GOING for PEGAGA OVER LADY GAGA

If we were to choose between Lady Gaga and Mrs Pegaga, who would it be?

It was an awesome and unforgettable experience going to Jerantut with all the interpersonalist family. But the most cherishable moments were, all the part one perform our very own, Viva la gaga. We got our self a standing aviation from the crowd and it felt a sense of relieve when all of our hard time training and practicing finally paid off. Even at this moment, while I was writing this post, Bad romance were played at Flyfm. Rara aaa, roma romamama,gaga ulalala, want your bad romance...

You guys might think for a while what does lady gaga got to do with my story. Frankly speaking, it is just something that I simply want to put in as the word GAGA rhyme to “pegaga”. Yup! You heard it right, pegaga or also known as Pennywort is the topic for my feature story assignment. There are many reason for choosing pegaga. The first one would be because I love pegaga. Second because I love pegaga and the final reason is because I love pegaga. As I could remember, I started to fall in love with pegaga since I was eleven years old and people would label me as ‘vegie maniac’. Even the famous ‘Bun’ would call me ‘kambing’ every time we when out for lunch, just for the reason I took ‘ulam’ without the ‘sambal belacan’ . But anyway, back to the story. Pegaga in its scientific term are called centella asiatica (also known as Gotu Kola, Pegaga, and Mandukaparni) is a perennial, herbaceous creeper with kidney-shaped leaves found in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and South Africa.


Pegaga has been used for centuries in both traditional Indian and Chinese systems of medicine. Its ability to heal wounds, improve mental clarity, and treat skin conditions were important reasons for its extensive use. It also has a reputation for boosting mental activity and for helping a variety of systemic illnesses, such as high blood pressure, rheumatism, fever, and nervous disorders.
In shallow water, the plant puts forth floating roots and the leaves rest on top of the water. In dry locations, it puts out numerous small roots and the leaves are small, thin, smooth and fan-shaped. It prefers to grow in shady, moist, or marshy areas such as paddy fields, grass areas and riverbanks. Although usually collected from wild, Pegaga can be cultivated from seed.

Having done promoting the benefits and the origin of ‘pegaga’, I guess a short story of mine will not harm anyone right? Well this story actually happen during my stay at my hometown which is in Setiawan, Perak. I was with my cousin wondering around looking for ‘mempelam’, as I was scattering the leaf and the small branches, it strike my eyes to encounter a large area of fresh Pegaga. As I was into Pegaga so much, plus during that particular time my stomach were not filled with anything since morning, I decided to pick and choose a quite number of those Pegaga and quickly ran off to the kitchen and ate it with white rice and fried ‘kembung’. As I was enjoying my dish, grandma step in and she was in a great shock. I when blur for awhile and quickly ask her “whats wrong nek Wan?”. She did not reply but instead quickly she grab the Pegaga and throw it inside the bin. It was a mix feeling at that time. Whether I did something wrong or any how hurt her feelings. “apesai keme bodoh sangat nie..habeh sume pokok keme nk mkn...tumpo sumenye dapat kat mike....”. after hearing that from my grandma, I could fell my adrenaline pumping up to my head. Guess what! I was in bed for three days and the doctor said that I was food poisoning and the best part is the plant that I thought was Pegaga were actually ‘keladi kecik’.