THE 60-year-old man appeared in West Kalimantan in 1999. Named Ng Tung Peng and commonly called Apeng, he came from Sabah, Malaysia. Through his PT Rassindo, Apeng received an order to open 110 hectares of oil palm plantation in the province. He acknowledged having spent Rp8 billion.

Two years later, Apeng was logging in Sirian village near the West Kalimantan-Sarawak border. “As requested by local people,” he claimed. He had 15 chainsaws in