The Aliens are Here!

Just attended (part) of the Seminar organised by the Malaysian Nature Society, sponsored by the Economic Planning Unit here in the lecture hall across from my office.

If you have been to Australia you would have noticed the huge signs welcoming you saying "Declare it or thrash it" and right underneath the signs are huge thrash bins. You can't bring in any meat products and other fresh produce. An alien species could wipe out their whole agricultural industry. I also remember when we were traveling by car from Washington State to California and was surprised to see a checkpoint where all they wanted to know was whether you have any fresh fruits in your car. I looked around our car, saw the plastic bag of some left over cherries (grown in California, bought in Oregon), showed it to the officer, who took it and promptly dropped it into the thrash bin.

Malaysia is full of alien species. The best known are the rubber and and oil palm trees but these have economic value so we welcome them. But did you know that the British introduced crows to control insect infestation of coffee plants (another alien) in the Klang area? Now of course crows are everywhere in Malaysia - and coffee is dead. Cats are aliens and so are many types of pets. They are pretty to look at but when their value drop or people got tired of them, what do they do with the pets? Remember the Lohan fish which was the craze just a few years ago and fetched hundreds or thousands of dollars? Well, when the market for Lohan collapsed, the owners released them into the rivers. These fish are predators - they eat up all the algae and the eggs of other fishes. Now, it seems they have become the dominant species in many rivers in the Klang Valley. So, what is the problem with that? Lost of bio-diversity and this can have severe ecological and economic consequences. Mashbor calls this biological pollution. Kumar of MNS who's office is near the Botanical Garden in Penang reports very often seeing well-meaning owners releasing their pet fish and turtles in and near the Garden, severely disrupting the local ecological system. All the hycinths plants (which are also alien and invasive but have tide and erosion control uses) are now gone, eaten by the turtles.

The beautiful angsana and flame of the forest are all aliens. In fact, all the flowering plants in Malaysia are imported; even the national flower, the hibiscus (bunya raya). Yes, we want diversity but alien species can dominate and wipe out indigenous species.

What can we do about it? Nothing - once the aliens have a foothold.

USM's Main Campus in Penang Island is a Bird Sanctuary and the scientists are quite happy about the biodiversity on campus - 130 species of plants, 17 species of mammals from 9 families, 106 species of birds from 34 families, 26 species of reptiles from 11 families and 8 species of amphibia from 4 families. Pretty impressive, don't your think?

But I think the worst invasive species are OURSELVES - the humans. It gives me a heartache whenever I pass by the two lakes near Desa Harapan (see picture below).

Kanimoon

Maldives (Mal-deeves) is a string of more than 1100 islands of which only about 100 are inhabitated. So, what has it got to offer? "Sun, Sea, Salt" - and I would add "Wind". The waters are crystal clear. The sky is a beautiful blue. The fishes are colourful. The corals are ... well, in some parts pretty, in other parts broken but I am not sure how much of it was caused by the tsunami and how much by snorkellers.

My wife and I spent three nights of glorious peace at the Club Med, Kani - an island 800 metres long and 200 metres wide. When you buy a vacation at Club Med, everything is paid for (unless you want extras). We arrived after midnight (partly due to the delayed departure at KLIA because some idiot checked in but did not board so they spent one hour digging through the luggage compartment to throw out his bag before we could take off) - and like most resorts checkout time is 12 noon. But guess what, guests (called Gentle Members, GM) can stay and enjoy all facilities and eat and drink until we board the boat to take us to the airport for our departure (we left the island at 10 pm). Yes, all you can eat and drink (expresso, capucino, beer and wine inclusive) throughout your stay. Snorkelling, windsurfing, kayaking, boating - all "free". If you want a Balinese massage, that's extra.

All in all, the food was fair, not excellent - we expected better for the money we paid. Sigh, we didn't see any lobster (not even big prawns) on the table but there's plenty of fish around. And even if you miss breakfast or lunch, they make sure you don't go hungry because snacks are available.

The traditional-looking huts (picture above) cost a bomb to stay in. They look lovely but that's not where we stayed. Most of the other buildings on land are rather plain looking concrete structures with metal roofing which I thought rather "ugly" given the authentic island architecture of the buildings you see in the picture above. I have no complains about the inside - modern, easy maintenance, clean and comfortable - and all have a view of the sea and beach.

