Pandas to soothe your nerves; Huge housing task; Are Malaysians creative naming them?

Pandas to soothe the nerves

As Malaysia rolls out the red carpet for the pandas, it is hoped that China’s panda diplomacy can also help ease political tension in the country.

ANYTHING about the Giant Pandas are a big hit and when it was announced by our Natural Resources and Environment Ministry on Monday that China had decided to loan two endangered baby pandas for a 10-year period, it made instant world news.

Pandas, from the bear family, are about the most easily recognised and loved animals in the world.
They evoke excitement from viewers who line up for hours outside the zoos from London to New York, Tokyo and Singapore, to get a glimpse of these furry and cuddly animals.

The baby pandas, about a year to three years old, are part of the loan system China has worked out since the early 1980s after concerns were raised over their loss of habitat, endangered status and the difficulty of breeding in captivity.

They are only loaned to countries that China has established strong and friendly relationship with or those that figure very highly on the list of countries deemed important to China.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had made the request when he met his counterpart Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April when the two leaders opened the joint Malaysia China industrial park in Chengdu, Nanning.

The loan of the pandas, estimated to number about 1,600 in the wild and 268 in captivity, is an important gesture from China to Malaysia as well as commemorating the strong diplomatic ties between the two countries.

It is also to commemorate 40 years of relationship between China and Malaysia.

The political overtones are unmistakable.

Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak made a path-breaking visit to communist China in 1974, shook hands with Mao Zedong and returned to call a snap election which the enlarged, new coalition Barisan Nasional won handsomely.

It was the first election after the May 13 riots in 1969 and the alienated Chinese community had backed Razak in the hope that the new Barisan Nasional he headed would usher in a new era in politics.

Forty years later, Najib is not hoping to win over the Chinese voters – most of whom are backing his political opponent Pakatan Rakyat – with his “panda diplomacy” with China but the successful arrival of the furry creatures is expected to definitively lighten the divisive atmosphere in the country.

Overall, Najib’s engagement with China and the continuing importance he is giving to China in trade, cultural and education matters will have a desirable effect on voters, including Chinese voters.

Having said that, pandas have always figured importantly in China’s diplomatic efforts.

The practice reportedly existed as far back as the Tang Dynasty when Empress Wu Zetian (625–705) sent a pair of pandas to the Japanese emperor but in modern times, “panda diplomacy” really took off after US President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China.

China gifted two pandas – Ling Ling and Xing Xing – following that visit and the pandas generated world headlines and a mad craze in America.

Millions of people lined up to see them in Washington and in one stroke, China scored an instant diplomatic victory.

Japan reportedly dispatched two military aircraft to guard “Lan Lan” and “Kang Kang” when they entered its airspace on arrival from China as part of the now fine-tuned “panda diplomacy”.

West Germany rolled out the red carpet for its pair of pandas in 1974.

In the years since, the rare pandas have become firmly established as an important piece of China’s modern day diplomacy – to break the ice, ease tension and promote goodwill.

But it is not all diplomacy with pandas.

They have to be kept in special enclosures being built at the wetlands park in Putrajaya.

Pandas do nothing but laze around and eat special bamboos shoots (about 20kg a day) – their favourite and only food, which has to be imported from China or specially planted here.

They have to be kept in special, fully air-conditioned enclosure with climate controlled at temperatures ranging between 18°C and 22°C and humidity controlled at 50% to 60% all year round.

Ambient conditions have to be adjusted to simulate the four seasons similar to their natural habitat in south-western China.

According to one estimate, the cost can run up to RM20mil but the returns in the form of gate collection, research and diplomacy, far outweighs the cost.

The reverse is also true. Any mishap will spark a diplomatic uproar and ruin relations as well.

On arrival, the pandas will be quarantined for a month and five more months for acclimatisation before they are opened for public viewing.

Malaysia, the third country in South-East Asia after Thailand and Singapore to get the pandas, will also get the chance to name the pandas in a nationwide contest.

Hopefully, the arrival of the pandas, celebrated for breaking the ice between nations and exciting people, will also ease the tensions and divide in our nation.

COMMENT BY BARADAN KUPPUSAMY  baradan@pc.jaring.my

 

Huge task in housing pandas

By FLORENCE A. SAMY  florenceasamy@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The arrival of the two pandas is exciting news but housing them here is no easy task and requires a big commitment, experts said.

