obmar
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Bird race proves ecstaticBird race proves ecstatic
By SIMON KHOO
FOR the past 10 years, Foo Yat Chi, 76, has been taking part in the 19th
International Bird Race at Fraser's Hill without fail. This year, the
septuagenarian fondly known as “Uncle Foo” won the race with two other
bird watchers.
His team “Silver Eared Mesia” succeeded in sighting 84 species of birds.
Uncle Foo also set a record of sorts by being the “oldest participant.”
The team won a challenge trophy, three individuals trophies and other
items worth RM3,000.
Ambassador of Austria Dr Dona-tus Koeck had the honour of giving away
the prizes.
Also present at the prize-giving ceremony was Pahang's Culture, Arts,
Tourism and Heritage Com-mittee chairman Datuk Maznah Mazlan.
During the ceremony, Foo, at the invitation of Maznah, sportingly went up
on stage to mimic the whistling of three types of birds to give the audience
a feel of the atmosphere.
When met later, Foo said he was delighted to have won after nine failed
attempts.
“The driving factor was rumours of strong competitors coming from Britain.
“Being Malaysians, we felt we should not lose and this pushed our team
members to work extra hard,” said Foo who was wearing a cowboy hat.
Second place in the advance category went to the team Flycatchers from
Taman Negara with 79 sightings. Team “Eaton” from Britain was third with 78.
First-timer James Eaton, 24, said he was ecstatic to have won third place.
“At least we will be going home with something after making the sacrifice
to skip the World Cup matches.
“Winning was not on our minds as we are nature lovers and took part for
the experience and fun of it,” he said.
Eaton and fellow countryman Robert Hutchinson, 28, roped in local David
Chaeng at the eleventh hour as they were short of one member.
The winners in all three categories received a trophy, certificate and
camping and outdoor items worth RM20,000 in total.
This year's bird race attracted 50 teams, including six from foreign countries.
The six foreign teams were from Britain, Japan, Singapore and Canada.
The bulk of the entries were from locals (26 teams), institutes of higher
learning (seven) and schools (11).
Chief arbitrator Michael Chong said that 41 teams completed the race as
stipulated while nine were listed as “failed in their mission.”
He said the response was encouraging and augured well for the promotion
of bird-watching activities in the country, particularly in Fraser’s Hill.
Of the teams which completed the race, 10 were from the advance
category, 14 from the novice category and 17 from the student category.
Local singer Zainal Abidin, popular for the song “Hijau,” was invited to perform.
There were side activities to keep the crowd busy such as a golf
competition, colouring and cooking contests, nature exhibitions and
blow-piping and batik-drawing demonstrations.
The first race was held in 1988 with only five participating teams.
Today, the event has become an important annual get-together among
bird watchers and nature lovers nationwide, and is listed in the country’s
tourism calendar.
The event was jointly organised by Malaysian Nature Society, Fra-ser’s Hill
Development Corporation and Tourism Malaysia.
Other groups which contributed to the event’s success were World Wide
Fund for Nature, the district council, district office, state Natio-nal Wildlife
and National Parks Department, state Environment Department and the police.
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