Green Iguana

I was encouraged the other day when a fellow blogger write about billion acts of green (read here)




I have been keeping this photograph for about 3 weeks now. You can see a rubber pipe about 30 inches in length with some plastic rope attached to it (after this referred to as “the contraception”).

Pictures of puppy and iguana below are from google.





Can you imagine a puppy similar to the one in the picture having that contraception firmly tied to one of its leg. That was how I saw a very tired puppy trying to lie down under a tree that Friday afternoon. I can swear to God that I remember seeing the puppy smiling to itself as she was in the process of lying down, as if it was happy to have a breather. I saw the contraception then but was not to keen to to take it out and reduce the puppy’s misery as I was not too sure it will not bite me in the process.

I went back to MIL house and inquire about the puppy.. if any boys are hurting them. The news I got was not encouraging. There were about five to six puppies about two week old being born in the rundown warehouse in very close vicinity of my MIL house. The male dog that fathered the puppies has been hunting kampong folks' chickens to feed the puppies. Neighbor's boys were seen to do things that might have hurt those dogs.

At about six in the evening I met the eldest of the neighbor’s boy and told him “Uncle saw a small puppy that has a long water pipe tied to its leg resting under a tree.. uncle think that the puppy is dying and uncle believe the one who tied the pipe will have to answer to God in the hereafter. He asked me for the location of the tree and bolted. I saw him near that tree but somehow he missed to see the puppy and I thought maybe the puppy has gone somewhere else…

At dusk on the same day, I passed by that tree and saw a dead puppy in the same position (minus the smile) as I saw him in the afternoon . It stayed there untouched for another two days and on the fourth day I only saw spools of puppy’s hair in the vicinity. The iguanas (which are rather numerous in the nipah bush some 50 meter from the tree) must have done a good job.


Talking of iguanas.. I have a friend whose mother has some hectares of virgin land(read jungle) in Kuala Kerai. One fine day he invited his Siamese friends to camp with him there. The Siamese friends volunteered to take care of the land for him for a month since my friend’s mother was still searching for a caretaker. The Siamese friends stayed there for about 2 weeks, fearing the worst my friend went back to the land. Somehow the area stinks.. and he noticed few dead animals as he traversed the land. Seeing that nothing amiss, he called his friends to enquire the reason for abruptly leaving the land.. “There are no more iguanas and swine to be caught in the area” was the reply (read no free meat supply). The absence of Iguanas means that there are no animal to eats the dead animals... hence the rotten smell of the jungle area.

In my ~20 days a year visits to Dungun and Kuala Terengganu I have on some occasions encountered swine and their offspring running across the small bushes besides the road in early morning. The reasons seems to be as there are no more enemy (read tiger) and the Malays are not eating them.. the swine thrive very well in Terengganu.

Maybe in our effort to be green, we may want to take into consideration the existence of animals which in a way contribute to our well-being.

Have a good weekend..

The Power Of Compassion

Someone send me this beautiful story on human virtue and I think maybe I should share it after that few health postings..

The word “compassion” is not just the quality of Holy Being or only right or possession of those who are religious be it the Buddhist, the Christian, the Muslim or Hindus. It is the common virtue and quality of human being. This quality in you will be covered out if you are bias on your own views and living. LaGuardia Airport, aerial view (photo from allgraphicsonline.com) LaGuardia airport is one of America 's busiest airports. It was named after Fiorella LaGuardia, the Mayor of New York City during the Great Depression and all of W.W.II. He was adored by many New Yorkers who took to calling him the "Little Flower," because he was so short and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character -- he rode the New York City fire trucks, raided city "speak easies" with the police department, took entire orphanages to baseball games, and when the New York newspapers went on strike, he got on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr.Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation. Someone beautifully said, "Sympathy sees and says, 'I'm sorry.' Compassion sees and says, ' I'll help.' When we learn the difference, we can make a difference. Take care.