The annotated budak

What do...

... pineapples, chilli, tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, carrots, pumpkins, broccoli, yam, sweet potato, tapioca, corn, peanuts, papayas and guava have in common?

!!

Damn it! There's a whole week ahead and yet I can't seem to find enough time. And it's probably all my own bloody fault. Did I, in those days when almost every break resulted in a quick succession of bus rides away from home,  create an expectation of swift and ready returns that have, over a decade of differences, turned into a gauntlet of random risks and tense gridlocks that ultimately end in a discomfiture of enforced domesticity? Again, it's likely that my acts of omission are the cause. For I have revealed little of the evolution within a boy and the hazards that make this living a fiefdom bound to rules unheard-of in lands by sleepy rivers. Not that I hasten to obey these norms without question, but it appears that the will to disconform churns up a groundswell of anxieties that speak of irreconcilable values and the unhappy price that one might have to pay in order to be true to grim convictions.

Hantu Jarang Gigi: Big foot or big foolery?

Kampung folk used to have to deal with just miniscule creepies such toyol and penanggalan. But now, larger menaces with wide teeth must also be considered in my favourite haunts up in central and eastern Johor. Ten feet tall and 45 cm long prints? Those must be some awfully big apes, or perhaps someone is trying to make a monkey out of armchair cryptozoologists.

Largish primates known to dwell in the state include the siamang (the largest gibbon), pig-tailed macaques, which are much larger than the common long-tailed macaque. Other macrofauna include elephants, big cats, seladang, tapir and the Sumatran rhinoceros, although recent news suggests that the Johor population has been extirpated by poachers. The existence of unknown large animals in the depths of rainforests is not improbable – in recent years, a primitive ungulate has been discovered in Vietnam and a population of giant apes with chimpanzee-like features but massive proportions has been found in the Congo.

I suppose future expeditions to those parts (we were near Kampung Mawai just last week) must now factor in the possibility of encounters with towering troglodytes. Perhaps we should bring along a sacrificial monkey to placate lonesome primates in search of jungle love...

Bigfoot Sighted In Johor?

By Mohd Haikal Isa

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- Does Bigfoot exist in the jungles of Johor?

Well, Vincent Chow believes so. Chow is adviser to the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Johor.

He claims that he is certain Bigfoot exists in Johor, saying that many people had seen the creature.

"Bigfoot exists. We have received reports from many people who said they had seen the creature in the forests of Tanjung Piai, Mersing, Kahang, the Endau Rompin National Park and Kota Tinggi," he said.

"They (the sightings) are not a new phenomenon. In fact, I regard this as a unique feature of the Johor's treasures and we must take steps to safeguard it," he told Bernama.

Chow said the latest sighting occurred last month in Kampung Mawai, Kota Tinggi, when three workers building a fish pond in the village claimed to have seen a Bigfoot family of two adults and a child.

The workers returned to the area and saw several footprints, some large and others small, including one 45cm long, he said.

"The footprints were proof of what the workers said they saw -- a family of Bigfoot. Their claim is credible," Chow said.

He estimated that the creatures were between eight and 10 feet high, judging from the height of the branch of a tree that had been broken at the place. The creatures were believed to have brown-coloured fur, judging from some fur recovered there, and which had the smell of a human armpit.

Chow said that according to the sightings at Endau Rompin, the creatures were not only tall but large too.

Those who claimed to have seen the creatures said the Bigfoot family was walking near the Kincin River, probably in search of fish.

Chow said that even the Orang Asli in Johor claimed to have seen the large creatures whom they called "Hantu Jarang Gigi".

An Orang Asli from the Jakun tribe, Awang Jaafar, 48, from Kampung Puyut, Kahang, said his brother-in-law had seen the creatures, who were about 10 feet tall, while driving along a logging track at the Lenggor National Park last month.

An Orang Asli girl, Empan a/p Melai, five, who was lost for six days in the Lenggor National Park while searching for rattan with her family early this month, said she had seen a large "King Kong" with huge arms and covered with black fur.

She ran away from the creature, said her brother Awin a/l Sentok who narrated the story.

Chow said MNS Johor was prepared to carry out a scientific study of the creatures, and urged other interested parties to do the same.


Johor Body All For Study On Bigfoot

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- The Johor National Parks Corporation (PTNJ) is prepared to collaborate with interested parties to undertake a scientific study to verify claims of the existence of Bigfoot in the jungles of Johor.

PTNJ Director Hashim Yusoff said Saturday such a study, as proposed by the Johor Malaysian Nature Society (MSN), was necessary because there had been no valid evidence on the presence of the huge creatures.

"The Bigfoot stories cannot be taken at face value. There must be a comprehensive study or sound proof. We (PTNJ) will not hesitate to collaborate with interested parties, so long as the study gives results," he said.

On claims of sightings of Bigfoot in the national parks of Johor, Hashim said the corporation had not found any physical evidence on the presence of these creatures in the Endau-Rompin National Park (Peta), Endau-Rompin National Park (Selai) or Tanjung Piai National Park.

He did not dismiss claims of sightings of the creatures in Kampung Mawai, Kota Tinggi, where three workers repairing a fish pond said they saw a family of the huge creatures and found footprints as well.

Johor MSN advisor Vincent Chow related the incident on Friday and said he was convinced Bigfoot existed as claimed by people who had come across the creatures in the jungles of Tanjung Piai, Mersing, Kahang, Endau-Rompin National Park and Kota Tinggi.

Climbing perch

Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus). Related to the gouramis and bettas, the climbing perch is an anomaly in Southeast Asia. Its closest cousins are the fishes in the specious genus Ctenopoma in Africa, some of which share its drab patterns and bullet-shaped built, while others are laterally-compressed and intricately coloured. There appears to be no evidence that this fish actually climbs, although its ability to survive for considerable periods out of water and even wriggle through short and amenable distances over land are well known.

Many homes, especially Malay households, like to keep a tank or jar of this fish, which is believed to help ward off evil spirits (Toyol). Our place did likewise, with a large Horlicks jar containing half-a-dozen fish. Incredibly hardy and found in habitats ranging from paddy fields to degraded pools, the climbing perch is also credited with a number of deaths in owing to its propensity to squirm into the mouths of its captors (in particular those who try to kill the fish by biting its head), following which it erects its sharp dorsal spines and causes internal damage to the esophagus.    

I am no believer that an organism must possess practical value to man in order that its existence be justified. But while trawling around aimlessly in search of stimulating educational material for my duck, the profile page of a Professor Ip Yuen Kwong turned up. One of NUS-based Professor Ip's research foci are the strategies adopted by air-breathing fishes (snakeheads, loaches, catfish, swamp eel, lungfish etc) in withstanding ammonia toxicty during exposure to ambient conditions.  The adaptations involved in developing ammonia tolerance is thought to have potential value for formulating treatments for patients with liver failure, who consequently suffer damage from ammonia build-ups in the brain. Fish, it seems, are not just food for the brain. They may well save it too some day.

Oto on branch

A plump-bellied Otocinclus affinis on a driftwood branch.

Cat's cards

Angel got so many cards!! My duck got none!!! Wah!!!!!