We love swiftlet farming

“血燕”產品全面下架! Contaminated Red Bird's Nest Pulled From Shelves!

2011-10-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

Contaminated Red Bird's Nest Pulled From Shelves!

Damn those who directly involve in this inconsiderate and unlawful act!

Why always because of some industry black hats, all of us are screwed?

I wish them nothing but all the fxxking best..

隨著“問題血燕”在中國曝光，馬來西亞農業及農基工業部長拿督斯里諾奧馬表示，政府正著手對燕窩生產加工出口各環節加強監管。

“問題血燕”風波之後，在中國內地市場，“血燕”產品已全面下架，就連“白燕”也受到波及。

香港市場難找到大馬燕窩

在香港，新華社記者於十一黃金週期間走訪多家燕窩產品制售企業，發現儘管商家競相打折促銷，燕窩專柜仍少人問津。由於被曝光的“問題血燕”絕大多數來自大馬，香港市場已很難找到大馬燕窩。散裝的燕窩，產地幾乎全部標注為“印尼”。

諾奧馬日前在吉隆坡接受新華社記者專訪時說：“其實‘紅燕’跟‘血’沒有關係，而是燕窩形成過程中，與山洞中的礦物質發生了化學反應；市場上那些顏色均勻豔麗的紅色燕窩，很可能就是假冒的有問題燕窩。”

他指出，在大馬，大部份的燕窩是屋燕。洞燕要在山洞裡天然生產，產量稀少，只佔全部燕窩的十分之一左右。在價格上，平均每千克屋燕3千到4千令吉馬幣，而洞燕大約每千克1萬1千令吉，價格是屋燕的3倍左右。

“一些燕窩商把白燕製成所謂的‘血燕’，其實是為了迎合消費者對‘血燕’的崇拜，抬高燕窩價格，從中牟利。”

含亞硝酸鹽未必造假

針對燕窩中的亞硝酸鹽含量問題，大馬剛剛頒佈一個屋燕安全標準：沒有加工、清洗過的燕窩，要確保亞硝酸鹽含量在70毫克/千克以下；加工後可以直接食用的燕窩，則要求在30毫克/千克以下。

諾奧馬說：“我認為不能說含有亞硝酸鹽就是造假，如果一個燕窩沒有弄乾淨，比如鳥糞多，亞硝酸鹽含量也會高。不過，含量如果高得太明顯了，那就很有可能是假冒的。”

他說，為了確保燕窩品質，大馬規定燕窩生產加工銷售廠商必須註冊，並將註冊信息提供給中國政府。在出口方面，將由獸醫局負責頒發健康證書；農業部一步步地將燕窩產業規範化，就是為了增加消費者的信心。

中國衛生部食品安全綜合協調與衛生監督局標準處處長張旭東則表示，針對人們的關切，衛生部正在組織收集數據、開展研究。對燕窩中人為濫用亞硝酸鹽的行為，有關部門將加強監管，嚴厲打擊。

Source: （星洲日報）

I am one of them?

2011-09-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Are you a registered operator?

Not yet?

1,271 swiftlet traders in Johor

There are 1,271 registered swiftlet operators in Johor with the bulk of them in the state capital.

State Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Committee chairman Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the registered operators had exported about RM27.09mil worth of bird's nest products last year alone.

“This includes RM14.22mil of processed edible bird's nest (EBN) and RM12.87mil of unprocessed EBN.

“We are also ensuring that newly registered operators are equipped with Radio Frequency Identification Technology tracking devices to certify the quality of their products,” he said during the state assembly meeting here yesterday.

Abdul Aziz said swiftlet operators were also advised to adhere to breeding regulations, monitor diseases and the quality of bird's nest produced and attend courses on animal husbandry practices to improve production standards.

By DESIREE TRESA GASPER
desiree@thestar.com.my

Successful external sound free for download!

2011-09-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dear swiftlet lover,

You may download this external sound for free.
But try it at your own risk, ok? -).

Click here to download

Thank you and happy swiftlet farming!

马来西亚养燕业历史（中）

2011-01-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

续“马来西亚养燕业历史（上）” 2009年3月30号上载的文章。

Continued from "History of Swiftlet Farming Industry In Malaysia" article dated 30th March 2009。

在2003年，1997年经济大风暴前的房价大泻一半以上。举例：四层店屋从600千跌到350千，三层店屋则从300千跌到只有140千，房租方面之前平均两千元跌到区区900元而已。更糟的是有些根本就没人要租！少了房租，欠债纍纍之下，房主所面对的压力是可想而知的。如果是在西方国家，政府早就援手帮忙了。偏偏就是发生在大马，求助挽如痴人说梦，大家唯有自力更生靠自己。

自从租金管制法令被废除后（1.1.2000开始），成千上万的战前老屋被空置及因租金问题而归还房主。这情况更造成疲惫的房市雪上加霜，更加恶劣。在槟城就有三千多间战前老屋沦为吸毒者追龙的天堂。

至2008年，威省以及槟岛，已有3000和300间燕屋之多。两地加起来的燕窝产量总值大概有马币16.5亿。

假如每件燕屋每个月平均可以出产两公斤的燕窝，3,300 燕屋 X 2kg =6,600 kg X RM 4,000 =RM 26,400,000/月 X 12 月 =RM 316,800,000 的外汇（2008年）。更和况燕窝增长率每年有20%到80%之多。

本文翻译及摘自David Lim's Report On The Malaysia Swiftlet Nest Industry Issues

How are you? Ah Seng

2011-01-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

**

Ah Seng. How are you? Lg Ngapain?

I think it's more than 2 years already, never get back to my another "kampung", Pantai Cermin, 45 minutes traveling distance from Medan.

How is your life? I hope all is well.

For so long never contact you. Maybe I am too busy, you too.

I still remember how we spent time together at Gang Itik, with other buddies : Pak Sam, San Kau, Ah Nam, Ko ah Long, Ko Leong, Ko Ardis...

Haha, I learned quite a lot of Dutch words from Indonesian Language : beton for concrete, gang for lane, gratis for free, kantoor for office, tang for pliers, etc, etc...

Those days, we've got less worry, most important thing is that, we were free and happy.

Sweet memories...Pantai Cermin indeed a quiet, peaceful, air-refreshing & livable place on earth for a person like me who enjoy living in small village.

Also horrible memories, 2004, Tsunami, remember how we escaped for life to Medan during the second big wave...no electricity, hand phone line down, how terrible...don't want to say more about it...

But, Ah Seng, to be honest, my one year plus' stay here is never been regretted & in fact is always worth all the while.

Those days are gone... life is different here now..

Oh I still keep your hand phone no, the number is so long, 12 digits man...

I miss Pante Cermin and all the friends staying there. They are so friendly, kind & helpful.

Wish I can get back there again, and I don't know I still have that chance or not.

Maybe Pak Ardis will let you know when...

So how is your BH? Must be full house 'liao'.

BTW, thanks for the tips given to me during my last stay there.

Pity you, once we left (Sam Man & me), you have less 2 friends who can communicate with you in Chinese.

When you are in Malaysia, just give me a call, ok?

Until the day we meet again, I wish you & your family good health and fortune. You are truly my best Indonesian friend!

** - Pantai Cermin Theme Park.

Bird's Nest: From Source to Pot

2011-01-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

谁知杯中窝，盏盏皆辛苦啊！

From source to the pot, birds’ nests take a lot of painstaking and careful effort to produce.

Swiftlet nests which are harvested from caves are naturally nourished with iron and minerals. For those who have a gastronomic liking for birds’ nest, this piece of information may be of interest.

The reddish and yellowish tinge found in birds’ nests is actually a mark of authenticity, according to Dr Charles Leh, zoologist and curator of Natural History at the Sarawak Museum.

“When the nests come in contact with the cave walls they absorb the minerals and this is what makes them red. The cave walls and stones which are enriched with mineral elements such as iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium give the nests their colour,” Dr Leh says.

Last year, there was some uproar about the quality of birds’ nest, during which some processing factories in the country were taken to task for allegedly using dangerous carcinogenic chemicals to give the nests their reddish colour.

Confusion also arose as to which sort of birds’ nest was the real McCoy – the white or red/yellow ones.

“House nests have no mineral elements, therefore they should be white or have a light yellow hue, but never red unless the house was built with rock,” explains Dr Leh.

“This should be an indication of the authenticity of birds’ nests. If a consumer comes across a red house nest, they should know that it is fake.”

Birds’ nests refer to the saliva of a group of small birds known as edible-nests swiftlets. These thumb-sized birds weigh less than 5g. During the breeding season, which takes 45 days, each pair can produce a full nest of saliva, weighing as much as their own body weight.

The saliva is produced from a pair of glands located beneath the bird’s tongue. Both the male and female have a pair of these sublingual glands and contribute towards nest building.

The tri-colour Hua Yan birds’ nest (which contains red, yellow and white nest strands), trademarked by healthcare company and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) specialist Eu Yan Sang (1959) Sdn Bhd, is considered to be among the top-of-the-line birds’ nest product in the market.

Hua Yan birds’ nest is promoted as having a host of health benefits “such as 16 amino acids, five carbohydrates including EGF, MSF and sialic acid, and minerals”.

The raw cave nests with their reddish base.

Strict quality control goes into ensuring that the natural nutrients of each Hua Yan birds’ nest is retained before it is put on the shelf.

“The key is finding a supplier who processes birds’ nest the correct way without any chemical bleaching and in the end provides consumers the highest grade of birds’ nest. The craft of processing the nests is actually a key issue as it determines how much of the natural nutrients of the nests are retained after processing,” says Eu Yan Sang general manager Wong Kah Cane.

Kuching, Sarawak, is said to be the major processing centre for birds’ nests. For Eu Yan Sang, the main supplier is Double Swallow Enterprise, a processing factory located in Tapah, a small town about 40 minutes’ drive from Kuching.

Double Swallow Enterprise is owned by the Eng family, namely patriarch Eng Cheng Teng, 68, and his son, Richard. The 1,673sq m processing factory is where skilled workers from the nearby village work for hours to clean the raw birds’ nests, which are harvested from the caves in April, August and December.

“The nests are collected from the Niah and Gomantong caves by the locals. During the harvesting season, we will go there to inspect the quality of the raw nests. We bring back an average of half a tonne per trip. Birds’ nests are worth their weight in gold and there have been some instances in which people were robbed after they collected the nests from the caves,” reveals Richard.

In Kuching, the nests are left to age for about a year to, according to Richard, “strengthen their molecules”.

“During the first collection, each nest should have a reddish base colour with black feathers sticking to it. The amount of feathers also depends on the seasons. The fewer the feathers, the thicker the nest, which is why it is important to collect nests during the right season. The rainy season is best because the birds retain most of their feathers, thus leaving less on the nests. Because of the presence of minerals from the cave walls, the nests will change colour after five or six months,” he says.

The Eng family business has been around for 50 years and was started by Richard’s grandmother, Chew Siew Lan.

“She started the business in Kuching. At that time, the raw nests cost RM200 per kg. Now it is RM2,000 per kg. Currently I help my parents run the business with the help of my nieces and nephews. I also learn a lot about the birds’ nest business from Dr Leh as we often visit the caves together,” says Richard.

The labour that goes into cleaning each nest to make sure it is pure and fit for consumers is intensive. “Of course, it is cheaper and faster to clean them using chemical bleaches but then all the nutrients and proteins would be lost or destroyed. We make sure that our supplier does not use any bleach whatsoever. There is no machinery used and everything is done by hand,” says Wong.

Each strand is assembled in a mould.

Processing raw nests

The nests are first soaked in hot water for 15 minutes to make them softer and to allow them to expand. The trick is not to soak them for too long.

There are 70 to 90 strands per nest. “The value drops if they fall apart so it is important to have good hand skills when working with them,” says Richard.

Next is the tedious process of removing the feathers from the nests. The workers painstakingly do this with sharp tweezers.

“They don’t use gloves to avoid cross-contamination. This is in line with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. Depending on the worker’s skills, each of them ideally needs to clean 1kg of nests per day.”

The nests are hung to dry for two to three hours (depending on the quantity) in a cloth sack to remove excess moisture. They are then kept in a cold room to prevent bacterial contamination. “We don’t re-soak and the temperature has to be perfect so that the nest won’t freeze and spoil,” says Richard.

After this, there is one more round of cleaning to remove any remaining dirt and feathers. “There are no machines involved here. We make sure the staff has good eyesight to pick up the tiniest particles. This is how we take extra precautions to ensure the end product is clean. All the work is done on stainless steel tables so there is no contamination.”

The next round of processing is done in an air-conditioned part of the factory. Before they enter this area, workers stand in a narrow corridor for 30 seconds in front of a blower (to rid themselves of dust) before they each don shoes, gloves, a vest and a hairnet. Such procedure conforms to the GMP standards.

Their work is to arrange the clean, luminous strands of nests into moulds. Thicker strands are placed on the bottom, followed by thin ones on the sides. The worker has to ensure that the strands do not break and to throw away the bad ones.

“Many of our customers complain when they see broken strands in the package. The average weight of each piece is controlled by the size of the mould,” says Wong.

Tedious process: Removing the feathers from a nest is a painstaking process.

Next, the mould is removed and the nests are placed on a steel tray with a wire mesh for another process of drying. This is done in a temperature-controlled drying room where the air movement is also controlled. After a few hours, the nests are packed in plastic boxes and shipped to Eu Yan Sang where they are re-packed with the company’s packaging.

“At Eu Yan Sang, we sell the birds’ nests according to pieces instead of weight because after some time, they become lighter. At that point they can easily break and must be handled with care. This is why we trust and maintain a good relationship with the Eng family as our supplier because we know how they operate,” Wong says.

