Fireflies & Crocodiles

-----Original Message-----
From: Rizal Arus Tajul Arus [mailto:rizalata@tnb.com.my]
Sent: Saturday, July 10, 1999 10:15 PM
To: AnussaRa; Azian; Harun Wahab; IdaYasmin; James George; Sharmala Sharvanandan; Tesy; Zuraidah Hassan
Subject: Fireflies & Crocodiles

The trip got off to a bad start thanks to a crawling jam on Jln Damansara towards NKVE. We met Pn Azian along the way. Anush told Harun to slow down and let Pn Azian move into the mainstream traffic so we could follow her as she's known to do TNB to TTDI and vice-versa in 15 mins with or without traffic. He let her move in but in less than 2 seconds we loss sight of her. By the time we reached the toll booth it was almost 7pm. Anush threw the map book for me and Tesy to look for directions to Kuala Selangor but we couldn't find any because there was none. When Harun asked if he should take the Ipoh or Shah Alam ramp, Anush quickly grabbed the mapbook and started flipping pages, 5 seconds after Harun took the Ipoh ramp.

We stopped at the Jejantas Restaurant on the NS Highway right before the Sungai Buloh exit. The place was livelier than it looked from the highway. It had a Baskin Robbins, a Dunkin Donut, a magazine and snack shop, a Chinese noodle and porridge shop together with KFC and Burger King. We tried the new Ranch Cheeseburger (is the name right?). It was tasty with onion rings and barbecue sauce but the beef patty was pitifully small. Carl's Junior has a similiar offering called Western Star consisting of a bigger charbroiled patty, teriyaki sauce, and onion rings that tastes much better. We had Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream for desert as the sign said BK does not use any food product from Europe, not even for the Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream. Go figure. The view from the restaurant was excellent and I'm sure at night it's even better with the cars' headlights moving at high speeds.

After that it was on to Kuala Selangor. The 3 of them went on chatting about one thing or another and this time, unlike PD, I have no clue what they were talking about. The distance from the Sungai Buloh toll to Kampung Kuantan, the area where the firefly colony was located, was about 46kms which meant almost 1.5 hours drive. I dozed off but was awakened every so often by Anush scratching my knees. Maybe she rips off people's patellas and sells them to her doctor brother. Most of the road was twisting and bumpy but good suspension meant those in the backseat had a comfy ride. A large portion of the road also didn't have street lights. Surrounding the road was small towns, kampungs, and palm oil estates, with several Chinese and Indian cemetaries along the way. How Harun actually found the place is beyond me, considering he had Anush for navigator and had to follow a truck for at least 45 mins.

But as in every Wacko adventure, be it planned or spontaneous, we arrived safely and made our grand entrance with the question "Where's the toilet?!!". Tickets were Rm 10 per adult and you get a bottle of sweet fruit juice with a slice of chocolate cake. We put on our lifejackets and slowly climbed down a wooden staircase with jarang steps from the waiting area onto the riverbank where we boarded a craft that was somewhere in between a rakit and a perahu. Actually it resembled a small gondola. Harun and I sat facing the front with the oarsman standing behind us while Anush and Tes sat in front of us facing us.

The oarsman paddled hard but the sampan moved slowly. It wouldn't have moved any faster no matter how hard he paddled owing to the fact that the sampan was front heavy. Even before we reached the halfway point I could hear him panting away. Twice he had to tell Anush to move to her side away from Tesy to make sure the sampan was evenly balanced. The ladies are notorious for their excitement. Anush was very well behaved though her incessant "It's sooo lovely, I love ..." made up for the absent motorboard noise. Tes wasn't as lovely-lovely although she did make one big, sudden movement that could've resulted in, well, this email not being written. Somebody mentioned that how beautiful one of the firefly swarms looked and she quickly turned to her left to see it. Anywhere else that sudden turn would be nothing but on a sampan that's barely floating; it could've overturned the sampan.

The slower the sampan moved, the more soothing the ride felt. The sight of the fireflies kelip-keliping is a sight to behold. It's very beautiful, akin to watching a Christmas tree without the wires. The night was dark with no moon whatsoever so we could see the swarms quite clearly. Some of the swarms could be seen several dozen metres away. Some of the swarms appear to kelip-kelip in unison. Males kelip-kelip much brighter than females. The kelip-keliping occurs only from 7:50pm to 11pm. After 11pm, having completed their dealings, and being exhausted from having done so, the fireflies will turn off their lights and go to bed whereas those who like to imagine ghosts, dim their lights.

