CATWALKS

CATWalks is a brainchild of MYCAT e(Malaysian Conservation Alliances for Tiger), an initiative to deter illegal poachers from harming our wildlife (particularly the tiger& its food chain below) while giving volunteers (I call it CATWALKERS) the opportunity to bond with the Mother Nature. The nature of catwalks requires certain level of physical and cognitive aptitude thus all Catwalkers must had survived at least 18 years on this planet and pretty much rational in respond to situation.

Catwalks is like an additional arm for perhilitan(helper not enforcer)

Although the main objective is not as imaginative as what I first conceived (i.e. arrest poachers and free our tigers from containments, snares& traps and maybe overnight with the tiger like in the movie “life of Pi”) but it does somehow bring effect to the conservation of our endanger tiger, by present ourselves during Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Malaysia) officer/ ranger (Jungle Police) off duty, in the weekend.

Yes, it’s a two consecutive day-trip (Saturday& Sunday) program with overnight in a relatively civilized accommodation. Hiking were done with an indigenous guide and lead by an experienced Catwalkers, so it’s almost guarantee accident free except for some interesting terrain that will add colors into the catwalking experience. Cubwalkers (novice Catwalkers) would be amazed with the richness of flora and fauna in our rainforest though most of them were only evidenced by their traces (e.g. paw print, scat (shit) & claw marks).

The jungle might not be the concourse for our familiar mosquitos but that doesn’t means it’s not for the wingless slimy leeches. Yup, the cartoon-like-moving creature have ways found itself on your feet before climbing up to your thigh(if nothing satisfy below) and probably have a peep at your balls, just for the curiosity of why blood is white therein.

Day 1

My first time CATWalks wasn’t started as smooth as I expected, I was supposed to meet up with others Catwalkers at Bangsar LRT station for carpooling to Merapoh but somehow I didn’t get hook up. My phone happens to malfunction at this very inconvenience time. My message to WL (Carpooling driver) bounced back only after waited 15mins at Old Town Café (below Bangsar LRT Station)! In my hurry I get another hotlink simcard for RM5 + another RM5 top up but come to realize its size is way too big to fit into my micro-simcard phone’s slot. I was a bit freaking out and panic. Luckily there were two public phones nearby, the first was deathly silent with its heartbeat taken away from vandalism, and another was somehow alive connected me to WL’s phone. So is this the reason why we (Malaysia) need double resources to get the same thing done? Nothing to discontent, at least they recognize the problem and provide enough to counteract the glitch.

Sungai Relau

Less than 5mins thereafter, a little Kancil (Malaysian produced car, small cc) appeared and horned. I jumped into the car in an embarrassing mode for causing the delay. I really appreciate their patience and understanding. It is definitely not a good impression I put up for my new friends but I surely appreciate their kindness, in advance of our acquaintance.

It’s definitely a bit doubting as whether I’m joining the right trip. WL has a slender body and seated at the back was a giant muscle man, BB, while I’m having a jelly belly with my fat ass extended out a few inches along my seats’ perimeter. I started day dreaming of being lunched by tiger while two of them can escape with the speed of light, LOL!

BB is an excellent navigator, an instructor by nature, while WL is a prudent driver, together they make the journey complete. I’m always the passenger who knows little to none of the tar road we heading on or the vehicle that carrying me but I sure know how to enjoy the view.

It was a five hours journey with a stopover at Raub for lunch. The hostel at Merapoh is located at 7km from the main road where a few bundle of abandon precast concrete planks as a signal in addition to signboard indicating Taman Negara (National Park entrance). Indeed, our hostel is the entrance to Tahan National Parks, built next to the National Parks Office (Perhilitan). It was serving as accommodation for the army before converted into hostel for recreation purposes.

Maintenance is a never ending battle, yet to be found in Malaysian dictionary, our dormitory was make up of a living termite lair, so brittle that a knock dented its crispy wall.

Sungai Relau, Pahang, Malaysia

Check-in into the hostel and straight heading to the river (Sungai Relau/ Relau River) right behind our dormitory, It appears to me like a huge giant tea pot; the water color is similar to those in the red tide. It was freezing and fishes there seem curious about the new species of hippo swimming in their territory. In contrast to the hostel staff introduction, there were a few signboards read “no swimming” at the junction where two rivers meet. I’m not sure which to follow but WL assured me its fine to do it, which I’ve done but not for long, as I fear that though the quality of water might be parallel of an earl grey but those fishes curiosity remind me of piranha.

Giant green mantis

BB sighted a wild boar but since our mission here is to save wildlife so it isn’t going to end up in our diner plate. Our hostel is a bit secluded even for diner we have no choice but to drive out. Merapoh is a sleepy town especially during Muslim fasting month (Ramadan). The street was quiet and even the Malay auntie was shock by our present. She hastily put up her veil after our footsteps awaken her from dream. Apparently, we were the only customers there except a giant green mantis and swamp of flying insects. There hang two florescent tubes busy collecting the carcass of countless bugs engrosses onto it. It makes me wonder why some human would foolishly resemble those senseless beings in chasing illusion glamour.

