Is this the real Pygmy elephant?

The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island.

But a new paper published today supports a long-held local belief that the elephants were brought to Borneo centuries ago by the Sultan of Sulu, now in the Philippines, and later abandoned in the jungle. The Sulu elephants, in turn, are thought to have originated in Java.

Javan elephants became extinct some time in the period after Europeans arrived in South-East Asia. Elephants on Sulu, never considered native to the island, were hunted out in the 1800s.

A family of Bornean Pygmy Elephant

“Elephants were shipped from place to place across Asia many hundreds of years ago, usually as gifts between rulers,” said Mr Shim Phyau Soon, a retired Malaysian forester whose ideas on the origins of the elephants partly inspired the current research. “It’s exciting to consider that the forest-dwelling Borneo elephants may be the last vestiges of a subspecies that went extinct on its native Java Island, in Indonesia, centuries ago.”

If the Borneo pygmy elephants are in fact elephants from Java, an island more than 1,200 km (800 miles) south of their current range, it could be the first known elephant translocation in history that has survived to modern times, providing scientists with critical data from a centuries-long experiment.

Scientists solved part of the mystery in 2003, when DNA testing by Columbia University and WWF ruled out the possibility that the Borneo elephants were from Sumatra or mainland Asia, where the other Asian subspecies are found, leaving either Borneo or Java as the most probable source.

Radio-collaring Pygmy elephants in Sabah, Borneo (June 2005)

The new paper, “Origins of the Elephants Elephas Maximus L. of Borneo,” published in this month’s Sarawak Museum Journal shows that there is no archaeological evidence of a long-term elephant presence on Borneo.

“Just one fertile female and one fertile male elephant, if left undisturbed in enough good habitat, could in theory end up as a population of 2,000 elephants within less than 300 years,” said Junaidi Payne of WWF, one of the paper’s co-authors. “And that may be what happened in practice here.”

There are perhaps just 1,000 of the elephants in the wild, mostly in the Malaysian state of Sabah. WWF satellite tracking has shown they prefer the same lowland habitat that is being increasingly cleared for timber rubber and palm oil plantations. Their possible origins in Java make them even more a conservation priority.

“If they came from Java, this fascinating story demonstrates the value of efforts to save even small populations of certain species, often thought to be doomed,” said Dr Christy Williams, coordinator of WWF’s Asian elephant and rhino programme. “It gives us the courage to propose such undertakings with the small remaining populations of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and Javan rhinos, by translocating a few to better habitats to increase their numbers. It has worked for Africa’s southern white rhinos and Indian rhinos, and now we have seen it may have worked for the Javan elephant, too.”

A mother and baby Pygmy Elephants

Important Facts
* Borneo pygmy elephants are smaller than mainland Asian elephants. The males may only grow to less than 2.5 meters, while mainland Asian elephants grow up to 3 meters. They also have babyish faces, larger ears, longer tails that reach almost to the ground and are more rotund. These elephants are also less aggressive than other Asian elephants.The scientific name is Elephas maximus and they are sometimes refered to as Elephas maximus borneensis, although they have not been officially determined to be a separate subspecies from mainland Asian elephants.
* The elephants are found primarily in the state of Sabah in Borneo Malaysia, with a few individuals having a part of their home range across the border in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
* Large areas of Borneo’s forest are being rapidly cleared and replaced with tree plantations for rubber, palm oil and timber production and satellite tracking has found that the pygmy elephants prefer the same flat, lowland forest as commercial industries do, leading to competition for habitat.

The original article can be read here at WWF Malaysia; Extinct Javan elephants may have been found again – in Borneo. All right reserved.

Naked-Malaysian: If an extinct Javan elephant sub-species can even be found in Malaysia, why the necessity to accuse another country for commiting cultures theft? Many Indonesian ethnics also migrated to Malaysia in ancient times. To justify and preserve the same sentiment would require another accusation of Malaysia’s ‘claiming‘  the Bornean Pygmy elephants.

