A bow and an arrow may rekindle us to the romance of Robin Hood, the epic of an agile Attila on horseback or an American Indian preying a bison. Nonetheless, to researchers Suhaimi Muhammed, Amran Shafei and Mohd Azmi Niaz of Malaysia, a bow is something else. To them, a bow could be a short in the arm for a big business by studying Kayu Pulai, otherwise seen a weed in Malaysia.
A bow was used for target shooting for food or human being in battles. Now it is used in archery, a precision sport. A bow is a long and flexible staff; the two ends of the staff are attached by a string to curve it. The grip of a bow is where an archer grips when shooting the arrow, thus the grip must be strong and light. It also must offer a comfortable and a steady grip.
The researchers invented a lighter bow grip from the pulai wood. To make the bow, the wood was treated with unsaturated polyester resin (acrylic resin) and strengthened by fiber glass. The pulai bow grip is non-toxic and light. Being light, it can be produced cheaply as the cost of transportation of lighter goods is cheap, and can be easily shaped into a smooth and a stable grip. Another benefit is that the colour of pulai wood is light such that it is easy to paint.
Pulai grows well in Malaysia and Indonesia. As it needs minimal pruning, it can be planted as intercrop plant with chilli and dryland rice. In Indonesia Pulai is planted for pencil slat production by foreign pencil companies.
Having abundant supply and at present, the pulai is a weed tree of very low value, this new invention may prompt a two prong business strategy for Malaysia. As archery is not a favourite sport in Malaysia, the new pulai bow grips can be produced for export. Another choice is by mass planting pulai for export to make pulai grips in other countries. It is fast growing and so far has not used for other products yet, as such it is still cheap.
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Reported by Megawati Omar
Research Management Institute, UiTM
