RRSS Annual Concert

30 June 2011: Tonight, Riam Road Secondary School had their annual concert at the Dewan. Tomorrow night will be the final night. If you like to go, they may still have some tickets left.

To view all the photos, click here.

Do you have your boat operators card yet?

Don't delay, the course isn't that hard and can be completed in a very small amount of time. I encourage you to contact pleasure craft operator card Ontario It's now mandatory that anyone who operates a boat requires a boat operators card.

International Dance for Humanity

The photos for the above event can now be viewed from my facebook. Note that I didn't cover the whole event.

Just click here.

John Paul Yiek and Lai Hui Ting Wedding

John and Hui Ting have their marriage vow on 10 June 2011. It was a very happy occasion for them. They are a great couple. I posted just some of their photos here which were taken two weeks ago...

Makeup session

Affectionately, they called themselves "the sisters"

When "the brothers" arrived, the sisters decided to have some games with them...

The brothers played their games well!

The groom needed to make pledges before he can go to her!

At the church

I think I will call them "The team". They have a good time!

He carried her into "the room".

Pouring the champagne together... 

... and "bottom up" at every table.

The groom, father and siblings.
For more photos, check out my facebook.

PKR GAWAI celebration today

PKR Miri will be organising a Gawai dinner today at Eastwood Valley. Each seat is RM35.

Mr Sarawak 2011

18 June 2011, Miri: This evening we saw the conclusion of Mr Sarawak held at Boulevard Shopping Centre.

It was quite an eye opener to see all the muscle men showing off their big muscles. I have posted all the photos on my facebook. Click here and here and here to see the photos.
If you are interested to see my other albums, here is the directory of my albums.

If you are interested to have a copy of all the photos on CD, please let me know. It only cost RM20 + postage. The resolution is good enough to print up to 5R. Anything bigger, you need to order print from me, eg, 8R laminated cost only RM20. You may also hire me to take photos for you for any occasion.

Our most charming visitor

Since we move into this place, there are many unexpected visitors. In the early days, we have squirrel, slow loris, different types of snakes and today, we have a very colourful iguana. This fellow is definitely not a local species.

It seems to enjoy Ah Jon's company ...

See how big it is!
As I came back from town today, I found him outside our house. It was being chased by me and went hiding in the drain for more than an hour. After it emerge from the water, he turned dark brown. We brought him home and his colour quickly becomes bright green again.
More photos here.

Birdwatching in your backyard with MNS

How to get to SK Bungai, 30mins from Miri town heading south towards Bekenu along the coastal highway. Keep a watch out for a chrome sign "Bungai Beach" on your right as you approach the junction after Azam Trading.


The birding loop around Kpg Bungai, Kpg Gatas and Kpg Peliau in the vicinity of SK Bungai. MNS Miri birders will be joined by 45 students from three rural schools in the area for this Saturday's "Birding in Your Backyard with MNS".

MNS Miri birders will be descending to Bungai this Saturday, 18th June for a morning session of "Birdwatching in Your Backyard with MNS". Birders from the branch will take 45 children from 3 rural schools to check out the birds in their backyard.

A first friendly birdrace in these parts, our program is as follows :
0700hrs Registration
0715 hrs Short Briefing and break into groups
0730 hrs Start birdwatching along assigned routes above.
1000 hrs Meet back at starting point for refreshments.
1100 hrs A few words from Headmaster/Headmistress.
1200 hrs Award of certificates and award of "Surprise Prize" by MNS Chairperson.
1300 hrs Close.

Birdgroups (assigned responsible adult-bird person in bold; and potential key birds + topics to chat about with the students):

Group 1 – Nazeri, Clare, Ibrahim (SFC)
SK Bungai-BungaiBeach-SK Bungai
Special bird : Little Egret; Migrants

Group 2 – Erwin, Anura, Suni (SFC)
SK Bungai-Peliau-SK Bungai
Special bird : Black-thighed Falconet; Raptors

Group 3 – Bor Seng, Roslan (SFC), Kallang (SFC)
SK Bungai –Peliau-Gatas-SK Bungai
Special bird : Dusky Munia; Endemics

Group 4 – Dominique, Joyce, Adaha
SK Bungai-Gatas-Peliau-SK Bungai
Special bird : Orange-breasted Flowerpecker; Endemics

There will be two teachers tagging along each group to help manage the kids (45 kids from 3 schools). Please bring water along your scope, binos (and extra binos) as well as your fieldguides. Allocated 2.5 hrs birdwatching time includes walking the route assigned above.

Those interested to participate as facilitators to please contact nabghani at yahoo dot com

Win an IPAD 2 ...

