Hi Everybody,
Again I must thank everybody for having faith in me leading the branch
another year. The Branch AGM also saw some new faces elected to serve the
branch – a new secretary and a new treasurer and a few new committee members.
Some promising members were proposed but unfortunately they turned down
their nominations citing heavy commitments as an excuse. If work commitment
is a reasonable excuse to decline nomination to serve then I should be
the first to do so but my solemn promise to some well-wishers and supporters
to serve the MNS and see through certain projects made me reconsider my
stand. My professional work requires a lot of paperwork and with the organisation’s
current effort to gain ISO 9002 certification I will be constantly under
considerable heavy pressure to conform to quite exacting standards of performance
and constantly be up-to-date on paperwork. Hence it would be very difficult
for me to continue giving the same level of energy for the branch in every
aspect. I hope the new committee will give me all the support and energy
to make the branch a dynamic one and continue to raise the quality of the
branch in terms of membership and activities. Alone I cannot do anything
other than to be a voice in the wilderness.
Over the last three years I have strived
to lead the Perak Branch into the information age by first setting up the
website to bring the branch into the forefront of Nature appreciation and
conservation which to my mind can only be accomplished if we have the facilities
and the will to achieve greater heights in tandem with the fast pace of
technological and economic advancements. At the same time we have to constantly
appeal to the government and political leaders to set aside important natural
sites for conservation. Perak has many areas still rich in wildlife and
natural attractions. I hope to impress upon the Perak government to consider
our appeal for conservation of our natural heritage as a strategic plan
for our future generations.
We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary
soon and we hope to do it in a natural environment – Taman DR Seenivasagam,
tentatively on 12 November 2000. It would be a celebration with nature
– a celebration of our 30 years in helping to appreciate and conserve nature
in Perak. It would be a fun day with nature with a view to fund-raising
for our branch building (please refer to page 2). Please volunteer your
time to make this a success especially in helping to sell coupons for food
and plant sale.
Perak will see a few developments which
may or may not benefit nature lovers and of course MNS is involved in all
these going-ons. We are monitoring the opening up of Temenggor forest in
North Perak to sustainable logging together with other NGOs. Efforts are
in the way to get the state authorities to start a Nature Park in Batu
Gajah. In Ipoh itself the Gunung Lang area has been built over for a people
friendly park but fortunately most of the flora has not been cut down and
some trees have in fact been planted. Last Sunday (27 August) Kuan Yaow
and I had a surprise when we went to see what had been done. Near the new
toilet not far from the cave entrance we saw a Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus
indicus) at about 7.14 p.m. on the ground and later up a tree. But my gut
feeling tells me that this may be the last time the bird will be sighted
– it will never be the same again when the park is opened to the public.
Love Life. Love Nature.
Cheaw Hon Ming
30 August 2000