Wild and Free

It's been a while since I last posted anything here. But no worries, I'm back for my break and I feel I need to write and tell the world (or whoever is reading this) a little something about wildlife. If you've read one of my previous posts, I've mentioned that I was going on a student internship at a wildlife center. Well, that was a few months back at Matang Wildlife Center (MWC), Kuching, a well-known rehabilitation center for Orangutans.

Now, to be honest, before I worked at MWC, I expected to be able to interact closely with the wild animals there. To be able to hold and to pet them as seen on so-called wildlife programs you see on the TV. But what I learned while working with those animals really opened my eyes and changed my views about animals in captivity.

What most people don't know is that, there is a HUGE difference between a zoo and a wildlife rehabilitation center. A zoo keeps wild animals in captivity (cages, aquariums, enclosures etc.) and feed and care for them, just to make money off tourists who would pay to see these wild animals in... well, not in the wild. A wildlife rehabilitation center, on the other hand, is a center that cares for injured or captured animals in enclosures as natural as possible to train these animals to survive and eventually be released back into the wild. Rehab centers do not capture wild animals and keep them in captivity just for the fun of it. They do it with purpose, which is to conserve, to rehabilitate. They save animals from illegal captivity. Once they believe these animals are well capable of foraging for food, of survival, they release these animals back into their natural habitat, the forests. 

When I was working at MWC, I wasn't allowed to touch these animals or even hand-feed them. I needed to keep my distance, to minimize contact with these animals. The most important thing when it comes to rehabilitation was that; to minimize human-animal contact. Animals are a lot like children, they get attached to the people who care for them. But animals, especially wild animals, they need to learn to care for themselves, they need to survive in their own natural ways, not the human way. So the less contact we make with them, the more successful their rehabilitation becomes, the higher their chances are of surviving in their natural habitat.

Zoos don't do that. Once the wild animals are chosen to live in captivity, they will live and die in captivity. Be it in steel cages, in concrete enclosures, in glass aquariums, in plastic tanks, that will be their "home" for life. Yes, it is not natural. And yes, it does affect these animals. Can you imagine being ripped and separated from your family, at a very young age, to live in tanks over your real home, the ocean? You would be traumatized! That's exactly what's happening to these animals in captivity. They are traumatized. But unlike humans, animals aren't able to think for themselves, they're unable to fight for their rights. So they live in depression, they are forced to behave a certain way, trained to do tricks on queue, to draw with their trunks, certainly not how they were created by God to live. And once they become useless to their human "owners", they are left to waste away and die, still in captivity.

Who is responsible for this, you ask? We all are. The money we pay to visit zoos, to visit oceanariums and for tickets to animal shows, to watch dolphins do tricks, to watch elephants and lions perform in a circuses, THAT is what's causing all this unnecessary animal captivity. Do you know what is happening in Taiji, Japan right now? Look it up. Dolphins and whales who swim around The Cove are trapped and captured to be shipped off to live in tanks and aquariums. Ones that are not in "perfect shape" are killed off. Japan isn't the only country doing this though, there are many others worldwide. Wild animals taken from their natural home for the sheer entertainment of us "higher beings".

So please, before you take your money out of your purses and wallets to pay for that ticket to go into a zoo or oceanarium or animal show, think about this, think about the animals. Are they doing what they do because it's natural? If no, then stop. Don't support the entertainment business that's killing these animals. Wild animals are exactly that; wild. Let them be wild and free, just as what they were created to be.

