Waste to value: The Black Soldier Fly story

AD Leong Bon Huat

By PETRONAS

At first glance, AD Leong Bon Huat does not look like someone whose life once hung in the balance.

Standing well over six feet tall, the 62-year-old cuts a distinctive figure. Born in Marudi and raised in Miri, Leong’s path changed course at the age of 23, when he was imprisoned after being convicted on drug-related charges.

Initially sentenced to death by hanging, he was later granted clemency and spent 15 years behind bars before walking free at the age of 38.

That age remains significant to him as it marked the beginning of the life he lives today. The initials “AD” that he now carries before his name stand for “After Death”. It is a personal reminder of the death sentence he once faced and the opportunity he was given to start again.

Upon his release, he took on odd jobs in a plywood factory while sharing his experiences through anti-drug awareness talks. Gradually, his message reached wider audiences as schools, government agencies, and community organisations began inviting him to speak.

Today, he delivers more than 50 talks a year and is recognised as an anti-drug icon at both State and national levels. At the heart of his message is a simple belief—people can change.

Despite his achievements, he knows stigma does not disappear easily. Rather than argue against those perceptions, he has chosen a different approach.

He builds. Farms. Businesses. Skills. Opportunities.

Ask him what he does for a living, and his answer is simple.

“I am an insect farmer.”

Yet what he does extends far beyond that.

Today, Leong is one of Sarawak’s most experienced practitioners in Black Soldier Fly (BSF) cultivation, transforming organic waste into valuable products such as animal feed, organic fertiliser, and high-protein pet snacks.

He is also a trainer, entrepreneur, anti-drug advocate, and community volunteer.

Beyond insects, he has built expertise in cultivating beneficial bacteria, including lactobacillus, yeast and photosynthetic bacteria for agricultural use.

“I have two strengths,” he says. “Cultivating bacteria and rearing insects.”

Behind the technical knowledge lies an unusual instinct, the ability to see value where others see waste.

Local women in Dalat are now being paid to harvest the water hyacinth that infests their rivers.

In Dalat, where waterways have long been choked by invasive water hyacinth, locally known as ‘teparok’, Leong saw an opportunity hidden beneath the problem.

The idea came during a discussion with Dalat assemblywoman and Sarawak Minister for Women, Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, who asked whether the plant could play a role in BSF farming.

Leong responded that it could be tried.

He began experimenting with the plant as a feed source for BSF larvae. The idea was tested, and it worked.

Through fermentation and a carefully balanced blend of biomass, the water hyacinth was transformed into a viable feedstock that produced high-quality organic fertiliser. What was once an unwanted weed floating across rivers and drains began to gain economic value for local communities.

“People in Dalat used to want to get rid of it (the water hyacinth),” he says. “Now they don’t want others taking it from in front of their houses.”

The insects produced nutrient-rich frass, a natural fertiliser with particularly strong phosphorus content, making it valuable for root development and plant health.

Leong at the BSF breeding farm in Dalat, Mukah.

From that small experiment, it gradually took shape as the Dalat Organic Fertiliser Processing and BSF Breeding Farm Project, developed under the Sarawak State Government with support from PETRONAS, which contributed over RM2.2 million for facilities and equipment.

The project aims to strengthen community capabilities and advance circular economy practices through waste-to-worth solutions.

For nearly seven years, Leong has served as the project’s technical mentor, dedicating his time and expertise without financial gain. Drawing on his experience, he helped establish the BSF life cycle, refined the cultivation process and trained local participants to operate the farm independently.

Working alongside the Dalat District Office and later Koperasi Lestari Dalat Berhad, he transferred knowledge he had accumulated over the years, helping transform a pilot initiative into a community-driven enterprise.

The farm now stands as more than a waste-management solution. It is a source of skills, income and opportunity for local residents.

Leong (centre, in black) briefing the Dalat Community Leaders and Village Chiefs (KMKK) on BSF technology.

At his own farm in Bintulu, he trains others in insect rearing and organic fertiliser production too.

Some of his former trainees have since started their own cultivation projects.

He sees the same principle at work in Dalat, a place that holds untapped potential in agriculture, biotechnology and circular economy initiatives. The water hyacinth project is merely one example of how local challenges can become opportunities.

For Leong, the transformation of waste into opportunity mirrors his own journey.

Just as discarded organic matter can be converted into something valuable, he believes people, too, should never be defined solely by their past.

The launch ceremony of the Organic Fertiliser Processing and Black Soldier Fly Breeding Farm recently.

During the project’s launch, attention often turns to machinery, facilities, and scale.

Leong remains in the background.

Among trays of larvae quietly converting waste into value, his presence is unassuming, yet central to everything taking shape.

It is perhaps why he sees potential where others do not.

In a weed choking a river.

In a homeless person overlooked by society.

In a former prisoner rebuilding his life.

For AD Leong, possibility has never been about what something has been.

It is about what it can become. — DayakDaily