behind enemy lines

“Living fossils at Underwater World Sentosa (UWS)” this coupled with a picture of a nautilus beckons to me from the advert on top of a cab. infuriated that UWS is plundering the ocean again for commercial gains, i deemed that a covert action to infiltrate UWS is necessary to gather information in order to expose their hedious crimes.

my plan of action:
- infiltrate UWS
- get first hand visuals on the state of the marine creatures
- take pictures as proof
- talk to staff to gain insights on behind the scene of UWS

30th July 2005. 1300hrs. the 3 amigos (kid, gene & me) headed out for UWS. as if approving my plan of action, the sky stormed and darkens, providing us with cover and concealment. posing as a tourist, i approach the ticketing counter to purchase a ticket (gene & kid will act as cover for me outside UWS). bloody hell, UWS up their admission cost to SGD19.50!! i asked ticketing about special pricing for locals and got the finger. (use kid's islander card to cut my losses by SGD2.00)


the 3 amigos

1st check point is the enclosure outside USW. the turtles’ enclosure. its greens and hawksbills. took a count. One, two, three, there's four, no wait, fifth one here, six is there...... counted till 9 before loosing count. 9 turtles (at least a metre from head to tail) in an enclosure smaller than a condo's swimming pool. new terminology for speak my language – pack as sardines turtles.


green turtle

i personally witness UWS a couple of years ago, proudly proclaimed that they “rescued” turtle hatchlings from raffles lighthouse so that they can have a better chance for survival. survival my arse. I call this “rape of the ocean”.

disgusted but determined to expose the ugly truth to the blogspace, i penetrate enemy lines seeking to uncover the truth. the place was packed with tourist, excellent situation for me to fade into the crowd. my main target, nautilus. i expect to find 2 or 3 but surprise, surprise. 9 in a small enclosure no deeper than 3 metres.


nautilus in distress

dumbstruck by the horror in front of me, i took a few pics of the sight and head for the main counter where the staff clustered fucked.

me: “i like to speak to someone about the exhibits on display. maybe a guide or something”
staff: “sorry but you have to contact head office to arrange for guided tour. the office is closed on weekends. if no approval from head office, i cannot answer any of your questions”

with that, im dismissed. shaking my head in disbelief, i turned and saw another shocking sight in front of me. touch pool. an exhibit where UWS “educates” the public, allowing them to touch marine creatures. ya right. man grabbing a nurse shark by its tail, woman lifting a starfish out of the water, man cornering a seal-faced puffer so that his girlfriend can “touch and feel”. no wonder all the marine creatures huddle in the corner. imagine the stress and trauma they are experiencing with all these groping.

i took my pics quickly and hurried away from this revolting sight.



"haressment" pool

went down to the main attraction (the tunnel). headed straight to check on Gracie, the dugong rescued in 98. she's an adult now but still no freedom since 98. then, she was too young to survive in the wild. now she's too old to adapt to the wild. talking about catch 22.

2 divers entered her enclosure, she swims away but this confirmed bastard tourist, grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back. just so that he can have a feel!!!! this bloody tourist then proceeds to grab Gracie around the body and posed for pictures to the delight of other tourists in the tunnel. what the $@#Y!*. imagine if someone groped your wife/girlfriend and posed for pictures!!! plus, imagine if she's being groped by men and women 365 days a year, every year!!! i therefore showed the divers the finger.

further into the tunnel, observed that despite a very long but shallow enclosure, there were a lot of marine fishes. in fact, too many for the size and depth of the exhibit. in addition, not sure how UWS managed to get napoleon wrasses or wally on display (counted four). those observed looked ill and dull-colored.

Ocean Environment reported that napoleon wrasses are now under threat from extinction as the specie is being “adversely impacted by increased human activities”. UWS alone has 4 or more on display. congrats to UWS for further driving the wrasses to extinction in the wild.

proceeding with the next part of my plan, i approached a staff at the corner with a rehearsed smile and subtlety revealed my intent. miss X. (I cannot reveal her name or face for the sake of her job)


miss x

she understood my concerns and gamely revealed some dark, shocking truths about UWS.....

