A great meeting with the Giants...

I had a meeting at FRIM this morning.. It was a great meeting; where I had a chance to meet several - some familiar faces and some new but was once a Giant in the governence and academics..

Some of the familiar ones were Prof. Abu Hassan Ahmad, the Dean of School of Biological Sciences, USM whom was my lecturer during my student days at USM' Bio. School. Next to him, on his left was Prof. Dr. Zubaid of UKM, a prominent prof in bats taxonomy and ecology. Next to Prof. Zubaid was Prof. Dr. Mohd Zakaria Ismail of institute of Bioscience, UM.

It's been a while since I met Prof. Dr. Zak (as what Prof. Peter Ng of RMBR, NUS call him..). He's the country top (freshwater) fish taxonomist whom I really respect. I had a chat with him after the meeting - quite a long chat about current situation in freshwater fish study in the country and a bit on his upcoming book on freshwater fishes of the Malay Peninsular(?). It's something I've been waiting for so long and I really hope it will be on the shelf soon.

In the meeting, there were Dr. Charles Leh of Sarawak Museum and Dr. Arthur Chong from Sabah Biodiversity Centre. I had a chance to talk to Dr. Charles Leh but just a quick hi.., and a hand shake to Dr. Arthur.. Dr. Saw Leng Guan and Dr. Pan were the other faces I frequently met. My last meeting with Dr. Saw was at XPDC Gunung Cameron Highland. I met Dr. Pan recently during the Biodiversity Inventory organised by PERHILITAN at Sg. Cicir (but we stayed at Tg. Bewah) Kenyir. Presented also in the meeting were Dr. Francis Ng (FAS) whom I first met during the Maliau Basin Scientific Expedition in 2006, Prof. Datin Dr. Maryati of Institute of Biodiversity Borneo, UMS. I'd no chance to talk to her, but it's great meeting her...

Apart of them, there were two 'juniors' - Zalipah of PERHILITAN and Lim Ai Gaik, from Marine Park, NRE. The rest were from goverment agencies whom a few I'd met in the past.

I met someone new today - Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Ahmad Mustafa Babjee, an environmentalist and a well known figure in the country. I had a chance talking to him, knowing some of his past which I think, really think great to know who the 'man' was! As a junior lecturer at UMT (formerly known as KUSTEM, formerly known a UCT and formerly known as UPM (Terengganu) and was previously a Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, I am so glad meeting him as he was (one of?) 'The Founder'! I don't know how many of us - young generation of UMT ( and the other names of it..) has a chance to know and meeting him and I am sure not many people know him here but I glad and I thank him for his vision to set up the faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science on the Terengganu soil.. Tan Sri Dato' was the person who is responsible to bring and encouraging the late Prof. Dr. Mohsin, Prof. Dr. Ang Kok Jii, Capt. Ibrahim to be apart of the giant at what is today known as University Malaysia Terengganu.

I can't wait to meet those people again and I hope it will happen soon..

I was first introduced to the nature of 'swamp' from the comic book - The Swampthing. It is scary and surely not a place I wanted to be.. Years gone by.. I entered and graduated from college, only then I realize this scary looking place; still scares me though.., is actually nice and beautiful, indeed..
What's change my perspective to this scary swamp? Surely not the frenly monster Swampthing but some mag and doc I watched and read over the college years.. And, my first visit to what is called black water swamp or peat swamp in northern Perak, is really an eye opener to me.. Beside its tea coloured, black in nature water, it is actually clean! Funny eh? It was love at first sight.. ;-) I never look back again..
Graduated in Botany in 1995, I decided I'm not going to botanize again.. Wanna make something different.. I wanna do something I don't really like to do as a student but I LOVE to do it when I was a just another kampung boy hails from Baling, Kedah.. In the past, stream behind my parent's house is so cleen, crystal clear water and full of fish! So, what is the best thing to do, than..??? No console, no pc no nothing fancy were invented in those days, but my days and sometimes nights full of excitement.. One of them is FISHING... Fish is plentiful.. It was those days..
Things change.. Mother Nature change a lot.. No more animal plowed the field.. No more mothers washing along the stream, no more kids swimming in the streams.. No more fish..? Well, not as many as it is in the yesteryears.. It's sad, sad things to know that many streams and rivers are badly polluted.. Hey.. Swamp..? I never imagine these hostile, dark ecosystems are highly divers in fish! Really, really diverse.. And they are beautiful, small in size but so colourful.. What else? I'll tell more..

Update on Taman Negara - Terengganu fish

Something on Kenyir trip..

Fishing in Kelantan

Kelantan.. I've been driving home so many times, passing several rivers and streams but never had a chance to really make a collection there.. Several streams which I frequently pass by are Sg. Jeduk, Sg. Air Lanas and it tributary, Sg. Buluh in Jeli. Too bad, I almost had a chance to sample fish from Sg. Sat, a small stream bordering Malaysia-Thailand.

Until recently, I had a chance to make a collection of fish from these streams. It really turn out something. Two new fish to me - loaches Syncrossus beauforti from Sg. Buluh and Tuberoschistura cf. baenzigeri Sg. Jeduk were collected. Specimen of Tuberoschistura is interesting - early comparision with picture in Kottelat's Indochinese Nemacheline does not resembled much to this one. I am really excited. These two streams still hold many interesting species and I wish to come back with a proper equipment!

To all fishes I love..

Studies on the diversity of freshwater fishes in Peninsular Malaysia had been carried out by many researchers in the past and certainly one of the best explored organisms to date. About 278 species has been recorded until 1998. A few new finding has been made and the number at the moment probably about 292 species including a few probably new to Science.

In the recent expedition to Endau-Johor area, I made a decent collection at a small tributary of Sg. Madek. This small stream is really special. If the timing is good, more species should be collected. My electrofishes is not working really well. However, without using the electrofisher, my students and I were able to collect several interesting species using push nets. I found a species of Pangio which I'd never come across before. I am excited! Fish such as Chaca bankanensis (see picture) which I was last seen in 1997 from the swamp of Pondok Tanjung, Perak is found here. The current specimens of two adults and a juvernile were collected from leaf piles in stream, a tributary of Sg. Madek. The previous collection was made in swampy habitat which significantly different from this one. Two species of Vaillentella is also found here. Err.., two or one, is doesn't matter but it's something that make me feel excited to come back. There were more leaf piles to dig and seek..

It's certainly worth going, and I'm planning to come back with my team, soon. It was a great outing for me..