ELEPHANTS AND CROSSINGS

I read with interest today in a daily newspaper about a nine-year-old elephant being hit by a lorry on the East-West Highway in Batu Melintang, Perak. The incident happened while it was crossing the road on October 30, 2006 and the jumbo wounded his leg.

The pachyderm, named Mat Lawar, was later sent to the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, Pahang (The National Elephant Conservation Center).

The newspaper story also mentioned that it took two hours for the park rangers and two adult female elephants (machyderms?), Cik Mek and Lokimala (what wonderful names) to guide Mat Lawar on to the lorry transporter.

(Well, if I was Mat Lawar myself, I wouldn’t say no to two wonderful females goading me to a sanctuary, right? Because, if I’m really lucky, there could be more females there too ... ah, pardon me, what absurd thoughts.)

The press didn’t mention how big the lorry was, but I believe it will need jumbo trucks or lorries hauled by the likes of a Mercedes or Hino to be able to carry and pull the weight of the jumbo.

Ah, Mat Lawar – I wonder. He must be rather handsome to the female elephants and the park rangers who in their daily jobs, look at faces of jumbos and know the difference between handsome and so-so.

That’s because Mat Lawar doesn’t strike me as "lawa" (handsome) from the newspaper picture of him. Well, I‘ll be kind to him. Maybe, just maybe, it could be that he is not photogenic, and that perhaps he is actually lawa "in person".

And (my theory) maybe that was probably why he got hit in the first place.

This pachyderm’s looks must be so awesome that the lorry driver forgot his driving. Just like the story of the really handsome Prophet Joseph (Yusof), when all the women cut their fingers instead of cutting the foodstuff they were preparing, when he suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

But I know, I know. Actually "Lawar" refers to the nearby village where the jumbo was found. Ah, perhaps the village folks must be lawa (handsome) then.

So, anyone out there -- you young males and females -- anybody, interested? Bother to find out? Any damsels or sirs in distress? You never can know, you might just find your handsome or pretty one (the one in your dreams) living there, in Lawar Village! And he or she is all for your taking. Oh well, just joking.

Anyway, I said "with interest" in the beginning of this blog because I remember reading (maybe a month ago) an article in one of the papers, on how motorists and drivers should behave when faced with elephants on the roads.

I have not driven at any of the highways, or any roads for that matter, where there are favorite crossings of elephants.

The only animals I used to meet during my drives in the rural areas of Pahang during my younger days were just the occasional buffaloes, cows, goats and sheep. Of course, fowls like chickens, geese and ducks were quite normal.

And cows sleeping on the roads at night were prevalent in the olden days and I think they do even now at the more remote kampung areas. Well, animals want their rest, leisure and comforts too, once in a while, at least before humans partake their body meat in their own leisure and comfort. So give them the chance, folks.

Anyway, the advice or guidelines listed on the signboards at the East-West Highway make good and interesting reading to me.

Erected by the Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department, they certainly offer excellent advice to ensure humans don’t’ provoke elephants to become aggressive.

The advice (in Bahasa Malaysia) listed on the signboards erected along the stretch between Grik and Banding (about 160km from Ipoh, Perak) are (my general translation) as follows: -

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BEWARE OF ELEPHANTS CROSSING!

1. Don’t honk (or blow your horn)
2. Stop and give way (to the elephants)
3. Do not get out of the vehicle
4. Do not approach the elephants
5. Do not throw objects at them
6. Use a lower light at night

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Ah, really excellent advice for motorists to ensure their own safety at elephant crossings along the highways. These should be part of the highway courses for learner drivers.

And well, my, my… (I’m getting thoughts of bullies on the city roads in my mind now.) Yes, maybe those are good, pertinent advice also to the human hell-drivers in the cities.

So I say, "DBKL and you Municipal Councils, put up those same signboards in your city roads as well."

And then perhaps, we might see a sharp decline in accidents and road-bullying cases in the cities.

Just PERHAPS...

Enjoy.

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