The second World War raged in Europe during Christmas Eve in 1944. Mother, with four small children, had fled our native Ukraine with the retreating German army. Father had been reported missing in action.
Now we were refugees living in a two-room shack in Dieterwald, Poland. But again the fighting front was only about fifty kilometres away. Frequent air raids sent us scurrying for cover. Explosions rattled the windows. Army trucks brought in the wounded and the dead. Hay wagons filled with refugees rumbled west; bombers droned overhead and army tanks rolled east. Partisans (underground resistance) attacked innocent women and children at night.
Nobody in his right mind went out into the dark winter night.
And yet, it was Christmas Eve. Two women had prepared a Christmas party in a neighbouring village and invited us. Mother, wanting to give us children joy, accepted.
She instructed my sister and me to dress warmly against the winter's cold. "Tonight we're going to a party," she said. Being only eight-years old, I sensed no danger--only wondrous excitement.
Hurriedly my sister, two years younger, and I dressed. If only Mother would hurry! A simple wick flickered in a saucer of oil--our only light. We could barely see her shadowy form as she bustled about getting my four-year-old brother, Fred, and almost two-year-old sister, Katie, ready. Finally Mother was putting on her heavy winter coat, kerchief, and warm felt boots.
With one small breath, she blew out the oil lamp. It was pitch dark now.
"Open the door, Lena," she called to me.
We stepped onto the crisp snow covering the farmyard. A moon crescent hung above a large house across the yard where the estate owners lived--kind people who treated us refugees well. It, too, was shrouded in darkness.
Mother lifted Katie and shuffled her to her back: she'd carry her piggyback for the five kilometres.
"Hang tight onto my coat collar," she coaxed. Then, turning towards us girls, she said, "You take Fred's hands." My younger sister and I complied. We had often taken care of our little brother while mother had culled potatoes in the big barns or had done other chores for the landowners.
At the road, we stopped. Although I knew it well from my treks to school, I could barely make out the houses on either side of the street. No street lights were allowed now. Windows heavily draped permitted no light to seep out of the houses.
My mother hesitated for a brief moment. Then she said, "Come, we'll take the shortcut across the fields."
The snow crunched as four pairs of feet punched holes in the white expanse of open fields. Stars spangled the vault of sky above us. A blood-red glow smeared the eastern sky. At times an explosion sent flames shooting into the sky.
"Girls, recite your poems to me." Mother's voice sounded a bit shaky. Her arms aching, she put Katie down on the snowy ground. Our recitations of Christmas poems made white puffs in the cold night air.
When we finished, Mother said, "Speak up loud and clear when your turn comes. No mumbling."
She lifted Katie once more onto her back, and we began to walk again. On and on we walked. But we were far too excited to be tired.
Finally we arrived at our friends' house. The door opened and we stepped inside. I felt I had stepped into heaven itself. Lights! A whole room-full of lights.
Candlelight flickered from a small Christmas tree and bounced out of happy children's eyes. Heavily draped windows kept the light inside--for us to revel in. Red paper chains decked the tree; delicate paper cherubs smiled down upon us.
We squeezed in amongst women and children sitting on the floor. Soon the room filled with singing: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht."(Silent Night, Holy Night) Some mothers sang alto, the rest of us, soprano. We sang with gusto and from memory, songs that lifted our hearts above the terrors of war and inspired new hope for the days ahead.
I can't remember our long trek home that night, but I do remember the wonderful gifts I received; my right pocket bulged with the most beautiful ball I'd ever seen. A very colourful ball it was. Much later, I learned it had been made out of scrunched up rags wrapped in rainbow coloured yarn probably gleaned from unravelling old sweaters. The other pocket held three cookies!
Soon after that wonderful Christmas party, we were evacuated. Icy winds blew snow into our faces as we cowered on an uncovered hay wagon pulled by two scrawny horses. With the front so close behind, we traveled day and night. Once it was safe to stop, we slept in drafty barns. We ate hunks of frozen bread and drank the occasional cup of milk supplied by a Red Cross jeep.
But the warm memory of that Christmas celebration shone like a small candle in the darkness.
by Helen Grace Lescheid
Merry Christmas everyone! May the reason for the season fill your heart with love overflowing for those around you and beyond! God bless you, dear reader!
First one jet engine went missing followed by another. Then NST reported that the parts of the jet-fighter were also missing. Now, we have consignments of live animals and body parts worth millions of ringgit that slipped through Malaysia undetected as reported in The Star.
Interpol estimates that illegal wildlife trade worldwide is worth US$10bil (RM35bil) to US$20bil (RM70bil) a year. It is third behind only the illegal drug and arms trades. In fact, it is the second biggest threat to species survival after habitat destruction.
Many people intentionally participate in the illegal wildlife trade for material gain. Some illegal items, such as ivory trinkets and turtle shells, can easily be purchased in stores or on the Internet by unsuspecting customers. Worse still, wildlife and wildlife products may be legally sold at tourist destinations, but bringing these items home with you may be illegal or require special Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) permits.
Many Malaysians DO NOT KNOW that some Malaysians are making waves in the shadowy world of illegal wildlife trade. The shocking thing is that foreigners know more than us about this. By next week, all and sundry will know about it when the January 2010 issue of National Geographic hits the stands on December 29th, 2009!
That issue will have The Kingpin - An exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, his special government friend, and his ambitious new plan written by Brian Christy. An advanced web edition was released on December 15th 2009 at National Geographic official web site. It is a very long story that took THREE YEARS of research. Believe me - the intricate details of illegal wildlife trade and its ties with ONE MALAYSIAN man and his cronies will blow your brains to smithereens. It is an awfully long article but one that YOU HAVE TO READ!!! I cannot post on it because of copyright and embargo reasons.
