Dinner guests at a police function in Kuching last weekend had a wonderful time enjoying the delicacies served, including turtle eggs. However, the ever observant media had seen the turtle eggs on the table.

sabah tourism poster turtles A popular local English daily The Borneo Post ran a story on its front page in the March 2 issue under the heading “Strange but true” and even published a picture of the food on the table, including a plate of cooked turtle eggs.

Among visiting senior police officers present at what was described as a get-together dinner party held in Batu Kawah on the outskirts of Kuching City were the Director of Internal Security and Public Order Husin Ismail and General Operations Force (GOF) Sarawak brigade commander Law Hong Soon.

Following that report, the New Straits Times in a report by one of their Kuching-based reporters, Sulok Tawie, said that action could be taken against the distributor, wholesaler and those who consumed turtle eggs served at the police dinner party.

DAP state assemblyperson for Pending and lawyer, Violet Yong, also lodged a police report on March 4 at the Kuching district police headquarters in Simpang Tiga based on the Borneo Post report.

'Turtle egg is an illegal delicacy'

In a statement to Malaysiakini today, Yong said after reading the Borneo Post report she learnt that some senior officers were being served with turtle eggs at the dinner. “The photo also shows that some of the turtle eggs had been consumed.”

mama turtle The opposition state assemblyperson said all marine turtle species are categorised as Totally Protected Animals under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1998.

“Also to the best of my knowldge, the turtle egg is an illegal delicacy,” she said, adding that she has filed a complaint as it (serving and consumption of the turtle eggs) is an act contravening the provision of the Wildlife Protection Ordinance which constitutes an offence.

She urged the police to carry out an immediate investigation to find out who were present at the function in Kuching and how many turtle eggs had been consumed by each of them.

She also wanted to know why turtle eggs were served publicly as a delicacy at the official function as well as the identity of the supplier.

Calling it “an unfortunate incident”, Yong said what had happened had tarnished the country’s image because Malaysia is a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on Asean Sea Turtle Conservation and Protection.

She said she didn’t know how many plates of turtle eggs were served that night.

Yong also said the relevant government department had no respect for the law at all.

“This is the attitude of many BN government officers. In their eyes, the laws only apply to the ordinary people like you and me. To them, there is no law. For they feel they can do whatever their like in Malaysia Bolehland!”

violet yong The DAP elected representative said days after the incident, the police has remained extremely quiet and has still not taken action against the people involved.

She said that in order for police not to make any excuse saying no one has filed a police report, she went to the district police headquarters to make the report.

Yong said it is pointless for the director of Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Len Latiff, to cite all the laws pertaining to the preservation of sea turtle, if no enforcement action are taken against those break the law.

The assemblyperson said: “The law must be enforced. The existence of the law is of no use if the law is not enforced.”

“I hope that the matter will not be swept under the carpet. The police must investigate the matter impartially. There should not be double standards when it comes to investigating police reports lodged by the Opposition.”

The people involved must be brought to court to face charges as such irresponsible act must be condemned and stopped.

Yong said Len Latiff should resign over the incident as the matter is under his jurisdiction, adding that he owed the public an apology for failing to protect an endangered species.