(regarding touch pool)
“we (staff) know that the marine creatures are stressed. They will be replaced by other juveniles (in the exhibits) when deemed too serious”

(regarding nautilus)
“UWS bought them from deep sea fishermen. We obtained licenses from AVA so that we can have them on display…..”

“the deaths are reported back to AVA …..”

“…..no problems, we still have heaps in the back…….”

(regarding turtles)
“….we do release them back to the wild but they are really heavy and difficult to handle, so its really hard…”

“…..other than the ones in the exhibit, we still have a lot in the back.”

“……AVA always brings the confiscated ones here instead of releasing them back to the wild….....”

i wanted to continue my questioning but suspicious eyes were cast over to us by then. i said my thanks and hastily made my escape before they can grabbed my camera or use me as shark’s bait.

next stop, pink dolphin lagoon. pink dolphins are shy and pelagics mammals. UWS not only illegally keeps them but also make them perform unnatural acts for the purpose of commercialization. 40,000 signatures on a petition to ask for the release were not enough apparently. in addition, the lagoon is only waist deep and smaller than the size of a football field. ‘nuff said.


street soccer court is bigger lor

next course of action
I will pose as a student and call UWS public relations on monday to see if I can obtain more information. after which, i will send a report to ST forum hopefully they’ll publish. If not, I’ll email mr. brown or miyagi or even rockson to see if I can gather support to free these creatures back to the ocean….until then.

notes
marine turtles are endangered species listed in CITES appendix I. they are pelagics, therefore they DO need a lot of space. its illegal to take endangered species off the ocean.

nautilus lived in about 100m to 300m below surface. they move to shallow waters at night to feed.

napoleon wrasses can live up to 50 years in the wild. they now under threat from extinction because of the lucrative demand for live napoleons in asia

prayers

dear god,

just received my dosage of SNE (singapore national education) from the "brown" one. as usual, full of insights and funny as hell.

SNE Part 108

but i cannot stop, god almighty, all these questions that appear in my head.... dear god, explains this to me pls? pretty pls?

question.
why do we pay so much income tax so that our Gahmen can spend the money (SGD400,000)on renaming marina bay to marina bay??

question.
izzit that because our standard of living is higher than in the states, so our ministers must be paid obscene amount of money? (PM salary is 5 times more than POTUS in yr 2000)

question.
why izzit that the paying for medical bills is considered good son-in-law? (i.e. you can beat wife, slap mother-in-law and sleep ard but pay father-in-law's medical bill = good son-in-law)

question.
when did half a million SGD becomes 1 Singapore peanut?

makan sutra

yesterday supper & conversation had made me realise something. forget all the "yummy king" kind of tv programmes. we all carry our own version of makan sutras in the back of our head. for example, gene, kid, ndi & me have very different opinons of good food and drinks. what i like may be someone's poison. the preferences of the boys are as follows:

gene
- iced kopi at bugis coffeeshop (4 chopsticks)
- za jiang mian from shanghai xiao long pau chen fu ji(4 chopsticks)

kid
- mutton chop at simpang bedok (4 chopsticks)
- indonesia set meal - chicken from p.s. (4 chopsticks)

requested input
- ba chor mee at fengshan blk 85 (4 chopsticks)
- ba chor mee at lavendar mrt (5 chopsticks)

ndi
- chicken breast with pasta & campbell soup (4 chopsticks)???

me
- herbal soup mee sua at kembangan (4 chopsticks)
- curry noodle at republic plaza (4 chopsticks)
- cha kway tiao at bedok south (5 chopsticks)

feel free to drop me a note for changes or additions. anyone who wants to tell the world about their fav can olso contact me. cheers.

morale of the story:
me plus a whole lot of people who eats at the mee sua place near kembangan have weird taste buds.

happy days

whats does the following below have in common?

- ClearCube Technology
- Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
- Fairchild Logistics

simply companies that I have wrote in and apply for job today. i think that im more hardworking and respectful now that i have tendered my resignation. haha!!! =)

btw, im happier now. cheers.

thanks kenny

(my speech to Kenny)
"i have given serious thoughts about what i have completed in the past few months with macro ocean. Despite my best efforts, I do not think that I am ready for this job yet. i think that its best for both parties that i tender my resignation."

