Manja Today

Manja on a platform

When I wrote a short story about “Manja the Orangutan” three years ago, Manja was still part of the animal show at Zoo Negara. Now, Manja and Kiti (Manja’s sister) no longer perform in compliance with animal rights worldwide. Everyone knows that an animal that is made to perform tricks or any kind of acting is subjected to restraint and some form of discipline that includes food rationing and in many cases, physical abuse. In order to stop all these cruel acts whether intentionally or unintentionally, any form of animal training is considered inappropriate and inhumane.

Chokey's foot

Do not allow our fun with animals be at the expense of the animals used to entertain. What we see is the show. Behind the scene, during training many of these animals go through beatings and even pinching as I have witnessed myself. In more extreme cases as in the training of elephants (not in Malaysia, thank god), they are kicked and probed with bull hooks. There are many examples of these especially in circuses and TV films and commercials. In order to feature great apes in films, TV programmes, and advertisements, trainers typically take docile baby apes away from their mothers and beat them into submission. If the animals fight back, food will not be given. Using great apes in advertisements, movies or attractions perpetuates the idea that animals are ours to use in any way deemed fit as long as it makes money or provokes a laugh.

Chokey sucks Hani's fingers

Chimpanzees, orang-utans and other great apes are extremely intelligent and their complex physical and psychological needs and desires, such as seeking a mate, raising a family, foraging for food, basking in the sun and establishing their territories cannot be met in captivity.

Chokey loves to be touched

So, the next time you see an animal show; just think about the training that goes with it... Animals, like humans do not like to be mocked at and made fun of. They do have feelings. It has been scientifically proven that animals do endure stresses and pain.

Last Saturday, I went to visit Manja and the orangutans in Zoo Negara. I mentioned earlier about the very much needed public support to help Zoo Negara in its finances in order to provide well for the animals, our Malaysian animals because there isn’t enough money to build comfortable and more humane exhibit enclosures for the orangutans.

So, for now the ten orangutans gets the opportunity to stay in the biggest enclosure on a time divided schedule. A male orangutan cannot be in the same enclosure with a male. Since March this year, every Saturdays and Sundays the four Bornean orang-utans, Manja, Awang, Punky and Kiti get their chance to move around and climb up the platform posts as they would in the forest canopies as compared to being caged up in the little cages. The others are Chokey, Sulung, Anna, Salmah, Rokiah and her daughter Tsunami. They are Sumatran orang-utans.

Kiti with her antics

Thanks to Encik Ishak, En Parvess, En Ramli and Dr. Mohd Ngah for the effort. Moving the big apes from cage to cage, as I have witnessed needs a lot of patience and coercing because physical contact is not appropriate and illegal. Keepers have been bitten and injured during these processes. Imagine getting Awang who is over 300pounds heavy and he is the dominant male! But he is happier now. For years, I have been visiting him and the rest of my hairy children in their small cages. Now they get to play around awhile in the bigger exhibit enclosure.

Punky and Kiti waiting for treats

Please, please.....to the rich corporate banks and the kind public and especially our government heads, please let us all provide well and kindly to the animals in ZOOS. These animals have no choice but to be there unless we release them back to the wilderness, if we have any wilderness left.... These are our own national, very Malaysian treasures that no other nation has...the Malaysian Bornean Orangutans.

Awang and Manja....

Please make generous donations to Zoo Negara....Please.....

-Rossiti Aishah Rashidi-

Apa yang telah anda BUANG hari ini?

Bahan buangan organik seperti sisa dapur dapat dilupuskan dengan segera melalui proses pereputan. Malangnya, tidak untuk bahan buangan inorganik sperti plastik. Jangka masa pereputan untuk bahan inorganik adalah panjang sehingga melebihi jangka hayat kita. Sesetengah tidak dapat direputkan langsung! Oleh itu, sekiranya anda membuang sesuatu bahan/barangan, tolong fikirkan kesanya dalam jangka massa panjang terhadap alam sekitar kita. Sila gunakan barangan yang diperlukan sahaja & gunakan dengan bijak.

