Sultan of Selangor's Royal Vision Applauded

Work in Progress: Klang Royal Gardens
(Photo reproduced without permission from The Star, but in accordance with the principles of fair use)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: SULTAN OF SELANGOR’S ROYAL VISION APPLAUDED

The Regent of Selangor's vision and wisdom in directing the appointed landscape consultant of the Klang Royal Garden to omit expensive structures, retain existing trees, and plant fruiting and flowering trees (Metro, 27th May) has earned His Royal Highness our deepest respect and admiration.

HRH's official edict against the wastage of public funds is highly welcome, especially in the state of Selangor, where colossally expensive yet utterly inessential 'projects', such as Subang Jaya’s 3C Complex and Millennium Park, invariably end up being the bugbear of the taxpayers.

Of greater interest to nature-lovers is our Sultan's directive to plant flowering and fruiting plants, mostly indigenous, to attract local fauna. Not only will an urban park such as the Klang Royal Garden act as a natural air filtration and temperature control system, it could also be an ersatz wildlife habitat. Such a park will provide the local community with aesthetic pleasure as well as opportunities for contact with the natural environment.

Urban parks need more shade trees, and not man-made structures, to provide the local community and park visitors with respite from the heat, pollution and traffic of the city.

Unfortunately, the management bodies of many public spaces do not share the Sultan's farsightedness. At the Dengkil Rest Area along the Elite Highway, for instance, the trees are so closely cropped into topiary shapes that they afford no shade for vehicles and tired highway users, and no perching space for birds and insects.

In discussions with local authorities, nature-based non-profit organisations have always recommended the planting of indigenous fruiting and flowering trees. The typical official response is that such trees are 'messy'. However, if the labour force contracted to prune the trees into topiary shapes could be redirected instead to sweep up and compost the plant waste from the trees, there is no good economic or practical reason why native trees could not replace topiary or artificial plants in our cities and along our highways.

Our city and local councils would be well-advised to take a leaf from the Sultan of Selangor's book and provide more space for, and bring greater positive attention to, our native flora and fauna.


WONG EE LYNN
PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR

Legislation Must Address Treatment of Captive Wildlife

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LEGISLATION MUST ADDRESS TREATMENT OF CAPTIVE WILDLIFE

The current review of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 is a timely and necessary one, as it is bedeviled by loopholes and inadequacies.

One of the deficiencies of the 1972 Act is that it is incapable of preventing or correcting animal abuse or neglect.

Section 94 of the Act states that; "Save as otherwise provided in section 56, every person who wounds or provokes any wild animal with the object of availing himself of the exception conferred by section 56, is guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable (in addition to any other penalty provided for any other offence) to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both."

Section 56 relates to the killing of wildlife in self-defence, if there is an "immediate danger to human life".

No section of the Act is devoted to preventing cruelty to and neglect of wildlife in captivity, for instance, in zoos and amusement parks. Thus there are no legislative means of protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of wildlife as long as they are not actively being killed or injured and visibly 'provoked'. Many commercial establishments may therefore keep wildlife in deplorable conditions with impunity.

A case in point is the A Famosa Resort in Melaka. Visitors were offered photo opportunities with a tiger, which was chained to the stage by its ankles with negligible room for movement.

Although some visitors were appalled by the manner in which the majestic tiger was displayed, under the law there was nothing they could do as long as the resort management had the requisite permits to keep and display wild animals, which were more often than not granted by PERHILITAN on 'educational' grounds.

The Act does not regulate the way in which captive wildlife may be displayed or treated, and although PERHILITAN admits that there were guidelines on how wildlife display facilities may be operated, the said document had not been given statutory footing. There is therefore no action one can take against establishments which confine wildlife in small and unsuitable enclosures, subject wildlife to stressful training or photo opportunity sessions and stop wildlife from engaging in their natural behaviour.

The penalty under section 94 is derisory when one considers that the offence is of wounding or provoking wildlife. Thus under our outdated law, an offender may get away with a mere fine for grievously injuring an animal, while a profiteer who confines, chains and otherwise fails to provide a healthy and stimulating environment for our national symbol, the tiger, will not even be charged with an offence.

There is little merit in issuing permits to private commercial establishments to display wildlife. Wildlife photo opportunities do not teach visitors anything about the natural history of the particular animal and fail miserably in cultivating love and concern for animals.

Visitors who do have their photos taken are motivated by curiosity or a perverse need to 'prove' human dominance. The more enlightened tourists leave the establishment only to render less-than-favourable reviews of the zoos and parks in question on tourism and animal welfare host sites.

