Just not in my backyard please!

Otters go sightseeing
in Singapore

You say they were here before you. Before you cleared the greens to build your homes and offices, they had theirs. That is how the world goes, is it not? One dominant species or even within species trying to dominate the other is part and parcel of life on Earth.

You sing your victory tunes when India's legal system proclaims River Yamuna as a living entity with rights. And the Native American Courts are looking at possibilities of defending rivers and lakes against errant developers who have no qualms contaminating Nature and destroying natural habitats in the name of development.

And you were happy when your backyard was featured in numeral documentaries and nature magazines for bringing back the fauna and flora that were lost in the name of wanting to catch up with the wave of industrial development. You proudly displayed greenery-filled pictures you snapped of your once backwater country on your wall.

Now it seems that Nature is back with a vengeance.

The cuddly and seemingly animals have outgrown their cuteness. Their living spaces seem insufficient, and they have ambitious plans to displace you or perhaps just build a symbiotic relationship with you. But you cannot stomach the idea of sharing your neighbourhood with them. I interpret your message as wanting them to live happily anywhere but not in your backyard. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Man-made laws to make the numbers!

Ju Dou (Chinese; 1990)

Just as much as societal norms set the order in a society, they can also be the cause of discontent and chaos. Believe it or not, this is very much like religion. On the one hand, it tries to create a milieu of harmony where all individuals, rich or poor, stronger or weak has a place in the sun. Conversely, to try to enact 'God's Law' on Earth, we see people die, and countries go to wars towards this end. 

This classic multiple award-winning Chinese film tells of a tale which is set in a secluded village at the turn of the 19th century. Tianqing is adopted by a wealthy but miserly owner of a fabric dyeing factory. He is forced to work ruthlessly, almost like a slave. The elderly owner, Yang, after a spate of dead spouses, is now married to a young bride. Yang is abusive towards his young wife, perpetuated by his impotence and inability to secure an heir.

Tianqing takes pity on the bride, Ju Duo. The feelings develop into a romance, and an illicit affair develops. Ju Duo becomes pregnant with the intimacy, much to the joy of Yang, thinking that it is of his own. A boy is born.

After a fall, Yang becomes a paraplegic. The couple now feels justified to openly flaunt their romance after the things they had endured under his thumb. The boy grows up, realising of his mother's infidelity, develops an aversion against his biological father. At the climax, there is a duel between the teenage son and Tianqing that ends with a disastrous outcome.  

Laws are enacted to ensure order. Should rules be so rigid that exceptions cannot be made? When a person is wronged, and the situation is so helpless, can the law be bent on compassionated grounds? 

We are so loyal to our kith and kin that we fail to realise that they too are not immune to wrongdoings. Almost by reflex, we tend to be blinded of their injustices. Humans are social animals. We are strong by numbers. We feel vulnerable and need the validation of our deeds. We feel secure in a herd.

This story highlights how man-made regulations, like social mores, overpower the biological natural inclination to protect one of his own kind.

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Back to Nature again!

Planet Earth II (BBC Documentary; 2016)

We, human beings, are convinced that we are the chosen one. We like to think that our cognitive function is well developed. We move with a chip on our shoulders, convinced that God created the Universe for us alone. Just because our neo-frontal cortex has developed much over the ages, we think we are special. Deep inside, when we scrutinise our distant ancestors, we are not much different. Our primal desires, needs and wants are still the same. Just like members of the animal kingdom, we fight for territory, food and mate. Unlike them, however, we also kill our fellow kind and animal kind indiscriminately in the name of sports, recreation and surge of mental derangement.

This BBC produced documentary can easily be described as the best documentary ever done; at least among the ones that I have ever seen. In six one-hour episodes, the makers take our focus to all four corners of the world. We are taken away, in the comfort of our arm-chairs, to witness first-hand, the experiences of animals in various environmental situations. We see them in islands, mountains, jungles, deserts, grasslands and the newest addition, the concrete jungles, the cities. 

