Stripped Bare

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.


Quite sometime back, I wrote about the suspicious move by the previous Selangor State Government to change the status of the Forest Reserve within Kota Damansara to make way for a large Muslim cemetery.

Though no one was able to (or not willing to) come forward to either deny or confirm the story then, the present ADUN for Kota Damansara, Dr Nasir, has brought the matter up to the present State Government, and they have acted accordingly. Below, is an email from Dr Nasir sent to the egroup for Kota Damansara. Kindly note the sentence/s in bold, especially in red.

“KOTA DAMANSARA FOREST WILL BE GAZETTED IN THREE MONTHS “ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR .

26^th April,2009.

It was a very joyous occasion for residents of Kota Damansara when Selangor Menteri Besar announced that the Kota Damansara Forest would be re-gazetted in three months time.Tan Sri Khalid bin Ibrahim attended the Earth Day programme at the Kota Damansara Forest area.

Under the PJ Local Draft Plan 2 (RTPJ2) drafted by the previous BN administration, stated that about 40ha of forested area in Kota Damansara, which is part of the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve, will be turned into a recreational area. This included the land that has been developed into a Muslim cemetery. It leaves only 26.9ha as the forest reserve. The rest would make way for development, including residential housing.

The Friends of Kota Damansara, the group comprising representatives of Kota Damansara Residents Associations, have been fighting to save the forest from development

The group together with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) as the adviser have started a campaign to preserve part of the forest, which they have dubbed as the Kota Damansara Community Forest Park.

They even managed to obtain RM380,000 from the United Nations Development Programme through its Small Grants Programme towards efforts to establish the park. The forest is still largely covered by rich lowland forest dominated by meranti-keruing trees, some of which are more than 100 years old. The forest is also rich in wildlife, including 227 species of birds such as black bellied malkohas, crested serpent eagles, kingfishers, broadbills, dollar birds and possibly even the rare argus pheasant. Eight species of mammals and 25 species of reptiles are also found in the area. The Community Forest project was a success and it is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Since the political tsunami of 8^th March,2009,Dr. Nasir Kota Damansara Assemblyman worked together with the FOKD to campaign for the forest to be regazetted. A first meeting was held with YB Elizabeth Wong, the Exco incharge of Enviromental concerns.

Many pro-UMNO quarters tried to divert the issue into a racial one . They were trying to highlight how a ‘predominantly Chinese’ FOKD was trying to stop a ‘Muslim’ cemetery from being build. However the elected representatives, Dr.Nasir ,Sivarasa and Elizabeth Wong stood to their principles . During the Earth Day celebrations last year, they made a commitment to ensure the Kota Damansara Forest be reserved.

The long campaign by FOKD and the residents bore fruits today , when they got the assurance from the Selangor Chief Minister .

“This campaign is very special , as it was participated by the residents to preserve the area as not only as a green area but as a community forest, the rakyat have wholeheartedly understood the importance to preserve the ecosystem and also how the forest helps in community building. This is what we need, we need to empower the people to fight against the greed of the large corporations which seek to exploit our green lung.” Dr.Nasir Hashim.

Pejabat ADUN Kota Damansara.

***.***

As I was informed then, the previous SG shifted the approved original Muslim Cemetery site to one which was hilly and rocky, and thus not suitable. The Cemetery was then moved to the present site, giving certain quarters the perfect excuse to level the forest to make way for housing development. Never mind about the flora and fauna there, nor about the forest was once designated as a water catchment area. What mattered was, the RM to be made from the sale of new houses. But Alhamdulillah, though the Muslim Cemetery will not be moved from this location, all other development plans has been put to a stop.

By the way, part of the area in concern was turned into a park, one which I took pictures of and can be found in Painting Pictures here. And what was it those ameno people said: "PAS was using Islam for its political gain?"

All the Pakatan Rakyat states ought to expose and lay bare the misdeeds of those previous administration.

Earth Day at Kota Damansara

My personal blogging is now at My Neverland; do visit it.



Come April 26, the DUN for Kota Damansara is organising an event in conjunction with Earth Day, which is celebrated worldwide on the 22nd April of every year. As the would suggest, the celebration in Kota Damansara is nature oriented with the itineraries as below. If you have nothing on your calender for that day, do come and join.

You Can't Dance The Tango To A Ghazal Tune

As I write, I am also listening to ydiana's recording of 'Could It Be Magic?'.

Back a week or two, I had made the request for her to play this song. Ydiana graciously accepted the challenge, and in the short time between then and now, I must say she played remarkably well for someone who has just picked up playing the piano. Bravo! And if someone ask me how well do I play to comment on someone else, the answer would be 'I don't play well!'

Forced to picked it up at 13, I never progress beyond beginners level. Years later, repeated attempt to get professional teachers only saw me being chased out as they thought I was just fooling around with them. So no, I don't play well. But my playing style would definitely be different from the way ydiana played. For this song, I would definitely play it loud at the chorus. Still, playing styles always differ from one song to another, most especially the mood one is in.

Coincidentally, I see ydiana's performance being related to Dato' Jefflam's entry about Unesco declaring Melaka and Penang as World Heritage Site. My view is simple; heritage is related to tradition, and tradition is related to music, where music has a universal appeal no matter the style or beat. Off course, one person's preference may be another's poison. Now, that brings us to a topic which I have just read.

Clearing the stack of old newspapers and magazines in my room, I came across a 2005 issue of WWF's magazine, Green Heart. The topic which interest me most was on Malaysia's own Tarantulas, as well as turtle nesting season. For the former, insyAllah, I will write about it some other time; its the turtles that I wish to share.

Reading the very short article, I was surprised that there are still turtles coming to Terengganu to nest. I mentioned surprised, as I had thought Giant Leatherback Turtles are already extinct, or at least on Malaysia's shores.

Apart from having been a tourist attractions in the past years, the very activity which pulled in the tourist drove the turtles away as they are normally timid creatures from the deep. Part of the reason why they come ashore to lay their eggs at night, is to ensure safety of their nest. But with tourist clambering all over just to gawk at them, they lose their privacy and begin nesting elsewhere in the pacific. Apart from the tourist distraction, their eggs are also poached by people wanting to make quick money; turtle eggs after all, are considered a delicacy by some. It was a good thing then that the Fishery Department managed to reduce the egg-poaching activity and began moving newly laid eggs to protected sites. Whether it was timely or not to save the turtles, only Allah s.w.t. knows.

Now, I was not a witness to this, but was told of the tireless effort by our marine officers in looking after this natural heritage we have.

As soon as the eggs in the protected sites hatch, the officers would scoop them by the pail-load, and take them far out into the sea where they are released by hand, several at a time. But many of the baby turtles - attracted to the electric lights on the mainland - swims back to the shore. There, before predators swoops in, other waiting officers pick them up, and the process is repeated again. This, goes on for 3 nights until the last of the baby turtles are nowhere to be found on the beach.

Anyway, I'm not about to write a thesis about turtles now. Just that, next when someone offer you to eat turtle eggs, perhaps it would be better to think of our of the efforts of our marine officers. For those interested to know more, this site here, might assist.

So, what has these all got to do with the title of this entry, one might ask. Well, nothing direct actually. The title was just a headline proposed to a client some many years ago. When another was chosen, I used it as my own tagline. Got the idea from the Wolverine character in Marvel's Uncanny X-Men comic books. Basically, the meaning is straight forward. Like nature for example, you cannot expect it to change to our wants and desire; rather, it is we who should blend into them. Hey, nature don't need humans! But we certainly do need them.


ps. Now that I had another look at the picture, I think it is a Hawksbill and not Giant Leatherback.