Legislators must take immediate steps to safeguard our fast-vanishing natural heritage, while PERHILITAN and other bodies entrusted with the regulation of the wildlife trade must be more circumspect in the issuing of permits and be more vigilant in the monitoring of wildlife displays.

WONG EE LYNN
PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR

Postcard: Glad You Weren't Here!

24th – 25th May 2008: Postcard – Glad You Weren’t Here!

It would have been a good weekend for me if I didn’t have to attend the office annual bowling tournament. I would have gone to the SPCA, bade goodbye to Felicity, collected the cage and had another stray cat neutered. I would have put in 5 – 6 hours of volunteer work before going back to the parental home.

Unfortunately, in the interests of fostering camaraderie and goodwill, we all had to drive down to the A Famosa Resort in Melaka for the infernal bowling game. There is nothing amicable or peaceable about these games. Such events are almost invariably fraught with vicious backstabbing, quarrelling and allegations of cheating or rough play.

It was with reluctance that I made the journey to A Famosa Resort. Like most other amusement parks and holiday resorts in Malaysia, it has seen better days. The golf course was overgrown with weeds and the timeshare apartments were mostly vacant. There was a desolate shabbiness about the place.

The Cowboy Town in which the bowling alley was located was just as bad. Migrant workers in Western getup greeted us with a kind of desperation. Will you buy a souvenir? Have a cold beer? Shoot a few bottles off a wall for a made-in-China stuffed animal?

The workers were only just opening up the bowling alley for us. The air conditioning wasn't working but the 'fridge stocked with overpriced sodas was running beautifully. The rugrats (my workmates' children), succumbing to the resort management's devious machinations, began to scream blue murder for soda.

The game began hours after it was supposed to have commenced. I fared badly as my heart wasn't in the game. I played much better with the 4x4 team and the Parents, but playing in a pointless tournament just doesn't float my boat. (If it were a Sudoku or Scrabble showdown or a public speaking competition, however, I would be singing a very different tune).

Despite all appearances, I am not usually a competitive person. Nature thrives on cooperation and collaboration, not competition. Success isn't about defeating the next person, it's about achieving your objectives and doing it well. So a bowling tournament has little context for me. I don't know whose pride or honour or survival I am bowling for. How could a bowling victory help me improve myself as a person, or help society at large or the animal world or the natural environment?

It must have been a while since the alley was last used, because a fluorescent light fitting fell off in the middle of my team's lane and the computer system in 4 out of 10 lanes were faulty. The air conditioning was still out and everyone began to smell positively vile.

Even the Boss had to throw in the towel after his team had completed the first set and admit that the place was a dump. We'd have to play all over again in one of the better sports facilities in the city. Oh joy. Yet another weekend squandered against my will on "office sports".

There was a miniscule shopping arcade in the Cowboy Town offering substandard made-in-China goods. Worse, there was a tiger chained to a stage for photo opportunities. His paws were shackled to the floor and he looked either sedated or unwell. When we made eye contact, his sense of despair was palpable. How could people be so cowardly and so cruel as to display our national symbol, the Malayan Tiger, this way?

Visitors had to pay to have a photo taken with the poor tiger, and I chose to forgo getting photographic evidence of this instance of animal cruelty so that I wouldn't be aiding and abetting wildlife abuse and enriching the management.

(As at Tuesday, 27th May 2008, I had sent out Letters to the Editor to the major newspapers, had notified the Tiger Crime Hotline and had e-mailed the Wildlife Department upon Loretta's advice. Thanks, Loret.)

Was in no mood for dinner and went back to KL immediately after the game, drenched in sweat though I was.

Reached the Bachelor Officers' Quarters, fed and cleaned up after the cats, cleaned the 'Quarters and crashed into bed. It's been a terrible waste of a Saturday.

Went back to the parental home on Sunday morning. My cousin, Boy Scout, had come to stay for the weekend. Had lunch with the family, gave Amber a bath, took Amber and Cody on walks, cleaned the parental home, read the papers, sent Boy Scout off to get his bus back to college and went back to the 'Quarters in the evening.

I still think it is a waste of a weekend.

Vesak Day Weekend

Woke up on Sunday to find that Cody had messed up his cage in the night, but was otherwise alright and did not whimper the night away. Gave Amber a bath. Cleaned the parental home and polished the furniture. Went to the Buddhist Maha Vihara with the parents in the afternoon for Vesak Day Eve prayers. Took Amber out on a car drive in the evening. Had dinner with the parents, cleaned the kitchen and spent the rest of the night reading.