Using modern and sophisticated avant-garde photography; hidden cameras, night-vision cameras, drones and traditional wait-and-see techniques; the end result is simply out of this world. Many of the views are breathtaking and will be imprinted in the viewers' minds for years to come. Here are a few...

• The hatchlings of marine iguana, a sea-dwelling creature in Galapagos Island. As they rush to the sea as soon as they crack out of their shells, they have to outwit and outrun a bed of snakes to reach the sea. Only the strongest survive.
• Pigmy sloth search for mates in a dwindling population.
• Red crabs in Christmas Island as they make an epic journey to the seas.
• The story of a million penguins in Zavodvski Island off the Southern Seas and their struggle with the rough seas for food.
• The agile Nubian Ibex and their mountain climbing skills.
• The lonely snow leopards who adapt to live in extremely trying surroundings on the edge of existence.
• The ruthless Bob Cats of the wild.
• The amazing Mount Kenya (17,000ft.) which is the only mountain on the Equator which is snow-capped as water freezes overnight and melts in the day as the sun rises.
• The elusive freshwater river dolphins of the Amazon. 
• The minute glass frogs.
• and many many more...

Nature has its own way to ensure the species become stronger and smarter. Many of the hostile elements of the environment ensure this. Perhaps, Man would lose out on this as their offspring are increasingly mollycoddled and protected well into adulthood. One can argue that human's increasing innovation skills reliefs him from the curse of survival of the fittest and the strongest. Sometimes I wonder if the presence of different seasons and extremes of weathers makes one stronger? 

As more and more cities spring up, animals' habitats are compromised and they too need to migrate to the city. In many places, they live in harmony with Man. Many monkeys live scavenging food. Some are revered for their godly statuses in the scriptures. In Ethiopia, hyenas live off carcasses served by city-dwellers. Singapore, after embarking on an ambitious project, has managed to increase the variety of their fauna and flora. It can boast of being the city with the most number of species of plants. It has also attracted old species of animals that were thought to extinct on the island.

A gripping documentary with surreal, sometimes hyperreal view of Nature belying the dangers that lurk in the wild.

Marine Iguana

Komodo Dragon

Concrete structures in Singapore to enrich flora and attract fauna back to the city.

Chin-strap Penguins of Zavodvski Island. 

Dancing Flamingos

Miniature glass frog of the Amazon.

Red Crab March in Christmas Island.

Nubian Ibex, mountain goat.

 https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Just the flavour of the day?

With the spate of events one after another, honouring someone in one way or another, I started thinking.

Somebody sent an intercontinental Raksha Bhandhan greetings to his new found sister from another mother whilst refusing to recognise the existence of his own biological one. Another tied the band of allegiance with much disdain just for the sake so as not to break the tradition. In real life, this brother-sister duo was like snake and mongoose, eternal mortal enemies. When they met, one would look West whilst the other looked East, such were their animosity. Come to tying the string of brotherly protection in the world so hostile; they were all geared with sweets, nuts and showers of incense water to fragrance their sharing of common DNA!

Same with Mothers, Fathers, Labourers, Farmers, zodiac animals in the Chinese calendar and the Hindu scriptures revered animals, the sacred cows and the divine Elephants. 

The animal denoting the iconic remover of hurdles, the wise one who is given the auspicious salutations before any new venture, is held on a pedestal on Vinayagar Sathurthi is treated like just like another carbon footprint trying to squeeze its existence on planet Earth. Much like the symbolic mother of the nation whose milk was even shunned by the Father of India for the ill treatment accorded to it to draw its elixir of life. The cows are bathed, horns painted and fed rich food only to face the reality of being born a lesser being, a cow, a day after Mattu Pongal.

Well, the real reason the festivities is that people just want to have fun. And it is the economy, stupid!

What are you good for?