Eu Yan Sang was founded in 1879 by Eu Kong, a migrant Chinese from Foshan, Guandong. It started in Gopeng, when Eu Kong noticed that the local tin miners widely used opium as a means to ease their daily pains and ill-health.

He began to dispense Chinese herbal remedies as substitute to opium. This set the stage for the Eu Yan Sang story.

“Yan” in Chinese means benevolent, kind or humane. “Sang” is birth, life or livelihood. Together, it means “Caring for Mankind”.

Tips on cooking bird's nest

Birds nest is best boiled and consumed with simple rock sugar.

> Dip the nest in water for at least 10 minutes to remove any dust on the surface. For the Hua Yan nest, it is best to soak it for at least two hours. The red-coloured nest should be soaked overnight. When ready, the nest should be fully expanded and soft to the touch. If it’s possible, use filtered or cool boiled water for soaking the nest.

> Do not throw out the water used to soak the nests. Pour it into a double-boiler pot with the nest and cook for two-and-a-half to three hours. Then add rock sugar according to your personal taste. (For home nests, boiling should not exceed 40 minutes, otherwise the nest will completely dissolve.)

The use of a double-boil pot is to avoid direct heating and a piece of cloth should always be placed beneath the top pot. Using boiled water and steam to “cook” the bird’s nest ensures that heat is regulated (less than 100°C) to preserve the nutritional goodness of the nests.

> Turn off the heat. Do not open the lid yet. Let the contents cool for 30 minutes. The liquid should be smooth and clear.

Source : The Star 9th Jan 2011. "Building bird's nests" by Aida Ahmad

Well Done, Sarawak! Syabas!

2011-01-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

Bird’s nest production rises 36%

SARAWAK’s production of swiftlet nests rose by 36% from 2,095kg in 2008 to 2,854kg last year, with an export value of RM8.37mil and RM11.41mil respectively.

Planning and Resource Management Assistant Minister Naroden Majais said the increase showed that the industry had the potential to be successfully developed in the state.

He added that, as of October this year, the production was 1,757kg valued at RM7mil.

“Swiftlet farming is a potentially lucrative industry. The market price for swiftlet nests ranges from RM3,000 to RM10,000 per kg depending on the quality and grade of the nests.

“China is our biggest market for edible swiftlet nests, followed by Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia,” he told the State Assembly in Kuching in reply to Julaihi Narawi (BN - Sebuyau), Datuk Wan Abdul Wahab Wan Sanusi (BN - Sadong Jaya) and Abu Seman Jahwie (BN - Jemoreng).

Naroden said that two licences were needed for commercial swiftlet farming, one to construct the building for the swiftlets to nest in and one for the rearing of the birds.

He said the state received 1,111 applications for swiftlet farming from 2008 to Oct this year. Of this, 248 licences to construct buildings and two to rear swiftlets were approved while the rest were still being evaluated.

He added that the construction of swiftlet farms was continuously monitored to prevent illegal farming operations.

“The Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation conducted two inspections between 2009 and March this year, from which 418 swiftlet farming premises are being investigated.

“The state has also issued warnings to owners of illegal swiftlet farms. They are advised to submit the necessary applications,” he said.

Source : The Star Nov 3, 2010 by Sharon Ling

Dog Kennel or Open Roof?

2011-01-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Dog kennel or open roof?

We can choose it all to our liking.

But, we at least should know why we opt for dog kennel not open roof, or vice versa.

Personally, I prefer open roof type of entrance opening, for both standalone & town BH.

The reasons being:

- People won't be so easy to count nos of birds staying inside your BH. So your BH will have more privacy & security. DK type will have no secret, it is more transparent to public where busy body can conveniently guess and estimate the quantity of birds.

- Birds can fly in from any direction, so long as your tweeters are installed correctly. It's better suit beginner who is not familiar with swiftlet flying pattern.

- Some say it gives faster result as it minimise check points for the birds to test before it feels comfortable to enter the inter-hole.

- It is the only entrance accepted by the local authority for town BHs.

- Lesser public complaints & nuisance problem.

However, open roof also has some drawbacks and this is why some quarters choose dog kennel instead.

- Easily broken into by thieves from the opening.

- Take up quite big space as roving area.

- a bit difficult to control brightness.

Worry, Worry, Worry.

2011-01-02T06:46:00.000-08:00

Too many worries..

In swiftlet farming, we have so many things to worry about.

From Day One we embark on this trade, we are destined to encounter various types of problems : technical problems, human problems, communication problems, environmental problems, etc, etc, etc.

There are so many things to take care of, either newbie or expert, there is no way we could get the problems off our minds for a while...

人在江湖，身不由己啊。。

and we always have to stay alert, in top form, to gain extra strength to cope with the problems one by one from the inception stage until the full house.

Basically, things to worry can be summarised as below:

1) Most newbie's worry. From 2nd-3rd month since BH started "open sound" (开声），which is the so-called golden period of growth (黄金时段）, we are anxious to know whether our new BH is able to lure the swiftlet to stay inside by counting on their dropping.

2) Ditto. 1st year since BH operated (normal warranty period = 1 year, within this period the consultant will hold the BH key and the owner has no say at all & cannot interfere with the BH design), a newbie has to deal with the question of whether the consultant they engaged is a true consultant or or a con-man. Anyway, the result will tell the true story. Sad to say that the statistic shows that 80% of the newbies will have failed outcome. It all depends on luck. This is the heavy price newbie has to pay for learning the 'lesson one'.

3) After getting the BH on the right track, we need to ensure it is always kept in good shape to maintain the growth (by counting the bird's quantity or bird's nests quantity). If the growth is slow down, we will start wondering and worrying what the hell is going wrong, again & again, we will repeat asking a lot of questions, endlessly searching for the culprits, and troubleshooting it once discovered (if only we knew it). If not, we will still be going all out to explore all the possibilities to churn out some solutions for improving the result. It is a painstaking trial & error process. We have to go through all this all by our own selves. Trust me, nobody wants such nightmare!

4) Predators. Yes, we are so scared to see them in our BHs, be it a lizard, rat, gecko, owl, snake,...and regular housekeeping is necessary to minimise this problem.

5) Thieves. Old and successful BH owners always worry on this threat. This uninvited guests normally have been watching the BH for quite some time and will attempt to take action during the public holidays. CCTV, alarm systems & height cannot stop them, unless we employ a guard to watch the BH.

6) Authorities. Unregistered ranchers face the risk of impending crackdown by the local authority & various infamous government departments. They can introduce all sort of unfair regulation & policy to shut down the BHs, confiscate the equipment & bird's nests, and stop the BH operation. The future is unclear. The fine and distortion is imminent.

With so many undesired things to digest & chew, tell me, how can we not worry?

Move Out (搬迁) !!??

2010-12-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

Move Out (搬迁) !!??

How?

We people can move out from any house to any new house, but not the swiftlets...

Swiftlet ranching is not like any other poultry rearing.

Apart from it requires the ranchers tremendously pour in a lot of endeavour, time and money....

the swiftlet must need a sanctuary called BH, which is fixed & cannot be 'change place' at all.

Once change location, all the birds will be gone forever...and

Similarly, there goes all the effort thrown in, money spent and time spared, down to the drain...

Appended please read the related news form thestar and sinchew.

Thursday December 30, 2010

Swiftlet farms ordered to move out of heritage site

GEORGE TOWN: The state government has ordered unregistered swiftlet farms within the George Town Unesco Heritage site to move out by Saturday or face action.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the operators would be fined if they refused to have the birds’ nests removed from the farms.

“If we allow this, more farms may be set up and we will be having heritage buildings that are empty inside except for birds and their nests,” he said here yesterday.

Chow said the state believed there were around 32 new or unregistered swiftlet farms within the core zone.

“We will issue compounds of RM250 against the new and unregistered farms from Jan 1 if they refuse to move out.

“We will also take them to court,” he said.

He added that the move was in accordance with the new swiftlets farming guidelines approved by the National Council for Local Government which was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister.

“The council also decided that swiftlet farming activities are not allowed within Unesco Heritage sites in Malacca and George Town,” he said.

To date, Chow said there were 129 registered swiftlet farm operators on the island with 78 located within the heritage zone.

檳明年严厉执行养燕指南‧燕屋3年內须迁出世遗区

2010-12-29 18:30

（檳城29日讯）明年1月1日开始，檳州政府將严厉执行世界文化遗產区內不准养燕以及燕屋必须在3年內迁出古蹟区的国家养燕业发展指南（1GP），冥顽不灵的养燕业者將面对法庭诉讼及拆除燕屋设施的下场。

罪成最高罚50万

地方政府执法当局將优先对付那些刚刚在古蹟区进行养燕的新业者，以及未向当局申请註册的燕屋业者，一旦控上法庭且罪名成立，將在城乡规划法令下面对最高50万令吉罚款以及最高两年监禁。

至於檳岛市政局执照组每发出一张传票，则是250令吉。

檳州地方政府事务委员会主席曹观友行政议员今日召开新闻发佈会，透露州政府已成立一支技术委员会来执行地方政府理事会所批准的国家养燕业发展指南，这支委员会將以檳岛市政局建筑组主任尤端祥为首。

在今年9月2日，以副首相丹斯里慕尤丁为首的地方政府理事会批准落实有关指南，指南阐明古蹟区內不准再进行养燕活动，同时文化遗產区內现有的燕屋，必须在3年的宽限期內搬迁至被允许的地方。

尤端祥指出，向檳岛市政局註册的养燕业者或燕屋多达129个，其中78个是在乔治市古蹟內运作，此外，古蹟区內也出现32个非法操作的养燕活动。

12月23日
发正式通知

“执法组会先对付新来者（也是非法养燕的业者），然后便是32个未註册的养燕活动，最后则是78名持有准证的业者。”

他说，当局已在12月23日发出正式通知予上述78名养燕业者，提醒他们在3年內逐步迁出古蹟核心区及缓衝区。

他也提醒，明年1月1日开始，这些业者不准播放引燕声，所有播音系统必须即刻拆除。

“至於那些非法操作的养燕业者，我们会在明年1月1日开始展开执法行动。截至目前，我们已对4名新的业者（未註册）採取行动。”

曹观友：2种形式执法
通过诉讼及拆燕屋设施

曹观友说，当局將以两种形式展开执法行动，第一就是通过檳岛市政局的执法组来发出通知书、传票以及採取法庭诉讼行动，同时也会展开拆除燕屋內部设施等。

至於第二种方式则是由檳州兽医局负责，该局將在適当的季节协助搬迁养燕场所，而兽医局拥有这方面的专才。

他说，燕子一年有三次的繁殖期，搬迁行动必须在雏燕懂得飞行后才能展开，以免造成不必要的伤害。

“兽医局也採用各种方法，使到原有的燕屋不再適合养燕，让燕子回不到燕屋，例如安装网线及封闭墙洞。”

询及当局是否已鑑定適合的地区让养燕业者迁移，曹观友说，兽医局会协助鑑定，而新的地区一般上是在农业地。

在这项指南下，当局无须对必须搬迁的养燕业者作出任何赔偿。

尤端祥：各方须遵守条例

尤端祥坦言，檳州燕窝业公会对於国家养燕业发展指南的落实反应欠佳，也提出爭议，但这是条例，大家都必须遵守。

曹观友则希望这些业者能全面配合及合作，以便搬迁行动顺利，把不必要的问题减至最低。

“我瞭解该公会曾经保证不会破坏燕屋的建筑建构，同时將尽力保持原貌，但是，我希望他们瞭解，世界文化遗產强调的是活古蹟，若最终鸟比人多，这座古蹟城將变成鸟城，而建筑內质也空洞了。”

星洲日报‧2010.12.29

Bye Bye Tiger, Here Come Rabbit!

2010-12-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of the decade.

This year, have gone through the bitterness of losing someone I love as well as tasted the sweetness & the fruition of understanding and love...

Life have not been easy. All of us is inescapable.

How many time of ups and downs, rise and fall we must face, before we get to enjoy the final achievement & success.

Back to the BH farming, be patient we must, be a fisherman we emulate so that at the end of the day we can fish for some thing very big.

At this juncture, I have my own personal wish list ready for my swiftlet farming projects in year 2011

1) Wish I can at least complete two BH projects, at least 1 town BH and 1 standalone.

2) Wish that my existing BH at the soonest reaching full house status.

3) Wish that I can learn and discover more tips in boosting up the result of the BH

So, my dear blog readers, what is your new year resolution?

I believe you sure have worked out some plans by now.

So, wishing you a very happy & sparkling new year and every success in swiftlet farming!

Good riddance the year of tiger,

Let us have a good and brand new start, rabbit!

Likes & Dislikes

2010-12-31T01:24:00.000-08:00

What do they commonly like?

- Like corners. They like to build nests at the corners of the nesting area.

- Like tweeters. Their choice of nest normally will be near to the tweeter. Maybe they feel safer by doing so.

- Usually they like darker area.

- They like to play around the new BH due to curiosity (with new sound) but will only build nest after staying for quite a while (provided the micro & design is ok).

- They will be much happier if we could provide fake nest to assist them (young birds) making nest.

- They like spacious roving area and rooms.

- They like well-managed BH.

- They prefer frequent taller BH.

- They like rainy days. (Finding food easier,…)

- How about you add some points here?

What do they commonly dislike?

- They fear of aerosol and knocking noise.

- They do not make nests at brighter area. We must control the light in our nesting rooms.

- They hate predators : owls, gecko, lizard, mouse, snake etc.