Monday was a public holiday on account of Vesak Day. The parents had a friend’s 60th birthday party to attend, so I had the house to myself for a few hours. Washed the rugs, cleaned the blinds, mopped the floor, tidied the house and played with the dogs. Took Amber on a car ride and a walk again. Went back to the ‘Quarters after dinner and spent Monday night cleaning the ‘Quarters, doing the laundry and cleaning the cats’ cages.

Felicity would have been spayed earlier today (Monday). I hope she is recovering well and not in any great pain or discomfort. I’ll probably send my housemate over to the SPCA on Thursday to look in on Felicity, as he will be helping me bring Halle & Co. in for neutering. I’m not usually emotional but I feel as though Biggles is flying loops in his confounded Sopwith Camel in my heart right now.

Project Second Chance would like to thank all its donors, sponsors and volunteers for their contributions, assistance and kind support:
1. Bernadette Chin
2. Lillian Danielle Khoo
3. Serina Rahman
4. Zawalan Razak
5. Jacobus Raj
6. Jessica Ng
7. Susan Thomas
8. Hazel McClure
9. Lee Mun Yee

Whiskey-Echo-Lima, Out.

Felicity Gets Adopted

It will soon be time for Halle and her kittens to have their first vaccination, so I am taking a break from capturing other stray cats for neutering for a couple of weeks. This week marks my 3rd week of trying to find my lovely little Felicity a good home.

Stopped by the wet market on my way to the SPCA to pick up the usual 2 kilos of peeled garlic. Arrived at the SPCA and set up Felicity’s cage and signboard. Handed the garlic to Mazni for cooking. Mun Yee dropped by to hand over cat food and newspapers to me for Project Second Chance.

Rose and I started shampooing and grooming the dogs in Kennels A and B. I prepared a pail of tickwash to rinse them with. It was sorely needed because a few of the new arrivals had infested the others with fleas. We had a teenager helping us, which is very encouraging, but I was concerned that the girl was immersing her hands unprotected into the bucket of tickwash, and so I offered to either lend her my rubber gloves or have her not do the tick rinse. She opted not to touch the tickwash instead.

After we had done all the dogs in Kennels A and B, I went out to the front of the shelter to get the cleaning equipment. I discussed the spaying of Felicity with Dr. Pushpa and she agreed that Felicity could be safely neutered by Monday. I held Felicity for a while and promised her that if she were not adopted, I would bring her home after her neutering.

A young family arrived to try to adopt a companion for their kitten which was adopted earlier from the SPCA. They had hoped to get a Persian kitten for breeding later, and this made Reve impatient. The vets and I took over from Reve and explained the SPCA’s neutering requirement to the family. They were happy to comply after being informed of the benefits of neutering, and were content to adopt any active and friendly kitten as a companion. As I spoke to them, I realized they were quite experienced in caring for multiple cats. I introduced them to Felicity, but also invited them to look around the shelter to see if there were any cats they would like to bring home.

They came back to Felicity and were very keen to adopt her, as they wanted an active and friendly cat, and Felicity fitted the bill. I explained that Felicity was to be neutered on Monday, and they could always place a booking fee for her and pick her up next Saturday after she has recovered from the surgery. They agreed, and paid the adoption fee in full without hesitation. They had no problems with the one-week wait and promised to bring their other kitty over for neutering when they come over on Saturday.

After the family had paid up and left, I hugged Felicity and told her that I would always love her. I will never forget her, but I pray she forgets me; and forgets me soon, so she could learn to love her new family instead. I pray she will live a healthy, happy and long life, and promised that if she ever gets returned, I will come and get her and bring her home, no matter what. As an animal rescuer, I will have to get used to having to say goodbye to my animal wards very often, but I pray that it will always only be ‘good’ goodbyes – ones that precede adoptions by kind and responsible individuals – and not the ‘other’ kind of goodbyes.

Dr. Pushpa asked me to put Felicity in the surgery to rest because Felicity’s constant contact with me would only make the transition more difficult. Reluctantly, I said goodbye and godspeed to Felicity and closed the door on my beloved kitty. I will always bless the day I found her begging at the stalls with her eyes half-blind from infection. I bless the day she came into my life and I hope her new family feels the same way about her.

Proceeded to clean the shelter. Soaped, scrubbed, disinfected and washed the Cattery, Maternity Kennels, Admin/Reception area, puppy kennels and food preparation area. Sugen offered to do the rinsing when I was done so I could clean myself up and head on home.