The Jains are kind of obsessed with not hurting animals that they just shoo a mosquito rather than squash it. Of late, quite a number of people are caring for the welfare of animals, physical as well psychological wise.
Unheard careers like dog whispers, veterinary acupuncturist have secured their stronghold in some societies.
Now, you may say all that is fine but how is a mosquito (also an animal) contributing to society and should be given due respect? All that do is spread disease. In the last census, half of world population from Stone Age have died from mosquito borne diseases especially malaria.
True, only female mosquitoes bite humans as they need nutritious proteins for their potential off springs. And that mosquitoes are also found in the Arctic Circle but they only help to germinate wild orchids.

Maybe the mosquitoes are doing us a favour by competitively protecting us from more severe diseases. Or that they are protecting the green lung tropical forests from intruders to supply oxygen to the atmosphere.

Now that we still continue our deforestation, they must have come back with a vengeance. They too have migrated to our backyard to become city dwellers and give us dengue.
The solution? Mosquitoes are not the culprits here. They just happened to be at the wrong time at the wrong place with wrong genetical make-up to make themselves vectors of diseases. Just that their bodies form a great reservoir for certain protozoas and arboviruses. The real culprits here are the organisms (protozoans or arboviruses), not the vectors, the messengers. Don't kill messenger! The diseases spread if a mosquito bites an infected person only.
We should strive to get to the bottom of the problem, eliminate the real causative agents.

Addentum: Does it answer my children's justification of having chicken in all their meals? Their excuse is there could not be another reason for God to have create chickens other than to garnish the dinner plate! They could not find another reason for their existence in the ecosystem!

The animal in you!

They are more than just 'The House of the Rising Sun'

Imagine you are just another one of God's creations. Just another one life form amongst many. Nothing special about you. Not the chosen one. Not created in His mold!
You have been having the grandiosity that the world revolves around you. That you are superior over other creations and that you are complete with senses to think, sympathise and empathise. Err... You got it wrong again. The zest, the spontaneity, the emotional display and meaningful response are also displayed by them (the others), albeit in their own vocalisation.
On the other end, animal do not exhibit human qualities like killing each other for no particular reason, other than for food, territory or mates.
Just like the concept of alpha-male in the animal kingdom, we also have set preset hierarchy to place some people in a place more superior than another.
In the video below, the non lactating cows which were actually worthless from an economic viewpoint, were initially caged for months waiting to be culled. After the animals rights group fought for their rights, they were released in the fields. See the joy of these supposedly lowly unthinking beast basking their new found freedom. They are jumping in joy in the air, rubbing their faces and bodies on the ground, caressing each other and running in sheer glee. See the joy, see the emotion. Who says animals are devoid of emotional expressions?

                                                

Everyone enjoys a nice murder!

"Daily Mail" True Crime: Classic, Rare and Unseen(2009)
By Tim Hill

Sometimes, we wonder why is it that, human beings have a fascination towards murder and other heinous crimes. Just have a look at almost all prime time TV shows. They all feature killings and evil as their central pillar. Anyway, with the blurring of what used to be prime time and since now TV is on 24/7 and is cheap and is available all rooms of the house (include the toilet), the concept of prime time where the whole family would sit together after their dinner is not existent.
That propagated mini-series and soap operas that also include the above sins as well as other vices like infidelity, cheating and lying for good measure!

In the old days when one has to wait a full week for his dose of crime, with the advent of cable TV, he is on a perpetual chronic overdose!

In spite of the society's abhorrence to violence, the world we live in, animal or human kingdoms, is full of violence. In the animal kingdom, animals kill for food, mate and dominance. Humans, besides including all of the above, also consists of a group of individual who would do it for the sheer pleasure and hide under the cloak of insanity and mental derangement. Our breaking news on TV and stop press newspaper invariably involve destruction rather than some record-breaking feat. Who says crime does not pay?

Hitchcock and his fixation in bringing
murder to everyone's living room!

