Blogging again....

Some of my friends have been urging me to start writing again. Since I wasn't teaching and still nursing a cough, I thought I'd refresh my blog and also write an update. 

Wow! it has been a year since I last posted. During that time frame many things happened: -

The Famous Five is now the Bishan 10

The pair had another litter of five pups in the Kallang Basin area at the beginning of 2016. Since then they've been in the media darlings. BBC News called them "Singapore's celebrity urban otter family". NatGeo Wild, referred to them as the river-siders in their documentary - Otter Town that was recently released in the US. The family is also in the running to be our 51st icon to represent our nationhood. They also delighted many of the delegates from the 13th International Otter Congress 2016, which was held here in Singapore. The International Otter Congress, held once every few years, gathers members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Otter Specialist Group (OSG) to discuss conservation statuses, future strategies and threat mitigation for the 13 otter species.

Bishan Park

Another pictorial story

Excuse me, we aren't beavers

Spent the last couple of days during my break looking for the otters. It didn't start that way but I kept hearing of sightings around the park by regular park users. Must have walked the entire length of the park (I and II) several times over before spotting a crowd of people on Sunday.

They were all gawking at the pair. Many curious folks didn't understand that like humans, the otters have a the need for a safe personal space, and were encroaching on the pair. There was at one point a slight panicked look on one of the otters but they held their own. As the crowd thinned they were able to come out of the water.

It made it possible to confirm the sex of the pair and also to check on the condition of the animals. Generally healthy but one of them has an open cut on its right hind paw.

The otter on the right has a cut on its right hind paw

A lazy Sunday morning at Haji Lane

I kinda like a quiet and lazy stroll around the Kampong Glam area on an early Sunday morning. There's hardly anyone around and the area is peaceful. These two kartek ayams and their girlfriend greeted me in the car park. They belong to someone who lives in the neighborhood. Ended getting down on the ground to photograph them with a wide angle lens since I was too lazy to pull out my other lens from the boot.

Sargent major here was crowing his lungs out.

Changing behavior

It is interesting to read the commentary in TODAY (22 Mar 2014) on "Lack of graciousness is the tip of 'indifference iceberg'". I agree with the writer's view point as many of us are indifferent to things that go on around us.

We live in a society that has just about a sign for everything. Yet people choose to ignore signs and notices such as these :-

End of the road for a 110-year-old Chinese opera troupe

The Sin Sai Hong Hokkien Opera Troupe held its last performance on 4 March 2014. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to document the end but I was lucky enough to have photographed the troupe in 2010 and 2013. 

Sin Sai Hong, the oldest Hokkien troupe, had been performing for audiences in Singapore and  Malaysia for the past 110 years. 

During the heydays of street opera between the 1930s to 1960s, these street performances drew large crowds. Today, these street opera troupes struggle to stay relevant as audience numbers dwindles. Since the government changed its linguistic policy in the 1970s to favor Mandarin, many of us are unable to understand dialects. This also led to a lack of young talent joining the troupes. Sad to see this troupe that was built on three generations of tears and sweat go, but thank you for the memories, and the warmth the performers have shown me even though I could hardly communicate with them in proper Hokkien. For more photos click here

Chinese string puppets

I've walked past the tiny stage within a stage many times but never stopped to check Chinese puppetry out till now. Before I went and got my equipment, I did my usual sought permission to photograph, and check performance times since they aren't advertized and are tide to prayer schedules at the Taoists temples.

Be better informed

21 Jun - View from my home

We have all experienced first hand the smog last week that at its worse hit PSI 401 on Friday, 21 Jun. Yes, most of us were in a panic, myself included as I rushed out in search of masks for the older family members.

What is bad air quality compared to the sufferings of animals?

Yes, we've all been gripped by the PSI (I call it 'pee-sai' cause that is what gets produced) readings this week and most of us have been ranting about bad air quality. 

20 Jun@10:15am

STOP!!!! There are animals out there that have it worse. It's a nightmare for them in epic proportions especially the critically endangered orang utans and other animals whose habitat is being burnt to a crisp.

Click here for full article

As consumers we should be more responsible just like what consumers did to protests sweat shops change can only take effect if profit is affected.

