Visits to ACRES
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A Journal of my first (but definitely not last) visit to ACRES
Presented by: Melvin Low, Primary 6, Nisshin Tuition Centre
On the 18 th November 2007 , Mr. Lee, together with Mrs. Lee, brought a group of pupils from the CWN (Creative Writing Now) course at Nisshin Tuition Centre on an exhilarating excursion to ACRES. ACRES is a sanctuary where animals, that have been rescued, are ‘kept' till they are able to look after themselves and go back to the wild. We went there on a chartered bus and were warmly welcomed by Mr. Louis Ng, the founder of ACRES, and two of his colleagues, Ms Anbu and Ms Charlene. Actually, we had completed a l-o-n-g walk at Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve right before moving on to ACRES. Thus by then, our legs were as heavy as lead and our faces as red as the fiery sun. However, we were upbeat and excited as no one we knew had visited such an animal haven before.
We were led to the ACRES education centre where Mr. Louis gave us a talk on his past experiences on animals which he had rescued. According to him, the whole centre covers 2 hectares of land and it took 256 students from 8 different schools to paint up the whole place. Upon hearing the two words ‘2 hectares', I thought it was a very small place and felt quite weird. I almost wanted to ask whether the land was spacious enough to house all the animals. Mr. Louis told us a lot of interesting stories but it was his favourite quote which made a great impact on me. He said,“ I'm only one, but still I'm one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. Because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse the something I can't do.” Phew!
Besides that, he told us about monkeys and dolphins being put through suffering just for stupid human tricks yuck , turtles and other reptiles being kept as pets yuck yuck and bile being cruelly retrieved from bears for Chinese medicine yuck yuck yuck. After the talk, Ms Anbu and Ms Charlene led us to four small plastic desks to write our names and e-mail addresses.
Thereafter, we were brought outside the education centre where we saw a beautifully painted and designed mural. It is the masterpiece of students from Admiralty Secondary School . What attracted me most was the sign ‘The Animals' Fates Lies In Our Hands'. Ms Anbu and Ms Charlene then gave us a guided tour of the premise. They showed us around the staffroom where they work and receive calls about animals needing help. The staffroom is quite small and cozy. What is unusual about it is that it has no air-conditioning. One of the reasons for not installing the air-conditioners, I think, is to help conserve the environment. Outside the staffroom, there is another table, but a much longer and larger one which has many beautiful and creative souvenirs displayed on it. Before I could even have a good glimpse on the souvenirs on sale, I was hurried off by my two friends, jovial Jason and naughty Neo Neo. At the very right side of the centre just beside the education centre was a mini field where parties, camping or many other fun activities will be conducted. According to Ms Anbu and Ms Charlene, they would have animal foot prints imprinted on the cement around the mini field.
After we had toured around the first half of the centre, they brought us to the quarantine centre. We entered the kitchen where food for the animals in quarantine will be prepared. There is also a storage room where there are cages donated by kind members of the public. During the tour around the quarantine centre, I learnt that animals must be in quarantine for 3 months before they are permitted to enter the wildlife centre. We also ventured into the main ‘heart' of the quarantine centre where there are stacks and stacks of cages to keep the animals in quarantine. The difference between the cages in ACRES and the cages in other places is that the former has tiny holes, which allow the animals to have a good view of the outside world on all four sides instead of just staring at four plain, boring walls.
A sprawling, unbelievably BIG space of land is right outside the quarantine centre. (So that answers my query: how big is 2 hectares of land?) There are 3 swimming pool sized ‘ponds' and many other kinds of enclosures, accommodating the animals. There are also different types of ‘cool' equipment for catching animals which have escaped or needed to be caught. Being the most tired yet thrilled one, I was all the way behind everyone except for Jason and Neo Neo. We were sauntering towards the souvenirs when Mr. Louis showed us some cute little froggies which were hiding in the holes of 4 bricks. After taking a good look at the froggies, we hurried forward to join the rest of the group.
There was not much time for shopping! I bought 3 badges and a decal to stick on my father's car to remind those who drive past his car those dolphins are suffering when they are being trained to do stupid human tricks. The chartered bus came sooner than I had expected and we had to leave! Sob! We bade goodbye to ACRES and returned to Nisshin. I can hardly wait to get my first e-mail from ACRES. Although I was initially disappointed that the animals were not there yet, it proved to be a most memorable and unique experience at ACRES.
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A Journal of a very different kind of excursion to ACRES
Presented by: Nathania Sakina Harjono, Primary 3, Nisshin Tuition Centre
OUTING TO ACRES
We were at ACRES listening attentively to a presentation by Mr Louis Ng, the founder of ACRES. He was once-upon-a-time a photographer at the zoo! However, he did not like how the orang-utans were being (mis)treated. He spoke passionately about animals that had no homes or had been separated from their parents by force. I did not understand everything that he said that day. But I knew that human beings are doing horrible things to animals all around the world. I was shocked to learn that in the wild, when people wanted to capture monkeys, they would even shoot the mother monkey in the presence of the baby monkey in order to ‘kidnap' the baby monkey. Most of the monkeys were injured while their parents were shot. What a cruel thing to do! Louis then told all of us to write down our names and email addresses so that they can send us information on ACRES. This will also allow us to know more about ACRES.
There is a wall outside the Education Centre. On the wall it states: “The animals' fate lies in our hands!” It was painted by students from Admiralty Secondary School . It was beautiful. I don't think I can ever paint like that!
Next, Charlene brought us to the animals' homes where the animals' hospital was located. In the hospital, there were a lot of animal cages that were donated by generous souls. The cages were of different sizes: some small, some large. The large cages were for monkeys, dogs and other enormous creatures. The small cages were for lizards, snakes and other teeny-weeny animals. Then, Charlene took us to one of the cages. With Mr Lee and Mrs Lee's permission, she “locked” us inside. (Of course she was pretending!) And we imagined how the animals would feel like, being locked up all day long.
She also showed us how they feed the animals. Basically, they will put the food inside the small little cages that are placed inside the large cages. Then they will release the animal into these cages.
After showing us the feeding procedure, Anbu brought us to another enclosure. She held up the tools to let us see what they use to catch hold of the animals. It was really interesting to see so many things. After that, we were brought to a large pond where they will keep turtles and fishes. However, on that day the pond was empty.
That was the end of our journey. I had an enjoyable time and I learnt a lot from this outing. Although I am not fond of animals, and I am terrified of furry pets like cats and dogs, I do not think it is right to hurt any animal either.
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