- They do not prefer obstruction or narrow flying space in a new BH. Sometimes accident may happen and may cause fatality. Ensure smooth flying is necessary.

- Dislike ambient temperature too warm (>32 °C) or too cold (lower than 28 °C)

- How about you add some points here?

Above is only my humble personal opinion. Do correct me if I am wrong.

Dragon Hole （笼口）

2010-12-22T04:29:00.000-08:00

Attached 2 photos showing another special type of entrance hole : Dragon hole or 笼口.

It looks like a combination of the monkey house, roving area and window type into one product.

Nowadays this type of entrance opening is rarely found in Malaysia.

It was introduced by Indonesia's consultant, IMHO, may be due to safety reason, it is not commonly practised in Malaysia's BHs.

Where is the biggest hazard that cause risk to the BH rancher?

Can you discover it from the pictures?

Giant Vacuum Cleaner!!!

2010-12-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

Hope you enjoy this short video clip.

It's amazing....

Each time I watch it, I am totally speechless...

This BH is like a vacuum cleaner, the "magnetic suction" is unbelievably strong...

Seeing the birds foraging around this BH like crazy makes me crazy too..

Btw I enjoy seeing this video clip, again and again, never feel tired.

Witness for yourself too, hope you will enjoy it too.

*Click full screen to watch for the birds.

Been away so long

2010-12-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Been away for so long...

I seldom write anything here since my father passed away few months ago.

After he left, I feel that in this world things happen so fast and the only thing remains unchanged is "change" itself.

However, in my life, I do believe in one little thing...when you plan to do anything, to be able to take the first step is very important in order to make thing change.

So let this article be my first step to gain back the momentum to resume writing here...

With Christmas around the corner, I wish everyone could leave behind the unhappy past, learn from the mistake, let go, move on and start a new & promising journey again!

Happy swiftlet farming!

Best Regards,

Engineer Lee

Do it till you succeed

2010-03-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

hi ,

I have been reading your blog on swiftlet farming and I really appreciate your work and writing about the industry .

I just need to get your advice for people like me just getting started to show some interest in swiftlet industry. After reading about this knowledge, it is no doubt that i wish to own a BH one day to learn about this bird species and also be able to test this delicacy at home. But the main thing is also the money. To build more farm with the profit earn and to be able to pass down to my children.

Looking at the Malaysian Bureaucratic laws and also the current problem such as the perhilitan and wildlife laws, they seems to be the obstacles every time.

What advice would u give to the newcomer in this industry? Will u encourage them to take the risk in this investment? If it is, what will we need to do to be in this business legally.

thank you again. hope i can get some light to begin my new career .

Jeffrey Goh

Dear Jeffrey:

Sorry for the late reply.

My gmail was hijacked by tons of spam mails and I nearly miss out your email.

Recently I am quite busy with my projects, I have a few projects to handle & all of them expected to be completed this year. One of it has to finish before Jun 10.

Swiftlet farming is one of my investments or so called little pressure-free project. But, I spend the least time on it. I feel lucky cuz I don't have to get fully tied up, like what happen in my construction business.

I realise that a lot of ppl concern and feel apprehensive over our regulation on the swiftlet farming. However, this will not stop me from moving forward. Like Chinese saying: "When the boat reaches the bridge, it will be straight". If we want to succeed, we have to get over with the obstacle one by one, tackle it one at a time, with our cool & steady mind.

Talking about doing the business legally 100% is a dream too far for the newbies right now. Just like to quote what Lucas's saying: Waiting for opportunity? Might as well create one. Once you embark on this industry, do have confidence. Do it till you succeed.

You can do it if you want.

Happy swiftlet farming!

Broken Windows

2010-01-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

The theory of broken windows.

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters.

The best part of the theory is that:-

We should fix the problems when they are small.

We can not afford to let the problems snowball until it requires strenuous effort for rectification later.

That’s why we need a lot of bold “fireman” like you for our embattled industry.

We need to put out the small fire before it becomes uncontrollable wild fire.

We are unable to change the industry, but at least we can save it from terrible disaster before it’s too late.

We may not be able to change our distant past. But we can still have the opportunity to shape our near future.

We need to take prompt action before thing goes wrong.

We need to voice out to the highest node to scare away the evil moves.

We should not wobble. We need to stand firm and move on.

It starts from us. Not the government. Yes, just you and me.

So my friends, where is your direction now?

We can be very "green"!

2009-12-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

We can be very green!

Our true colour is green, green, green!

Swiftlet ranching can be very environmental-friendly and mother-earth loving.

In my eyes, I see the beauty and the genuine efforts of our green peace-loving fellow ranchers.

Nothing is perfect under the hot sun, I do not deny that some of us have created a mess to the public, however, honestly I still believe that most of us have done our earth good while relentlessly chasing after our dream...

Hey, the reality and the best thing is... by building BHs we have played our parts in 4R our earth's resources :

1) Reduce

2) Recycle

3) Reuse

4) Rescue & respect

How & what have we reduced?

We reduce material wastage by reviving the abandoned projects and transformed them into successful BHs. We are the saviour of the sick and unwanted projects!

What have we recycled?

We can recycle the swiftlet droppings or guano as agriculture fertiliser.

We also keep the guano for the new BH use.

It is zero waste!

What have we reused?

Of course we reuse the bird's nests!

The used bird's nest (after the young birds fledging) can be used for human consumption.

What have we rescued?

We save and rescue the swiftlets by providing them a comfortable sanctuary and a place called home, by doing this, we reduce the fatality.

More importantly: we respect & protect the wildlife!

(Sometimes I doubt that by shutting down the BHs, the infamous Perhilitan/Forest is protecting or eliminating the swiftlet population? Your guess should be as good as mine)

Having the above said, a normal person should have good faith in what we are doing and

should support what we have done so far.

Thank you!

Happy new year 2010 and good luck to all!

Trust me, we save abandoned projects

2009-11-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

Swiftlet farming is an art, it transforms something low in value to high-value.

This awesome art has successfully converted thousands of abandoned projects or undesired surplus stocks into high income BHs.

It is a brilliant & million-ringgit-worth idea for the property developer to use this swiftlet farming concept to clear their unwanted & unsought-after units.

Instead of letting the unsold unit turning into haunted and run-down shop unit, it is given a second chance for some swiftlet farming masters to revive it and change it into a gold mine.

By doing this we are contributing to the economy growth, where we make sure every supply created is efficiently matched with the demand, whereby there is no efforts/resources wasted in the production process.

Trust me, we save abandoned projects!

Swiftlet farming is the last resort only when every avenues is exhausted to bring life to our failed projects!

However, I do not like the idea of constructing something like eco-parks, just purposely for swiftlet farming. To construct a 1 million 3 storeys building in 2 years which intended for swiftlet farming is too risky for a newcomer to take on, more so where there are lots of "con-men"out there eyeing to lure the new innocent victims into their trap.

I am not comfortable to accept that we should accept the whole idea of construct a building just for the sake of swiftlet ranching. Why not doing it for other purpose? Why not for business, manufacturing, education, and other more meaningful purpose?

After all, by converting an abandoned shop house, we give life to it, which I believe is far more meaningful than making a good location shop house an abandoned one.

I am not against standalone BH or ready-built eco parks. I just feel that we should do thing in a way where the ends justify the means and not the means justify the ends. I do not understand why...

Can someone enlighten me with some good explanations?

You are most welcome.

Someone wants to buy my BH!

2009-10-22T03:58:00.000-07:00

Someone wants to buy my BH, but I do not want to sell.

Not because the price offered is not attractive enough...

Not because I do not want to make money...

Do not think that everything in this world must have a price tag..

You can't buy love and passion....

Money can do everything for me,

but can't take the BH away from me.

Invest in yourself!

2009-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

There is nothing in the world more powerful than knowledge.

It is always worthwhile to invest in ourselves cause change of our mindset and attitude can lead to change of our fate.

It's been a while since I wrote the last article.

Apart from getting busy in my petty highway project, I also tried my level best to squeeze some precious time learning some lessons in home recording.

I always dreamt of producing my own album, all by myself, DIY from lyric, music, song, packaging, etc.

I hope it will be useful also for me in swiftlet ranching, especially in mixing & producing bird luring sound.

I know it is quite old for me to pick up the skill now.

But, I still believe that it is always never too late in life to invest in ourselves.

What say you?

Crack down again!

2009-08-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

（柔佛‧昔加末）昔加末县议会秘书慕斯达化表示，县议会將继续动用庭令，对付违反条例的养燕单位，进行拆除音响和扩音器的工作。

昔加末县议会执法组於8月17日，於昔加末旧市区的燕楼拆音响和扩音器。县议会是在取得庭令的情况下，向3家养燕单位（包括20层楼大厦）展开取缔行动。

慕斯达化表示，在检举养燕单位方面，地方政府面对一些难题，因为州政府主张禁止及查封养燕单位，但是联邦政府却主张发出准证给养燕单位，这“灰色地带”导致县议会在进行检举行动时，往往会陷入混淆的状况。

他披露，针对养燕单位问题，以副首相丹斯里慕尤丁担任主席的地方政府国家理事会將做出最后的定夺，不过最终的定案尚未明朗。

“既然不能贸然拆除养燕单位，县议会只能在接获任何严重性的噪音投诉后，即刻申请庭令以拆除养燕单位內的音响系统。”

他希望政府能儘快做出妥善的决定，以解决养燕单位所產生出的诸多问题。

Source: sinchew.com.my 星洲日报／大柔佛‧2009.08.19

Will you give us a break?

The public and BH ranchers are asking the same question.

If we are not able to control the noise problem, all will face the impact, nobody will gain.

May be this is the time for those uncooperative BH owners to slow down their BH music a bit...

Do not take thing for granted.

Do not underestimate what the local council can do.

Do not ask why we are not allowed to proceed when some of us do not give a damn on what they have done onto others.

Be a wise, responsible & reasonable farmer, then it will be alright.

In the same time I pray that the local government will not one broad sweep nailing down everyone.

Item

Location! Location! Location!

2009-08-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

Location may play a fundamental role in determining the bird nest growth rate of a BH.

If we use and repeat the similar design & method for BHs in different locations, it will definitely give us different result.

1 theory can not be practised throughout "1 Malaysia".

If designing a sucessful BH is so simple, we will have a lot of swiftlet farming "photocopy shop" providing/duplicating or churning out replica (like what we have seen in ecopark.)..we do not need to attend seminars, read books and search high & low for expert/sifu any more...

"Turnkey" concept is irrelevant for this industry, it is not meant or suitable or fit for lazy people who want to make money but do not want to go through the hardship.

One successful BH's secret recipe cannot be used 100% to guarantee another's. Everything is dependent on the environment (external & internal) and the circumstances...

Building BH in swiftlet hotspot area tends to have higher successful rate as compared to non-favorable area.

This is due to birds growth rate.

Be that as it may, it does not mean that we will have failed farm in non-hotspot area, is just that it will take longer gestation period for the ranchers to get back their money invested owing to the slower growth rate.

I have seen, many a times, there are more birds "swarming" the BHs located at some special areas and just one KM down the road, there are lesser birds populated the BHs over there. Some sifus try to explain such phenomenon as "due to the location is not in the flying path of the swiftlets".

It is analogical to property investment where the rental yield for houses located in prime area will be higher & growing faster than the slump area and the former will be comparatively much sought after by the buyers. Of course swiftlet hotspots will command higher investment cost. If the rancher does not have deep pocket, he/she will face no choice but downgrade to tolerate and accept areas where property value is lower and in the same time having lesser birds & lower growth rate.

So be wise to choose the location.

Personally, I will choose moderately good location and in the same time build a value-for-money BH, & it ought to be within my means.

But, a BH in the jungle will not be my first choice.

Does size matter?

2009-08-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

Since I graduated, I have never looked back for a while.

Sweet memories, bad experience, happiest moments, ups and downs, they just come and go so fast...I would say that construction industry is really making wonders out of scratch.....and it's not too exaggerate to say it is out of thin air....

All these years, I have completed many projects, from one as big as a dam to as small as a BH.

I find that both dam & BH share a common characteristic where they are to be constructed within a certain time frame and budget and they need the builder's very strong determination, team work, concerted effort & perseverance to overcome the hardship before achieving the final product.

Does size really matter, when it comes to measurement of level of satisfaction towards our achievement?

No, I personally don't feel so.

To me, it's equally challenging to ensure a successful completion of a BH, as compared to a dam, bridge or a super highway.

However, if you thought that the size is the only difference between these two projects, you could not have been more wrong.

To me, I discover that the stark difference between them is :

"How we react during the rainy days"

Most of the builders who undertake to construct highway or external infrastructure works, have had the same experience that during rainy season they feel very helpless and frustrated cause their whole operation at site has to be shutdown until sunshine comes back again.

And yet on the other hand for a BH, it is totally reversed, it's kind of blessing that during the rainy days, we will have more birds visit our BHs to build nests. Every ranchers will laugh all the way to the bank for the resounding results...

Believe it or not?

This is not just a story-telling. This is a gift from God. This is real.

Problems faced by the bird's nest industry

2009-08-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

The disaster is happening when power prevails and law legitimizes what prevails..

It is a disgrace of our nation that some abusive departments are trying to be funny & going to great lengths to take us backward when it is unquestionably that we are enjoying the benefits & income generating from the God-send gifts.

Why should we follow blindly the insensible policies (the uncalled-for exit tax)?

Why that should be so?

Where is the spirit of promoting economic freedom?

Can we see any of the government's constructive vision for this "smokeless" industry?

Can we see any brighter hope in the foreseeable future?

We can't move very far if we are heading to the wrong direction....