For a start, the Wetlands Park in Putrajaya, which has been announced as the preferred location, would need to construct a proper indoor habitat for the two baby pandas which are of opposite genders.

The enclosure needs to be air-conditioned as the adorable but endangered mountainous animals are not used to living in a tropical climate.

“It must include a playground for the pandas to exercise and a den for them to sleep in. There must also be a back-up for the air-conditioning system as the pandas cannot wait for it to be repaired if the air-condition breaks down.

“It is better for a local keeper to head to China to be trained and be with the pandas for at least six months to study its habits, likes and dislikes before they are brought here,” experts said.

There must also be sufficient bamboo plants for them and it needs to be of a certain species.

A local team will head to China to study the bamboo species.

Chinese conservation experts are also here and will visit the site and outline strict specifications for the enclosure, sources said.

The park also needs to consider building a nursery and possibly an incubator for potential baby pandas since the two animals will be here for 10 years and may procreate.

China had agreed to loan the pandas to Malaysia for 10 years in recognition of the good bilateral ties and in conjunction with the countries' 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry announced the news of the pandas' arrival on Monday.

The Government will sign the agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) tomorrow.

Singapore, which is expected to receive two pandas later this year, is building a 1,500 sq m enclosure at its new River Safari park.

Wetlands International Malaysia senior technical officer Lee Shin Shin said the team in charge of the pandas' care should be properly trained and adequate allocation should be provided as it would be a long-term commitment.

She is however disappointed that huge amounts of money would be spent to bring the pandas over and said it could have been used for local conservation.

Her views were echoed by Malaysian Nature Society president Prof Dr Maketab Mohamed who disagreed with bringing the pandas here and said priority should be given to conserving local endangered animals.

Malaysians are getting bear-y creative

By TERENCE TOH
terence.toh@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: From the run-of-the-mill to the outlandish, Malaysians have been ringing The Star radio stations to suggest names for the giant pandas from China.

Fatimah and Abdullah, Duri and Riang, Satu and Malaysia, Teh and Tarik Malaysians are a bear-y creative lot!

The radio stations under The Star media group had invited listeners to suggest names for the lovable animals. They were inundated with colourful and cheeky responses.

         Amused: Yi Hui taking suggestions from listeners for names for the pandas.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak also received an enthusiastic response when he invited followers of his Ah Jib Gor on his Chinese Facebook page to suggest names for the pandas.

Najib's invitation drew 222 replies from the public as at 8.15pm yesterday.

Among the names suggested were Fufu and Yaya, Ali and Ahmad, Left and Right, Flower and Bing Bing, Salt and Spring and Nini and Lola.

At Red FM, deejay Lil Kev said many callers suggested the pandas be named after local heroes (Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat), famous couples (Romeo and Juliet), popular local food like Kaya and (roti) Tisu, Puttu and Mayam), and even after local politicians.

Athena Tan, better-known as DJ Yi Hui to listeners of 98.8FM, said many callers made references to popular Chinese phrases.

She said examples included Xing Xing and Fu Fu (from xingfu, the Cantonese word for happiness) and Sam Sam and Si Si (from sam si, meaning to think twice).

Yi Hui said she liked the sound Tuan Tuan and Puan Puan.

“I think that's really cute,” she said.

“Plus, it's a must-learn phrase for anyone coming to Malaysia.”

The loan is part of an agreement between the Malaysian Government and the China Wildlife Conservation Association to mark the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two countries. The agreement will be signed tomorrow.

To celebrate the event and the arrival of the pandas, there will be a nationwide contest to name the animals.

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Malaysisia changes over the last 42 years; quanity yes, quality?

The ascend to the throne of our new King, 42 years after he was last installed, is a time to reflect on our achievements.

I WAS at the installation of our new King the other day. Twice as King, he has seen Malaysia change from what it was then and now. He also mentioned in his speech that he witnessed the efforts of the Prime Minister at that time, Tun Abdul Razak, the father of our current Prime Minister.

I sat in the audience, reflecting on some of the positives that have taken place in our country and took some notes on my Blackberry.

The key thought that ran through my mind was how much things have changed over the last 42 years. Here’s how much:

·We moved from a low-income, high-poverty country to a high-middle-income economy. Our next transformation is to become a high-income, developed country with quality of life for everyone.

