Dr.Teruo Higa’s
Living A Dream

#29 The System in Penang State in Malaysia that Made the World EMTM Mudball Day a Success

In last month’s essay I discussed the unprecedented example in Penang State, where 1.2 million EM^TM mudballs were thrown into rivers and shorelines in order to clean them. Since this news was carried not just in local newspapers but throughout the country, there was much debate about it, including the comments of a university specialist, who criticized the event, saying that it was done without enough information about EM^TM, that using such a huge amount of EM^TM would wreak havoc with the microbial ecosystem, and that he doubted the effects. Today, over two months after the event, the effects are quite marked and no one locally doubts EM^TM anymore. The state government was so pleased with the results that it will hold a similar event next August 8th with one million mudballs and has contacted me so that I can save the date in order to attend.
 
As I discussed in last month’s essay, the use of EM^TM in regional development is proceeding very actively. EM^TM is being used not just in primary and secondary industries and the overall environment; the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development is also actively promoting the “EM^TM Life.” The state of Perak, across the water from Penang, has taken note of these developments and with the state government and universities acting in concert they have begun extensive experiments applying EM^TM to the preservation of forests, to the marine products industry, animal husbandry, and agriculture.
 
On August 9th I held an EM^TM seminar with leaders of Perak state and members of research institutes; there I made the following points about the practical application of EM^TM:
 
“EM^TM is living matter and everything depends on the competence of the people who use it. The results you get will be your data….Focus on making high quality Activated EM-1®, use it in a way that increases the concentration of EM^TM, and if you use it until it works, then you will see stable, sustainable results….
 
“EM^TM is strongly anaerobic so in the present oxygen-rich environment of the Earth it is always a minor player (in the minority) and it is difficult for it to be a major player (in the majority) without human supervision. Therefore, if you would like to increase the sustainable effectiveness of EM^TM it’s essential to always use a set amount of EM-1® as well as a food source so that EM^TM (Effective Microorganisms^TM) will increase; if you neglect it, in a few months, depending on the circumstances, the situation may return to the way it originally was….
 
“EM^TM must be applied using methods used in biology, and even though past data and results can be used for reference, if you learn how to use it so that your results will exceed previous outcomes, you won't fail, and it will be even more effective….
 
“The use of chemical fertilizers, agrochemicals, and inorganic materials is always data-driven; if we follow this approach with EM^TM you will not have reproducibility or the results that you were hoping for….
 
“All actual sites that have used EM^TM based on this foundation have been successful, but for some reason scholars and experts who have used it have not had the results they’d hoped for so the majority of them have a mostly negative view of EM^TM. This fundamental error is the result of their treating EM^TM as if it were a chemical or inorganic material….
 
“This is the approach in which people say they used so many cc per square meter and didn’t get any results. You can use so many liters of EM-1® per unit but if the EM^TM (Effective Microorganisms^TM) doesn’t increase and get established and produce antioxidant materials and EM-1® is not functioning as it should, then you will not obtain good results. Data that denies the effectiveness of EM-1® is based on experimental methods and ways of using it that ignore the characteristics of Effective Microorganisms^TM….
 
“Therefore it's not that EM-1® isn't effective, but rather that you haven’t used the methods that will bring results. EM-1® depends entirely on the competence and sense of responsibility of the people using it; scholars and research institutes that deny EM-1® effectiveness simply don’t have the necessary competence and sense of responsibility.”
 
The researchers in Perak who heard this rather lengthy explanation were thoroughly convinced and they pledged they would ignore the anti-EM^TM opinions in Malaysia and make high quality Activated EM-1® and use EM^TM until they get good results. Two months later I received a report telling me how happily surprised they were at how easy it was to get wonderful results.
 
Simply telling people to “Continue to use it until it works” may sound at first a bit rude and unreasonable, but all living things, not just microbes, follow the rule that those in the majority win out. This is why I have made public efficient methods to increase EM-1® and the way to make good, low-cost Activated EM-1®. People who have continued to use EM^TM have, without exception, been successful, to the point where they think it’s only natural that things will turn out well.
 
Mr. Soo, who at one stroke EM-ized the state of Penang, fully grasped these principles and designed a device that can economically produce large amounts of Activated EM-1® (1-10 tons at a single time); he created a system whereby EM^TM users can use as much Activated EM-1® as they want. Naturally these results could not have been attained without the help of Mr. Sawada, whom I introduced in last month’s installment. Mr. Soo understands well the essence of EM^TM, and after fifteen years working to make EM^TM a part of society, he took on the challenge of this event involving throwing over 1 million EM^TM mudballs.
 
Mr. Soo was originally a consultant with a distinguished career who helped many developers solve difficult issues. He has a great artistic sense, and is a spiritual person who has the competence to grasp anything at all I tell him about EM^TM and immediately put it into action. When he entered his sixties he made the decision to devote his life to making EM^TM an integral part of society. He began with a plan to make Penang EM ^TM’s second hometown and the preeminent EM^TM model in the world; at the same time, he made it his goal to make EM^TM a part of all Malaysian life, and began creating a system that would make this a reality.
 
In short, he stopped using EM^TM as just a convenient tool as part of conventional methods, and instead created a major paradigm shift by changing to a method that is in tune with EM^TM. For many years we have grown accustomed to a commodity economy wherein we use a product as instructed and if it doesn’t work we demand that the manufacturer take responsibility. A kind of social DNA is at work whereby if things don't go well, we don't take responsibility and we blame others. With EM^TM, things are the opposite, for EM^TM operates on the principle that everything comes down to the competence and responsibility of the people who use it. It is important to keep in mind that the system that adheres to this EM^TM principle will decide whether things will go well or not.
 
The promotion projects taking place to make Mikasa City in Hokkaido an EM^TM model town also take into consideration the construction of a social system that is in tune with EM^TM. This system has the power to fundamentally transform the financial difficulties that the local government is experiencing.
 
The new strain of influenza has finally reached pandemic proportions. According to reports I’ve received, no one leading an “EM^TM Life” has contracted the illness. As part of the measures taken to combat this illness, it is even more critical for people to live the “EM^TM Life,” where EM^TM is used as freely as water and the air.
 
 

Mr. Soo and the 1-ton automatic Activated EM-1® cultivating device.
 

A 3-ton automatic Activated EM-1® cultivating device, which can be operated remotely via computer.
 

Making EM^TM mudballs.
 

Throwing the EM^TM mudballs.
 

After throwing the mudballs.
 

A measuring pole that checks the decrease in the amount of sludge.