Surat khabar: 2 - 4 minggu

Sisa dapur: 3 - 4 minggu

Rokok: 3-4 bulan

Putung rokok: 3 bulan

Kertas: 3 minggu

Kertas berlilin: 3 bulan

Kayu bercat: 10 tahun

Barangan kulit: lebih dari 100 tahun

Tin minuman: 200 - 500 tahun

Botol plastik: 400 - 1000 tahun

Botol kaca: Tidak dapat ditentukan

Beg plastik: Tidak dapat direputkan

Sumber: Global Environment Centre

How is Chokey now?

Remember Chokey? He is the handsome orangutan my daughter fell in love with. Actually, everyone who sees him adores him. I love him too. Knowing him has been an eye opening experience and most educational about how fragile life is for the wild in Malaysia and around the world. Even convicted prisoners who are kept in jail are served their rights and privileges. But many innocent animals caged up are at our mercy. Many have criticized zoos around the world for some of the terrible living conditions and abuses. But truly, the blame is on all of us. The animals have lost their habitats, the human greed is ravaging the earth and exactly how can we stop this massacre. That is exactly what is happening. So, what can everyone do? We always read and hear that everything has to start with “ME”! Yes, me! I educate my children and in the process discovering so many new things myself. I learnt and discovered a lot of things I never knew before. I thought I was teaching my children.... I was actually learning. And learning through the eyes of my children has been as real as can be.... so pure and honest about how they truly feel about life and all things living in it.

So, back to Chokey, our darling. We don’t get to see him as we use to. He is older and bigger now and for the safety of all parties, he is in his little cage..... I mean really little. This photo, I took a few months back, says it all. The enclosure is about five feet by 10 feet wide, or narrow should I say. You don’t get to see him, not even his shadow if you visit the Zoo Negara because he is not in the exhibit area but a holding cage because there aren't enough funds to build exhibit enclosures for all the animals and there are many many more animals caged up in these small cages. Zoo Negara needs public support (there are some really good people working there) and kind donations from the public would really help.We also need serious commitment from government heads if we want to be a nation of caring and loving people and be guardians of this beautiful earth and all its creatures.

Just a friendly reminder...... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ..... Rethink!

-Rossiti Aishah Rashidi-

My Greens

I enjoy gardening and I have planted four angle beans along some of my fences and it has been very rewarding. Nowadays, I get healthy organic beans from my own garden. I also have lots of screw pine, kafir lime, calamansi (limau kasturi), cekur, daun kaduk, yam in pots, banana trees, papaya, mango and a cashew tree bearing beautiful fruits. So, imagine how much I’ve saved and enjoyed.... some things money just can’t buy. Because of all the trees I’ve planted, I get beautiful chirping feathery visitors in my garden everyday.... heavenly! Kingfishers, wrens, doves are regulars in my garden. They also visit to splish splash in the bowls of water I lay for them in my backyard.








-Rossiti Aishah Rashidi-

Taman Negeri Selangor (Selangor State Park)

http://trees.org.my

Treat Every Environment Special Sdn Bhd. (TrEES) is a local non-profit environment organisation established in February 1995. With over thirteen years of experience working on environmental issues, TrEES believes in engaging diverse sectors of Malaysian society, at both the local and national level, to work together in conserving the environment.

'The project towards the establishment of Taman Negeri Selangor (Selangor State Park)' was an initiative to protect the State's forests and water supply and was jointly funded by TrEES and the Selangor State Government. The project was a result of TrEES lobbying the State Government, together with the community, for more than 10 years.

In this innovative approach to the project, TrEES and the Town and Country Planning Department of Selangor as project facilitators engaged over 30 different stakeholders including government departments and NGOs, to work together to make the park a reality.

The park is the source of 98% of Selangor's, KL's & Putrajaya's water supply and is crucial to Selangor maintaining its self-sufficiency in vital natural resources.

In August 2005, the Selangor State Government, together with the Deputy Prime Minister (who is now our Prime Minister), officially declared 107,000 hectares of the study area for gazettement as Taman Warisan Selangor. In 2007, over 91,000 hectares was gazetted as 'State Park'. TrEES is a member of the Technical Committee for the park and continues to lobby for the remaining areas to be gazetted.