Sky lanterns

After packing up the camera, and heading to the temple to get a ticket for the ferry, I spotted some Tua Pek Kong (大伯公) devotees releasing sky lanterns ((kongming lanterns (孔明燈)). The camera came out of the bag again and since I didn't have a wide angle lens, I improvised using the Canon 50 mm f2.5 macro lens. Although it's suppose to be a macro lens, I've used it quite successfully for portraits and shooting in low light conditions.

Painted faces: revisited

Work kept me away from the wayang at Pulau Ubin last year but I'm glad to catch-up with the Teochew Opera troupe this year. For me it was the exhilaration of capturing the transformation each performer goes through to become their characters. It was also a chance to see the familiar faces from 2011.

Tulipmania@Gardens by the Bay

Hey folks if you are here in Singapore, and love flowers as I do, drop in at Gardens by the Bay for Tulipmania. Go now as the exhibit ends 20 May. You'll get blown away by the tulips and an array of other flowering bulbs. You will need to purchase a ticket to enter the Flower Dome where the tulips are housed.

Walk way to the Flower Dome

Crowded out

People never seem to under stand that releasing foreign fish or animals into our environment is bad. May be this pictorial representation of the damage they are doing will bring the message home. 

A small section of a river crowded with foreign fish.

Ingenuity or lack of funds?

I hosted some overseas friends last week, and since I live close to the Tree Top Walk. They opted to take a walk to the HSBC Tree Top Walk.

The Venus Road path leading to the Tree Top Walk was rustic enough and I knew enough of the history, ecosystem and biodiversity to keep them occupied.

However, they were very observant and had one question, which I had no answer to - why was the route so poorly maintained compared to Ang Mo Kio/Bishan Park? 

Path leading down to Kallang River

Trail leading to Tree Top Walk: wood stumps at the start

Gettin reacquainted...

It's been a while since I've been out in the field but this is about to change with the choice I made. Decided to see how Gardens by the Bay is coming along whether some wildlife have returned. The answer is yes but you need to have a pair of sharp eyes to spot the birds. There is a lesser whistling ducks, lots of yellow bitterns and local kingfishers.

Me, I decided to focus and pick out the yellow bitterns that blend very well into the water land habitat. Spotted this on getting shade from the lotus leaf, and watching for its next meal to swim by.

Bittern staying motionless and waiting

Happy Year of the Water Dragon

It was a hectic week before the lunar new year but I managed to squeeze in sometime for my annual walk around Chinatown before the new year. All the usual hawkers were in their usual places hawking fruits, waxed meats, melon seeds, flowers and porcelain.

Tattooed man, the poacher

Encountered a tattooed Malay man at the Jurong Lake District, nothing unusual but the man had a fishing rod and hung on his bicycle was a tarpaulin bag. He gets off his bicycle and starts to cast his fishing line into the lake while I was busy breaking down my camera.

Suddenly the tarpaulin bag begins to move and there was scratching sound. Left my bag and walked over to the bicycle to investigate knowing full well that there was an animal in the bag. Meanwhile, the tattooed man hauls another turtle from the lake with his fishing line. Tried to persuade him to release the turtle he caught and to release whatever was in his bag.

Be wary of the kutu babi

Only recently that I became very aware of kutu babi after coming into contact with these nasty critters on the boardwalk of Lower Pierce. I thought nothing of the initial bite on my wrist as it healed within two weeks leaving a reddish pin-head size scar. The next bite was on the tip of my middle finger of my left hand. The finger digit swelled up till it felt like it would burst. Thank goodness after three days of applying steroid cream on it the swelling subsided.

The third time I wasn't so lucky. A kutu babi had attached itself to my lower leg even though I had sprayed myself with insect repellent. This bite swelled up immediately and itched badly. The next day blisters started to form and before long infection set in.

Poaching still going on in Singapore

There seems to be a trend going on - people bringing caged birds into our nature reserves.

Things that make you go hmmm...

Oops!!! Sorry for the radio silence again. I've been out observing our fine feathered friends raising families. On Saturday, I made a stop over at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for a look around. As I hung around the main hide area looking for the salty as the tide ebbed, a couple strolled out towards the main bridge with a caged bird.