“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned” – Antonio Gramsci

“The greater challenge of live without becoming disillusioned is to distinguish& recognize what is illusion”-Sebastian Tay Kian Guan

Day 2

No, I wasn’t drunk. It was just simply a good night sleep and the two sneaked into the dorm were our Catwalkers, MT& PT. They have driven all the way from Kuala Lumpur in the darkness for 5hours; left them nothing more than 3 hours to sleep. I’m touched by their diehard spirit for protecting our Malayan Tiger even though they are not Malaysian and wild tiger is not found in their homeland anymore. MT is from Iran while PT is from Czech Republic.

Malaysia has the most biodiversity wildlife in the most beautiful forest; it’s the most wonderful country on earth. We are second to India for tiger population [approx.500 tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. Jacksoni) in the wild, a third of India’s tiger population] but our Malaysia land area is merely a fraction of one ten of India(India Land area 3,287,263 km²: Malaysia Land area 329,847 km²), It make Malayan Tiger perfectly fit to be our national mascot. In fact, we have two in our national emblem (one male& one female, so hopefully we are productive!).

I feel to have duty protecting our national mascot as it is endanger under IUCN classification. Furthermore, it’s animal representing strength, robust, wisdom, cleanliness, integrity& bravery.

Our mama cat (Catwalks Leader) MU is another tough soul (5hrs midnight driving) that looks like foreigner but sound like the local, she is indeed a Malaysian and the only girl in this catwalk. She did the right thing by feeding us with caffeine. Yes, her coffee does help a lot to kick start the day before she chauffer us to the nearby petrol station to stock pile our supplies.

We then head to fetch our ranger named Alia, an indigenous, that carrying the features of Melanesia/Polynesian but actually the descendant of African (Negrito/ Bateq "according to MU"). I would have mistaken them for the people from Vanuatu or PNG if MU didn’t told me otherwise. The name Alia sound too feminine to me. My dirty mind quickly suggested a topless female, in her mid-twenty, belt with banana leaves, as our guide of the day, someone would have look like those in Vanuatu. But lucky he is a man and pretty much covered so no accident possibly happen out of distraction during our hiking.

It was a full day hiking with some challenging terrains in the first quarter, just to show how inconvenience living without proper staircase and what more to remember about the electricity-driven elevator. It’s a jungle law here, the law of nature to tectonically shape the edifice of earth, haired with thick layers of greeneries, and rule by the ecological food chain. The existence of species determines how the food chain structured and thus their survivals are interdependent on each other.

Literally, human will be on top of the food chain if firearm is on hand but a conscious man will independence himself from it (wildlife food chain), whether feeding with it or being feed by it. Sadly, not all wildlife-independents free from harming them; we discovered a pile of baby elephant bones potentially end its life after consumed poisonous fertilizer at the nearby agriculture farm. I’m not sure about its age but it can’t be too old with only four teeth. According to MU the deceased parents& relatives would repetitively revisit the carcass which I suggested a camera might as well be installed to research on their behavioural.

I do join the past-mourning for the deceased in my heart but my stomach has no mercy since it first met the white nutritive fluid (milk). We marched down to the river for lunch. It was actually a tiny little delta that we settled down upon. MT offered me some bread and with my chocolate bar I sandwiched in between, I call it lunch for the first time. MU is always the angel providing hot beverage in time of needs, this time was the berry tea she makes out of boiled river water.

Lunch is simple but I didn’t let the river flow just that. I walk until the middle of river floating my three hundreds pound body for a nice hydrotherapy session, let millions of my sensory-receptors feeling the chill while washes my muddy body clean. It takes not long for BB to follow suit.

The journey back is less adventurous but not less risky as the slippery mud caused by yesterday rain requires us to balance ourselves from falling. At some point I did sank a feet, in height, below the ground level and almost lost my shoe when pulling up against it.

Not all bad of the slippery mud. While it left shoe prints of various brands it also endorses the paw-prints of the recently pass-by animals. MU discovered some wild puppy paw-prints in the very beginning of our journey.

Hungry and exhausted is what I felt but what I smell like might lead others to drawn with the notion of a roasted wild boar. I feel sorry for MU car as it has to gulp seven muddy piggies. She probably has to get a few bottles of fabreez for it.

