COMMENT Today, while animal liberationists protest over the DAP's "sympathy for the kitten killer", the Chinese press has carried another story of the DAP's "sympathy for bird cagers".

The DAP Cheras MP, Tan Kok Wai, was championing the cause of exotic bird captors who wanted their "right" to keep exotic birds in cages!

Tailor Bird Today just happens to be the day of the annual "Raptor Watch" when we humans can witness the enthralling spectacle of droves of migratory raptors (birds of prey) flying over from Indonesia to Tanjung Tuan near Port Dickson.

In our years of participating in the activities of the Malayan Nature Society, it is heartening to note that more and more Malaysians are coming to recognise and value the joy of watching birds in the wild.

Alas, our DAP MPs (and perhaps other MPs on both sides of the House) do not yet recognise and value the natural world of which we are merely a part.

They have not yet attained that "state of awakening filled with compassion and wisdom".

So they go about their robotic vote catching activities without pondering the consequences.

Is freedom just another word?

We frequently use the expression "free as a bird" but do we stop to think about what freedom means?

I remember when I was incarcerated at Kamunting detention camp with the DAP leaders under Operation Lalang.

In the same compound were also ISA detainees who were taken in for other alleged "threats to national security" including passport forgery.

sibu by-election 290410 tan kok wai Some of them kept exotic birds in cages and somehow the bird cage doors would frequently be left ajar by unseen hands!

It was the height of human frailty that people in captivity could not appreciate the bird's natural instinct for freedom.

If I am not mistaken, Tan (left) was also detained for a few days during the toll protests.

Has he forgotten how he felt in captivity?

Is the opportunistic impulse of our local politicians for votes stronger than the higher love of our feathered friends...If only birds and butterflies and trees could vote!

Reverence for all living things

People are always asked what they would do if they had lots of money. My impulse is to say that I would buy up all the caged birds in the pet shops and set them free.

 

Unfortunately, as long as there is a price on their heads, they will continue to be caught and caged.

I am surrounded by magpie robins, peaceful doves, spotted doves and other exotic songbirds all day long - they are the most adorable birds in the Malaysian environment and watching them frolic and sing in total freedom so close to me is truly my idea of heaven on earth...The thought of capturing these delightful creatures and imprisoning them in cages is absolutely vile!

Short of banning the capture of exotic birds, should not the freeing of all exotic birds be an integral part of political education in all political parties?

NONE The solidarity of nature and people, the interaction between the universe and human society - these are values deeply entrenched in human civilisation.

The reverence for all living things is common to the animist beliefs of all our ancient forefathers, for whom human-nature relationship is not to be treated on the basis of control, but on the basis of mutual respect.

The discourse on human rights has now been extended to cover ecological concerns, i.e. The need to respect not only other human beings but also future generations as well as other species.

Perhaps our politicians could start by contemplating this poem by Maya Angelou:

‘Why does the caged bird sing?'

The free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wings

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with fearful trill

of the things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

For the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

 

KUA KIA SOONG is a director of Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).