The Flying Pig

Some years back I used to live near the main road in Telok Panglima Garang. This main road is the only road connecting Klang and Kuala Langat. So it was pretty busy most of the time.
I used to have bicycle, and I used to cycled to go around in the neighbourhood, to the market or just getting some exercise. I even cycled to Banting and Morib.

Now, there is one hazard of cycling on the main road, beside the fast lorry and cars that I dont like. Its the lorry carrying live pigs. If the lorry goes in the same direction with you, you would know its coming until the lorry passed you. Most of the time you would get rained on (as in pigs urine) before the unbearable stink.
I suppose motorbike riders also face the same problem. I pity those who got stuck behind lorry carrying pigs in a traffic jam.

In those days, in Kuala Langat district some pig farmers set up pigsties under palm oil trees. Typically these pigsties are overcrowded, and the waste would flow into the nearest river, creating pollution for miles downstream to the sea.
This discharge of pig waste into the local watershed is plainly irresponsible and should stop. Rivers that should be clean and alive with fish become dead and dirty.

In the West, pig farms are normally large in size, and they treat their own wastewater onsite. No discharge of dirty water into local river. If any farmer pollute local waterways, they will be fines as well as pay the cost of cleaning up. For repeat offender, their business will be closed down.

Compare that to environmental polluters in Malaysia. Some of them has been doing that for years and years, yet they seem to get away with it.
So I am rather happy with Melaka Govt for taking hard stand with pig farmers as in this report in Malaysiakini.

I reckon the pig farmers has been taking advantage of the enforcement people aversion towards pigs. So they push their luck, and doing nothing to improve their pig rearing practices. Pig farmers know that Malays/Muslims have aversion towards pigs, and the Malays/Muslims would normally move away from pig farming areas. Sort of insidious way of taking over a Malay/Muslim area/constituency. Malays move off, they can buy the land cheap, and expand operation.
So who gave the pig farmers the permit to operate? If that fellow is a Malay/Muslim, he must be dumb idiot.
read the stories here, here and here. Nowhere else but in Malaysiakini, other newspaper doesnt highlight this issue because of sensitivity. I also reckon Malaysiakini is playing up this issue as if siding with the pig farmers.

Does anyone cares about the environment? There is no fish left in the river, killed by pig waste.

Such a dirty business.
Let them finished off selling their pigs, maybe until end of next month. We dont want the image of draconian Govt 'yang tak kesian kat orang'. The remaining pig farms should be forbidden from discharging waste into local waterways, and they must treat their water waste.