Academy of Sciences Malaysia Pics
Saturday, January 31st, 2009Here are some pics from my presentation at the Academy of Sciences. What a great honor to have been invited to Kuala Lumpur to give this talk. Academy of Sciences Pics
Archive for January, 2009
Where’s the Beef, Dr. Singh?
Thursday, January 29th, 2009For a window on why Malaysia ranks among the world’s leading wildlife trafficking hubs one may read this letter today by Amerjit Singh published in The Star . Dr. Singh’s letter comes in response to last week’s Star article on my Academy of Sciences Malaysia talk (”Malaysia a Hub for Wildlife Smuggling“). Everyone familiar with the illegal wildlife trade knows that certain figures in Malaysia have stalled updating the wildlife law Dr. Amerjit Singh refers to, giving bureaucrats like him the chance to agree there is a problem, say they are doing something about it, and then sit back and watch as illegal wildlife continues to flow through Malaysia.
Those reading this blog know that Amerjit Singh has issued several defenses like this one in the past few months. Here he demonstrates he doesn’t have any idea what the problem is (he thinks it is only protection of local species in Peninsular Malaysia). Worse, his simplistic responses without any meaningful action insult the Malaysian people. Here’s today’s:
The Star
January 29, 2009
Beefing up efforts to protect wildlife
I REFER to “Malaysia A Hub For Wildlife Smuggling” (The Star, Jan 19).
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) agrees that smuggling activities are a threat to the conservation of our wildlife and it acts sternly to curb any attempts.
The DWNP together with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry (NRE) are in the midst of amending the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (Act 76), to focus more on the protection, conservation and management of the local species within Peninsular Malaysia.
Consideration will be given to the recommendations and suggestions from the public and NGOs in dialogues and workshops conducted by the DWNP or through written submissions.
The DWNP sincerely encourages the writer, NGOs and the public, to inform us without hesitation of any misdeeds pertaining to wildlife to help us in our endeavour to safeguard our biodiversity.
The DWNP’s contact list can be downloaded at www.wildlife.gov.my.
Dr AMERJIT SINGH,
Head of Public Relations,
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
Head of Public Relations,
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
Malaysia’s The Sun: Christy ‘Champion of the Reptile World’
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009What a generous title! S. Indra Sathiabalan of The Sun and I sat down at a Starbuck’s in Kuala Lumpur for this interview. Indra brought to our talk a sincere reading of the book and it was a great pleasure spending some time together. I might quibble with some edges (and the photo–if I’m going to look like that anyway I ought to drink more whisky at breakfast) but I couldn’t be prouder that the book evokes comparison to Elmore Leonard all the way around the world and resonates with Malaysians who want to clean up the wildlife trade in their country. Here is the story as it ran in hard copy: champion-of-reptile-world and below sans photos (a technological glitch–really.).
Champion of reptile world
Bryan Christy weaves an interesting story about reptile smugglers and the dedicated law enforcement officers who go after them
By: S. Indra Sathiabalan (Wed, 28 Jan 2009)
LIFE has a funny way of coming full circle. As a young boy living in southern New Jersey, Bryan Christy had a fascination for reptiles. In fact, bringing a five-foot long King snake to school made him the most popular boy around.
Who knew that this childhood fascination would eventually lead him to write his first book, The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers.
Christy has previously worked as a morticians’ apprentice (his family business) and then later as a lawyer. He then started writing articles for Playboy Magazine and National Geographic. It was while researching for The Lizard King that Christy decided to give up his career as a lawyer and concentrate full-time as a writer. (more…)
