Celebrating Earth Day..

This is a great news to celebrate EARTH DAY today.. What else can I cay.. Oh ya.. This is not about fish!!
Well, at least the decision made by Scottish Energy Minister, Jim Mather NOT to proceed with the plan to build the biggest wind farm in Europe, is something "We are absolutely delighted" says the spokesman for pressure group Moorlands Without Turbines. The decision is made after 11,000 complaints against the scheme made by the locals to save the flying route of rare and endangered birds!
When Earth is getting warmer and warmer, wind energy is a good alternative though, but for this one, I agree and support the decision made by locals not to support the wind farm to be built at Lewis Is., Scotland. May be they could change the place.. So, Mother Earth will be happier.. The birds are safe and we get greener energy.. Who knows.. May God bless all human races..

Estimating Species Richness

This is a response to Jem's comment.. Jem.. Thanks for leaving a comment.. Unless you can't get it here, I'll email the paper.
Actually, Prof. R. K. Colwell put up so many papers on his website (http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/Colwell). So very kind of him. Or go to Prof. Anne Chao's website (http://chao.stat.nthu.edu.tw/textfile/pub.html) for her 'technical' papers on the subject. Some are quite technical with mathematics equations and formulas. It took me some times to understand the contents but I guess it won't be a problem for you..
My advice: Search other relevant papers at Yahoo web search.
Since I'm here, I got so many papers from Yahoo web search. The 'hit' is better than Google. Just follow this two very simple steps:
1. Get a good paper/reference, say Colwell and Coddington 1994 (older paper, [probably] more hits!!)
2. Paste it there, and hit enter/return.. There you go..
(I tell you, a lot...)
So, who says you can not get references IF you are away from Univ. library or Univ. internet, huh!! Just get connected to internet..., anywhere.. ;-) [I'm not suggesting any of you (students especially!!) to not to go to library or Univ. when searching for references. This is just an alternative.. A good alternative, in deed!]

Oh yes!!!

At last, I got something to say about (my data on) fishes of headwater streams in Peninsular Malaysia. For the past few weeks, I've been busy analysing incidence-based data of headwater stream fishes to estimate how many are there? Today, I'm trying to write the 'output' of the analysis. It is one of the aim of my bigger reason for coming to St. Andrews. The result IS still preliminary but I hope to write a manuscript, soon. It worth reporting it..
Each day, I learn something new here. Well, one don't have to be in the class room to learn.. With a good guidance, a lot one can get.. Internet when it is used wisely, it does help a lot too.. For those who interested in analysing biodiversity, I suggest you read this paper: http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/RKCPublications/ColwellAndCoddington1994_hr.pdf

I hope you know what I mean..

Once upon a time...

To those who wonder, where is the place that I used for this 'the banner' page was taken, I'll tell you about this awesome place, once it was.. Yeah.. but not anymore.. This is what's gonna happen to many of awesome 'place' for the name of development..
It's been a while since I last visited the place.. I the past, I used to go there with some frens, among other to do our fieldworks or on the way back from doing our fieldworks.. We use to stop here to get a 'refresment'.. Well.., not really like what you think, but more like what the kids are doing.. Just like them..
The place is call Sg. Beriah Kiri, at Kg. Changkat Lobak, not far from Bukit Merah. I can't really remember when the pic was taken but probably some times in 2000. It a cool place.. Unlike any other stream where you can dive, dip in or swim, this one is a 'blackwater' stream - the water more like tea or light, very light coffee.., emmm..., Nescafe probably.. The water is actually quite 'clear' but slightly tea-coloured. The underwater view is really something.. But it was all gone.. Too bad.. I miss it so much..

How many fish are there..?

I really don't know what it's all about but I wanted to do something with all the data I'd gathered for years of expeditions all over (sort of..) Peninsular Malaysia collecting and identify fish inhabiting the headwater ecosystems. All I got is the presence/absence data; on some cases abundance data as well which I really did not analyse enough to show ... Show what?? I don't know.. There must be something.. Well.. I know there must be a limit to 'how many species of fish utilise headwater ecosystem?' How many species all together, live in high oxygenated, fash flowing, clear streams in Peninsular Malaysia exactly? How to do that? How to determine that?
Well.. I know.. Now.. I guess.. In a few month to comes, I'm pretty sure I'll get the answer for this. Currently, I'm playing aroung with my data.. Believe me, something interesting will come out, soon..
So, fishes of headwater streams.., soon I can say how many of them really there..
"..Hai buaya-buaya semua.. Raja Sulaiman akan mengadakan kenduri.. Beta telah menitahkan supaya aku menghitung kepalamu.. Bersusunlah kamu, kepala bertemu kepala, hingga ke seberang sana, supaya aku boleh menghitung kamu.." kata Sang Kancil yang bijaksana.
Oh.. I hope "sang Kancil" will be proud of me..

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..