pelf-ism is contagious

I (very) seldom find cats cute. Or dogs. Or goats. Or any 4-legged animals. I know you are definitely going to bombard me with questions like “Why are you working with the turtles” or something to that effect. But let’s not argue over that now, OK? Be good.

So, back to the cats. I received this postcard that shows a very cute kitten. It looks clean, innocent (read: doesn’t look like it is going to pounce on anybody) and.. Cute

By the way, this was sent by Heidipieni from where else if not Finland.. It is a result of a “baby animal” tag.

Is it ME, or is it the way certain news articles were written? After reading about the ridiculous plans to track and breed turtles yesterday, another news item annoys me today. Read this:

KUALA TERENGGANU: Traffic congestion at Sultan Mahmud Bridge spanning Terengganu River here may be lessened with the construction of another bridge soon.

State Exco for Infrastructure, Public Amenities and Communications Development Wan Hisham Wan Salleh said that under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the Government had allocated some RM60mil for the construction of a 2km bridge to link Kampung Losong, Pulau Sekati and Teluk Pasu.

“The plan to build the bridge was made some time ago. However, there was some land acquisition problems. But now, the problems have been resolved.

“Now, the plan to build the bridge is completed, and construction can start next year,” he told reporters after officiating the Terengganu Smart Community briefing here on Monday.

He said the proposed bridge was necessary because traffic, particularly at the Sultan Mahmud Bridge and Manir Bridge, was too congested and accidents frequently occurred there.

“With the third bridge, it is hoped that road accidents and traffic congestion at the two bridges will be reduced,” he said. – Bernama

So.. “Since there are so many accidents on the Sultan Mahmud bridge, we will build one more bridge”, says Datuk, or did I read it wrongly?

And I thought it is perfectly natural for a “developing state” to have more cars. And more cars naturally means more accidents. So now another equation is being added: More accidents means more bridges must be built. Sooo funny.. But then ar, why is there only ONE bridge to Penang and Singapore respectively? No money meh?

And I thought to solve the problems, we must start from the grassroots level, i.e. to educate new drivers about the importance to drive carefully, to be more stringent when it comes to awarding driving licenses, etc. But no. Maybe the Government feels that it’s way toooo much work to educate the rakyat, hence the decision to “build more bridges”.

Hhehehe, I think I can imagine what Kuala Terengganu looks like in the next 20 years. Bridges all over *winks*

A lot more facilities can be built with RM 60 million, you know, e.g. a new bus station which I personally think is essential since the existing bus station does NOT look like one. But then again, thank God they did NOT propose the construction of 12 cages to breed turtles!!

Have you read about what the Terengganu State Government intended to do with a whooping RM 5 million?! You haven’t?! Here:

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu government has allocated RM5mil to manage and conduct a satellite study on turtle migration this year.

State Agriculture and Regional Development Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jidin Shafee said the study would involve several species and particularly the leatherback turtle which was beginning to become extinct.

“In this matter, the state need not rely on the private sector to sponsor the turtle migration study as we can come up with the budget ourselves,” he said here recently.

In a study done by the state through the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre last year, four green turtles were attached with transmitters costing some RM8,000 each.

Mohd Jidin said that Vodafone from Britain contributed two of the transmitters, while the state government bought the others.

He said that the study was done to determine the turtles’ movements after laying their eggs, and it was discovered that the turtles from Terengganu had migrated to Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

“The area of Ma’Daerah in Kemaman will once again be the transmitter installation site. The exercise is expected to be held this September,” he said.

In a related development, he said that a portion of the RM5mil allocation would be spent on a breeding project of sea and river turtles, which were facing extinction due to fishing nets. – Bernama

Now, let me tell you why I think this RM 5 million will be wasted:

1. Each transmitter costs about RM 8K. The articles says so. So tell me, how many turtles will they be able to track with that amount of money? 625 turtles. No kidding.
2. How many turtles do we have in our waters? This I am not sure, though it is almost impossible to say that they are 600 of them.
3. So, this Datuk also wanted to track leatherbacks, I read.. Hmm.. Guess how many leatherback turtles came up to nest last year? Only.One. This year? None.
4. A study conducted by my Supervisor in 1993 already revealed that the post-nesting sea turtles DO migrate to Sabah, to the Philippines, to Indonesia. Duh.
5. And least but not least, read this carefully: “A portion of the RM5mil allocation would be spent on a breeding project of sea and river turtles, which were facing extinction due to fishing nets.” And this is where I smell something VERY fishy:

• The so-called decision-makers NEVER had any meetings with the scientists to discuss the feasibility of such a project. They claimed that they “know-it-all”. And I wonder how many of our Datuks will still be around when the turtles are finally matured enough to breed, i.e. at 20-years of age *winks*
• And NOT all turtles survive up to 20-years of age, you know. Out of about 1,000 hatchlings, only a couple of them will make it. Which means to say that if the government is intending to raise and breed the turtles, the authorities will have to take care of, say, about 400,000 turtles from age 0 to age 20. No kidding, man.
• Kekkekeke.. (I find myself laughing at this point) I wonder if the authorities will be able to “plant” sooooo much seagrasses / seaweeds for the green turtles to last them up to 20-years-old. And will they also “plant” coral reefs to feed the hawksbills because they feed on sponges..?!
• What river turtles? At this point, do YOU still think our Datuk knows anything about our “river turtles”?!
• “… facing extinction due to fishing nets”?! Fishing nets??! I sooo want to LMAO. See how our Datuk conveniently forgot about the collection and consumption of the turtle eggs because “they are more nutritious than chicken eggs”?! Blaming the fishing nets for causing turtle mortalities. So freaking pathetic.