Brian Christy is a very highly qualified conservationist with degrees who has written many books that have received rave reviews. Known as the Lizard King, Brian Christy is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Cornell's FALCON Japanese Program, the University of Michigan Law School, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Tokyo University Law School. He passed the CPA and bar exams and worked as a lawyer in Washington, DC, including in the Executive Office of the President. As a lawyer he advised on such topics as relations with Libya, U.S.-Japan supercomputer trade, and the sale of light-water nuclear reactors to North Korea.
His official website has archived many newspaper articles on the whole issue. Please check the following articles for a better understanding of the intricate details of the illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia. While doing research for this post, I discovered that Starprobe conducted a lot of investigations on this issue, in particular by award-winning journalist Hilary Chiew. Brian Christy has painstakingly compiled these in chronological order.
Link 1 on Penang that contains four articles from MSM
This post required lots of reading I and have compiled a brief chronological account of recent developments.
Hilary Chiew of The Star reported on August 10th 2009 a very detailed write up on Illegal animal trading puts Malaysia on the world map for all the wrong reasons which you also HAVE to read. Sorry. The details will blow your mind!
On the same day, The Star also carried a story on Malaysia is a hub for a multi-billion-ringgit global trade in illegal wildlife. It named the guy and featured his photograph in the report.
On August 11th, Yeng Ai Chun of The Star reported:
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is keeping mum over allegations that Malaysia is a major wildlife trafficking centre.On August 12th, Hilary Chiew wrote on Tell us about the tigers, says exco man.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Rasid Samsudin had replied: “it is an old story” when asked to comment on the Starprobe story yesterday alleging that illegal trading in wildlife had put Malaysia on the world map for the wrong reasons.
When pointed out that the problem was still going on and the number of cases were getting higher, Abdul Rasid said: “I cannot comment on that.”
On August 13th, The Star featured an article on Ministry to review Wong’s special permits.
On August 15th 2009 a group of Malaysian wildlife organizations and two parliament MPs filed a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) calling for investigation into"irregularities” in the enforcement of wildlife trade in Malaysia."
The same day, Hilary Chiew wrote an article on Deputy D-G: Someone had to take care of Wong’s animals. Hilary reported:
Lawyer and ROAR president R. Surendran said Wong’s special permits covered among others two cougars which were later declared to have died.
“Did Misliah check whether those animals were dead? Or could they have been smuggled out?” he asked.
Misliah, when asked whether she had seen the carcasses, said she had relied on her staff to “check and report back to her.”
On Wong’s tigers, she said he had a special permit to keep two female tigers that he acquired from Japan and the cats had mated with tigers owned by Sunway Lagoon theme park in Selangor.
Brian Christy said in his blog:
It is interesting that Anson Wong should admit in US Court (and more recently to The Star) that he committed the years of massive scale illegal trafficking of which he was accused and yet the official in charge of Perhilitan Penang during this same period should deny any responsibility and subsequently be promoted to Perhilitan’s national office.On 21st August, Joshua Fong in reported in The Star:
A group of non-governmental organisations has lodged a police report against convicted wildlife smuggler Anson Wong, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the Customs Department.
Speaking to reporters after lodging the report at the Brickfields Police Station, Malaysian Animal Rights Society president R. Surendran said:
“The reason we are lodging the police report is because, over the years Perhilitan has failed to take any action against Wong for smuggling and has even given him special permits to catch and keep animals.
“We know that one of the modus operandi of wildlife traffickers is to get permits to keep animals and later declare them dead, when in actual fact they have been smuggled out of the country,” he said.
Outraged? Wait. Let me show you another report:
Joseph Kaos Jr of The Malay Mail reported on June 11th 2009:
WILDLIFE poachers and traffickers may not have it easy soon - if the relentless campaign by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and local environmental groups to amend the Wildlife Act 1972 is successful.
The act has received a lot of criticism especially from animal conservation groups for its rather mild punishment and penalties to deter wildlife offenders.
Yesterday, an Indonesian man was fined a mere RM2,000 by the Magistrate court for attempting to smuggle 10 murai batu birds (Common Shama) out of the country last Saturday. The bird can fetch at least RM3,000 in the open market.
If all this has NOT shocked you yet, let me leave you with this link to an article called Endangered creatures for sale - Illegal animal trade reaps billions yearly written by CHARLES SEABROOK of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution where the following was reported:
One of the world's most notorious wildlife smugglers, Keng Liang "Anson" Wong, 44 -- released last month from a federal prison in California after serving six years -- used this method. From his private zoo in Malaysia, he shipped thousands of rare and endangered creatures, mostly reptiles, to collectors in the United States, Japan and Europe.I do not know about you but I am thoroughly ashamed that our country has reached the pits when it comes to legislation and enforcement not just in ONE area but so many areas.
To fool airport customs and wildlife inspectors, he bound the rare animals with tape so they couldn't move and stuffed them in burlap bags stapled to the bottom of shipping crates. Many died from the harsh shipping conditions, but Wong stood to profit as long as some survived.
In Miami, Stinebaugh's boss, Vicky Vina, says that on a good day, inspectors there are able to peek inside about three in every 10 shipments.
"We get awfully busy," she says. "We often get 60 to 70 wildlife shipments through here in one day."
Scores of animals -- mostly reptiles -- were smuggled through Miami by Chye, Wong and others.
Our resources are dwindling, some going up in smoke while others vanishing into thin air. Now, even our natural resource of wildlife - Nature's gift to us is being taken from right under our noses.
People, what are we going to do?
