The Croc Hook
While on travelling duty to the famous Lingga in Sri Aman I came across an interesting fishing equipment outside the District Office. Its not an everyday kind of fishing instrument mind you. At my longhouse I am used to seeing the fish net (pukat) and at my anglers friends' house I gaze at the different fishing rods that they would show off. Curiously I enquired what the ring shaped rattan with a big rope and and large hook was for. Penghulu Bujang of the Lingga District Office told me it is used to catch crocodiles.
Penghulu Bujang and the Crocodile hook
The rattan would be rung around a strong branch of a tree by the river and the hook will hold the bait, usually the meat hovering about three feet above the river water level. The rope holding the hook can be a few feet in length. I am told that the chance of catching one depends on the size of the crocodile. If its too large usually the croc will be able to escape. But one is only allowed to catch it when it has attacked someone. The chance of catching the same one that had attacked a human is best left to the experts and that may be why the croc hook is there at the office. Crocodiles are reported to be seen crossing the Lingga bound road as the females look for a place to lay their eggs. The local folks there told me not to walk or roam the roads, which is not far from the Batang Lupar River, especially late at night for you may come across El Croco!
El Nino in Lingga
Talk about El Croco, the dry season or better known as the El Nino has affected places like Lingga in Sri Aman. I understand why they do not want to get the water from the Batang Lupar River where El Croco likes to sunbath. If you are the Crocodile Hunter, probably you would think its marvellous. Crikey! So the folks depend on the water tanks sent by the Public Works Department (JKR).
Lingga folks filling their water containers from the water tank provided by JKR Sri Aman
Lingga El Nino scene: Getting water from the tank is safer as El Croco does not swim in it
It is not an immediate solution but the supplying of water tanks will provide some relief to the people affected by the water shortage. Credit goes to my colleagues in JKR who are working around the clock to make sure that the people's needs come first.
With the H1N1, haze and the hot weather, one dreads what would be coming around the corner. More protests against ISA maybe? As if that will help to solve the world's problem. Maybe its just politics but if there is a need to prioritize, the actual problems have already been predicted by the early Prophets, scientists, experts and also by Al Gore in his Inconvenient Truth. Hollywood also tried to chip in by coming up with blockbuster movies which almost all of us watch. At the end of the movie we would be entertained on how the Earth was almost destroyed by aliens, meteors, disease, zombies, ghosts, Lucifer the Devil, or freak weather but some hero or superhero or robots would save us at the end of the day. Wow...the heroine was cute. Maybe it showed the wrong ending - a false hope. Probably for some people, running around Kuala Lumpur and playing hide and seek with the Police sounds healthy and fun if not heroic. Or waving your nuclear missile and warhead as if its some toy would mean that we will respect their need to defend themselves - from their own fears. Everyone should have their own nuclear reactors in their backyard so we can turn the Earth into the next glowing Sun, shining in awesome glory when the neighbours start to test their nuclear bombs to play for Christmas fireworks. Hopefully the citizens of the Earth will not take Mother Nature for granted and treat her with more respect so that she would not snap back like El Croco when you disturb its habitat.
I am not advertising for this site ~ who would want to advertise about the end of the world? Just thought it would interest you.
Anyway if you are a buff for stories about the end of the world the upcoming book about An Investigation Into The End of Civilisation, you can view the site at Apocalypse 2012. Don't worry too much anyway. Malaysia has a weapon to counter the threats and we call it Vision 2020 with Amanah Saham One Malaysia to guarantee it and our hero will lead us towards that Vision whoever he or she may be. Clue: Its not me.