Our government spent RM1,800,000 for us to play game on fb and even give a chance to win an IPAD 2. Click here for your chance to win. The contest closes on 18 July 2011!

One thing that keep me wondering... why on earth did the tourism board called it Cuti Cuti 1Malaysia?! No foreigner would ever search for CUTI Cuti or 1Malaysia. These are local jargon and foreigner won't know. So, it doesn't help the foreigner to find us. This is really a tourism promotion for the local market! If the tourism board had included the word Malaysia (which they do but doesn't seems to help), FB would have easily found it for anyone! Is this a case of over creativity? Whatever, go to play the game and maybe you will win!
Read my other article on the RM1.2+M overhead bridge which can be done at a fraction of the cost.

Accident at Pujut 4C/Pujut 5 Junction

This evening, we witness a three-car accident at Pujut 4C/Pujut 5 junction.

We were told that the Kancil did not stop at the junction and drove right across knocking into the blue Toyota Camry.

The kiss left the kancil badly dented and some minor dent for the Toyota. The door was hit by ...

another Proton. And you can see the damage... But thanks God that the people were all safe!

Do you believe them?

I read an article in The Star regarding the strike by fishermen. They are refusing to go out fishing simply because the price of diesel is now RM1.80 per litre. What was their justification? See what the fishermen said:


“We are still buying diesel at RM1.25 per litre and we will not be able to afford a decent living if there is an increase.

“We are already spending up to RM600 sometimes RM800 a day for the diesel when we are out at sea for nine hours,” Ismail said."

If this claim is true, there is something really fishy about the diesel consumption. A quick calculation shows that their vessel consume a whooping 53 litres (600/1.25/9) of diesel per hour, ie, almost a litre a minute. If I am not wrong, that is how much a Boeing 747 jet plane consume!
The government subsides 10,000 litres a month per licensee, ie, 333 litres per day! To me this is a lot of diesel. If these licensees are operating many vessels each, they must be very profitable. Just check the prices of fish in the market. The prices are shocking! I will be travelling overseas next month and I shall compare the prices.

This plaice which used to be very cheap, ie, less than RM2/kg. It is about 4 inches across. Now... RM10/kg.

oh... RM8/kg. I think it was RM1/kg before.

When I was in primary school, I bought this fish for my neighbour for their cats. RM1 will buy a big bag!

Again, this fish was very cheap...

Also another cheap fish which fetch good prices now.

MalaysianYouth4Change Video

The revelations here is quite scary!

Mr Miri 2011 Championship

Tonight, the Mr Miri championship was held at Level 3 Boulevard Shopping Centre. We got to see the muscle men of Miri and I have to say that many of  them have really beautiful muscles!

Some of the participants ...

Champion of champions! He will represent Miri.
I took 600+ high quality photos and if anyone is interested to buy a CD of all the photos, please do let me know by e-mail, messages or call me. It will cost RM20 per CD if you are from Miri.
More photos will be uploaded to my facebook later.

Accident outside SESCO

The place around SESCO is a hot spot for accident. Just before the flyover was built, someone knocked into a tree at the middle of the road. She died on the spot. Apparently she wasn't speeding. Not long ago, another car was speeding, the car ended up at the other side of the road. A young man died on the spot also. This evening at about 10:00PM, a car ended up in the ditch dividing the road. I don't know if anyone was hurt. I was caught in a huge traffic jam and I took these three photos of the accident scene from my moving car...

The new building next to Jesus Christ of Later Day Saint is just visible in the background. Click any picture for a larger view.

Urbanised birds

I took this pictures at one of our local eateries... the birds were waiting for people to move out...

Once the people move away, they came for their fill!

When I was just a  small boy, I remember that these birds used to feast on our padi field. We really don't like them because they have huge families!

Now, padi is gone but processed rice is everywhere...

Cats in the Cradle, Cats on the Loose

Little Moses, an orphaned stray cat which made it's way into our household mid 2010. He turned out to be the perfect and the only predator in our garden since. Everynight he'll fuss to stay outdoors, returning back into the house only early the next day.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow, probably the most common bird in a typical Malaysian garden with nests around the house and in our gutters. Little Mose's first prey was a juvenile Eurasian Tree Sparrow it had grabbed from a low lying nest in the front yard.

By Taffy Lee Williams

"Maybe you knew that habitat loss is the leading cause of extinctions of native wildlife. But did you know that the second greatest threat to native species survival is the common "exotic" outdoor cat?

Cats are by far Americans' favorite pet: 30% of our households have at least one cat. In all there are roughly 66 million pet cats. However, studies have shown that only 35% of these are kept indoors; this means that 40 million domestic cats are free to roam outside at will. Besides that, up to 60 million additional strays and their feral offspring have descended upon America's native wildlife pushing many beleaguered endangered species into extinction.

