, 
and I am the one whom you have seized. 
I am the one whom you have scattered, 
and you have gathered me together. 
I am the one before whom you have been ashamed, 
and you have been shameless to me. 
I am she who does not keep festival, 
and I am she whose festivals are many. 
I, I am godless, 
and I am the one whose God is great. 
I am the one whom you have reflected upon, 
and you have scorned me. 
I am unlearned, 
and they learn from me. 
I am the one that you have despised, 
and you reflect upon me. 
I am the one whom you have hidden from, 
and you appear to me. 
But whenever you hide yourselves, 
I myself will appear. 
For whenever you appear, 
I myself will hide from you. 

I am the knowledge of my inquiry, 
and the finding of those who seek after me, 
and the command of those who ask of me, 
and the power of the powers in my knowledge 
of the angels, who have been sent at my word, 
and of gods in their seasons by my counsel, 
and of spirits of every man who exists with me, 
and of women who dwell within me. 
I am the one who is honored, and who is praised, 
and who is despised scornfully. 
I am peace, 
and war has come because of me. 
And I am an alien and a citizen. 
I am the substance and the one who has no substance. 
Those who are without association with me are ignorant of me, 
and those who are in my substance are the ones who know me. 
Those who are close to me have been ignorant of me, 
and those who are far away from me are the ones who have known me. 
On the day when I am close to you, you are far away from me, 
and on the day when I am far away from you, I am close to you. 

For I am the one who alone exists, 
and I have no one who will judge me. 
For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins, 
and incontinencies, 
and disgraceful passions, 
and fleeting pleasures, 
which (men) embrace until they become sober 
and go up to their resting place. 
And they will find me there, 
and they will live, 
and they will not die again. 

The Nag Hammadi library  is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.

Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. The writings in these codices comprise 52 mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum and a partial translation/alteration of Plato’s Republic. The buried manuscripts date from the 3rd and 4th centuries.

The Nag Hammadi codices are currently housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

Markus Schulz & Justine Suissa – Perception (Armin van Buuren Live Mix)

You can see forever
Look inside of your mind
Find a sense another wonder
Just release the fears you left behind

Feel your way through the darkness
Guide your soul into the light
Swim into the open water
Drift on the tides that you may find
You can see, you can see, you can see

Find your soul in the sunrise
Look around you can see it in their eyes
Be as one together
Rise up as the emptiness subsides

You can see forever
Rise up together
Search and you will find the answer
If you look deep inside of your mind