The last book that I read recently is a hardcover coffee table type of compilations of stories that appeared on the British 'Daily Mail' daily. (Hardly appetising to digest during a tête-à-tête tea session.)
It covered a lot of murders and crimes involving the myriad of characters spanning all the way from the USA to England (mainly) and an Australian trial of the century case involving Mrs Chamberlain's missing baby allegedly carried away by dingos.
The book comprises newspaper cuttings of cases and analyses the background of the criminal as well as the progression of the situation in court.


The American crimes involve modern day 'Robin Hood' @ Scarface Al Capone, the romanticized Valentine Day Murder, his incarceration for tax evasion and later death by tertiary syphilis; the sad tale of falsely accused of murder of Hollywood's high grossing star of Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and his sad end; the trigger happy deadly duo of Bonnie and Clyde; the kidnapping of Charles Lindberg Jr., O. J. Simpson and his hyped trial of his estranged wife; Charles Manson and his cult and killing involving famous stars; the charismatically manipulative Ted Bundy's devious ways as well the flamboyant 'Teflon Don' John Gotti's crimes.

Over the other side of Atlantic, the daily covered extensively crimes like the Great Train Robbery where the loot was magnanimous at that era; Yorkshire Ripper and his 13 victims; the Profumo Affair where a minister had to resign over an affair with a stripper who also dated a Russian official for fear of espionage and leakage of sensitive information; the A6 senseless murder; the Krays twins and organized crimes; Teddington towpath murders of young girls; The West couple and their House of Horror where incestuous crimes, killings and burying of remains remain buried; Dr Harold Shipman- the serial killer doctor who killed 200 over patients; and many more sickening examples.

Our past violent history of killing, conquering and drawing first blood bears testimony to the fact that our civilisation is so entwined with violence and hatred that crime is here to stay for good (sic).

Why this kolaveri, man?

Austerity, what's that? Spanish King Juan Carlos slammed for £27,000 elephant hunting trip as his country drowns in debt and half of youngsters are jobless. Check here

From the time cavemen were running from the feared mammoth and saber toothed tigers, they always tried out ways to be in control over their predators. So, they used their thinking cap and the God given fifth sense to outwit them so much so that men now control most of the planet and have sent many of those animals into hiding and extinction. The nearest that the average man come in contact with animals are either cooked, domesticated or when.they pay to see them caged.
Even at this age and time when we are supposed to be civilized and cultured, some people find joy in gunning down animals just because they can - not for their food, hide or self defence and exhibit their kill for others to awe!

Bengal Tiger floored

One notorious man-eating tigress known as Champawat (pictured above) killed some 200 men and women before being driven out of Nepal. She moved to another location, this time in India, and continued to kill bringing her total up to 436 before she was tracked down and killed in 1911. The Champawat tigress was, as man eaters usually are, extremely cunning, and she was only found by Jim Corbett because he managed to follow the trail of blood the tigress left behind after killing her last victim, a 16-year-old girl. 

 
Photograph showing the Prince of Wales, holding rifle, posing with members of his party and a dead tiger, during his tour of India, 1875-76.

An advertisement on their webpage screams:

Wishbone Outfitters offers 2 day Trophy Bison hunts alone or in combination with our Trophy Elk hunts. No license is required for this hunt. Our bison package includes experiences guides, capeing, field dressing as well as lodging and meals. Taxidermy and meat cutting is available locally.

Just horsing around...

War Horse (2011）
I never really particularly fancied horsey movies. Films like National Velvet, National Lampoon and the numerous Disney Channel feature films with the predictable interaction between man and animal with an equally predictable feel good endings come to mind. Part of my upbringing make me think that the horses' ability to run and racing is strongly linked to betting and other vices that had a hand in the downfall of many noble families. Just because Steven Spielberg directed the movie which was a forerunner for many prestigious awards, I gave it a go. 