Then we’re back to hostel for a nice clean up and check on the leeches invasion status. I didn’t really bother to check those leeches during hiking as it would be too straining and distracting for me to do so, but when took off my socks, easily 4 of them were found well fed, hanging out as though they’re having Selangor Sling (a type of cocktail similar to Singapore Sling) in Sky Bar (Traders Hotel signature bar, also my favorite). I’m sure their friends were more satisfied to let go of me before I give PT the honor to end their happy hours. So there were my bloods smashing all over our dorm entrance, another form of red carpet I guessed. Done with the revenge it’s time to heal the wounds however WL remarks that the antiseptics I sprayed on has no use on it, so I only covered them with plaster, hope it stop the bleeding& staining all around. Done with the cleaning and wrap up, it’s a small nap till 7 before diner in Gua Musang.

It’s a different Gua Musang I encountered as compare to the previous time where I stopover for lunch from Cameron Highland to Perhentian Island. Gua Musang is an old town mainly fill with Chinese so Chinese cuisine is naturally our selection for diner. It was the middle restaurant of GM818 food center. Food was nice and my appetite was huge especially I know there would be big hiking day tomorrow. Diner was follow by shopping though it has nothing much to offer but I guess it was enough for tomorrow supplies.

MU screamed Loris! Loris! When we about to reached our dorm. There was a cute little fellow (Slow Loris) hanging on the electricity pole’s cable. As its name implied, it’s a slow moving creature, so slow that predator might not notice its present. It reminds me of my girlfriend’s dumb-looks and slowness but definitely something irresistible to cuddle with. I wonder how this fluffy cutie find mate or make baby without a sound!

I can’t remember anything about how I slept or how I get into sleep, in fact I don’t even bother to miss my girlfriend or feel my limbs, it’s a sleep I desperately needed to heal my muscle tissues.

Day 3

Palm oil's seed

It was another big day of catwalk served with morning coffee, courtesy of MU again. As usual we stopped at the petrol station before pick up Alia from his kampong (village) then ventured deep into the palm oil plantation.

As of other parts of Malaysia, palm oil plantation is expanding in parallel with its commodity prices.

The half day hiking doesn’t use up any energy lesser than the day before. There were long steep slope follow by rocky topography. It was Gua Bau (or Tanah Runtuh), a magnificent picturesque karst of limestone, formed in some 65millions years ago. It was one toughest bit of the journey. My sorry for dragging our group time, in the “tug of war” against gravity, is offset by the just-in-time sun orientation at area where the limestone split. It was rewarding to witness the sun encased in between the vertically split limestone of about 30 feet, in height, mimicking brilliant solitaire diamond I'd proposed to my girlfriend. My body was burning by the surge of energy utilization rate, steaming out vapor as though I’m in steam room. PT& WL is busily taking pictures of the shining solitaire sun while I take chances to rest and cool down my body.

There was nothing mystical about my steaming body. It was simply evaporation caused by higher temperature absorbed from my body into my sweat molecule where they collide into each other before changing its physical state, from liquid to gases (vapor), while achieving equilibrium of heat energy (natural science).

We continued our hiking in plain forest after get out of the limestone. Not too long from it we settled down for lunch at a riverside. I soaked my legs into the water prevented its stinky smell spoil our lunch time, at the same time, getting it washed and refreshed. Lunch in the jungle is the poorest but what more petrified was to find a toilet. It was my first time had it done in the jungle nonetheless it’s one of a kind experience, I sort of happy to have.

Lalat Minion

Interestingly there’s a sort of flying insect always join the feast whenever we lunch. According to Alia it called Lalat, a sort of fly harmless to us. In comparison to the house flies in the city, it is smaller in size, coated with yellow color belly, and femur hairs are not visible from human eyes, nevertheless they do come with a big sucking mouth. I call it the lalat Minion.

Times fly, the big trench that we force to jump over initially emerged in our eye sight again. It was this trench that gets us extra hiking-miles. It also hinder vehicle, except for tanker, from crossing, at the same time prevent illegal logger entering too. So we had both circular hiking routes done for our catwalk. Farewell to the hiking stick that act as my additional limb for the two days catwalking.

Thanks to the hostel management, we were allowed to keep our belongings and take shower beyond check-out hours. I’m sure MYCAT has weight for such leeway to happen as well.

Parkia speciosa/Petai

Jackfruit/ Nanga Madu

It’s another 5 hours journey back to Kuala Lumpur. BB hasn’t forgotten his jackfruit (Nanga Madu) and petai where he managed to buy home some, from roadside. WL sudden crave for KFC allow us to have the chance to look at Kuala Lipis in a glance.

Me& BB is definitely not a big fans of botanic or knowledgeable enough to tell which hill or mountain name or whether forest is still virgin but WL seems frenetic about it, especially the Tualang Trees which look to me a tree no different from others. Well, it’s good to have fans in a particular area of such to give more reason for conservation.

The 5 hours journey end at where we initially started, Bangsar LRT station. I’m a different person when I set off for the journey; I’m a more environmental conscious now and have more reasons to protect our beautiful rainforest.

I salute to our government (Malaysia) for enacted wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and Thanks MYCAT& PERHILITAN for keeping our wildlife safe for next generation.