Here are some articles pertaining to the problems faced by the public/traders/tourists in the import & export of BN in Malaysia by DL.

You can click the following links to download the files.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/goknj0m1imn/hili1.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/cmfzwtnyt2i/hili2.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/gzzwjjjmnv2/hili3.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/e4gtmdmqwjk/hili4.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/lmynyimdxro/hili5.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/evd2m2wztog/hili6.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/dny1nntnjum/hili7.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jn5uzzy5nlm/hili8.jpg

Poultry humidifier VS mist-cooling-system humidifier

2009-07-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Poultry humidifier (半天露)

1. Convenient, easy to use, controllable with timer.

2. Cheaper, around RM300-500 per nos.

3. Bird shit may deposit in the fan. However, this problem can be solved by covering it with a metal deck sheet.

4. A bit noisy.

Mist-cooling-system humidifier (喷雾)

1. More expensive, around RM2000

2. Spraying outlet opening tends to get choked.

3. Not easy to control the temperature, need the aid of hygrostat.

4. Need to have duty and standby units, 2 nos, in case the duty unit broken down.

5. Incur higher BH maintenance cost.

Swiftlet Farming Is 4D!

2009-07-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

About 10-20 years ago, people defined luxurious lifestyle as owning 5"C":

They are:

1) Car

2) Cash

3) Career

4) Condominium &

5) Credit card

However, these criteria are already obsolete and become nothing special in today's world.

Nowadays, people are more concerning about how long that we can maintain our present luxurious lifestyle if one day we loss our job. Any serious impact on our career will straight away take away our other "C"s.

Today, if you venture into swiftlet farming and are successful, you not only own 5"C", but own as well the other 4"D".

Well then what is 4 D?

Haha,,, :)

It is "Duduk Diam-diam Dapat Duit" (The meaning is : sit quietly also get money)

I have seen so many people talk about birds from morning til afternoon and til evening without doing anything, the money still coming into their pockets. They own the freedom to travel from here to everywhere coz....

The money is chasing after them!

This is a very lucrative trade. If the knowledge, skill and experience can be shared and the sifus are willing to reveal the secret, I believe that everyone will be 4D, haha, anyway it's just my wishful thinking, thinking too much of birds recently until suffering from swiftlet hallucination.....

Hopefully, like Air Asia : Now Everyone Can Fly!

it will one day be:

Now Everyone Can Swiftlet Farming!

Where do you come from? Where do you go? My lovely swiftlet

2009-07-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Where are they going everyday?

Where do they come from?

Where will they go during the last moment of their lives?

All these questions will remain mystery & unsolved to me, at least not for a while...

Their movement is so swift that we barely can observe & watch & "lock-on" them with our naked eyes, let alone tracking them without the aid of proper scientific equipment...

Aerodramus Fuciphagus, some say that they can travel as fast as 80 km/h and can travel as far as few hundreds km's radius away from their BH/cave/home in search of food...

They are very special living creature. They eat, rest and play in the sky. They will never touch the ground due to their thin legs. So what happen if one day they are sick? I presume they seldom fall sick and even so, they will stay inside the BH/cave. They will fly and fly until their last breath where they will drop down free-fall from the sky...

That's why the chance is very slim, close to zero for them to spread over any contagious disease due to this special nature.

Heard from some sifus that apart from a place for socialising, mixing, playing, gathering, mating, etc the swiftlets must also have a sacred place for them to rest in peace. Else, why can't we find any of their dead bodies? Definitely not in the BHs (except accident cases), not under the trees, not on the roads, not on the roof, and not within our visibility.

I believe that there must be a place they choose to go thru the last moment of life quietly...come quietly and leave unnoticeably....

However, we have never seen their burial ground before.

If it happened to be one, I think it should be perfectly research-worthy and also should be a place closest to the heaven....

After all, this is only my unsolicited guess. Is there anybody out there to enlighten me with the true facts?

You are most welcome coz I like to know.

Where is 贵人 ?

2009-07-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

I don't think there is an English word for "贵人".

Well, "贵人" is someone who offers to help us unconditionally when we are in deep trouble.

I always like to think that if there is a "贵人" be there to help us, it is easier and faster for us to achieve the dream of building a successful BH, as we would not need to beat around the bush and especially be exposed to the risk of being conned by the conman.

Who are our "贵人" and how to find "贵人" ?

It all boils down to one thing: when the "贵人" turns up, are we ready to welcome him/her? Or put it in another way, is it worth for the "贵人" to offer something to you?

As such, we need to observe and think, think and observe..Just like the bird, observe, judge and think before making decision to stay in your BH and confirm that your BH is a "贵屋".

It is most important that we should make ourselves well-prepared to meet the "贵人".

Be sincere, honest and humble I believe we will be able to find him/her soon...

Good luck!

Just Beat It!

2009-07-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

In this industry, there are plenty of things that we can do and cannot do.

We do not need a scientist's brain to understand this.

Choose the right side, stick to it and never cross over to the wrong side. Hold on to our principle. Listen to our true heart. We will be fine, alright and happy as always.

Everybody understands that everything is money, but money is not everything. We do not do things that will hurt others, invite public wrath and cost dearly to our fellow friends just for the sake of gaining some extra money.

It is important that our good reputation should come in the first place and should not be jeopardized at all.

Just think twice before we start doing anything. When we are craving for the Godsend gift, we do not need to overdo it until it has to sacrifice others' livelihood and peaceful lives .

Recently, we have witnessed so many ugly things happen around us...However,....

Whatever has been done is considered done, we do not cry over the spilled milk and...

We have to move on,..

Those people who had done it either intentionally or unintentionally, we hope that they will be forgot and forgiven. Otherwise, they owe it to themselves a good reason why they should not be judged in hell..

Those people who are planning to do it, we hope that they can pull the hand-brake now before it is too late...

Swiftlet farmers should not to be seen as lame duck. We are the mastermind of the art & science in delivering & engineering a high value BH. Our success does not come so easily. It takes a lot of hardship and efforts thrown by going thru the passage of time.

No need to argue about what we have accomplished so far. It is proven that we have given life to the abandoned & low value real properties whereby we convert the hopeless into high value investment.

During such process, we do not follow everything verbatim, but we try to make use of what we learned and make improvement again and again untiringly until we see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Most importantly, we do not plagiarise.

Not like some of the ecopark developers..

They are following our footstep blindly, copycatting, and worse they do not allow 'simbiosis' and they try to stab us from behind, step on us to climb to the next level.

This is something we should not tolerate and compromise..

We, town swiftlet farmers are nobody but nobody cannot simply replace us as true swiftlet farmers.

We have to make clear to them...

We will not be afraid to fight our own course!

We will fight until the last bullet to protect ourselves from the evil agendas!

We will not be wobble in eradicating the black hats who are trying to put sand in our rice bowls!

We will stand firm to fight for our own survival!

From now on, all the town BH owners should set aside our differences, stand out to fight the evil together and to fend our rights by bravely speak out together before too late .

This is the right thing we can do and should do, in this industry.

By being united, we will be unbeatable and invincible.

Coz we will be always on the bright sides and the darker side cannot harm us.

We get over the obstacle but not the obstacle get over us.

Just do it, just beat it.

Good luck!

Home swiftlets home, home sweet home!

2009-07-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the below short video clip.

No Thanks To Johor Eco Park Developers!

2009-06-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Johor town BH farmers are in deep shit now!!!

Someone has drafted another proposals to wipe out the town BHs in Johor.

These proposals are drafted by people with very big hidden agenda, without the involvement of the Johor BN association, instead, only involved the Eco Park Developers.

As we know, Johor is one of the states that has the most Eco Parks developed.

Recently, we have

1) Eco Park in Simpang Renggam

Jointly developed by :

i) SSB Development Bhd (subsidiary of Swiftlet Sanctury Berhad) from JB.

ii) Julung Cipta Sdn Bhd (State Govt subsidiary)

iii) YWJ Citra (State Govt GLC)

Supported by UTM & Jabatan Pertanian Johor and Consultant : ShuangYan.

Proposed to construct 50 units of 3 storey terrace BH size 22'x 80'. Phase 1 launching 10 units. Selling price RM580k per unit.

2) Eco Park in Mersing

Developed by :

Swiftlet Property Management Sdn Bhd. from Mersing.

Proposed to construct 28 units of 4 storeys terrace BHs, size 24' x 80', Selling price per unit = RM 750k onwards.

3) Eco Park in Tangkak, Johor. Touted as "Suria Eco Park"

Developed by :

Yenzheka Bird Nest Design Specialist (1st BN house contractor ISO 9001 compliance)

Proposed to construct 65 units of BHs. Selling price per unit = RM 570 k.
Launching date : 18/1/09. Expected to complete within 2 years.

If the proposal materialises, it will affect thousands of town BHs in the cities especially JB, BP, Muar, Segamat... and also those towns like Simpang Renggam, Tangkak, Mersing and so on...

Appended below are the links to the uncalled-for proposals:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mkwunqwjmkj/f_johor0m_37dca46 Page1.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mf0jqz1mmyw/f_johor1m_61b3011 Page2.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/4lgjhzm4zwg/f_johor3m_a619b10 Page3.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/yezjjthztz2/f_johor4m_612ca69 Page4.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/neg2mkzzkxy/f_johor5m_861eceb Page5.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ynmonjyde5m/f_johor6m_fd50b58 Page6.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/cymqjdjmmjz/f_johor7m_768c0fc Page7.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nydglezmudt/f_johor8m_e8ad122 Page8.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/zwn2nknwilz/f_johor9m_232aa92 Page9.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rmf3gn5ydxz/f_johor10m_d65cca0 Page10.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/5mjmzt0ggiw/f_johor11m_13b4d11 Page11.jpg

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dyn1owzzd2j/f_johor13m_c45243d Page12.jpg

My dear Johor friends, this is gonna be a tough uphill battlefield...

God bless us..

来来来 Swiftlet!

2009-06-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

Aerodramus Fuchipagus Domesticus, they like to stay near to human population, especially the swiftlet lovers.

They are not scared of us once they get used to our environment and get to know that we are their good friends.

It’s amazing that the birds actually can understand our body language, granted, we give them enough exposure or training.

Have you tried this before?

Just climb up on your BH rooftop around 4-6 pm (but of course safety first, make sure your ladder is secured properly and if your BH can be accessed with a staircase it's better), wave your hand to one of them and say : "来来来" or come! come! come!

Then the swiftlet will fly to you, approach you and then fly away slowly.

You can also clap your hands, either way, it works.

Do this few times I believe this will make your day..

The exercise will help to increase your blood circulation..

Seeing it is believing, it's incredible but real. Seriously, I'm not joking.....

Try it yourself and enjoy it, you deserve it.

Good luck!

Town BH Licensing - why so difficult?

2009-06-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Why is it so difficult to get license to operate BHs in town?

It seems like more difficult than striking a lottery to secure one G**d**n license.

IMO, The main reason should be:

Public complaints, owing to the uncontrolled noise that arouses nuisance.

Let's study carefully..

First thing...

Let's see who are our opponents?

1) Some PBT officials, PBT (PIHAK BERKUASA TEMPATAN) or LOCAL GOVT AUTHORITIES or LOCAL COUNCIL, under the Ministry of Housing & Local Government

2) PERHILITAN, The wildlife department, Ministry of Environment

3) Public complaint unit, Ministry of Prime Minister

And then

Who are supportive of this trade?

1) PM

2) Dept of Veterinary Service (DVS or Jabatan Perkhidmatan Haiwan), Ministry of Agriculture.

3) Ministry of Finance

4) Ministry of Trade

Now, have you noticed it? Can you see the difference?

Ok, it is due to the public complaints again.

It all boils down to which department will receive the complaints and face the music from the top or pressure from the politicians who champion for the rakyat.

PBTs are the local "tai ko" or big brother who will be the first to be pressurized by the public if the BH creates social problems and mess up the relationship with their neighbors.

Kudos to the power of the "Rakyat". We should consider lucky that the rakyat has full grip in monitoring the monitor, which is the PBT. We should be happy to learn that the monitoring (pemantauan) system is still in place.

We should understand that without PBTs playing their roles in regulating and monitoring on this industry, nobody else can do that. This is because they are the local "tai ko" and like it or not, we have to live with the fact that they are the so-called little Napoleon who can affect our destiny. If they say can, sure "boleh", if they are 50-50, we must convince and sweet talk them to buy-in, if they insist saying ''no" then sorry to say that you have to say "sayonara" to your investment (jokinglah...). As such, making their lives unhappy is the last thing we should do & think of.

As a matter of fact, we can't deny and undermine the important roles of the PBTs.

Tell me,
Who should be held responsible if a BH collapses and takes away lives?
Who should be blamed if a BH causing fire hazard if the wiring is not properly done & causing short circuit?
Who should be sued if the water leaking from the pond is left unattended?
Who should be fine if the external sound blasts in the middle of the night due to malfunction of the timer?
and the questions go on...

The core problem and very fact is: most of the BH owners do not stay near to their BHs and do not leave any clue as how to get in touch with them during emergency. (may be due to security reason or fear to face the public wrath). They do not have the contingency plan, and they just sweep the problem under the carpet and let others (PBTs) to clean up their left over shit. This is really unkind and uncool!

We should have the PBT's blessing and support so that we can be allowed to take our wings to fly high to the next level.

Since PBT is the authority to legitimate the BHs and we do not want them to have negative impression on us, the onus is on us to prove to PBT that we can undertake to avoid or minimise public complaints by introducing some good control measures. Until this is done, where our domestic affair is well taken care of, we just do not have the audacity to ask for what we intend to ask for.

