Mid-Week Thoughts - A Monkey Story

True to their character, the monkeys have been mischievous. I don’t mean
him, the Green Wooden One of 2004, but real monkeys.

If you drive along Jalan Pudina in Bangsar between 8 and 9 in the morning, you see plenty of them. Leaping for one rooftop to another, “performing acrobatics” on the telephone wire strung across the road and “ransacking” garbage bags. Some even have the audacity to swoop down on the offerings of fruits and cakes left at the outdoor alters of Chinese families. Thank heaven, they stay for only an hour or so. This has been going on since ……… you got it right……. Chinese New Year day.

Of course, if you live in Jalan Pudina you can’t help feeling annoyed at the whole thing. But, on the other hand, we are partially to blame for not putting the garbage bags in proper bins or making time to take in the “offerings”. And one or two senseless neighbors offering the monkeys fruits and left-over roti canai whenever they are around further compound the problem.

That said, what has happen in Jalan Pudina, is part of a bigger problem, a world problem in fact. The natural habitats of many birds and animals have been affected by development, both economic and human.

The Pudina monkeys are a case in point. They probably are the former “tenants” of the pockets of small forests in the Damansara/Bangsar hills area stretching to the lake gardens (Taman Tasik Perdana). This was where they live and feed. With all the property developments that has taken place in this area, the forests are not even small anymore; they have become mere clusters of trees. And the consequence of this? The monkeys have become “urban migrants”. Not having the skills to build squatter huts, they squat on your roofs and the children playground nearby (where at least there are some trees for shade and to sleep in).

And it is not only birds and animals that are affected; plants, fishes and other lifeforms are too. “About 60,000 species of lifeforms on earth have become extinct each year since 2000”, United Nations Environment Programme executive director Klaus Topfer said (from here). The consequences of this biodiversity loss are immense. The report referred to above, cites as an example, this –

“The world's poor, who live on as little as US$2 (RM7.60) a day, according to the World Bank, depend heavily on biodiversity to sustain their livelihood in traditional sectors like fisheries, agriculture and forestry. Biodiversity loss also affects fresh water supply”.

It is indeed a major problem and some sort of balance is required between implementing strategies for development/progress and conserving biodiversity.

Today’s NST Editorial Comment has this to say –

Sadly, the loss is essentially the result of action initiated by governments and people. Lifting millions out of poverty and improving living standards are goals that must be pursued. However, a balance must be struck between economic progress and protecting biodiversity. If trees have to be cut down, this can be carefully planned to minimise damage to the environment. Governments should prohibit actions driven purely by commercial imperatives that ignore the larger need to conserve the planet's irreplaceable heritage.

Any offers to house the Pudina Monkeys?