PART FOUR: RED EARTH
The family stood quietly by the forest next to their home, watching it burn as other farmers and workers cleared land to make way for more farms.
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The rising smoke blanketed the hills with dust and soot.
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“Daddy, will trees still exist when we grow up?”
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The voice of seven-year-old Ocean broke the silence, and shattered his father’s heart.
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Struggling to hold back his tears, Tien Khuan grasped his son’s hand tightly.
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“Yes they will. I will do my best to protect the forest.”
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In his 13 years as a farmer, Tien Khuan had never seen so much land being cleared. More than 5,000ha of land was cleared illegally in the highlands.
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It was particularly dry last March, and everyone was taking the chance to clear as much forest as they could to expand their farms.
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His wife, Woon Sing, had tears in her eyes too.
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The green swathes of hills had been burnt red.