Citizen Journalism Blog

Being the self-claimed #1 fan of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, I think people will not take my views about things related to the CM seriously because friends will say, “Chey, you sure biased lah.” However, that’s not true. I have told a person that the CM is merely iconic to me. The icon of hope, from convict to CM. So, I like to believe that a person who has gone from the dumps, i.e. the indignified treatment meted to ISA detainees to where he is now, i.e. powerful position as a CM, will make that person really wise and with a heart.

So, being a Penangite, do I think we need a Tiger Park? Well, it depends on how serious they are in maintaining it. Is it going to be another one of those park that started off with spanking nice facilities and only left to rot when they fail to maintain it? So many of our parks are like that.

Is the Tiger Park going to be exotic like the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary where there is no facilities, no oversized statues and no tacky fountains? Or is it an ogling mini zoo where tigers are left behind bars while silly visitors try to attract the attention of the tigers.

I like the idea of eco-tourism but I failed to figure out how tigers fit into it. The proposed area is not any thick jungle but mere belukar. I believe it is situated around the Relau Metropolitan Park and there isn’t anything that is attractive. Don’t let my photos at the post I linked fool you. The park is just another gaudy park typical of our MPPP style. Only my photography skills made it look like it is beautiful.

Ultimately, it is how we maintain the park. Can we promote it to international tourists? Otherwise, it defeats the purpose because local visitors are just not into these eco-tourism thingie. Only a selective group appreciate nature and usually they are the hardest critics.

For example, the Laut Matang Swampland is really a nice place to see nature in its own surroundings. However, I believe it doesn’t attract much visitors too.

So, dear Mr. Chief Minister, I hate to say this but the Tiger Park is a bad idea. We don’t need any more ogling park for locals. Maybe you can build a park for campers, complete with facilities. We Malaysians lack these sort of camps for families. After all, the Coronation Camp has been robbed away from the scouts and this can be a replacement. Throw in a petting zoo for kids. Kids love rabbits, chicken and ducks more than tigers.

But dear Chief Minister, if you insist to carry on with the Tiger Park, how about making it like the Gladiators where we feed bad and corrupted politicians to the tigers? Now, that will be a nice idea, eh?