The story starts with a ex-British soldier of the Transvaal War (where Churchill earned media publicity) who is now a drunk farmer in Devon buys a young stallion at a market auction just to get back at his landlord even though what he actually needed was a plough horse .
The farmer's son, Albert, named him Joey and manages to train him to work on the soil. The produce however got destroyed by bad weather that the farmer had to sell off Joey to a cavalry soldier. World War 1 had started and Joey goes to war. Joey's rider is killed at the battle field in France and Joey is kept by 2 German young soldiers. They are shot for abandoning posts but not before they left Joey and another horse (Joey's fellow cavalry horse) inside a barn of a windmill. Its owners, an old man and his granddaughter take a liking to the horses. German soldiers passing through the area took over the horse to be used to pull the heavy war artillery.
The gruel nature of the German animal kills Joey's friend. Even amongst the heartless German soldiers, Joey's kind trainer releases him. Joey runs through a trench war and get trapped and entangled in in midst of two warring armies. Compassionate soldiers of both sides pull a temporary truce to save the trapped horse. At the toss of the coin, the British gained ownership of Joey.
Meanwhile, Joey's initial owner, Albert, is in the same unit that rescued Joey but he is temporarily blinded. Just like any typical Indian movie of the 70s where every family had a family song where lost families can be united after a zillion years, Joey answers to Albert's owl call in the nick of time before he is to be put to sleep for injuries sustained!

The war comes to an end. Joey finally come home to Devon. (yawn)...
A bit far fetch story not to my liking. Makes one wonder why men, in midst of a war out for each others' blood and fighting for their lives are so compassionate to a horse! And so cultured too!
I am not so much of an animal activist or a PETA member, hence I did not feel much for the plight of Joey. Everything happened so fast that you do not feel for the characters. You do not see any facial expressions on the horse and close-up shots are no substitute to acting. So it was a Steven Spielberg direction, so?
I am no expert in film-making, I only write I feel but I do not understand why this movie has got many rave reviews and accolades as well nominations including best picture. Even Quentin Tarantino sang praises for this endeavour. I suppose that is just professional courtesy - like sharks and lawyers!

Well what do you know, I am just a spectator (or is it audience?).

Conquest of man over animal!

During my usual stint on the treadmill, the TV was on a trashy 1976 Rajnikanth film named 'Thai Meethu Sathyam', a 'western' Tamil movie where everybody is a cowboy, have 6-barrel pistols that shoot forever and ride on horses. The interesting character in the movie was an Alsatian who actually did more work (than the hero) trying to smell out the bandits, outsmart the crooks' dogs (by throwing a butcher's meat for them to fight out), biting off the ropes of the hero when he is tied and the crook is trying to rape his girlfriend and so on...
Even in 'The Artist', Uggie the dog had a meaty role to play like acting with him in his movies and hanging around through thick and thin as well as save him from a burning building.

The Artist (2011)

Thai Meethu Sathiyam
(where is the dog?)

In these two movies, the deed of the dogs must have gone a long way in doing well in box-office. People generally like the idea of seeing animals living in harmony with human without a threat but on the contrary being a servant doing chores beneficial to them! Think about it! For the longest time, if you go back to cavemen era, men have been morbidly fearful of thunderous roar of hugest of the beast. His eternal desire to control them started with domestication of cats, dogs, and birds. He showcases his success by caging them in zoos in the name saving them from extinction and research. He goes on further by enslaving them in a circus to perform gruelling stunts which were never part of their natural life - chimpanzees cycling and lions jumping through rings of fire - just to prove to fellow beings that we are indeed more superior to and is above other creations of God. After all, He created us in his true good image, didn't He?

Bizarre thoughts at a bazaar

And all got me is this lousy 

badge, to tell me that I am

narcissistic! Still better than
my wife's CF (Control Freak)! 