Keep Holding On

Recorded by Avril Lavigne
Written by Lavigne and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald

You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side,
you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in
No I won't give in

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through,
we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you,
I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through,
we'll make it through

So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late, this could all disappear
Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend,
I'll fight and defend

PS: I WILL FIGHT AND DEFEND

-Siti Hani Ahmad Zuraidi-

Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour in our home in Shah Alam.

Program Pendidikan Biodiversiti 2009

Cuti persekolah penggal pertama saya yang baru-baru ini tidak lah seperti hari-hari cuti persekolahan yang sebelum ini. Pada 19 hingga 22 hari bulan Mac 2009, rakan-rakan saya, Jeffry, Tan, Kheswin dan juga saya telah menyertai program pendidikan biodiversiti bersama Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara (PERHILITAN) anjuran Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Selangor sebagai wakil Kelab Pencinta Alam, Sek. Men. Keb. Seksyen 9, Shah Alam.

Perkhemahan 4 hari 3 malam ini bertempat di sebuah tasik yang termasyhur di Malaysia yang terletak di Pahang, iaitu Tapak RAMSAR Tasek Bera. Tasek Bera merupakan sistem tasik air tawar semula jadi yang terletak di barat daya Pahang, Malaysia. Tasik ini terletak di pelana banjaran gunung utama dan timur di Semenanjung Malaysia dan merupakan sumber Sungai Pahang.

Semasa di sana, ami berasa sungguh seronok. Harus saya akui bahawa inilah pengalaman perkhemahan saya yang terbaik setakat ini. Antara aktiviti-aktiviti menarik yang telah kami jalankan ialah pemerhatian burung, rintis hutan, permainan rimba dan kami juga berpeluang berkayak di tasik yang indah itu.

Kami juga telah ditayangkan dengan tayangan video jabatan yang menerangkan tentang apa itu Tapak RAMSAR dan kepentingannya. "RAMSAR" bermaksud Senarai Tanah Lembap Ramsar yang dipersetujui melalui ‘Konvensyen Tanah Lembap’ yang diadakan di Ramsar, Iran pada tahun 1971. Terdapatnya 147 ahli konvensyen dengan 1524 tapak tanah lembap yang berjumlah 129.2 juta hektar dalam senarai Ramsar. Tasek Bera merupakan tapak Ramsar yang pertama di Malaysia.

Di sini, ingin saya kongsikan bersama anda kepentingan paya gambut (peat swamp). Hutan paya gambut boleh bertindak sebagai :

• Sumber bekalan air
• Takungan air di bawah tanah
• Kawalan banjir
• Penghalang ribut
• Kawalan hakisan pantai
• Penambat sendimen dan nutrien
• Penyerap karbon
• Penjanaan hidro elektrik
• Pemuliharaan
• Penyelidikan dan pendidikan
• Rekreasi dan pelancongan
• Budaya

Tasik Bera merupakan sebidang tapak Ramsar yang mustahak kerana persekitaran gambut air tawarnya yang mengandungi pelbagai flora dan fauna. Kami juga telah berpeluang untuk melawat Kampung Pathir di mana tinggalnya orang asli kaum Semelai. Orang asli Semelai tinggal di kawasan ini dan meneruskan cara kehidupan tradisionalnya melalui pemburuan, penangkapan ikan dan penggunaan sumber persekitaran semula jadi.


Penghargaan:
Teacher Ernice (SMK Taman SEA), En. Muhamad Rizal Abdul Rahim (Penolong Pengarah Unit Pengurusan Tapak Ramsar, Tasek Bera), Cik Norensai Mat, En. Bahari Ahmad, En. Nizam Jantan, En. Fairus Izwan a.k.a. En. Syukrie, En. Azlan Mohd Zain, En. Muzzamir Salin, dan juga Mr. Stem.

♥ Salam rimba,
-Siti Hani Ahmad Zuraidi-

World Forestry Day 2009

It was a day filled with hopes and great spirit, all with one objective....to plant more trees and make earth a better place for everyone and all living things.

