BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION - PART 3
Besides the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary at Chendor Beach, Pahang, there is a turtle breeding station ("Pusat Penetasan Penyu") at Pasir Panjang Beach in Segari, near Pulau Pangkor, Perak. (Visit this pulau-pangkor.com website for the story).
There is also a Turtle Park at Pulau Selingaan, off Sabah, Malaysia, where tourists from all over the world come to watch turtles laying their eggs in their natural habitat on three designated islands where they are protected. (Read more about it here at mousetourstravels.com).
But sadly, the ecologically diverse waters around Sabah have been attracting illegal foreign vessels for many years. Marine department records over the past 3 years, showed that many Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipino vessels have been detained for intrusion and illegal fishing.
To protect our marine resources, they (foreign fishermen) must be stopped from catching, trapping and killing the turtles. Already and unfortunately, the number of turtles in our waters is declining.
It used to be said that these young turtles were eaten by birds, crabs and other land animals before they reach the sea. And then they are eaten by bigger fishes when deep in the waters. All blames for the depletion and endangering the turtle species were alluded to the animal kingdom.
Well, it’s high time we impute blame to the illegal trawler fishermen from overseas, not just the bigger fishes or other animals in the sea.
We cannot discount humankind, because we know that humans too were responsible. And we cannot say we have no brains and intelligence, or we have frailties. Those fishes and animals eat the baby turtles because they were created so, as Nature’s plan and control of the eco-system for the benefit of all creatures, including humans.
But humans have no such excuse. We have no reason to kill the turtles, because it’s not part of our staple food, never been, if I may say, by any culture anywhere in this world.
Killing an already grown turtle, those that had successfully cleared some stages in their already difficult life process, and for unproven, nay if I may say so, for deceitful and quack medicinal purpose, is way too absurd for my thinking.
Maybe I don’t have a high IQ or EQ or whatever, but the notion that dead turtles have medicinal values is like saying that other dead animals all have medicinal values. Why not use dead rats? They’re plentiful too, enough to cater for all libidous males in this world, perhaps. And the idea of using dead turtles for medicinal purpose is much too gory and queer to be considered a joke.
No, killing turtles is no joke. Its inhumane, uncalled for, and those responsible must be brought to book and penalized properly.
Once we upset the eco-systems of the world, then we will all be in trouble. By we, I mean us, humankind. This has been said umpteenth times by umpteenth people in this world. I’m just repeating the sad truth.
If it doesn’t happen during our lifetime or in our generation, make no mistake, it will start to happen during our children’s generations and descendants.
Let’s all be wise.
"Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be yet wiser", so says someone famous in the past I forget.
Well, I say, give also knowledge to a stupid man or any man for that matter, and he will also be yet wiser, I’m sure.
As always, wise up, friends, (and me,too).
BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION - PART 2
There is a turtle sanctuary at Chendor, about 30 km from Kuantan, Pahang, known as the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. There, turtle eggs are kept and hatched in a special enclosed hatchery, and we can watch the young turtles crawl in their hundreds back to the sea after they’re hatched.
Here and today, in the state of Pahang at Chendor and Cherating we welcome with open arms and with extended help all those adorable turtles to come and breed at our beaches, as they had done hundreds of years ago nonchalantly, may I say, until it declined rather "recently", in the early 1990’s.
They used to come in droves, laying hundreds and thousands of eggs, and at the same time teaching the many humans and tourists who watched them in awe, about the Greatness of the Almighty, the Creator, the Beneficent, who blesseth humans with uncommonness and diversity of life on Earth.
The greenback turtles and other species that come to lay their eggs on the beaches of Chendor and elsewhere in the east coast states should as well be accorded respect and welcome fit for royalties in the human sphere.
Because they are the last bastions of their species that can perhaps rejuvenate their own population back into bigger numbers and help to restore the ecological balance, not just restoring the lost tourist numbers in the east coast states.
Turtle-watching, I remember was a popular event in the 1970’s until late 1980’s at the beaches of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, especially of Chendor and Cherating in Pahang, and Rantau Abang in Terengganu. I remember watching the event sometime in late 1970.