·Our infrastructure has increased by leaps and bounds. Roads and highways have been built and traverse all parts of the country. We are putting in a mass rapid transit system in Kuala Lumpur to take us to the next level.

·We have modern retail outlets – supermarkets, hypermarkets, shopping complexes, malls and entertainment outlets and we are helping mom-and-pop stores to modernise too.

·We are moving towards greater freedom in all spheres with the repeal of the Internal Security Act, establishing clear rights for peaceful assembly and affirming the rights of online expression and social media liberties, amongst others. The Government has also made amendments to Printing Presses and Publications Act, while the Prime Minister is also talking about changes to the Sedition Act.

·Religious freedom has actually taken strides forward. There is now explicit statement of freedom to import (instead of implicitly before) and publish the Alkitab (the Bible). Indeed, since the 10 points resolution, many Alkitab have been imported and printed locally, without any difficulties with the authorities.

·We have moved to an extensive “social welfare” system e.g free primary and secondary schools, virtually free public health system, and one of the lowest consumer prices for fuel, LPG cooking gas, sugar, electricity, flour, gas, and so on with high subsidies from the Government.

·We have moved to greater focus on rural poor. Under the transformation initiatives, for low-income groups, three million lives were positively impacted in 2010 and 2011.

·We have put up an explicit and substantive roadmap to transform Malaysia further. We will build upon the great achievements we have made between the times of the rules of our current King and work towards our vision 2020 - to make our country a developed one with its people earning high incomes.

Considerable achievement

Just to show the extent our achievements over the last 42 years, I have constructed a table of some key indicators. You can see for yourself how much things have changed, even if you accounted for the fact that a ringgit went a much longer way then.

Our income as a nation – gross national income at the prevailing prices then - increased 64 times over the last 42 years, which is fantastic considering that the population growth over the same period was just 1.6 times.

It’s not surprising therefore that per capita income went up 25 times over the period, a considerable achievement even after taking into account inflation and the drop in value of money.

‘We are putting in a mass rapid transit system in Kuala Lumpur to take us to the next level.’

 

One of the most telling effects of this is that the incidence of poverty has been brought down from nearly half of the population to less than four for every 100 people in the country. That’s tremendous.

The number of schools increased but the impact here would have been understated because while additional schools were built, existing schools would have increased their enrolment considerably.

There was a massive explosion in universities. In 1970, the universities were all public and there were only three. The latest figures indicate that private universities now outnumber government ones almost two to one with 20 public universities and 39 private ones.

A similar situation was seen for hospitals with private hospitals increasing from 46 to 239 while government hospitals rose more moderately from less than 80 to 137.

Average life expectancy, assuming equal numbers of males and female, increased by 17% to 74.1 years, reflecting vast improvement in health levels, which is reinforced by the sharp over 80% drop in the infant mortality rate to seven per 1,000 live births.

World confidence in the Malaysian economy too increased over the 42-year period and this is well-supported by foreign direct investment flows in 2011 of an excellent RM33bil which was 150 times more than that in 1970.

Who would have believed 42 years ago, that Malaysia would make such major achievements in an extremely challenging environment of uncertainty posed by the 1969 racial riots and the drastic and controversial steps that the Government took then to redress racial imbalances and eliminate poverty?

But despite the scepticism and the lack of confidence then, we succeeded and succeeded well. Yes, we could have done better, but then we can always do better and anyone could have done better. What counted was that we met our major targets.

We find similar scepticism now to our efforts to make yet another great transformation, a giant stride to become a developed nation with its citizens earning high incomes and enjoying a better quality of life than ever before.

Promising figures

We aim to do this in a bit more than eight years in a rather challenging and competitive environment. And I dare say we know how to do it. We have it pretty much mapped out in quite some detail.

The initial figures are promising, despite all the nay-saying which continues to give me the transformation blues. But yes, we will rise above the blues as we did before and make this a better nation for each and everyone of us.

The results for 2010 and 2011 are great with most of our targets not just met but exceeded, often by a lot. See the comprehensive annual report on economic and government transformation in the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) website for details.

Rome wasn’t built overnight, likewise Malaysia too. We are blessed as a country. Whilst we know there are shortcomings, we also need to count our blessings even as we overcome the shortcomings and other obstacles.

And we shall overcome – of that I am very sure.

Transformation Blues - By Idris Jala