Technorati Tags: Bornean Pygmy Elephant, Borneo, cultures theft, Ganyang Malaysia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysia Deals, Malaysia News, Malaysian, Sabah, WWF

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PM Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak tabling the 2010 "1Malaysia Prosperity for All" Budget

Yesterday 15th. Dec 2009, however, something out of the ordinary again happened. This time, the prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s debut Budget 2010 dubbed “1Malaysia prosperity for all” budget has almost been turned down by the Parliament when it barely obtained by a 66-63 vote margin at the third reading of the Dewan Rakyat. That’s 48 percent attendance for the BN MPs and a 77 percent attendance rate for the Pakatan reps.

It is reported that it is the first time that the national budget was approved with such a narrow margin, when a rejection would have a clear negative impact on the Barisan Nasional government. The parliamentary democracy practices deem a budget rejected as equivalent ot a successful non-confidence vote toward a government and indirectly opens the way to the formation of a new government. Before the critical Third Reading, the budget was approved with only one vote in committee-debate at the stage of the Home Ministry – which has been the last ministry to have its allocation approved.

No used crying over spilled milk now. Undoubtly this is already a blow to the face to Barisan Nasional, but should the opposition had managed to make use the once in a lifetime opportunity, the probable outcome would be phenomenal. The question now is where are the other 19 of Pakatan Rakyat’s MPs?

Technorati Tags: 1Malaysia, 2010 Budget, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, government, Malaysia, Malaysia Insider, Malaysia News, parliament, politic, Prime Minister of Malaysia

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Multiple keris balancing positions demonstration

As of 8th. September 2009, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) acknowledged Indonesian Batik into world Intangible Culture Heritage list. This, together with Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) and Keris (wavy dagger) that were inscribed in 2008 into the same, has been applauded many Indonesian citizens as a win over Malaysia amid recent accusation of Malaysia’s stealing Indonesia cultures. Indonesia’s medias and private blogs exude euphoric belief that the recognition will grant Indonesia exclusive rights in term of property and copyright for the said cultures. So how far this is true?

According to UNESCO’s own definition this would simply means they’ll recognize the effort of safeguarding these cultures in Indonesia. Specifically, it is all about preservation of culture. It was never about about property or copyright. This would also means that the ground is still open for Malaysia and other countries to request the same from UNESCO should they choose to.

Indonesia-Malaysia Wayang Kulit respectively

Indonesia-Malaysia Batik design motive respectively

What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?

According to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) – or living heritage – is the mainspring of our cultural diversity and its maintenance a guarantee for continuing creativity.

The Convention states that the ICH is manifested, among others, in the following domains:

* Oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
* Performing arts (such as traditional music, dance and theatre);
* Social practices, rituals and festive events;
* Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
* Traditional craftsmanship.

The 2003 Convention defines ICH as the practices, representations, expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills, that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage.

The definition also indicates that the ICH to be safeguarded by this Convention:

* is transmitted from generation to generation;
* is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their history;
* provides communities and groups with a sense of identity and continuity;
* promotes respect for cultural diversity and human creativity;
* is compatible with international human rights instruments;
* complies with the requirements of mutual respect among communities, and of sustainable development.

The ICH is traditional and living at the same time. It is constantly recreated and mainly transmitted orally. It is difficult to use the term authentic in relation to ICH; some experts advise against its use in relation to living heritage (see the Yamato Declaration: English|French).

The depository of this heritage is the human mind, the human body being the main instrument for its enactment, or – literally – embodiment. The knowledge and skills are often shared within a community, and manifestations of ICH often are performed collectively.

Many elements of the ICH are endangered, due to effects of globalization, uniformization policies, and lack of means, appreciation and understanding which – taken together – may lead to the erosion of functions and values of such elements and to lack of interest among the younger generations.

The Convention speaks about communities and groups of tradition bearers, without specifying them. Time and again it was stressed by the governmental experts who prepared the draft of the Convention that such communities have an open character, that they can be dominant or non dominant, that they are not necessarily linked to specific territories and that one person can very well belong to different communities and switch communities.

The Convention introduces, by establishing the Representative List, the idea of “representativeness”. “Representative” might mean, at the same time, representative for the creativity of humanity, for the cultural heritage of States, as well as for the cultural heritage of communities who are the bearers of the traditions in question.

Technorati Tags: Batik, culture, Indonesia, Keris, Malaysia, Malaysia Deals, Malaysia Travel, Malaysian, Wayang Kulit

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But that is in the past now. Rasa Sayang Eh! has recently caused a spat between Malaysia and Indonesia. Citizens from both countries exchanged harsh words over Malaysia using the song as backdrop for tourism advertisement. There was even a call for war from a certain country angry citizens.