Nowadays the word "dearth" perhaps correctly paints the non-event, as turtle killing, trappings and improper fishing had depleted and endangered their numbers.
And perhaps now we know that those illegal fishermen from overseas, like China, Vietnam and Phillipines, fishing illegally in our waters, had been depleting our natural resources, part of our tourist attractions, and condemning turtle eggs to hatcheries, and grown turtles to medicinal pots.
And that is not to say our own fishermen are innocent. There were and still are many cases of turtles found dead, caught in their nets. It is time that they learn to avoid fishing in waters where turtles feed and live.
After all, turtles and other creatures of the sea help to sustain the ecological balance in the vast waters of the oceans, that in the end will determine whether humankind will continue to exist or perish.
Tsunami, anyone?
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION - PART 2
There is a turtle sanctuary at Chendor, about 30 km from Kuantan, Pahang, known as the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. There, turtle eggs are kept and hatched in a special enclosed hatchery, and we can watch the young turtles crawl in their hundreds back to the sea after they’re hatched.
Here and today, in the state of Pahang at Chendor and Cherating we welcome with open arms and with extended help all those adorable turtles to come and breed at our beaches, as they had done hundreds of years ago nonchalantly, may I say, until it declined rather "recently", in the early 1990’s.
They used to come in droves, laying hundreds and thousands of eggs, and at the same time teaching the many humans and tourists who watched them in awe, about the Greatness of the Almighty, the Creator, the Beneficent, who blesseth humans with uncommonness and diversity of life on Earth.
The greenback turtles and other species that come to lay their eggs on the beaches of Chendor and elsewhere in the east coast states should as well be accorded respect and welcome fit for royalties in the human sphere.
Because they are the last bastions of their species that can perhaps rejuvenate their own population back into bigger numbers and help to restore the ecological balance, not just restoring the lost tourist numbers in the east coast states.
Turtle-watching, I remember was a popular event in the 1970’s until late 1980’s at the beaches of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, especially of Chendor and Cherating in Pahang, and Rantau Abang in Terengganu. I remember watching the event sometime in late 1970.
Nowadays the word "dearth" perhaps correctly paints the non-event, as turtle killing, trappings and improper fishing had depleted and endangered their numbers.
And perhaps now we know that those illegal fishermen from overseas, like China, Vietnam and Phillipines, fishing illegally in our waters, had been depleting our natural resources, part of our tourist attractions, and condemning turtle eggs to hatcheries, and grown turtles to medicinal pots.
And that is not to say our own fishermen are innocent. There were and still are many cases of turtles found dead, caught in their nets. It is time that they learn to avoid fishing in waters where turtles feed and live.
After all, turtles and other creatures of the sea help to sustain the ecological balance in the vast waters of the oceans, that in the end will determine whether humankind will continue to exist or perish.
Tsunami, anyone?
BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION – PART 1
I read with disdain, and I’m sure I’m not alone, about the dead turtles found by the Malaysian marine police when they caught a Chinese trawler fishing illegally in Malaysian waters in Sabah a few months ago.
I can’t really express how cruel I thought those fishermen were, maybe how stupid they were really, since the turtles were actually caught to be made into traditional medicines, of all things.
In what century are they living? Medicines made from dead creatures? That, in my view, is pushing alternative medicine too far. Beyond the twilight zone it is. With really doubtful results at that.
And the next day another trawler with a bigger haul of turtles was caught. Well, kudos to the Malaysian Marine Police. Those are the type of news I would love to hear about our police department.
Then, later, of course with profound glee, I read in the newspapers that the skipper and crew of the Chinese trawler caught with 274 protected turtles were slapped with more than RM1.88 million, yes million, in fines by the magistrate's court in Kota Kinabalu. And they were ordered to be jailed between six and 18 months each if in default.
And I unreservedly say, yes,yes,yes, they deserve those huge fines. Truly and rightly deserve it.
And good riddance to them. The stiff penalties meted out to these felons should serve as stern warnings to others that turtles, especially our turtles, are worth more than the worth of whatever value as traditional medicines they would get.