THE PROBLEM

That cats kill wildlife is so well accepted and even ignored that most people find it hard to believe that they could cause such serious harm. Yet each year in the US, free roaming and domestic cats kill literally hundreds of millions of birds and well over a billion small mammals. Reptiles and amphibians provide additional prey for cats as well.

Cats were bred to size and "domesticated" by the Egyptians around 7000 years ago from the African wildcat. Although "tamed" to human interaction their instinct for hunting has never waned. Now the super-abundance of cats in the wild has created a catastrophic problem around the world, in fact, anywhere humans keep them as pets. Because of their huge popularity and because people refuse to keep their cats indoors, the problem has taken on a serious global dimension.

THE STUDIES

Several studies over the past 50 years have brought important information to light on the true extent of the problem. A University of Wisconsin team, using a radio-collared tracking system, determined that in one year in Wisconsin alone, 20 to 150 million songbirds are killed by rural cats. The study found up to 114 cats per square mile, or 6 cats per square acre, in some areas, which far outnumbers by many times the combined populations of native predators of comparable size, including fox, coyote, ferret, opossum and raccoon.

Another Arizona suburban neighborhood study found that each cat studied committed over 80 kills per year; of these 62% were small mammals, 26% birds, and 11% reptiles. This coincides closely with extensive cat kill studies in Europe, North America, Australia, Africa and at least 22 islands: In general, 60% to 70% of all prey items are small mammals, 20-30% are birds, and approximately 10% reptiles and insects.

GLOBAL CAT CRIMES

One single Australian cat was documented with over 1000 kills in an 18-month period. During the same time period, one well-fed US cat near an experimental station was found responsible for 1600 kills. In the United Kingdom, 964 cats brought in 14,000 prey items (an average of 40 victims each) over a 5-month period. In New Zealand, the extinction of over 40 species of birds as well as the extermination of 8 island bird species, including the South Island thrush and the Auckland merganser, was caused by domestic cat predation.

Amazingly, in a well-documented case, an entire species, the Stevens Island wren, was exterminated by a single cat. In the southern sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean, an estimated 450,000 seabirds were destroyed by cat predation annually before an eradication program was implemented.

Cat owners claim that feeding their cats well inhibits their hunting instinct. However, in the studies mentioned, well-fed cats actually achieved higher kill numbers, being healthier and stronger than their more feral comrades. In addition, bell-wearers attained greater kill rates than non-bell wearers. The bell forces the cat to become more stealthy, and better hunters. Even de-clawed cats are still often very successful hunters.

A look at some of the many species taken at random by cats we find the English sparrow and various finches, nuthatches, swifts, swallows, woodpeckers, jays, doves and even bats. Numerous ground nesting songbirds, including bobolinks, dickcissels, meadowlarks, and game birds such as quail and pheasant, have seriously dwindled or disappeared in much of their range where cats have been introduced. Shore birds that nest (and sleep) on the sand, such as terns, sandpipers and killdeer, offer easy pickings to roaming cats. Small mammal prey items include rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, voles and shrews. While cats easily kill fledglings, sitting hens and other vulnerable offspring they reduce the survival rate for entire populations, which may eventually condemn a local species to extinction. If the young are constantly preyed upon and reproductive failure is routine, the population will disappear within a short time. Tragically, already scarce reptiles and amphibians, such as frogs, turtles, salamanders, lizards and snakes have succumbed to cat predation. One SUNY-WCC professor remarked, "Reptiles are virtually extinct south of Route 287 in Westchester County."

One of the biggest problems facing efforts to control the numbers of free-roaming cats is that they are capable of up to 3 litters per year, with 6 kittens per litter. Calculations by the Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org/) determined that a single female with her offspring could produce up to 420,000 cats in seven years. The exploding population of cats survives because people feed them, whether they feast on wildlife or not. Very often hunting skills are not essential to their longevity. In addition, owners immunize their outdoor cats from disease, helping ensure their survival. Cats will often form "colonies" that effectively destroy wildlife. In Australia, within a 10-kilometer area, it is not uncommon to find 30 cats perched in one tree. These Australian cats are responsible for the extinction of dozens of species!

INDIRECT DESTROYERS

Besides damage done through killing, cats destroy wildlife indirectly as well. Native predators like the hawk, fox and ferret are facing starvation today as the small prolific feline hunters deplete their natural prey. Rabbit, squirrel and voles are among feral cats' favorite catch, but these are also important food sources for native predators. What's more, cats often puncture their victims without killing them, and will even "play" with their prey. Once injured by the cat, the victim is an unsafe meal for other predators. Minor cuts or bites are usually lethal to prey since cat saliva is loaded with bacteria and parasites that can be transmissible to other predators. There is no question as to the success of feral and outdoor cats at the expense of native wildlife.