To me it is very important that do we accept the fact or not?

Our reputation is being tarnished year in and year out by the industry black sheep who does not give a damn on our neighbors' feeling.

I believe that all these years we have done quite well to teach and brief the PBT about our trade.

However, have we done the same the level best to educate our recalcitrant few or so called black sheep?

It's them, it's their arrogance & uncooperative attitude that bring our boat down together with them, sinking deeper and deeper..

I say we should fight for our own kind till the very end.

But, in the same time we should also go all out to despise the black sheep for their non-professional and non ethical practice.

First thing first, we must also stay united to say no compromise and work out something to reduce if not eliminate the non-compliance BHs.

How can we have the heart to accommodate and get associated with them?

Use whatever means to shut them down or control them, if they still adamant to change or take action after all sorts of warning given : is the right thing to do now!

It's now or never, for they have given us a very bad name.

Again like to repeat and stress that we are society-caring, peace-making and swiftlet-loving people.

We do not like to invite hostility and enemy.

My sincere apology if I have hurt some people's feeling.

Owning a BH : investing or speculating?

2009-06-14T02:06:00.000-07:00

Understand that in the market there are a lot of ranchers have managed to sell off their renovated BHs to new owners and made handsome profit from that within only a few years.

Sounds cool and tempting to have sold the BH and become overnight millionaire.

However, I beg to differ from such approach of making a living. I think they have not seen the true "value" of holding their BH or properties yet. By doing so, they might risk incurring the "opportunity" cost which could be many times higher than the selling price.

Personally, I do not understand why they are willing to sell their business or fruition of their untiring efforts to someone else.

Because of money? Because of making fast money? Due to not confident that the bird nest's quantity will increase in the years to come? May be getting worried about the anti-swiftlet farming attitude of the government and the public?

Whatever it is, why choose to gain less if we can earn more in the future?

Swiftlet farming is a very good long term investment, it is not a get-rich-quick scheme ("Skim Cepat Kaya"). We just can't see the result overnight. This business requires tremendous patience. If we are patient enough, God willing, we will be able to get rich slowly and realize the dreams of our lives, slowly but steady...

I would be much disappointed if everyone treats swiftlet farming as speculation.

We are not short term share market traders (who do not own the business). We own the business and its operation. We do not simply own a BH today, rush to sell it tomorrow and reap quick premium out of it.

Not that it is wrong, but it's the principle that we should not easily pass on the effort of our business, which is initiated and made succeed by us, to some one else, especially a stranger and let him making profit. We should be the persons who deserve the final fruition and possess the liberty to pass it on to our family.

Besides, we should also treat swiftlets as are our close friends, our long term relationship business companions, our extended family that growing & building wealth together with us. We should hold on tight to that ties to tide through the rainy days to come....

We do not know when the authority will make them lose their homes...

We should see this business as an investment tool which can enable us getting extra passive income and also as something that can help us building wealth.

Building wealth means the income generated from our BH can be converted to early retiring fund as well as can help us sustain our lifestyle if we suddenly can't work and earn.

In short, I say swiftlet farming is not speculating, but investing. We are not and should not using our hard-earned money with the hope of selling it quickly for a profit.

Of course, there are many ways to generate quick income from our BHs, but just make sure that the last thing we should think of is to simply slaughter the golden goose that lays golden eggs...

We should hold this investment to generate permanent passive income.

To be frank, just like other bread & butter property investment, this business works well for me, a typical fixed-income working slave who is trying to work out something difference for his future, to his free-hand and full freedom without heavy commitment of his time.

It is better to perish in attempt than langusih in mediocrity.

With that I wish you good luck and all the best!

Second Opinion Is Not Good Enough!

2009-06-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, a patient will normally seek for second opinion before making decision to proceed with his/her doctor's advice.

However, personally I feel that it is just not suffice to adopt some techniques without listening to third or fourth parties' opinion, as far as BH construction is concerned. More heads is always better than one.

Any sifu worth his salt should agree that if most of the sifus share the same answer in solving a particular problem, we should be convinced to accept it & have no good reason to disbelieve.

I believe that when I have doubt, the more I ask, the closer am I to the clue, that linking me to the final answer.

Of course, we must know how to ask and to whom we should post the question.

That's why I always strongly believe in "know who" before we can really "know how".

Matter-of-factly, it is always easier said than done.

I had bang my head against the wall for so many times, just to hack out an answer for my question.

The truth and true fact has always been far-reaching. The more anxious you reach out for it, the more you find yourself going round in a circle. Stranded. Entangled.

It seems that not many people is willing to face the truth. We tend to sweep all our problems under the carpet. The problem is still unsolved so long as we still fear to overcome it. The biggest fear is fear itself.

Until today, I am still searching for the best answer and the best design for my BH. I am not a perfectionist, nor do I believe in zero defect in the BH design, as I understand that we are all human beings who are prone to making mistake.

To me, it is more important that we can gain something from the mistake or error done and treat it as lesson learned and shall improve on that and will not repeat it again in future.

Again, the above is only my own personal experience.

Where has "Mr nice guy" gone?

2009-05-31T06:21:00.000-07:00

Where have the good teachers gone?

Where have the “sifus” and “mahagurus” gone?

Where have the good professionals gone?

Where have the good doctors and lawyers gone?

Sounds familiar, right?

Confucius said this before: “Among three persons walking together, there will be one teacher”. Question is whether this teacher is a responsible and honest one or not?

Almost everyday and everywhere, I meet up with a lot of so-called “joker” doctors, mediocre lawyers and irresponsible teachers….Doctors who are busy with multi-level marketing, selling vitamins and healthcare products, lawyer calling a spade a “spate”, and teachers giving tips only during their “outside” tuition class, so on and so forth…

The cruel fact is: Most of them have become the greedy parties that taking full advantage of others’ ignorance and unknowingness.

Let’s look at the reality….

What has happened to the private hospital?

A patient must have a medical card or credit card or enough cash before they are entitled the right to get admitted into it; else, they are still left aside to suffer the physical agony and mental torture.

The hospital is very eager, hand in hand with the insurance company, to work out a very “attractive package” for you, you get what I mean?

What on earth of these sane doctors’ mindset for letting the patients dieing a slow death?

Where is the code of ethics?

Isn’t that loopholes in the laws and regulations?

We have seen that in their relentless pursuit of profits, the patients end up in a situation that the service rendered becomes highly unaffordable and they are unable to access the needed treatment, which has very much defeated the original sacred purpose and deviated from the original good intention, which is to save lives and relief pains and have the patient’s interest come first at heart.

Is this so-called the next new trend? Or the next millionaire’s way?

Making money at others' expense?

Back to our swiftlet ranching business….

We are also facing almost the similar problems. It is nothing new. There are a few CON -sultants with hidden agendas earning handsome money thru conning approach. We can’t see slight sincerity in their eyes, all we can see is the dollar sign.

All this boils down to “willing buyer willing seller”. It is beyond one person’s capability to change and do something about it.

Nowadays, the status of professional or consultant is severely weakened. Capitalism is eating the capitalists. Put it in layman terms: professionals are making unusually extra underserved money from their profession. They tend to turn themselves into salesman and start to deliver bullshit and nonsense, if stringent monitoring mechanism or system to prevent culprit or black sheep is not in place.

The swiftlet consultants should come clean and responsibly upkeep the professionalism. They should doctor a value-engineered design for the newbies and charging them at a fair rate.

The point is newbies are always the losers and illegal ranchers continue to be victimized by the authorities that trying to be funny and not live up to expectation.

In the pursuit of relentless profiteering, deceiving is something unavoidable?

In our modern business world, is this the price that we have to pay for commercialization of everything?

So, my dear swiftlet-loving friend, just beware of the plausibility of a salesman.

The truth might not always palatable.

However, it does not take a genius brain to realize who is CONsultant and who is not.

All the righteous people out there should expose the hollowness of the cons, at all costs….

for there should not be any efforts to circumvent the laws and further hurt the industry.

No more.

Farming of Change!

2009-05-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

In this world, the only thing that always remains unchanged is change itself.

We just cannot stick to yesteryear's approach or way of getting things done and refuse to change.

We live in a challenging & ever-transforming world and always need to solve the challenging problems come to us and in order to cope up with that, our mindset must be tuned up as fast to keep abreast with the fast pace, keep reinventing ourselves, so that we are not left behind under the swift current of change.

Over the years, swiftlet farming has experienced tremendous change and also has seen many loopholes whereby newbies are not properly guided and ended up in misery state and due to public uproar the local council is most unwilling to issue the operating permit. I will not elaborate more on this issue, the reality has spoken volume of it.

I just would like to stress that slight change in the fabric of our thinking can make us moving forward. We should not be going backward as we are modern animal. We are no longer living in caves and we should not become lone ranger. Individualism will bring us to nowhere. We should work in group. Join the local BN association. We need to unlearn from the old way of doing thing quietly without consulting others.

We should work hand in hand to remove the black sheep and cart away the annoying weed of this industry. It is analogical to the "barrel" theory, the barrel will never be filled up if there is still a big hole not patched up. The in-cooperative and recalcitrant few will drag us down further and we are not going anywhere, no thanks to their selfishness and personal hidden agendas, capitalising on newbies' ignorance, reaping profit & pursuing happiness on their suffering, during the process of learning the ropes of the trade.

Just think about that, do your part to make this industry a better one for our children and families, join the local BN association today, join the force, fight the evil, and find win-win ways to address social unrest & public complaints.

Because we are part of the business, part of the big family, we should help each other and under the umbrella of the associations, hopefully we are protected more than ever.

Together, we can make a difference!

Thank you and good luck.

URGENT MESSAGE FROM DAVID LIM

2009-05-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

URGENT MESSAGE FROM DAVID LIM

To all BH owners in the state of Kedah,

The Kedah PR Govt is now discussing the state guidelines on the issuance of BH license with the State Perancang which is under the Federal Govt. Twice previously the proposals by the Perancang was shot down by the Kedah Govt as it was considered too stringent and not benefitting the people esp those in the rural and kampong. The Kedah Govt proposes all BHs’ applications be submitted through the associations for better control and management by this year. Mr David Lim and his taskforce is requested and tasked to assist in forming a PROTEM PERSATUAN RUMAH WALET KEDAH, (PROTEM KEDAH SWIFTLET HOUSE OWNERS ASSOCIATION)( 吉打州燕屋屋主公会) to help the Kedah owners.

As Kedah is a rather big and wide state, in order to service and attend to the members better, the protem committee is proposing to divide the state into 3 sectors UNDER SUB-COMMITTEE, namely, UTARA, TENGAH and SELANTAN.( 吉北，吉中，吉南) There will be an office rented or tumpang with either a full time or part-time executive secretary assisting the sub-committee in their respective sector. The centre for UTARA is ALOR STAR, TENGAH is SUNGAI PETANI, and SELANTAN is KULIM.

The proposed entrance fee will be RM 350 for each new member and subscription will be RM 10/month per BH which makes a total of RM 120/BH/calendar year. Only BH registered with full subscription paid will receive assistance, recognition and endorsement from the Persatuan.

As the protem committee is very badly short handed in initial stage, we would appreciate more volunteers to come forward to assist at least temporarily till Persatuan is formed proper. IT IS BETTER YOU DECIDE YOUR OWN DESTINY THAN LETTING OTHERS TO DECIDE FOR YOU.

The taskforce will be having an open dialogue cum discussion session at the request of many owners in Kulim on 18.05.09(Mon) night @ 8.30pm at 768, Jalan Pondok Labu, Bandar Putra, Kulim.

YB Lim Soo Nee, ADUN for KULIM will grace the occasion as Advisor for the sector.

Baling, Bandar Baru, Serdang, Lunas, Padang Serai, Tasik Gelugor, Kuala Ketil etc are under Kulim sector.
As dates and times for the UTARA and TENGAH dialogue sessions will be announced in later date.

ALL BH OWNERS IN THE STATE OF KEDAH ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. MORE HEADS IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN ONE. UNITY IS STRENGTH.

Enquary: 012-4850778(DL), 019-4489966(Tang)

Please help spread the following msg:-

吉打燕屋主公会筹委会緊急召集全吉南燕主商州政府指南与礼申。居林太子城斗母宮辦事処，门牌768。18.05.09 星期一晚830PM。請轉发。林大伟

PROTEM PERSATUAN RUMAH WALET KEDAH MEETS ALL BIRDHOUSE OWNERS IN KEDAH SELATAN DISCUSS KEDAH GUIDELINES & LICENSE ON 18.05.09(MON)@830PM AT 768,BANDAR PUTRA,KULIM.PL NOTIFY ALL.DAVID LIM

Black Magic in Swiftlet Farming - Believe It or Not?

2009-05-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

I am not superstitious and I do not believe that "black magic" can be used to change the result of a failed BH.

I always strongly believe in scientific method and explanation. Scientific logic, observation and theories can't be wrong and we are safe to adopt them so long as they are effective in addressing our problems.

Not because that I am an engineer, it is for the reason that we who live in this modern world does not have the exposure to enable us to accept such ancient belief in supernatural power and paranormal incidents.

Yes, "shaman" or "bomoh"(in Malay language) is the last person we would want to see when nothing much the modern world doctors can do to cure our illness. Or may be sometimes salesman(who sells direct selling health care products) also can be the Samaritan that can save our life when we totally lose hope.

People will accept strange and unexplainable stuff when the last means is exhausted and they still do not want to give up.

It is unthinkable that there is people resort to the so-called "magic" to revive or revamp their failed swiftlet farms.

Unbelievable but true, it works in some cases...