But, just a reminder, we must never for a moment forget about conservation of turtles. That is more important than all the huge fines and jail terms. The advice that "Prevention is better than cure" has been touted for so long it’s becoming a cliché nobody listens to.
And fining and jailing the crooked fishermen will not help come to life the turtles that had been killed. Dead turtles cannot breed.
But we can disseminate information to all those fishermen of neighboring countries of our desire to preserve, at all costs, these adorable turtles, and of their priceless value to humankind.
Perhaps, these fishermen may be following orders by their bosses out of ignorance, or just maybe following old living practices of their fathers and fore-fathers, without knowledge of the changing environment.
So information needs to be disseminated to these maybe poor, illiterate, but rather unconscionable fishermen of our neighboring countries, about our stand on preservation of these adorable creatures of the sea, the turtles.
Hopefully, knowledge of the importance of preserving turtles will help to reduce and subsequently eliminate fishing of turtles in our waters, making our beaches conducive again to their laying eggs for continued generation of their species.
But then again, just "hopefully".
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION – PART 1
I read with disdain, and I’m sure I’m not alone, about the dead turtles found by the Malaysian marine police when they caught a Chinese trawler fishing illegally in Malaysian waters in Sabah a few months ago.
I can’t really express how cruel I thought those fishermen were, maybe how stupid they were really, since the turtles were actually caught to be made into traditional medicines, of all things.
In what century are they living? Medicines made from dead creatures? That, in my view, is pushing alternative medicine too far. Beyond the twilight zone it is. With really doubtful results at that.
And the next day another trawler with a bigger haul of turtles was caught. Well, kudos to the Malaysian Marine Police. Those are the type of news I would love to hear about our police department.
Then, later, of course with profound glee, I read in the newspapers that the skipper and crew of the Chinese trawler caught with 274 protected turtles were slapped with more than RM1.88 million, yes million, in fines by the magistrate's court in Kota Kinabalu. And they were ordered to be jailed between six and 18 months each if in default.
And I unreservedly say, yes,yes,yes, they deserve those huge fines. Truly and rightly deserve it.
And good riddance to them. The stiff penalties meted out to these felons should serve as stern warnings to others that turtles, especially our turtles, are worth more than the worth of whatever value as traditional medicines they would get.
But, just a reminder, we must never for a moment forget about conservation of turtles. That is more important than all the huge fines and jail terms. The advice that "Prevention is better than cure" has been touted for so long it’s becoming a cliché nobody listens to.
And fining and jailing the crooked fishermen will not help come to life the turtles that had been killed. Dead turtles cannot breed.
But we can disseminate information to all those fishermen of neighboring countries of our desire to preserve, at all costs, these adorable turtles, and of their priceless value to humankind.
Perhaps, these fishermen may be following orders by their bosses out of ignorance, or just maybe following old living practices of their fathers and fore-fathers, without knowledge of the changing environment.
So information needs to be disseminated to these maybe poor, illiterate, but rather unconscionable fishermen of our neighboring countries, about our stand on preservation of these adorable creatures of the sea, the turtles.
Hopefully, knowledge of the importance of preserving turtles will help to reduce and subsequently eliminate fishing of turtles in our waters, making our beaches conducive again to their laying eggs for continued generation of their species.
But then again, just "hopefully".
LIVING TENUOUSLY IN A WORLD OF IMBALANCES
We, humans, are living in a world of imbalances.
No dispute about that. And it’s not just a few, simple imbalances that we have to contend with. It’s more like maybe too much for our liking. Complicated, complex and discernibly unbalanced scales putting the world we live in a rather precarious state.
Ecological imbalance, wealth imbalance, education imbalances, social imbalances, work -related imbalances, personal – intelligence, raw physical imbalances (I’m handsome, you’re not, and I’m gorgeous and pretty, you’re plain Jane, sorts). Well, what should I say, the whole spectrum of social, political, religious, ecological and what have you more, varieties of imbalances.
A motley of imbalances, spreading outwards and touching the phenomena of tall and short, democratic systems and dictatorships, big salaries and those with AIDS (adequate-income deficiency syndrome ? Well, I’m in).