The drive home felt so lonesome without Felicity playing with her jingle ball in her carrier on the backseat. I reached the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, fed and cleaned up after the cats, tidied the house, showered and drove over to Jessica’s dad’s house to pick up the puppy. I had wanted to name him Ruffus but the parents wanted Cody, which is a pleasantly masculine name and I am certain Cody is a name any dog will feel proud to respond to.

Reached the parental home around dinnertime, introduced Cody to the parents and Amber, had dinner, did the washing up and spent the rest of the night in the company of the dogs.

Third World Stupid

Seems to me like this couple of weeks will be remembered for making sedition charges all the rage. First, blogger-activist Raja Petra was remanded and charged with sedition for calling for justice for the brutal murder of Mongolian beauty Altantunya. The exhortations in his blog would, at most, amount to libel, but the prosecution saw it fit to invoke the archaic, misunderstood and draconian law against sedition. Next, Member of Parliament Karpal Singh (‘outspoken and brash’ only to those who disagree with his views) had a police report lodged against him, also invoking the ‘offence’ of sedition, for questioning whether the appointment of the state religious leader is the prerogative of the state executive or the Sultan. Wonderful. Suddenly everything’s seditious.

Well Done, Gentlemen of the Ruling Coalition! You have just convinced us afresh of how small-minded, unintelligent, weak, easily threatened and prone to paranoia you all are. Thank you for continually giving us reminders to vote Opposition again in the next General Elections.

On another note: World Environment Day will soon be upon us again and the local dailies are doing their bit by running special feature stories on the environment. One of the journos from The Star had contacted Dylan, a former MNS branch committee member, who had in turn given her my contact details. The journo wanted to interview me in the capacity of Green Living coordinator, and so I agreed. I had expected the interview to be about the top priorities for environmentally conscious consumers, and not about my efforts as an individual, but in the end, she did end up asking me many superfluous questions about my personal actions. I don’t think readers want to read about what a lawyer does with her light fixtures and vegetable peels. I would think readers would want to know what activities have the highest impact on the environment and learn about the feasible and affordable alternatives to these damaging goods and practices.

Funnily enough, we devoted an entire half-hour of the interview to the topic of composting. And only a few hours ago, I had issued a very long and elaborate reply to a query on kitchen composting on the MNS Yahoogroup. Suddenly everyone’s asking me about composting. What, do I look like an expert in rotten things to you?
The interview was over in 1 ½ hours and I can only pray The Star would have better sense than to misquote its interviewees and put us in a bad light like the New Straits Times did last year for its environment pullout.

Thursday, 15th May 2008, was Pixie’s second birthday. My little boy turns two! I brought out the party tableware that evening and gave all 16 cats a treat in his honour. Each kitty received a bowl of tuna mash, topped off with a swirl of Hi-Vite and a piece of Pitter-Patter cat candy. Well, the cats enjoyed their treats so much that we had to cope with fish breath for the next 12 hours.

Halle’s babies polished off their portion and ate a good part of their mama’s share as well. Somehow they managed to get food all over themselves in the process. Now how did that happen? Is it possible that they licked their paws immediately after eating and anointed their foreheads and backs with the food? Keisha’s babies are not quite a month old but they know gourmet food when they smell it, and wobbled and crawled all the way to their mama’s food bowl to have a taste. I love all my kitties much more than I can express in words.

The Malaysian Naïve Art Showcase is on at the Central Market Annexe Gallery, so I went over to browse during my lunch hour on Friday, 16th May. You can view some of the images here: Malaysian Naïve Art Showcase
There must be something about two-dimensional drawings, technicolour trees and disproportionately huge birds, fish and butterflies, because the gallery was quite packed when I arrived. Everybody seems to love art that is charmingly simple on its surface but has hidden meaning and depth. The last such naïve art exhibition I visited was probably in 2002 or 2003, at City Square.

Anyway, there’s a fair bit of excitement in the parental neck of the woods. The parents have decided to adopt the puppy (first named Bear, then renamed Buster by Jessica) rather than leave him at the SPCA at the mercy of germs and infections and callous visitors. Well, it’s now Friday and Jessica will probably be bringing the puppy to me tonight, so it’s time for me to go back to the ‘Quarters, clean the place up and make room for the puppy.

Covert Operations, Over!

Mothers’ Day Weekend

Saturday, 10th May 2008 – Sunday, 11th May 2008: Mothers’ Day Weekend

Woke up early to feed and clean up after the kitties before heading on off to the MNS HQ for a brainstorming workshop conducted by our immediate past Branch Chairman, Anuar. I brought Felicity with me, as I would be going to the SPCA after the workshop and would try to find her a good home.