So there I was, on a Saturday afternoon loitering around in an up-market bazaar on Petaling Jaya because my daughter just decided that she simply had to be at this place like this place was the greatest innovation since sliced bread! The bazaar was a collection of canopy covered stalls selling various items that one can just do without, predominantly of dresses (which were made from not much of material, quantity and amount wise) and cute handicraft souvenir items like the one on the left.
 Even one of the attendees was dressed like she was strolling along in Oxford Street for New Year sales in crimson red suede long coat in the tropical environment of Jaya One! It was as if the patrons were loitering with blinkers oblivious to reality of our climate and third world status!
The site was actually an avenue for small time on-line entrepreneurs to exhibit their merchandise. I was just wondering how many of these clothes were recycled hand-me-downs clothes from somebody house's backyard cloths line! The thought just sparked in my brain when a pungent odour emanated from one of these canopy stall as we pass them. It was definitely not a figment of my warped imagination. I distinctly overheard someone in the crowd mention the same (about the odour but theorized about leak in the container carrying the garment, hence the mouldy musky odour).
Amidst this entire bourgeois capitalistic ambiance, tucked neatly in the corner were a few nurses and student nurses (working class?) trying to highlight the importance of self breast examination and (by the way) to support the victims of the dreaded malignancy by selling some overpriced t-shirts for that cause. Proceeds of the sales were supposedly going to the victims (yeah, right!).
The intention of the youngsters may be noble - educating and propagating the news for a good reason, maybe deemed a spoiled sport for being a doomsday prophet, but whether the money actually reaches the intended recipient, that is anybody's guess. Like the tsunami area of Banda Aceh is still undeveloped despite the pouring of funds from the world over, and the Singapore NKF chief was found guilty of using the NGO's funds to fly first class and how the UN casual workers are only good at filling up claim forms in USD and on and on.....
Just the other day, I found out that my sister had been contributing RM30 monthly for the past 10years through direct debit of credit card to WWF. I know that she is an animal lover and all but 30X12X10 = RM3600.00 for beastly animals?
Yeah! I love animals too, so much that I eat them regularly, cooked and nicely garnished, of course.

I love animals too, but...

Just the other day, I visited a close friend. I was shocked to see his home in a topsy turvy condition in total chaos like a hoarder's house would be. Besides the books and bags that my friend had to house in (beside his two adult kids), he was also a proud father to three dogs!

You see, his son had finished his undergraduate studies and returned home for good (or bad). Besides acquiring his credits for his coursework and a girlfriend along the way, being an animal lover that he is, he started rearing dogs. The headache has now been passed over to my friend. (The feeding, cleaning and the irrational bark for no apparent reason - maybe it saw some apparition, must be his evil neighbour who died recently!)

There are amongst us who claim to be animal lovers. Just like vegans who choose to be so to minimize sufferings endured by a slaughtered but have no qualms about kicking a dog off his lawn, an animal lover who parades for equality and kindness for animals sometimes find it cumbersome to relate to a fellow being! They find it easier to relate to animals. In fact, psychiatry has identified this trait as a pre-morbid personality disorder and a precursor to schizophrenia!

On one hand we have people from PETA who lobby for total ban of hunting of all kinds of animals for fur and another group may find solace in propagating the number of Bengal tigers in the wilderness. I once had a room-mate who had a fetish for tigers. He plastered the whole room wall with posters of tigers. I suppose he was just suppressing his inner tiger-like appetite for companionship. He later pranced on many potential mates but sadly is now living as a lonely but majestic narcissistic He-tiger!

These lobbyists should take a trip down to Sandarbans Plains in the Bay of Bengal. Almost every family from this area have a gruesome tale to tell about one of their family members being attacked or eaten alive by a so-called endangered species which need to be preserved for the next generation beast called the deadly Bengal tiger!

Who are we to tell them, 'Save the Tigers!'?
I too love animals. So much so that I decided never to be a vegetarian.
I love animals so much that I eat them.... (but I am an omnivour).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_attacks_in_the_Sundarbans