WIDESPREAD FELINE DISEASE

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, cats are the animals most often infected by rabies. In addition, feline distemper and leukemia are rampant in outdoor cat populations. Feral cats are being blamed for the spread of the feline leukemia virus found in a California mountain lion and distemper in a Florida panther. Native mountain lion and lynx have been found with feline infectious peritonitis, and a Florida panther and bobcat with feline immunodeficiency virus; the likely source being feral cat contamination which may occur from sharing a kill or even direct physical contact.

With an average of 98 cats per non-farm square mile in just one state, the number one pet in America has enjoyed unbelievable success. But loss of native wildlife habitat to housing developments or commercial sites pressures species into concentrated and fragmented nesting sites, making their survival even more precarious.

Picture this scenario: forested or wild areas are cleared, rivers and streams are diverted, new homes are built surrounded by lush green lawns sprung up after a judicious application of fertilizer and pesticides, obliterating and then replacing the native landscape. New homeowners arrive, bringing their pet cats, which they allow to roam outside. Whatever has survived the environmental upheaval during these massive construction projects the housecats easily finish off. Besides here at home, it is a scene played out all over the world where the combination of development and housecat is wiping out wildlife populations at a terrifying pace. As scientists have determined, cats make the developed areas essentially uninhabitable to most wildlife.

WILDLIFE ENTHUSIASTS VERSUS CAT ENTHUSIASTS

The prevailing attitude in society is that cats will kill, it is their nature, and they belong outdoors. When cats bring home prey items as "gifts," their owners often think it's funny or even "cute." But in the face of overwhelming wildlife destruction, it is clear that this has to change.

Some believe it is not fair that cat-lovers are allowed to let them roam outside freely while birdwatchers and others who hope to enjoy native wildlife grieve the destruction they are forced to witness, often in their own backyards. Perhaps it is even less fair to force them to petition lawmakers for cat leash laws or other restrictive legislation. It may even be argued that a violation of rights is occurring.

Because as many localities have discovered, cat owners cannot be trusted to keep their pets inside or remove strays that they feed from the outdoor environment, legal action is necessary.

LEGISLATION

Many counties, cities and even nations have already enacted cat-leash laws. For example, Marin and Columbia Counties in Florida, Cleveland, Ohio, Gaithersburg and Rockville, Maryland as well as parts of North Carolina, California, New Jersey and Louisiana all have cat leash laws. Violations of the cat leash law result in anything from a small fine to the loss of ownership rights. Cat leash legislation is pending in many states, including Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut and New York.

The problem is so serious that one community, Akron, Ohio, passed an emergency "trap and kill" ordinance, and collected and euthanized over 1000 cats. This extreme measure need not have occurred had residents kept their cats inside and helped prevent the outdoor and feral cat population explosion.

The easiest remedy to this problem is to keep cats indoors. The benefits to owners are simple. Indoor cats live on average five times longer than outdoor cats. Inside, cats are protected from wild dogs or coyotes, cars, deadly epidemic feline disease, or poisonous toxins in the environment. Nuisance activities that infuriate neighbors and create hostility, such as attacking birds at birdfeeders, urinating on doors, digging up gardens and fighting with other cats, would be eliminated as well. Having cats spayed or neutered is a must for all owners. Enacting restrictive legislation and keeping cats indoors will ultimately protect the cat and our wildlife as well."

This article was first published in The Viking News, November, 2004

URL for this page: http://ny4whales.org/wcc_catsinthecradle.html

Thanks to everyone

Many thanks to everyone who sent birthday messages to my facebook. For some, we have never met and for many, your messages reminded me of our friendship even though we seldom meet in person.

Here is a slice of virtual cake for you... again many thanks and may God bless you abundantly!

Gawai 2011

Selamat Gawai to all those who celebrate Gawai!
Just in case you don't already know, Gawai Dayak celebration is unique to the Dayak in Sarawak and it falls on 1 June every year.

The long house...

The people gathered at the ruai (an open gallery which runs through the entire length of the longhouse) for dancing, chatting, making music, etc... Since this longhouse is quite modern with tiled floor, mat is no longer used.

On individual basis, they do have simple food/tidbits to welcome visitors.

At the back door of this family, they laid out mat and have a celebration there.

Of course beer, tuak (rice wine), liquor are a must. This family distill their own "whiskey"  and I can tell you that it is very strong! The Label 5 whiskey are those bought from town which is normally made from pure alcohol + some other things.