The fireflies are only attracted to the pokok Berangan. Without this tree it wouldn't exist. It's lifespan is about 3 months and within each month it may lay 2 to 3 batches of eggs. Each batch will contain about 500(?) eggs. The eggs are laid on the leaves of the pokok Berangan. If it's wet the eggs won't stick to the leaves and if it's too dry ants may discover and eat the eggs. The eggs take some 21 days to hatch. The kelip-keliping occurs when oxygen is mixed with the chemical luciferin located in the luminescent glands found on the underside rear abdominal segment. The males will kelip every 5 seconds and females reply 2 seconds later. Firefly larvae can also kelip and are called glow worms.

The fireflies are slightly bigger than the mosquito. I would have loved to have a firefly kelip on my palm but I'd probably have to climb the tree to get one. That would'be been illegal. Several rules have to be followed if one were to really enjoy the firefly. No camera flashes as this would shock the firefly and it would fall into the water. No holding it as you may squeeze it to death. If it's a pregnant female, you would've killed at least 501 fireflies. No noise; no motor boats or smoking as smoke would stick to the leaves and eggs, and shorten their lifespan and possibly cause birth defects. We kept to the rules although the 3 mouth-keteers broke the no noise rule.

In addition to the written rules there are also the unwritten rules which probably need to be adhered to even more so than the written ones. Several years ago our family drove by a jungle nearby Simpang Pulai, Perak that used to be my dad's village that was abandoned after it was overun by communists. That area used to be infested with tigers and now a few still remain. My dad said when in the area, you never mentioned harimau or rimau or pak belang. Always use a third person word such as dia. If possible don't even think of dia. The only tigers that exist in rivers are tiger prawns but there are things such as crocodiles and moccasins. Of course, Harun, with Anush's prodding, just had to ask "dalam sungai ni, ada buaya tak?"; to which the oarsman politely replied, "bila kita masuk kereta kita tak cakap pasal kemalangan, jadi bila kita dekat sungai kita tak cakap pasal ...". This basically amounts to a very polite scolding. And Harun even wanted to ask how many people fall overboard but wisely kept quiet after the reply.

What he said made sense. And he said it in a voice that showed respect and a sense of pride and belonging to the river and the fireflies from which he earned his livelihood. He explained many things about the fireflies which I mentioned and talked about how the government took over the area when it realised that money could be made. The sad part is the government only collected ticket money. Any accidents involving the oarsmen and passengers were the responsibility of the oarsmen. I wonder how much of the Rm 10.00 goes to the oarsmen. They ought to be saluted and they've received mine.

Being full of excitement, our 3 mouth-keteers couldn't just sit back and enjoy the trip on merit. They had to make it more exciting by running their imaginations at 12,000rpm. Anush imagined crocodiles, Harun imagined a hand coming out of the water and grabbing him while Tesy swore she saw a tombstone. On the way, I remember one of the cemetaries and temple fully lighted with candles. Myself; I sat very quietly minding my business and enjoying the sights. I was nervous at first; even stepping on to the sampan was something else but as the oarsman smoothly piloted the sampan I relaxed and truly had a good, though quiet, time. On the journey back I saw 2 slinky things passing by the sampan. They could have been moccasins, leaves, crocodile tails but what does it matter. I did what I supposed to do and broke no rules; if the boat overtuned and I couldn't write this email, I might well be doing something else next to somebody much more important; my message to my fellow Wackonians here is live what's in front of you. Leave your imaginations to planning the next vacation, birthday or pictionary game.

The trip back to KL was much faster and a breeze with Harun driving in exceed of 150 kmh. Along the way Anush confirmed Jar Jar Binks as her new nickname by pronouncing the word 'Ancestors' "An-Ches-Tors" (Jar Jar Binks mispronounces words and uses wrong grammar). She even admitted she's Jar Jar Binks. She left her car in TNB and went back with Tesy. I went back quietly as normal. The trip was exhilirating though you'll never see me jump up and down physically and verbally like the 3 mouth-keteers who interpret this as cowardice and boredom. This will be discussed in more detail and logic in another email.

I highly recommend seeing the fireflies. They may be gone if the way Malaysia treats it's rivers is any indication of their future. Go on a weekday. The weather on that day shouldn't be wet or too dry. There should not be any moon. Bring a videocam if you must but no lights or camera flashes please. There are also many seafood restaurants nearby. Firefly sightseeing followed by a seafood dinner would make for a lovely romantic night. After that, you might feel like picking up where the fireflies left off. For now, I'm going off to a meal of kuey tow goreng with kerang. Anybody join me?

Rizal's version of the Firefly trip....