The imbalances are not restricted to just discrepancy between a rich and a poor man in wealth terms, but it covers and climbs up the broader political ladder discriminating between rich and poor nations, to the pinnacle of all imbalances, of rich and poor souls.
Well, let’s ramble about a known imbalance.
The Pahang Malays have been known to be great warriors and patriots, always fighting for their motherland - Pahang. And real warriors like Datuk Bahaman, Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah, Pak Sako, Manap Jepun, Tun Razak and a whole array of real men against British colonialism in the country, were mostly Pahang born and bred. The question that begs to be answered is "Why the imbalance? Other states too were colonized."
Well, the answer may well be that the majority of Pahang Malays have always been poor. They live by the banks of the rivers, planting padi and fishing in the rivers and seas to put food on the table. And thanks to the Almighty, the Beneficent, food could always be had.
But humans are such that if incursions into their life make for imbalances in their routines, then the invaders should be prepared for retaliation. Encroachments and imposed changes especially externally engineered, invite imbalanced decisions and actions. So be it, they say.
Emotions become imbalanced, more self-centered and motherland-centered, and intelligence gets more topsy-turvy. People with hunger pangs in their stomach, unless balanced by feel-good sensations elsewhere, will do anything to protect themselves, their family and motherland. Hence the rise of heroes.
But then it may be that because food is easy to obtain and life is easy as it comes and goes in daily life, fighting against incursions and invasions also upgrades the soul to a higher level. An inner sense of responsibility to protect valued subordinates, relatives and connected friends, in fact to the land and home they love and abide - nothing invokes the sensibilities more than someone from somewhere else intending and conspiring to take them away, or changing them, parting ownership. Hence the rise of heroes (and villains too).
Well, I better stop here. I know I didn’t answer the question. I can’t talk politics. It’s too deep for my knowledge and intelligence, too complicated for me to comprehend or justify, and too sensitive to perhaps suggest any political thought here.
So, coming back to the topic of my babbling -- of imbalances in this world.
We, humans, right now, I dare say, are living precipitously in a world of global imbalance in a specific, rather ghoulish realm that spells disaster of the greatest proportions.
I am talking about imbalances in the military realm, of bullies and the bullied, of advanced nations taking up the unilateral role as judges and policemen of the world, inevitably becoming real bullies of this life.
It is as though this world properly needs rigorous one-sided judgments and policing by any nation, that then begins threatening each and every other nation with a taste of its perceived military strength and might.
This is the state of imbalances inherent in the world today. We have self-assumed leaders of unbalanced mind, bordering on insanity with childish notions of grandeur, with simpleton views of justice, but constituting no less a real threat to the continuity of mankind.
We are all on a sharply precipitous edge, really. Another piece of improper conduct by any self-assumed leader of this world, nay, any childish notions of self-grandeur as I said, and, teng teng teng, the world and human life as we all know it (don’t we all?), will tether on the brink of extinction ourselves.
If we don’t wake up and work continuously to adjust, twist and turn the screws (in all childish heads of adults) to make everything right again, or in short, be wise, we humans may be extinguished forever.
All of us in this generation should learn. Do learn from the Vietnam war, do learn from the Korean war, from the two world wars and from the wars of the Romans, Spartans, Mongols, Greeks and what have you. Do learn the simple truth.
That all wars kill humans.
Ahh, what an incoherent and rather imbalanced babble I’m putting in my blog today. Perhaps someone can make it comprehensible. Or is it already?
Well, never mind. My imbalanced mind today will inevitably balance out those characteristically over-zealous, over-balanced minds that exist every second, minute, hour and day, of life in this world.
Wise up friends, (and me too).
We, humans, are living in a world of imbalances.
No dispute about that. And it’s not just a few, simple imbalances that we have to contend with. It’s more like maybe too much for our liking. Complicated, complex and discernibly unbalanced scales putting the world we live in a rather precarious state.