That one year mark

I remember the first time I saw you when I first got here. I thought you were really nerdy with your glasses tied to your head. I remember when I used to just pass you by like a stranger. You were my bestfriend's coursemate, that Chinese guy that never really smiled. I remember when one of my friends had a huge crush on you and I thought, "What is so sexy about that bald head?" And then I remember when we first talked. It was at the airport and I surprised you when I watched an episode of Walking Dead. I remember when my friend dragged you to Kuching for a week with us. You were shy, but you stuck with me like a puppy. I started noticing you then. I remember when we first hung out, just you and me. I didn't ask you to, but you helped me carry heavy bags of vests. We talked about our childhood that day. I remembered when we first started texting. I went to sleep with a smile on my face every night. And the first time we talked on the phone. I panicked when my phone rang and calmed myself down, "You guys hung out so many times already, just be cool, it's Yek." I remember every day of that one study week, we used to walk and fed the deers. There was a fat deer we named Fatso. And I remember the first time you said I love you. It was the midnight of my birthday. You were the first to call and wish me. And you confessed. My heart raced and I wanted so much to say I love you too. I remember the time you asked. It was that evening we went to feed deers. You had given me my presents and wrote me a poem. And as we walked downhill, you slowly said these words, "Phoebe, I've never been so sure about anything in my life but... will you be my girlfriend?" I giggled and grinned like an idiot. Immediately I said, "Yes!" 


We were such dorks. You made me laugh so much and you made me so happy. Months go by and we have fights every now and then. But you never walked away. You stayed and we always talk things out. And every 19th we would fall in love with each other all over again. The sea kept us away from each other during holidays, but we stayed up all night talking and slept all day.

We dreamed together. We talked about our future. We built our house together and we furnished each of the rooms. We put so much of your Coke in the fridge and I wanted space for my soybean milk and yoghurt drinks. You wouldn't let me have a microwave because you said it would be bad for our brains. But I won that argument. We're getting a microwave!


We talked about our children. What kind of a father you would be. And how I would discipline our kids. How we would let them have amazing childhood.

A few nights ago, we made one year. You gave me an evening of laughs and grins despite having final exams on my birthday. And lastnight we both agreed, that we are our own favourite couple. How could I not love us? I really can't imagine being with anyone else.

You're the only person who can make me laugh until I can't breathe. The only person who can make me feel beautiful. The only person who can make me feel safe and loved.

I love you with all my heart, Lee Jing Yie. 

I can't wait to spend forever with you.

April, come quick!

Hello, bloggers! I know I haven't posted in a long time. I've been so busy with reports, assignments and presentations lately. Yesterday marked the last of our presentations for the semester and wow, I went back to my room so exhausted I fell asleep in my towel! Next week would be my last week of lecture, before our study week begins, then final exams and the semester finally comes to an end. I honestly can't wait!

Beginning this April, I'll be expecting to undergo my 11 weeks of training. I've already chosen a place, Matang Wildlife Centre back home in Kuching. I didn't know which animal to work on for my special project at first. There were so many to choose from. Also, I have to consider my friends who are tagging along as well. Nabby, Amir, Hilman and Malie. I've a feeling it's going to be a blast working with these interestingly funny personalities!

Nabby chose the orang utans, the main attraction of the place. I originally wanted to work with them too, but baby orang utans to be specific, since they need a lot of care and attention. Hilman is crazy about the Binturong bear cats. He just wouldn't stop chanting, "I want the bearcat, I want the bearcat, I'm taking the bearcat!". So we let him have a go at it. Haha. Malie wants to work with the crocodiles. I was really impressed. Not a lot of girls here are bold enough to want to work with reptiles! Amir and I, on the other hand, were still on the fence.

But after Nabby showed us videos of volunteers at the centre, the more we watched it, the more we want to go there and the more excited we got! Saw that there are many other animals there including deers, sun bears, otters and even porcupines!

I was really interested in the sun bears. So when the forestry students came back from vising national parks in Kuching, I went around asking them about the animals in Matang Wildlife, the sun bears especially. It was important to us that the animals we work on should be in many numbers. And when they said there were at least 5 sun bears, I immediately set my mind on these Bornean creatures!

Oh, I am so thrilled and excited! We have yet to receive confirmation, though. Hopefully the main campus accepts our appeal for early training because I really can't wait to have a taste of a real encounter with wildlife. It's been a lifelong dream of mine!

April, please come quick!