A friend of mine from Indonesia, managed to turn his miserable failed BH with the help of black magic (6 years without a single bird flying in since after the operation). So far he had tried numerous methods to create suitable atmosphere for the birds but to no avail.

Temperature checked, ok. Humidity checked, no problem. Brightness checked, just nice. BH design verified, just fine. Ventilation checked, alright. All these years, he have been scratching and cracking his head to bring back the BH to life, but all the efforts were ended up in vain, not until he met a sifu by chance, who showed him the black magic way that successfully yield good result.

Now his BH is back in good shape, with birds swarming in like crazy.

How he did it?

It only took him to believe that a black cloth hung in the roving area could do the trick, nothing else.

Of course, the process of "input of magic spell" by the shaman into that cloth, the secret weapon will remain secret forever...my friend promise to keep his mouth sealed on the secret recipe.

Hey, this black magic is as good as cash, it is more to it than meets the eye...

My friend not even paid a single cent for the service given.

Well, do you believe it?

This is just my friend's personal experience, I think he did not lie to me.

It's kinda hard to believe it...

When we are asking to prove a belief, we put the belief to the test of "True or Not", thus it needs to be proven.

What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?

Lesson learned from my teacher

2009-05-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Like to share the followings with the newbies. It has been useful to me and successfully tuned my mindset on the right track.

In the BH renovation, there are a few aspects one has to consider.

It is just like in the normal building industry that involves the followings:-

1) The architect and the civil engineer (designer)

2) The main contractor (builder)

3) The various workers (labourers and the various sub-cons, such as plumber, electrician etc)

4) The specific function specialists, in the case of a BH, it is the various basic equipment to be placed at the right position to maximise its specific effect to the right level for best result for the required atmosphere or purpose.

5) The special effect specialist, in this case, the sound system specialist.

In order to achieve the best result and to maximise your investment so as not to fail or delay and later got to re-renovate many times again, the above 5 factors are considered inevitable and need to be addressed real carefully.

In the market, every BH owner does know these. But the normal problem faced is how to get the best of these 5 for your BH renovation?

There are few options of doing the renovation.

1) For a total layman who knows nothing but still want to invest into this BH, he can engage someone who provides everything from A to Z, all the layman needs to do is just sit tight and pay the money. This we call it TURNKEY PROJECT. This is practised most widely.

2) The 2nd method will be, the owner breaks the whole package down to :-

a) Appointment of a proven experienced designer who designs and advises you to supervise others to do the job except the sound system.
b) Separately engage a main-con to do all the internal works at your instruction upon advice of the designer.
c) The owner will buy the necessary equipment to be fitted by the main-con at the advice of the designer.
d) Engage a proven sound specialist to provide and do up the sound system in a package.

Hooray, town BHs are safe now!

2009-05-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

At last, the town BHs are safe at this moment.

But,....

Newbies and newcomers in town are not allowed?

This is a discriminatory policy, I supposed.

Who is and who should be considered as newcomer?

Why the president just take care of himself and his "members" or "gang" only?

Why the newbies are deprived of the right to own a town BH? They do not have as equal right as the old timers or old newbies?

Where is the fairness?

The 2007 Malaysian Swiftlet Farming Industry Report (Summary and Synopsis) for download

2009-05-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

The 2007 Malaysian Swiftlet Farming Industry Report

(Summary and Synopsis

(Publication Date: 1st June 2007)

Encik Hameed Sultan Merican

Former State Deputy Chairman

Former Chairman of Agricultural and Agro-based Businesses Sub-Committee

SMI Association of Penang

& assisted by the Agricultural and Agro-based Businesses Sub-Committee

Click the below link for downloading:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nnmnjji1zvy/smi report on farm.doc

So long as license can be given, I am willing to comply!

2009-05-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

燕屋须乾凈及加入公会‧申请养燕执照需2条件

（森美兰‧芙蓉）马来西亚燕窝商联合会秘书马瑞来指出，养燕同业必须注意燕屋干凈及加入燕窝公会，才能向有关当局申请养燕执照。

他说，首相拿督斯里纳吉早前在巫统大会上就经济课题发表演说时，曾指燕窝业前景可观，每年都赚取约80亿令吉的外匯，他呼吁更多人加入养燕业，並向当局申请执照。

他週五（4月24日）晚上出席由森州养燕公会举办的一项交流会时，向逾50名出席的养燕业者发如是表示。

转载自星洲日报 2009-04-26 14:25

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So long as BH operating license can be given, I am willing to comply, just name and spell out clearly the conditions.

Personally I think the two conditions mentioned above are not sufficient (BH's cleanliness and become a member of BN association). We should at least emphasize more on the noise or sound control as this is the most important issue to be taken care of.

Someone has said this before, a person's attitude will be exhibited in his habit, his habit will formulate his character and his character will change his fate and his future.

As such, our attitude can give impact on our future and destiny. We should have the right attitude for this business. If we sincerely want to see the growth in this business, we should not arouse trouble to the neighbours and always remember that if only we-win-others-lose, the business will not last long.

No matter how good is the gold mine, it will run dry if you do not think and care of what you have done to the society.

Thank you, my dear swiftlets!

2009-05-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you, my dear swiftlets!

You are simply the best and most faithful employees I ever have.

You never complain much, you never take leave and after all you do not ask for an annual increment of salary (Even though I did pay a lot to provide you a sanctuary).

You just work quietly and diligently without a word of lamentation.

You make me happy when I am dull, you bright me up when I know that you agree to stay and work for me.

I feel indebted to you and it's an honour to have you as my employees.

Once again, this Labour day I want to thank you for your loyalty..... your outstanding service given....the unconditional support rendered and wish you happy forever and ever.

Sincerely yours
swiftlet hotel host
1st of May 09

40 dB is too low

2009-05-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

Even though noise from BH's speakers should be controlled, personally I feel that the current permissible sound level 40 dB (specified by the guideline) is considered difficult to achieve.

According to WHO's recommendation, the standard for the residential area should be 55db during the day, 45db during the night.

In order to justify my argument, I substantiate herewith some info related to this matter.

Q : What does a decibel measure?
A : The decibel is a measure of sound intensity as a function of power ratio, with the difference in decibels between two sounds being given by dB=10 log 10 (P 1 /P 2 ), where P 1 and P 2 are the power levels of the two sounds.
Q : What is the decibel level of normal sound?
A : The level of normal conversation is about 50 to 60 dB.

www.encyclopedia.com

the Montgomery County Noise Control Ordinance makes it illegal to:
• Operate, or allow to be operated, a radio, television, or other electronic sound-producing device on public or private property if the sound exceeds 55 decibels at the receiving property line.

www.montgomerycountymd.gov

Sound that the human ear can perceive is measured in decibels, or dB(A), with a device known as a decibel meter. Good quality sound measuring equipment can easily exceed $10,000, and takes a trained technician to operate and interpret documented test results. This is not equipment that you can obtain from the local rental company.

People often compare various sound situations for their own perspective. The average background noise in a house is about 50 dB(A), while a car driving down a street will be measured at 60 dB(A) at a distance of 300 feet. A “quiet” vacuum cleaner will emanate sound at 70 dB(A), about the same noise level that is attributed to an expressway when standing 100 feet away from it. Nearby trees on a breezy day will measure about 55 to 60 dB(A) on a decibel meter.

The human ear can only distinguish sound differences of about 3 dB(A) or greater. This means that a sound source must be at least 3 dB(A) louder than ambient, or background environmental, sound before there is a noticeable difference between a given sound and other background noises.

www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo/ms_noise_0404.html

Sound pressure levels in the dining room ranged from 70dB(A) to 85dB(A), with peak noise levels as loud as 100 dB(A). Typical residential sound levels in a noisy home are in the 50 to 60 db range. Levels in the 80-85dB range are more consistent with factories and shop floors.

www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/Publications/ArchitecturalBarriers.htm

Therefore, acceptable noise level for residential area should be 55 dB.

Poked from all sides!

2009-04-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

This evening the Kedah BH owners should consider lucky and be happy that the Kedah MB and the Excos have today shot down the latest drafted Garis Panduan on the Licensing of the Kedah BHs proposed by the PERANCANG DEPT to be passed through in this morning state meeting. The drafted Garis Panduan is almost the same with only little changes from the last time the one proposed by the PERANCANG FEDERAL. If this goes through, every BH in Kedah would have to close shop. And that is going to be NIGHTMARE for other states as well. The PERANCANG DEPT of state is under the control of the Federal Govt (BARISAN NASIONAL). The MB was very angry with the proposal and ordered it be revamped to painless level. He further instructed the PERANCANG DEPT must consult the BH representatives with their agreement and approval first before tabling for meeting again. So far, the DEPT despites advised previously to discuss with the representatives but they failed to do that till today. The UMNO never learns and still trying to sabotage from behind. It serves them right to lose all the BY-ELECTIONS. Thanks to the Kedah PR Govt who has the people in its heart. Also not forgetting DL and his Taskforce who have been keeping track and monitoring the situation closely.

Isn’t that at least a GOOD NEWS for the BH industry for the time being? We are having too many bad news lately.

(Quote Lucas 1, Lowyat forum dated 24th Apr 09)

Looks like the captain aspires to travel around the world, but the crews still navigating and going round in circle, what a joke!

We are not getting anywhere....sad but true....

I am too tired to witness the similar episodes occurring again and again.

It's just driving me crazy when thinking of wasting unnecessary time to have all the ignorant parties buy-in about the potential of this industry.

Politic is a way things get done, not going backward, things get stuck and nothing is done.

We are not welcome and we are the toxic. Sometimes we are ill-treated as if we are the enemy of the state! Why the arrows are always pointing inward instead of pointing outward? BH farmers are like punching ball always get wounded by all kind of attacks and harassment, due to some people's hidden agendas, anger, jealousy, envy, or whatever.

BH farmers are ordinary citizens & should deal only with the birds and the BH micros. Looks like now it leaves us no choice but to force us start dealing more with politics, so that we can really benefit from our country's resources and get the most milage out of this trade.

BH farmers do not demand a lot, just a pat on the shoulder, being receptive and supportive, we will be contented. All the encouragement given will be highly appreciated until end of the time!

Noise! Noise! Noise!

2009-04-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

It is a terrible experience having to endure daily the incessant bird noises broadcast from the BH’s loudspeakers.

Noise is the most common public complaint of nuisance received by the local authorities. It contributes almost 90% of the total complaints arisen from the swiftlet farming activity in towns.

Under the stressing and repeated noise, people will go crazy and irrational. If the unbearable situation has exceeded their nose, it is not surprising if they dare to burn down your BH or do harm to your property.

Needless to say, this is due to the inconsiderate attitude of some BH owners. They direct the external speakers wrongly to their neighbours and blasting the recorded bird-luring sound at high volume, twenty four seven.

How can this unscrupulous action be accepted by your neighbours? Unless they are superhuman or saint or they are totally deaf, other wise, can you expect your non-stop bird sound goes unnoticed & will not arouse complaint? Do you think your neighbor will cooperate nicely & live peacefully under this kind of environment without having a grudge against you?

Put yourself in their shoes. Think of your family first before you really need to do so. Do you want others do the same onto you? As a caring person, you have many options to get thing done! You can control the sound level, the amplitude and sound-playing duration. You do not need to switch on the sound track if your birds are not around. By switching off the sound at certain hours in a day, will save your electricity bill as well as indirectly do your part in saving the earth and this I believe, will make your neighbors’ lives happier. It is a win-win situation.

Be professional farming!

For professional ranchers, they would direct the speakers skyward (in an angle more than 45 degree) with tolerable volume to the extent that even their neighbours may not aware of. They also would switch on the external sound and control it with timer from 8am to 8pm only. A friend of mine from Medan even switches on the sound between 5pm to 8pm only.

Do not enjoy your harvest at the expense of your neighbours.

Do not let the selfishness affect the good name of this industry. Jealous people may capitalize on this to influence the authorities to shut down all town BHs in whole Malaysia.

Do not let the short-sightedness dampen the growth of this entire industry and affect the survival of your fellow ranchers

Just do not let the unkind deed take away our dreams.

Enough said.

Standalone BH in Pantai Cermin, Medan

2009-04-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

I think I can't find any other place like this in Malaysia.

The standalone farm here is constructed on an agriculture farmland in the village, but it is surrounded by residential houses.

It is definitely not town BH (shop lot type), nor is it similar to our typical standalone. Our standalone BH mostly located very far away from the residential areas.

I think it should be aptly called village or kampung standalone BH.

The ranchers are brilliant to have built their BHs here, given that :

1) the homing instinct of the swiftlets and 2) technically the birds like to stay close to human community cause they feel safe, protected and not susceptible to the predators. 3) concentrated and abundant food source could be found in this region.

Metamorphosis - from old school of thought to new one

2009-04-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

From my own personal study and research, there are generally two schools of thought in swiftlet farming i.e the traditional old and the high-tech orientated new. The former is originated from Indonesia and have been practised by our Malaysian pioneers for more than a decade. The latter's history is less than 5 years. It’s kind of metamorphosis, evolving and transforming from the old teaching with the aim to improve upon it. Somehow the recent development taken place has gone so far until we doubt it really capable of bringing us to the next higher level in producing cost-efficient yet successful BH.

Conventional gurus do not emphasize much on using humidifier, hygrostat, aroma, corner board, and any other costly & high-maintenance-cost apparatus & equipment. They stress more on the importance of "design" whereas high-tech sifus are on the contrary. High-tech sifus always claim and believe that with the aid of advanced technology, we can achieve fast and good result within a shorter duration. Question is: how reliable will be the new technology and products? Given that some of them are still under pilot-testing period and will they bring about adverse effect to the BH? That is for the BH owners to find out from time to time.