Wonder how they get water and electricity? Drinking water comes from the sea (desalinated) so it tastes a little different which is why everyone goes for the bottled mineral water and that is so bad for the environment. By the time we left, the dustbin in our room was filled with empty plastic bottles. Electricity is generated on the island using diesel which is smelly and noisy (but luckily we were quite far away). The good thing is that almost every building has a solar water-heater on the roof. And where do they throw their trash? I am told that they burn it in an incinerator on a small island. Now that's not good.


The people who run the show are something else. They are called GOs or Gentle Organisers. They do everything including putting up a fantastic show. I tried to ask a few of them, "What makes a GO? What drives them?". Is it all fun and games? Carefree lifestyle? Is it because they love the sun and sea? They like meeting people? No one gave me a straight answer. But they work long hours sometimes from 8 in the morning until 12 midnight - and I am told for very low pay (compared to what, you may ask). And they are on half-year contracts and out they go if they don't measure up. Some are more friendly then others. But what I like is that there seems to be a deliberate effort to make sure the GOs come from all over the world. They have some 80 GOs and 4 of them are from Malaysia. There was even one "English" girl GO who was born in Singapore and shouted "Malaysia Boleh" when she discovered our roots.


Ah, and the highlight of our stay? Well, we were trying to catch the sunset but was quite disappointed because of the cloud cover. And along came Yuka, a GO, and the next thing we knew, we agreed to become models for the fashion show for the night. The dress Moong Nah wore cost more than a thousand Rufiyaa (that's about RM300) - see picture below. No we didn't get to keep the elegant clothes - just the memories.

Will we go back to Kani? Probably not. Will we go to another Club Med? Probably yes.

BTW, I will be going to Maldives again next week - enroute back from the APSA Congress in Colombo. Nah, I won't be stepping off the plane in Male.


p.s. Kanimoon is actually the name of a drink (it is said to have its roots in the Singapore Sling).

faces@klcc

Been here at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) for 2 days attending the World Innovation Forum 2007 held in conjunction with PECIPTA 2007 (an exhibition of research and inventions by local universities).

KLCC is spanking new and is like a highly oiled machine with multiple conferences, exhibitions, conventions, etc going on at the same time. The food is good, staff are courteous, well-trained and mainly locals but I hear the big boss running the show is a Mat Salleh (foreigner). I am impressed – but we (participants) also asked some probing questions about sustainability issues.

We can’t say the same for some of the hotels we are staying in, especially the one where I stayed. One participant lost her digital camera and notebook – from her locked hotel room with no signs of forced entry. A colleague (guy) reported knocking on his hotel room door at 9 pm but he was tired so he ignored the three knocks. Then he heard the electronic key being inserted and the door being opened. Fortunately he had the security latch on so the intruder went away empty-handed. Another reported lots of cockcroaches in his room. And which hotel is it? It claims to be 4-stars and located along Jalan Ipoh very close to Vistana and PTWC and a stone’s throw from the Monorail terminal at Pekeliling. Enough hints? They are not going to get any more USM business.

For this entry, I have decided to just share some of the portrait shots I took in the last 2 days at the WIF 2007.

Hamoon & Dzul - he's the man!

Anees - looking sharp

We call him Che Mat, the PRO. Where do you think the eyes are looking?
Samosa?

Omar & Zinaeda

Rene - then (10 years ago) and now

Aida - very pleased ... with the attention ... from my camera

Soraya & Soraya (I'm not kidding)

Tisya - radiating brilliance

Sharifa - the star attraction

note : Uploaded to the blog from MAS Golden Lounge at KLIA. Superfast wireless Internet, unlike the rest of the KLIA wireless Internet which is hopelessly slow. Ah, had Soto Ayam at the Lounge, expected cubes of rice but was given mee hoon instead but the soup is great. Will try another bowl of curry mee (hey, they give only small portions). Also had some Hokkein style fried mee at KLCC before I left just now and it was good. I am a noodles kinda guy. BTW, did I say that the food at the Penang Airport MAS Lounge really sucks? And the result? See photo below.

Omar, Shukri, Izham, Norpisah and Lik Meng

supposedly having a meeting at the cafeteria at level 2, KLIA
on arrival from Penang 2 days ago