A scene of few Malays pretending to be drunk singing Rasa Sayang Eh! from a Malay film of the same title. This film was produced in 1959 in Singapore casting Wahid Satay and Kasma Booty.

One can easily google what it’s all about. As the relation between the two countries has not improved much since then, people of today would no longer able to sing the song the way it was meant as before. It is ironic that a song once sung to commemorate newly found friends is now serves only to remind ourself with sentiment and hate to others. The way it is now, people will remember Rasa Sayang Eh! as a ‘friendly’ song that almost caused a war between two neighboring country.

Rasa Sayang Eh!

rasa sayang eh
rasa sayang sayang eh
eh lihat nona jauh
rasa sayang sayang eh

buah cempedak di luar pagar
ambil galah tolong jolokkan
saya budak baru belajar
kalau salah tolong tunjukkan

pulau pandan jauh ke tengah
gunung daik bercabang tiga
hancur badan di kandung tanah
budi yang baik di kenang juga

dua tiga kucing berlari
mana sama si kucing belang
dua tiga boleh ku cari
mana sama abang seorang

pisang emas dibawa berlayar
masak sebiji di atas peti
hutang emas boleh di bayar
hutang budi di bawa mati

Meaning

“rasa” means “feel”

“sayang” has several meanings in this song. its literal definition is “love” – the friendly kind.

in this song, “rasa sayang” means “to feel love” and “to feel so much love that one gets heavy hearted to release/leave.”

“rasa sayang” is usually sung among new friends, and frequently as one parts.

“lihat nona jauh” means “to see a girl so far away / moving further and further away” and this is the reason one feels “love” and “heavy hearted.”

Technorati Tags: Brunei, Folk song, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysian, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand

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Baby orangutans spend more time being reared by their mothers than any other mammal except humans.

Orangutans: The Red Apes

Orang = man
hutan = forest
Orangutan = man of the forest

The word orangutan translates literally as “man of the forest,” from the Malay and Indonesian words orang and hutan.

Orangutans, sometimes called “red apes,” are highly intelligent primates with advanced reasoning and thinking skills. They are tool-using creatures — they poke branches into termite holes, use chewed-up leaves as sponges to soak up water, and use branches or sticks to test the depth of the water before entering it.

Though large, orangutans are usually gentle, and spend most of their lives up in trees, where they’re safe from predators. They bear amazing similarities to humans: baby orangutans cry, whimper, and smile just like human babies, and their facial expressions indicate happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and other emotions. Orangutans and humans share approximately 97 percent the same DNA. Baby orangutans are cared for by their mothers longer than other mammals except humans.

Orangutans typically have long, shaggy reddish brown hair and a heavy body. They have long, strong arms well-suited for life in the trees, and hand-life feet, which aid in their climbing.

In ancient times, orangutans ranged throughout most of Asia. But today, as a result of human encroachment on their jungles, orangutan populations are found only in Borneo and Sumatra, the only areas with large enough forests to sustain a breeding population of these intelligent, gentle creatures.

The precise population of remainining orangutans is unknown, but experts estimate that the number of orangs in Sumatra is about half of what it was in 1993.

Orangutan Facts

• Size of Orangutans;
  Males: about 4 1/2 feet tall and 200 to 250 lbs.
  Females: About 3 1/2 feet tall and 100-150 lbs.
• Orangutan Lifespan:
  Orangutans live to about 35 to 40 years of age in the wild, and into their 50s in captivity.
• Orangutan Babies:
  Female orangutans bear one baby at a time, like humans, about every 6 to 7 years. The female reaches sexual maturity at around 7 years, and can remain fertile for up to 30 years.
• Social Culture:
  Adult female orangutans live with their young, while adult males live alone.
• Diet:
  Orangutan diets consist largely of fruits and nuts, coarse vegetation, insects, small vertebrates, tree bark, and eggs.

This original article about Orangutan can be found www.orangutanisland.org, all right reserved.

Technorati Tags: Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysia Deals, Malaysia Insider, Malaysia News, Malaysia Travel, Orangutan, wildlife

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