However, personally I feel that old concept does not mean that it is obsolete and slow in producing promising result. It exhibits value engineering, optimization of materials and enhancement of BH by taking into account of all existing circumstances & conditions of the BH. Apart from these, there are quite a lot of differences which I am unable to describe in detail. Will share with you if time permits.

Traditional & high-tech sifus cannot & will not sit down together and see eyes to eyes among themselves. However, for the sake of "cari makan", all does obey to one unwritten or implied rule that no one will put sand to other's rice bowls, everyone will have their piece of cake, you have yours and I have mine. As a result of this, you will not be surprised to find out that all these years so many newbies were taken for a ride and yet hardly righteous and truthful sifu dare to stand out to stop those black hats and their wrong-practices.

For me, I feel comfortable to choose to follow the middle path. I do not advocate the extremes. It is just like the principle of cooking, too much salt and sugar will spoil the good taste of food.

I will give importance to the BH design, will use bird shit but not aroma, will use fake nest but not corner board, will use humidifier but not costly misty humidifier, will use timer but not hygrostat, will clean the BH with water but not ammonia (conventional sifu does not even clean the BH at all-they just sweep with broom only), will use hygrometer but not infra red thermometer, will not use expensive insulation material unless really necessary, and so on.

I have my own justifiable reasons to all the above. I do not follow 100% the old guards’ teaching, but I agree that they are better than the high-tech sifus, at least they do not force newbies use purposeless equipment and they show more willingness to share the knowledge than the latter, which are more of "no money no talk".

Again the above is just my own personal findings and views. All offence is unintended. It is for fun reading. Hope you will find it useful.

Trip to Medan - searching for my dream BH!

2009-04-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited a small town, Pantai Cermin, which is located near to the sea and about one and a half hour's journey from Medan.

Words could not describe how excited was I the moment the unique standalone BHs in Kota Pari met my eyes....

While enjoying the breathtaking "kampung" scenery cruising about in the "mobil", my heart is going after the bird-luring sound sent out from the BHs which could be heard clearly about 1 km away.... These BHs are very eye-catching, not in terms of their size, but their design and facade.

Most of the standalone BHs in Pantai Cermin share the followings in common:

1) The entrance holes are 100% dog kennel type. (According to the local ranchers, the OR type also can be found in town BHs in Perbaungan & Simpang Tiga)

2) The entrance holes are not very big, ranging from 2 ft x 1.5 ft to maximum 3 ft x 3 ft.

3) Entrance holes were provided at every directions but all sealed once the best hole is chosen.

4) Have a water pond on the roof top.

5) The ventilation holes were provided only at high level from floor.

6) The buildings were mostly painted in white colour.

Swiftlet farming brings in RM2 bln a year!

2009-04-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dept eyeing China market to increase export value

MIRI: Export value from swiftlet farming in the country has reached around RM2 billion a year, said director-general of Veterinary Services Department Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin yesterday.

This is because of the big demand for edible bird nest in the Asian market, especially in China, and the increasing swiftlet farming activities in the country.

“We are trying to penetrate the China market. We can fetch a good value for it in China as the country imposed around 30 per cent tax for the product acquired from Hong Kong. As such, the government is trying to establish an understanding with China to enable those in the industry to export their product directly to the country,” Dr Abdul Aziz said after launching the state-level Veterinary Month here.

He said there have been tremendous yearly increases in number of swiftlet farmers or operators in the country since the past five years.

“In Peninsular Malaysia, the number increased from 900 in 1998 to 50,000 last year. From an income of around RM18,000 in 1998 it ballooned to RM1 billion in 2008,” said Dr Abdul Aziz who was representing Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.

The introduction or marketing of the product will be carried out in stages in the Asian market. It has the same potential with other products such as ‘tongkat ali’ and ‘kacip fatimah’ which are picking up among Asian consumers.

“We are also trying to go into Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe. We can see there are big potentials in the industry in Sarawak,” he added.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has approved the Veterinary Services Department as the agency to develop swiftlet farming in the country.

Also present were permanent secretary to the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Datu Jaul Samion and the director of Agriculture Department, Paul Vincent Ritom.

By Anthony Joseph(BorneoPost)

Good news!

I will remain optimistic on the prospect and the future of this trade.

We should capitalise on this golden opportunity to venture into it.

Nothing's gonna stop us now.....

Only the sky is the limit.......

If only there were 28 hours a day….

2009-04-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

Our lives are so busy, so short, and time passes by so fast…

We are always scrambling to find more time to ourselves to do what we like to do in our lives.

Everybody is demanding time from you, your boss, your wife, your kids, your parents, your co-workers, your friends and the list goes on…. And for me, my BHs and my blog also require me giving them my time too. Haha..

My construction project schedules are so tight. Never did I have the courage to promise somebody something, even though I really would like to…

Had it not because of my family’s encouragement, I believe my BH project until today still have not kicked off…sigh…

All I need is another extra 3 hours in a day to do some online researching about swiftlet farming.

To have time to blog around here is kind of luxury to me.

Sometimes I have to sacrifice my sleeping hours…

So whoever drops by here, I really want to thank you.

Thanks for sharing your time with me.

In case you are first time here, you may…

- skim through the topics which are of interested to you

- enjoy reading my blog articles

- linger awhile to have a look of the photos posted.

- take part in some survey questionnaires which are related to this trade

- turn to other linked weblogs

- leave some comments if you like, I sincerely looking forward to receiving your feedback!

Thank you and have a nice day!

Happy farming!

p/s : today I am in Medan, will find some time to see the BHs in the suburb areas.

BH – is it considered as development?

2009-04-12T02:55:00.000-07:00

According to the Town Planning Act, 1976 (Act 172, Malaysia) [Akta Perancangan Bandar dan Desa], “development” is interpreted as

“the carrying out of any building, engineering, mining, industrial, or other similar operation in, on, over, or under land, the making of any material change in the use of any land or building or any part thereof, or the subdivision or amalgamation of lands; …..”

Development is not only confined to property development, it covers any change in the land use. If your land falls under the jurisdiction of a town council or district office, you have to submit in your development proposal for their approval. If it is a township or real estate development, you can engage a planner or architect to apply for the planning permission for you.

However, first thing first, should we treat BH as a development?

IMO, it is not clearly defined under Section 2 of the Town Planning Act. The interpretation does not spell out that development shall cover any operation related to agriculture or farming and animal husbandry.

Anyway, one can still argue that it should be a development, given that BH construction involves building, engineering and the alteration of the original use of the building (town BH) and change in land use from agriculture to building (standalone BH on agriculture land).

Looks like BH construction rests on no man’s land.

A clear definition specified by the law is very important for the BH owners so that they really understand the necessary actions to be taken to legalise their BHs. Every BH owners have the right to safeguard and protect their investment.

BH water leaking problem

2009-04-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

A lot of BH owners like to do a small water pond on top of the roof slab for their own good reasons.

However, this may create problems not only to the BH itself, but also to their neighbors.

Stagnant water not only will cause mosquitoes breeding, it will also affect the BH's internal conditions.

Can you sleep well if people begrudge you for the dengue outbreak? (even though it's not caused by you). Would your farming life still be peaceful with people resenting you for a small pond?

I doubt.

If I have the choice, I won't go for the pond construction on top of the roof. It's a time bomb and we never know when it will back-fire on us. I would rather avoid inviting public wrath.

The reason is : if the roof slab is not properly cast, it is highly likely that water leaking will occur. The water will permeate through the porous slab and drip down to the floor below or soffit of slab.

This subsequently will damage the nesting planks and the mold also will form on the planks eventually.

If the waterproofing is not done on the wall, the ponding water also can seep through the brick wall and wet & stain your neighbour's wall surface.

If your neighbor know you, then may be he will give you a courtesy call to remind you of the incident. Otherwise, he will straight way call for press conference to insist you shut down your BH operation.

Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.

BH owners should be considerate and must always make sure that this thing do not happen by applying waterproofing to the pond and from time to time do checking on the wall whether there is any visual crack line or not.

If found, immediate action has to be taken. For this we can consult the waterproofing specialist. There are a lot of methods can be deployed to treat the leaking problems. Different circumstances different treatment will be given.

The above just my humble 2 cents. Any offense is unintentional.

Light weight steel structure for BH construction, Pro and Cons

2009-04-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

For a conventional RC structure BH, we only use concrete and steel bar as major construction materials. Structural steel (light weight steel) is normally used for factory and warehouse.

What are the advantages?

1) Faster construction. People usually opt for this method when there is an urgency to complete the project within a very short time frame and money is not an issue. After you complete the foundation (pile caps) and ground beams, you only need a few days for the stanchions & I beam erection and composite slab casting (of course we still need to pour concrete on the metal deck formwork). The framework can be done very fast if you have efficient construction management, material delivered just-in-time and deploy experienced sub-cons, skilled workers, adequate plant & machinery and advanced technology.

2) If you are able to complete faster, then you can save a lot in overhead costs (labour cost, machinery rental, supervision cost, & preliminary cost).

3) If your site is very far away from town, it can save you transportation cost (materials like steel bar, plywood, timber, sand & aggregate, cement etc can be minimised).

4) You do not need to clear a lot of space as working yard and for material storage.

5) You can save some money in foundation construction, coz the overall structure fixed self load is lighter.

However, the method also has its down sides, where:

1) We must have proper design for construction. If it is done by third class contractor without any drawing & without proper inspection carried out, I think I will lari kuatx2 if invited to visit the BH. Do you know why World Trade Centre (WTC-911, NYC) collapsed? One of the causes is due to failure of the connection/joint parts. If the jointing area is not properly done, it will affect the integrity of the building.

2) The material used is costly. I remember at the peak time last year, 1 tonne steel was RM 4k plus and as I write this, it has already dropped to RM3.3k per tonne. But even so, it is still expensive compared to concrete (which is about RM 70 per tonne) and deformed reinforcement bar (about RM 1.8k per tonne). One must consider carefully that on one hand you save the overhead & foundation costs, and on the other you have to pay higher material cost. I have given you all the facts, anyway, the choice is still yours.

3) It's very important to make sure that we employ the right sub-cons and it's crucial to hire experienced steel workers/welders to carry out the installation works. Then only you should be able to sleep sound every night.

4) Even though steel can withstand very high tensile stress, but it's weak in fire resistance. One of the good example : WTC. It failed also due to the melting of the connection areas. So, for columns, normally the engineers will do concrete encasement where bars added and cast together with concrete. This process takes time and will only be cost-effective if done in mass proportion.

5) Steel corrosion problem. We have to ensure anti-corrosion paint to be applied at certain time interval (depends on location, if near to beach, we must apply it every year)

6) If you employ structural engineer for the structural steel design, chances are he will adopt higher safety approach (ie 2 dimension instead of 3 dimension analysis), which will incur higher cost.

7) People tends to steal the balanced materials or debris or scrap steel to sell to "Keling botol", if they are left unattended at site. It is therefore not easy to control the material wastage.

The above are just my personal experience and opinions. I might be wrong also.

About swiftlet - What we need to know? (Part 2)

2009-04-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

Edible-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus), also called Andaman Grey-rumped Swiftlet, is part of a group of birds called the Cave Swiftlets. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the Apodidae family. The group contains around thirty species mostly confined to southern Asia, south Pacific islands and north eastern Australia. Edible-nest Swiftlet is found in the Andaman and Nicobar islands of India. These birds are more common in Andaman as compared to the Nicobar islands and they inhabit rock caves near the shore. The Cave Swiftlets use a simple but effective form of echolocation to navigate in total darkness through the chasms and shafts of the caves they utilize for night time roosting and breeding.

Edible-nest Swiftlets are small, dark brown, slightly fork-tailed birds (size 12 cm). They are in many respects typical members of the Apodidae having narrow swallow-like wings for fast flight, with a wide gape and small reduced beak surrounded by bristles for hawking insects in flight. The breeding season is mainly March and April. The nests are white, opaque, 6 cm across and of the best commercial (edible) quality. During the breeding season, the salivary glands of this species expand to produce the special inspissated saliva for binding twigs and other detritus together for building the nest, which is a shallow cup stuck to the cave wall. Only those species whose nests are 'white' and made purely or almost purely of saliva are the most prized. The nests are harvested from cave walls.

Edible Nests

The Edible-nest Swiftlet is renowned for the fact that their nests are used for making bird's nest soup in Chinese cuisine. When cooked, the birds' nests have a gelatinous texture. In Chinese cuisine, high medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities are ascribed to these nests. Scientific investigations reveal these nests to be high in protein with about 7% lime. Many consumers of bird nest soup report significant improvement in appetite. However, some others noticed excessive secretion of gastric acid that may cause acid reflux symptoms.

There is some concern that over-harvesting is causing several species of cave swiftlets to become scarce. Bird nest merchants in southeast Asia (including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand etc.) have started to raise and breed the swiftlets in house-like structures. They build the shelters to attract wild swiftlets to build nests in them. The wrong kind of nests are then destroyed along with the eggs inside. Over time, the selection process only leaves behind a colony of swiftlets that produce the right kind of nest for the trade. "House nests" are priced much lower than the "cave nests" due to the level of risks involved in the harvesting process.

Guano from the Swiftlets and the many bats that inhabit the caves supports an array of specialized animals that feed on the dung. There are yet other creatures that have evolved to feed on these dung eaters as well as the bats and the swiftlets themselves including among others, snakes that can climb the sheer walls to snatch a passing meal and huge carnivorous crickets that prey on chicks and bat pups. This ecosystem is totally self sustaining, the only link being the birds and the bats that bring the nutrients into the caves in the first place.