(actual thoughts)
"i have given serious thoughts about what was agreed and promised to me in the past few months (BB, MCSE, China, Scope of work), all empty promises. now you ask me to be a !@$%^(# programmer. i do not think that you or your management knows what you want and therefore i wanna tender my resignation. i think that its best for me to quit and !@#$% you all for wasting 4 months of my working life!!"

bad move durai

recently there's alot of buzz in the media & blogsphere about SPH v.s. a certain Mr. TT Durai. i thought that i might as well input my 2-cents worth on it.

we have all read about the lavish toilet fittings, first class flying and outrageous annual bonus (btw, anyone knows where i can get NKF job application letter?). what concerns me is not how he and his management "misuse" peoples' donations but how these so-called "Managment" people can make the silliest mistake anyone can make.

please.. for #$%^ sake, didn't SAF taught you? or maybe dad's so rich that he bought you out of national service? one of the most important lessons SAF has taught is this:

"whatever you do, dun get caught"

6 simple words, but the people at the top choose to ignore. you want to use gold-plated toliet fittings? make sure that all people involved are well bribed. you want to fly first class? like wear a paper bag over your head or something to hide your appearance. you want to sue? make sure you sue the right people. you can do anything you want in this society, even re-enact what bill did with monica. just dun get caught.

biggest mistake that resulted in your downfall. sue, of all people, the media. bad move Durai. of all things, this is a sure way of getting yourself caught. u can go ahead and sue the common people who do not have the financial & exposure to fight you but the media??? i mean come on, do u seriously think that you can win over the media? all you was drive the nail a little quicker into your coffin.

but still, though you may have been caught Durai, i still salute you for all the donations that you have collected via NKF and put to your personal use. =)

problem kid

below are some of the ramblings fired in my direction this week. these are not shot out from the mouth of Kenny (surprise, surprise) but by one of the company director:

"dunno what's your problem?"
"even if u dun like me im still a director of the company!!!!"
"dun you dare to show me the impatient face again"
"your generation all thought that you are all very capable"
"i eat salt more than you people eat rice"
"eh... how to use the fax machine eh?"

i work in a high tech industry. how do you expect me to respect some rich dude with ZERO knowledge of technologies or how to use the fax machine. worse, this dude expects me to report every single thing that i do. therefore, im seriously contemplating to report to him for every phone call i make, every fax i sent and maybe, for every toliet trip that i make.

efficient breathing

i've made a new discovery in the past week. i snore or breathe super loudly, according to gene. me not wanting to be unglam, tried to narrow down the root cause for this particular bad habit.

1. inheritance. my dad snores like a train
2. i was tired that day???
3. breathing through one nostril

most likely, i think the root cause of my snoring was due to me breathing through one nostril. i know its weird but most of the days, one of my nostril will somehow be blocked. and the cool thing is, if the other one got blocked, the previously blocked one will automatically free up!!! i reckon this genetic makeup is to somehow make my lungs and nose more efficient. no more hyperventilation. hahaha!!! using both nostril to breathe is too wasteful anyway...comments?

m-16s & digicams

bukit timah nature reserve. pretty cool place actually. kevin, gene and me re-lived our outfield skills by hiking through treacherous terrain. armed with our trusty digi-cams (oly, nikon & canon), we went around like mad soldiers with loose GPMGs. firing at everything, everywhere (almost).

kev: "this patch of ferns is a piece of art..." (kiddin me? fern, art?)
or
gene: "dude, climb down the raven so that i can take a cool pic..." (siao!! as if i will risk my life??)
or
steve: "let me take a pic of this spider. let me set to macro first." (geez...act like expert only..)

my first "kill" was a good one. this giantic moth. kudos to geno for spotting


followed by this next pic of the spider (steve),
(will post pic soon)

then this monitor lizard (steve & gene),


ending off with a pic of this squirrel (steve).


despite the trio's (consisting of one PTI, a 2x "half-marathoner" & a 2.4k below 9.44min runner) initial intention of conquering Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, were left out of breath & sweaty 30 mins into the hike. Our shots went from bad to worse...becoming more and more "boh boh". seriously question since when did our field fitness become non-existent?? like dat how to go for reservist?? die.

morale of the story:
i can't shoot for shit on the surface. better stay underwater.

best moment:
thought i heard a tiger (or at least i think it was) & signal gene to take cover. it did not came into shooting range...