Ecological imbalance, wealth imbalance, education imbalances, social imbalances, work -related imbalances, personal – intelligence, raw physical imbalances (I’m handsome, you’re not, and I’m gorgeous and pretty, you’re plain Jane, sorts). Well, what should I say, the whole spectrum of social, political, religious, ecological and what have you more, varieties of imbalances.
A motley of imbalances, spreading outwards and touching the phenomena of tall and short, democratic systems and dictatorships, big salaries and those with AIDS (adequate-income deficiency syndrome ? Well, I’m in).
The imbalances are not restricted to just discrepancy between a rich and a poor man in wealth terms, but it covers and climbs up the broader political ladder discriminating between rich and poor nations, to the pinnacle of all imbalances, of rich and poor souls.
Well, let’s ramble about a known imbalance.
The Pahang Malays have been known to be great warriors and patriots, always fighting for their motherland - Pahang. And real warriors like Datuk Bahaman, Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah, Pak Sako, Manap Jepun, Tun Razak and a whole array of real men against British colonialism in the country, were mostly Pahang born and bred. The question that begs to be answered is "Why the imbalance? Other states too were colonized."
Well, the answer may well be that the majority of Pahang Malays have always been poor. They live by the banks of the rivers, planting padi and fishing in the rivers and seas to put food on the table. And thanks to the Almighty, the Beneficent, food could always be had.
But humans are such that if incursions into their life make for imbalances in their routines, then the invaders should be prepared for retaliation. Encroachments and imposed changes especially externally engineered, invite imbalanced decisions and actions. So be it, they say.
Emotions become imbalanced, more self-centered and motherland-centered, and intelligence gets more topsy-turvy. People with hunger pangs in their stomach, unless balanced by feel-good sensations elsewhere, will do anything to protect themselves, their family and motherland. Hence the rise of heroes.
But then it may be that because food is easy to obtain and life is easy as it comes and goes in daily life, fighting against incursions and invasions also upgrades the soul to a higher level. An inner sense of responsibility to protect valued subordinates, relatives and connected friends, in fact to the land and home they love and abide - nothing invokes the sensibilities more than someone from somewhere else intending and conspiring to take them away, or changing them, parting ownership. Hence the rise of heroes (and villains too).
Well, I better stop here. I know I didn’t answer the question. I can’t talk politics. It’s too deep for my knowledge and intelligence, too complicated for me to comprehend or justify, and too sensitive to perhaps suggest any political thought here.
So, coming back to the topic of my babbling -- of imbalances in this world.
We, humans, right now, I dare say, are living precipitously in a world of global imbalance in a specific, rather ghoulish realm that spells disaster of the greatest proportions.
I am talking about imbalances in the military realm, of bullies and the bullied, of advanced nations taking up the unilateral role as judges and policemen of the world, inevitably becoming real bullies of this life.
It is as though this world properly needs rigorous one-sided judgments and policing by any nation, that then begins threatening each and every other nation with a taste of its perceived military strength and might.
This is the state of imbalances inherent in the world today. We have self-assumed leaders of unbalanced mind, bordering on insanity with childish notions of grandeur, with simpleton views of justice, but constituting no less a real threat to the continuity of mankind.
We are all on a sharply precipitous edge, really. Another piece of improper conduct by any self-assumed leader of this world, nay, any childish notions of self-grandeur as I said, and, teng teng teng, the world and human life as we all know it (don’t we all?), will tether on the brink of extinction ourselves.
If we don’t wake up and work continuously to adjust, twist and turn the screws (in all childish heads of adults) to make everything right again, or in short, be wise, we humans may be extinguished forever.
All of us in this generation should learn. Do learn from the Vietnam war, do learn from the Korean war, from the two world wars and from the wars of the Romans, Spartans, Mongols, Greeks and what have you. Do learn the simple truth.
That all wars kill humans.
Ahh, what an incoherent and rather imbalanced babble I’m putting in my blog today. Perhaps someone can make it comprehensible. Or is it already?
Well, never mind. My imbalanced mind today will inevitably balance out those characteristically over-zealous, over-balanced minds that exist every second, minute, hour and day, of life in this world.
Wise up friends, (and me too).
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