Reference : www.birding.in/birds/Apodiformes/edible-nest_swiftlet.htm

About Swiftlet – What we need to know? (Part 1)

2009-04-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Since I left my high school, I never have the chance to touch again anything related to biology. It’s kind of refreshing to revisit this subject and dig out all those technical terms to satisfy my interest in knowing more about the swiftlet.

I understand not everybody likes to know about these. Just pay attention to the words in red colour. Thanks.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

Kingdom : Animalia

Taxonomic Rank : Species

Common Name : Edible-nest Swiftlet

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Cladus : Eukaryota

Supergroup : Opisthokonta

Kingdom : Animalia - Animal, animals, animaux

Phylum : Chordata - chordates, cordado, cordés

Subphylum : Vertebrata - vertebrado, vertebrates, vertebras

Infraphylum : Gnathostomata

Superclassis : Tetrapoda

Classis : Aves - Birds, oiseaux

Subclassis : Carinatae

Infraclassis : Neornithes

Parvclassis : Neognathae

Order : Apodiformes - Hummingbirds, Swifts

Familia : Apodidae - Swifts

Subfamilia : Apodinae

Tribus : Collocaliini

Genus : Aerodramus -Oberholser, 1906 - Edible-nest Swiftlets

Species:Aerodramus fuciphagus (Thunberg, 1812)-Edible-nest Swiftlet

Subspecies : Direct children: Aerodramus fuciphagus amechanus (Oberholser, 1912)

Aerodramus fuciphagus dammermani (Rensch, 1931)

Aerodramus fuchiphagus fuchiphagus (Thunberg, 1812)

Aerodramus fuciphagus germani (Oustalet, 1876)

Aerodramus fuciphagus inexpectatus (Hume, 1873)

Aerodramus fuciphagus micans (Stresemann, 1914)

Aerodramus fuciphagus perplexus (Riley, 1927)

Aerodramus fuciphagus vestitus (Lesson, 1843)

Aerodramus fuciphagus javensis

So now you know that Aerodramus fuciphagus subset to Aerodramus (swiftlets), and swiftlets subset to hummingbirds/swifts.

Sometimes the biologists also call them Collocalia fuciphaga. This is the tribe name and referring also as the edible-nest swiftlets.

Swiftlet hotel, Segamat

2009-04-05T04:34:00.001-07:00

This is the highest BH in Malaysia. It is 20 storeys high.

I heard that the highest in Thailand is 18 storeys. Anyone can confirm on this?

The annual premise license fee to be paid by the owner will be

= RM 240 per operation (based on Penang’s rate)

If based on Kelantan’s rate(the highest in Malaysia), it will turn out to be

= RM 1000 + 19 x RM 500

= RM 10,500 per year

I think the owner is a genius because he is bold enough to make this BH into reality.

The BH operation and maintenance will not be the same like our normal low rise BH.

First, how do the owner and his workers get up to the top floors? By lift? I do not think they use lift because i) electric consumption is very high ii) occupational hazard – if they are trapped inside the lifts, they will face problem to get out as nobody knows that they are in the lift except only their families.

So, they will use the fire escape staircase.

I think there are two fire staircases in this building. One staircase is used for the swiftlets to fly from one floor to another (I do not think they will use the lift shaft or hack openings coz this will create hazard of falling from height). The other one is for them to climb and escape in the event of fire and this is a bit risky. Also, they will face problem if need to carry something heavy to the top floors.

Thanks for your kind support!

2009-04-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

My first article was posted in early of Mar 09. Within 3 weeks the viewing of my weblog hit 2000 plus.

Thanks for your kind support, my dearest forum readers.

This would not be become reality without your support from behind. I really treasure and appreciate it.

Even though the viewing result is nothing compared to other successful swiftlet blogs, I really do not expect that. My original purpose of blogging here is just to jot down what I have learnt as well as keep something of sentimental value in the net.

Strange thing is the more I write the more I feel strongly the drive to keep continue doing it.

Cause you all are my inspiration to carry on.

Besides Malaysia, I discover that we have swiftlet-loving friends & readers from all around the world, notably, Thailand, US, Singapore, Germany, Indonesia, India, Australia, Brunei, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, Switzerland, Africa, etc.

This makes me feel that I am not alone here. There are so many people concerning about this embattled industry and interested in what we are doing & what is going on here.

As a gift of fate that brought us here together, I shall push myself harder to write more interesting articles in near future.

Do feel free to drop me some comments. I am not perfect. I need you to help me to improve. Let’s do it together, alright?

Once again, thank you for sharing your time with me. To all I am truly grateful.

Is this the light at the end of the tunnel?

2009-04-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

纳吉：参与高效益商业赚厚利‧土著应投身养燕观赏鱼业

吉隆坡）財政部长拿督斯里纳吉今日（週六，3月28日）鼓励土著和马来企业家参与高效益（high-value）的商业活动，以赚取丰厚的利润，包括燕窝、海笞、观赏鱼等领域。

“东西海岸很多地点適合养燕，土著和马来企业家也可进行海笞业，出口到先进国，如日本。”

转载自星洲日报 2009-03-28 19:00

以身作则参与农业活动‧纳吉在老家养鱼种菜

纳吉在北根老家后方空地上，安置10个大水桶，饲养塘虱鱼。

纳吉购买了1万4000

彭亨‧北根）副首相拿督斯里纳吉以身作则，在北根住家养鱼种菜。他呼吁人民，在全球面对经济风暴之际，选择从事高经济效益如养燕、养鱼等农业活动，以增加收入。

他说，高经济效益的农业活动，能够为业者带来非常可观的收入。

“我以北根为例，我发现北根至云冰一带，有许多人从外地来到这里，参与养燕活动。根据我所瞭解，只要花上四、五年，养燕活动能为业者带来丰厚收入。

转载自星洲日报 2008-10-25 19:16

纳吉建议养燕或养鱼

彭亨‧北根）副首相拿督斯里纳吉今日（週六，10月25日）呼吁人民，在全球面对经济风暴之际，选择从事高经济效益如养燕、养鱼等农业活动，以增加收入。

他说，高经济效益的农业活动，能够为业者带来非常可观的收入。

“我以北根为例，我发现北根至云冰一带，有许多人从外地来到这里，参与养燕活动。根据我所瞭解，只要花上四五年，养燕活动能为业者带来丰厚收入。”

转载自星洲日报 2008-10-25 15:48

Najib garis 3 konsep penting ekonomi

KUALA LUMPUR 28 Mac — Presiden Umno yang baru Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak menggariskan tiga konsep penting ekonomi untuk membawa negara ke landasan yang lebih tinggi dan kukuh pada masa depan. Timbalan Perdana yang juga Menteri Kewangan itu berkata tiga konsep itu —ekonomi bernilai tinggi, ekonomi berasaskan inovasi dan produktiviti serta kreativiti — akan melonjakkan ekonomi negara. “Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sering menegaskan betapa pentingnya nilai tambah tetapi saya berpendapat nilai tambah itu perlu digandingkan dengan nilai tinggi,” katanya ketika menggulung perbahasan pada Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2008 di sini hari ini. Contoh ekonomi nilai tinggi yang boleh diceburi usahawan ialah perusahaan burung Walit yang memberikan pulangan lumayan, yang boleh dijayakan di banyak tanah terbiar di bahagian Pantai Timur dan kawasan lain di seluruh negara. Timbalan Perdana Menteri turut mencadangkan beberapa perusahaan nilai tinggi lain yang boleh diceburi usahawan tempatan termasuk rumpai laut untuk pasaran eksport ke Jepun dan negara lain.

— BERNAMA(28/03/2009 3:50pm)

************************************************************************************

Our new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is supportive of swiftlet farming as this “high value” lucrative industry can generate a steady source of income for our country. Bumiputras are especially encouraged to explore into this golden industry and profit from the current lackluster market.

Everyone is given a piece of cake, you have your piece and I have mine.

It is indeed a timely call and good break through for the trade to thrive and take off. The federal government at last has realized the importance of this industry. At least we have made some encouraging progress after being ignored like an unwanted child for so long. Hope the government can really buck up, spearhead and lead the industry to the next height.

However, it is equally important to have the blessing of the local authorities and their supports too.

What we worry most is that the local authorities so far knew next to nothing about swiftlet farming. All this while, the road lied ahead of us is long, curve, bumpy, uneven, dark and scary. Our lamentations are always falling onto deaf ears. The guidelines drafted so far is like bikini. What is revealed is less interesting than what was not. There is no uniformity in the application procedures and we are going round in circle without proper direction given. In order to expedite the BH permit application, we only need to know who we know and how much we give.

Hope this time it is for real.

Is this the light at the end of the tunnel?

Only time will tell.

Professional consultant or con-sultan?

2009-04-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Newbies normally really have no confidence at all with the BH consultants. We have no law or any professional body whatsoever to monitor and hold them responsible when thing goes wrong & when thing turns sour. The terms & conditions drafted in the quotation is very ambiguous & interpretation could be much to the favour of the consultant side and there is no standard agreement being used yet (not like real estate sales and purchase agreement {S & P} and standard form of contract recognised by PAM/JKR/FIDIC, being used in the construction industry).

We are easily subject to the risk of being con and taken for a ride to Holland by the "kham sal tant" (cantonese) or "raja palsu" (Malay/Indonesia), if we do not familiarize ourselves with all the tricks before venturing out into this swiftlet BH business.

Sometimes I like to relate and compare the swiftlet farming business with the real property development, and I find that most of the time when shit hit the fan (like BH being demolished, fail BH no BN, complaints for noise, etc), always the BH owners are at the losing end, and the consultant seems like sitting there doing nothing & can't help much. I am not blaming the consultant per se, (and I understand some BH is DIY) coz I know that they are not really the so-called "consultant" that registered under a certain professional body, not like the construction industry where the consulting engineer has to register to BEM, (similar goes to architect register to PAM) to ensure their competency and so that they can be held responsible when thing goes wrong like building collapse, substandard design & construction, etc).

In fact, strictly speaking, IMO, swiftlet consultant should not be called "consultant", they can only be called contractor, more specifically: a "turnkey contractor*". Reason? Very simple, do u think any Tom, Dick, Harry, Ah Chong, Ahmad or Ramasamy can be a consultant that can design, draw a high rise building? No, right? But, a contractor (like Phua Choo Kang from Singapore) can undertake to "sub" to construct a building under the supervision of a professional consultant. Most of the contractor who undertakes to do big job, need to register to CIDB & PKK. Some plumbers even also need to register to JKR/PBA/JPP. What about our BH consultant? None, so far, correct me if I am wrong. (The BH consultant’s fee is very much higher than the architect, where they only command a 2-3% percent of the contract amount, & building contractor generally 20-30%)

(* In construction industry, a turnkey contractor is a contractor who involves in design and build, they will handover the final product to the client during the completion time, the turnkey contractor is solely responsible on everything(where they have to employ design consultant and specialist in construction if need to and the sub-cons to implement the works, except on the financial aspect which will be taken care of by the client)

What I am trying to say is that what we want for this industry is a qualified professional consultant (PC). That is. We want PC that can coordinate on the design, construction, liaise with the local authorities or other external government departments, educate the client, undertake the operation & maintenance (O & M) during defects and liability period (sadly to say, until now there is no law or regulations cover on this), whereas in building construction we have 24 months of liability period and the client could hold retention money and choose not to release if found not satisfactory.

We want our consultant to be more responsible (no play play, no ding dong) and really mean business, we want law that could bind them if the BH fail or the BH cause complaints to public and where we can sue them, penalise or ban them from this business. Of course at the end of the day, we have to pay a high price in exchange for their service, which I feel is worth it, for all the compliance, we can be rest assured and sleep well for our investment (our sweat and hard-earned money).

However, this is only my wishful thinking. There is still a long way to go coz for the time being, we don’t have the luxury & resources to have all this implemented.

Once again, like to say that this is just my humble 2 cents. Not intended to hurt anybody. My apology if any.

Wake up - Don't be fooled!

2009-04-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

April Fool’s Day. Haha..

Did your friends or colleagues try to fool you?

Are you fool enough to believe them?

As for me, I enjoy taking part and pretend to be a fool so that my friends will have a good laugh.

There is no hard feeling for what have come to us as we know that all tricks are not for real but just for fun.

However, in the actual cold cold world there is no such thing as “April Fool”. There is no more child play in the adult world. Most of the time, people are taken for a ride again and again without realizing it and the conmen will shamelessly keep on taking advantage and fully capitalizing on our ignorance without any caution or hint given.

Over the years, due to the nature of my work, I have the opportunity liaising with a lot of contractors, some are sincere and some are really conmen. You really need to be very careful when dealing with them. You really need to learn the ins and outs of the “con-struction” industry well so that it can protect you from being con.

As someone said before, experience is the name men give to their mistakes.

Believe it or not, I really have a good training all these years in the construction line. After banging on the wall for so many times, I have learnt to differentiate who can be trusted and who is bullshit. This ability or skill really serves me well. The BH con-sultant wants to cheat me? Not a chance. Wants to introduce me rocket-high price high-tech equipment? No way. Wants to beat around the bush instead of getting straight forward to the right method? The door is there.

Don’t be fooled by those so called high-tech consultants. I always believe in quality, not quantity. I only trust basic stuff and I have the reason to believe that a very successful BH depends very much on the designing. High tech is not necessary be applicable. Equipment used should only be adequate and appropriate. Do not overdo it. Do not do something that may defeat the original intended purpose.

This is only my own personal views. You may ignore this if you think I am fooling around here. Haha…anyway...

Happy April Fool’s day.