The workshop was productive and offered many interesting brainstorming strategies. As an incentive for creativity, Anuar offered prizes for 2 of the sessions. Rick won one for thinking up the highest number of uses for a paper clip. I won the second one for thinking up the most improvements to the standard shopping cart. Felicity lay curled up against my shoulder because she kept disrupting the sessions when left in the pet carrier to play with her jingle ball.

The workshop was over by noon and we thanked Anuar and left. I arrived at the SPCA around 1230h and set up Felicity’s cage in front so visitors could see her. She was happy to play with her ball and I told her I would be back soon.

Rose was there bathing dogs and cleaning cages already, and asked if I wanted to tickwash dogs with her. I made a large tub of Tactick solution, grabbed 5 leashes and set to work with Rose, bathing, rinsing, grooming and tickwashing dogs. We did all the dogs in Sick Bay, Kennels E & F and Appu’s Bay. There were a few gunk-filled ears for me to clean and a few sores to be medicated, but apart from that, there were no indications of injury or serious illness. Dr. Pushpa informed me that the garlic I bring every week is working very well, as the number of worm, tick and parasite infestations has gone down significantly (Note: Garlic is not toxic to pets unless given in large quantities continuously).

Reve came over to Sick Bay to call me out as there was a potential adopter for Felicity. They seemed like very nice people but were not truly committed to keeping a ‘common cat’ like Felicity. The trouble is, most of the visitors enjoy Felicity’s company and are quite willing to play with her, as she is a friendly, intelligent and healthy young cat. However, they came to the shelter hoping to get a Persian, Siamese or Bengal cat, and are not keen to bring home a ‘common tabby’ that they could not show off as status symbols. I am sad that breed discrimination is preventing Felicity from finding a good home. However, I would much rather find her a family that wants and loves her wholeheartedly, than foist her on someone who prefers pedigrees and will later abandon Felicity for a Persian. I will try to find her a home via e-mail appeal, and failing that, I will find a way to keep her without the housemates going ballistic over our growing zoo.

FELICITY, AGE 3 ½ MONTHS

At 1700h, Rose and I washed and put away the pails, tubs, clippers, scissors and other dog cleaning and grooming paraphernalia. I got to work cleaning the shelter. I soaped, scrubbed and disinfected the Admin/Reception area, the kennels and the catteries while the dogs were out playing in the shelter compound.
Again, a few visitors turned up after closing hours to surrender their cats. I explained our policies and euthanasia rates to them and advised them to take responsibility for neutering their pets. I made them promise to make appointments with the Spay & Neuter Clinic and reminded them that their cats’ lives are in their hands. These are mostly simple-minded folk who are horrified at the idea of euthanasia and it didn’t take long for me to persuade them to neuter and save the lives of their animals instead.

Finished cleaning the shelter, showered, put Felicity back in the Battletank and bade goodbye to Reve, Rolled on back to the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, tidied up, fed and cleaned up after the kitties and drove on over to the supermarket to buy Bulla Low Light 98% Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream for Mom.
Crammed the ice cream tub into the beer cooler I keep in the Battletank and barreled back to the parental home in time to wish Mom a Happy Mothers’ Day at the stroke of midnight and hand her my gift of a chintz-patterned box of healthy treats.
Mothers’ Day was a pleasant affair. I cleaned the parental home, spring cleaned my bedroom, bathed Amber, checked the Battletank’s oil level and took Amber out on a car ride and walk. The Twin and his Girl arrived in the late afternoon and the Twin helped Dad troubleshoot the parental laptop.
We went out for Mothers’ Day dinner at the country grill which doesn’t play any country music and has Bangladeshi waiters who couldn’t even tell us what it was they had just brought to our table. The quality of food made up for the service and we had to agree that we enjoyed the dinner very much. We came home to the highly anticipated ice cream, which I served with peach slices. We instant-messaged Big Bro and got to see his new apartment thanks to the webcam. He showed us his bandaged arm and illustrated the bone inflammation for us. We waved our ice cream glasses at him and Sis-in-Law as they yelled Happy Mothers’ Day. The parents haven’t left the laptop alone since the day they acquired it and I foresee many happy hours of video-chatting friends and family.
I finally washed up, packed my things, kissed Amber goodbye and left the parental home at 2300h. Arrived at the Quarters to find that Jake had already fed the cats, bless his heart. Cleaned the cages and litter trays, did the laundry, swept the floor and went to bed flanked by Daisy and Pixie. It’s been a satisfactory weekend, although not incredible.