On the unveiled signboard, we have on the photo our youngest tree planter, Alya Husna Ahmad Zuraidi, who is seven years old. She has sacrificed her weekends and preferred to join her sisters....Siti Hani and Siti Hajar and parents, planting trees and a great job she did! This is her third time planting trees at the Hutan Simpan Raja Musa in Batang Berjuntai. Hutan Simpan Raja Musa is a peat forest (hutan paya gambut) which stores large amounts of carbon. If destroyed and dries up, large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide will escape into our air, thus the rise in air temperature leading to global warming. We need oxygen, not more carbon dioxide.

Alya Husna, the youngest tree planter so happy with Matthias Gelber, the greenest person on the planet.

Alya Husna understands the importance of trees....do you?

Check list for being GREEN.

The more you do, the more you can help the Earth and its creatures.

♣ I explore nature.
» I hiked
» I visited park
♣ I planted some flowers for hummingbirds.
♣ I turned off the lights when I didn’t need them.
♣ I didn’t squish a spider.
♣ I’ve been eating more vegetables.
♣ I planted an “eating tree or bush” in my yard or a pot.
♣ I’m being careful about what I put down the drains.
♣ I’m trying to eat things that are grown locally.
♣ I take my own bags to the store and use them.
♣ I put a bird feeder or bird bath in my yard or on my porch.
♣ I planted some flowers that bees love.
♣ I learned more about the rainforest and why we need to protect them.
♣ I try to wear clothes that are grown organically.
♣ I made a compost pile.
♣ Instead of using the car, I
» walked
» ran
» biked
♣ I don’t litter.
♣ I helped save a bug.
♣ I’ve been kind to all creatures.
♣ I sniped a plastic can holder can holders so an animal won’t get stuck in it.
♣ I followed the three R’s:
» REDUCE – I turned off the water when I brushed my teeth.
» REUSE – I gave some of the stuff I don’t use to someone else.
» RECYCLE – I collected glass, newspaper and plastic and put it in a recycle bin.
♣ I’ve told my friends what I have learned and how they can help.


Share what you’ve learned from this check list.
The more your friends know, the more you can help!
Helping animals helps us all!

Manja the Orangutan

Support Manja the orangutan in Zoo Negara. She has never lived in the forest. Let us help Manja create more awareness on orangutans and the importance of conservation of our forests through a children’s book titled “MANJA the Orangutan” written by Rossiti Aishah Rashidi (my mom) and beautifully illustrated in water colour by Farrah Ashiela Samsuri. You can buy this book at Zoo Negara Malaysia. This book is sponsored by HSBC Malaysia and published by The Malaysian Zoological Society. All proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Zoo Negara’s Conservation and Education Fund. 13 000 copies of this story book have already been distributed to schools throughout Malaysia for free as part of Zoo Negara's programme to create awarness on Malaysian wildlife and the importance of conservation.

P/S: Raise awareness! Tell everyone you know about orangutans and show them list of things that they can do to help.

-Siti Hani Ahmad Zuraidi-

The Last Time I Cried

Sunday, January 22, 2006
Love at first sight.

Yesterday was the happiest moment for me because I met my favourite orangutan, Chokey. I sponsored Chokey, a male orangutan with my own pocket money. Chokey is one of the 13 orangutans in Zoo Negara. He is a handsome, 7 year old male orangutan. Anyone who visits Zoo Negara and sees Chokey at the ape centre would definitely fall in love with his cute face and mischievous antics.

During the first 6 months of 2006, I visited him every week. I would bring his favourite fruits, among which are durians and grapes. In the zoo, most of the time he is fed with bananas and he had enough of it. My meeting with Chokey was like love at first sight.

Whenever we met, he would cling on me and would refuse to let me go. So the zookeepers had a tough time persuading him to get back into his cage. According to the keepers, he has grown possessive of me. So my mom advised me not to see him too often because after all, he is a wild animal. So I did not see him for 6 months.

However, yesterday, I decided to see how he was because I miss him so much. I brought him his favourite fruits, durians and grapes. When we met, we held one another tightly. He remembers me…… He gave me a kiss and we both cried. It was one of the greatest moments in my life. Tears were flowing down my cheeks and that was the last time I cried.

Hani ♥ Chokey

-Siti Hani Ahmad Zuraidi-