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'Glow' Of Crystals Lure Tourists To Gunung Keriang
By Khoshiahtun Fadzilah Ishak

ALOR STAR, June 15 (Bernama) -- Shimmering, glimmering and sparkling.
Those are the apt description on why admirers of crystals turned such stones into decorative items apart from making them accessories for women.
There is also a belief that the crystals posses certain healing powers that could rejuvenate the human body.
Realising that there is value in the crystals, some enterprising inhabitants who live near Gunung Keriang, located some 8.0 km from here, have converged on the mountain to look for these treasures.
According to the Kedah State Tourism Action Council (MTPNK) president, Datuk Othman Aziz, crystals that can be found on Gunung Keriang were unique in their own right and have high potential in the tourism industry.
"Gunung Keriang will be developed as a crystal cave due to its vicinity to the Muzium Padi and Traditional Village that are already tourist attractions.
"Lights and a lift would be installed to enable tourists to enter the bowels of the mountain and view the crystals in their natural condition," he told Bernama here.Othman said the Gunung Keriang project would further woo tourists to Kedah.
"I hope development of the Crystal Cave at Gunung Keriang would improve the economy of residents in its vicinity," he said.

VARIOUS COLOURED CRYSTALS

Crystal stones have various colours like red, amber, yellow, black and yellow apart from being whitish. The coloured crystals are more expensive as compared to the whitish variety as they are more difficult to find.
A crystal collector, who wished to be identified as Pak Mud, 75, said the crystals could be graded according to its 'thorn, blossom and foliage'.
The thorns are actually crystal structures with tapering ends. As for the blossoms, they are actually crystalline patterns that appear like the small flowers on a carpet of fine grass while the foliage looks like the small vegetation that grow on mountains.
Sometimes its shape is like that of a cauliflower.There are also 'hammer' crystals, that are bigger than the other crystal stones and coloured white while the water crystals are reddish in colour and appears like running water on the walls of the cave.
There are also crystal "lattices' that appear as standing crystal stems. Usually each of these crystal stems has three colours that begin with light red at the bottom that transits into dark red at the top.

CRYSTALS OF GUNUNG KERIANG

People who stay near Gunung Keriang believed that the crystals found there were among the world's best and are 'alive'.They believed that when proper care was given, the crystals would grow and glow particularly when shone with lights.
"It takes years for the crystals to grow. The keeper should spray the living crystals with clean water at least twice a week to ensure the growth of the stones", said crystal seller Tijah Yaacob, 60.
She said the ideal water for this purpose was either the rainwater or mineral water, as it did not contain chlorine as in tap water.
Another crystal seller, Umi Kalsom, 45, advised buyers to place the crystals at cool places and avoid the stones from getting the dust as this might tarnish their colour.
Tourists can buy Gunung Keriang crystals from as low as RM4 and as high as RM12,000 depending on the size.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF CRYSTALS

A crystal trader who set up shop at the foot of Gunung Keriang, Mohamed Bistie, 30, said many have sought the crystals as not only they could be used as decorative items but believed to posses positive energy and healing powers.
"Many have bought the crystals for health reasons. Some claimed if the crystals are soaked in water, the water can be used for bathing and helps hastens blood circulation and reduces air in the body," he said.
He said many tourists who came from Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand visited Gunung Keriang in order to buy the crystals.
Crystal trader Tan Soo Chaw, 47, said the Chinese believed crystals would bring good fortune to their owners as they have good 'feng shui'.
"But the crystals should be well cared for and regularly cleaned to maintain its shine and luster", he said.
The crystals are also believed to be a cure for, among others, migraine, he added.

CRYSTAL SEEKERS

Looking for crystals is not an easy job.
The treasure hunters should be equipped with a hammer, chisel and gunny sack.
They should also posses the skills and nerve to scale the mountain.
"We should also bring along two torch lamps as the cave is dark," said 28-year-old Zaidi Ahmad who had been a crystal seeker for 10 years.
They should also be brave enough to crawl through narrow tunnels and squeezed in between rocks with that have sharp and jagged edges.
"If we are fortunate, we can find the crystal stones easily due to the shine on the cave wall without too much effort. But usually we had to chisel away some 30 cm of the stone in the cave wall before finding the crystals," he said.
However the high price of these treasures have failed to dampen the determination of these treasure hunters.-- BERNAMA