Interview with Sunny the Sun Bear aka Malayan Sun Bear

Me: First of all, thank you for agreeing to do this interview. I know how much you dislike all this attention.
Sunny: No problem. It's my pleasure to be invited to do this interview because I am not doing this for myself but for the entire sun bear population everywhere. As you know, we are on the fast road to extinction. Currently we are on the vulnerable list.

Me: That is one of the reason for this interview, to create awareness amongst public of your plight but we'll get to that shortly. First, let's get people to know you better.
Sunny: Sure, fire away.

Me: Okay. Sunny, you are called a sun bear. Is it because you like the sun, like maybe you like to sun bathe or
something?
Sunny: Hahaha... I think a lot of people have that misconception about us because of our name and because our fur is so dark in colour that they think that maybe we love to bask in the sun, but no. In fact, I am more of a night bear. The truth is we are called a sun bear because of this patch of golden fur on our chest. My grandmother told me that legend has it that this patch of fur is believed to represent the rising sun, hence the name sun bear.

Me: So, does every sun bear have this golden patch on his or her chest?
Sunny: Well yes, but sometimes it can also be a white patch. Personally, I think the golden one looks better, but that's just me...

Me: Okay, next question. Tell us, where's your family from?
Sunny: My sun bear family, which is the smallest of the extended bear family, lives mainly in dense lowland forests all over Southeast Asia including southern China, eastern India and also Indonesia. As for me, I was born in Malaysia but I'm thinking of moving.

Me: Oh, do you have somewhere in particular in mind?
Sunny: I don't know yet. I'm thinking about getting in touch with my extended bear family all over the world like my cousins the panda bears and the polar bears. That would be interesting.

Me: I bet it would. Sunny, earlier you spoke about the origins of the name sun bear but I just remembered I read somewhere that sun bears are sometimes called "dog bear". Why is that? Are you in any way related to dogs?
Sunny: Not that I know of. What I do know is that we got this particular nickname due to the way our bodies are build, you know, stocky, muscular, small ears and short muzzle. I guess we kind of look like dogs but of course cuter.

Me: Hahaha... That sounds pretty vain...
Sunny: Hahaha... I don't like to brag but I think my sleek black coat of fur is absolutely gorgeous. Not only does it look beautiful, it is also very useful to protect us from twigs, branches and rain because it is quite thick and course but short enough to keep us from overheating in the tropical weather that we live in.

Me: How do you take care of it?
Sunny: I try to spend as much time grooming myself. I also try to bath regularly to keep the natural shine from fading and I try to avoid rubbing myself against anything too rough as it would fade the colour of my fur and could also cause balding. I know that because it happened to one of my cousin who was kept as a pet in a nearby village from where I live and she kept rubbing herself against the cage. Soon, her once extremely beautiful fur had turned all brown with bald patches. She also got sores on her skin.

Me: That's really sad.
Sunny: Yes it is. Sometimes, we try to go visit her and sometimes we even try to help her escape but we haven't been successful. Her mother misses her very much.

Me: I wish you all the luck with that.
Sunny: Thank you. We all miss her very much and hope that she can come home soon. Next question?

To be continued...

My Balls Are Gone

I have seen her around here a couple of times. In fact, I think she has purposely been going by my house, especially in the mornings and evenings when it's time for my workout sessions, which I always do in the front yard of my house. I like to keep fit.

I think she lives a couple of houses away from me. I have never seen her before so I think she must have just moved here. I did see a moving truck a couple of weeks ago.

We have never talked to each other but I have a feeling that she kind of likes me. Every time she walks by, I can see that she would take brief glances at my house because I think that she wanted to see if I'm there. Sometimes, I would purposely stay out of sight just to confirm my suspicion and true enough, when she realized that I am not there as always, she'd stop and scan my garden with her beautiful green eyes. Sometimes, I would come out of hiding and pretend to be surprised but she is one bold girl. She won't even blush or run but would just walk away ever so slowly, swaying her hips sexily.

I have tried to smile at her hoping that she would say something to me but she never did. She would just smile briefly at me without even stopping. This girl is driving me crazy. I find myself looking forward to her daily visits.

However, one day she didn't show up as usual. I didn't think too much of it. Maybe she had something to do right? But the day after, she failed to show up again. I started to wonder what had happened to her but I figured that it was none of my business. After a week without a single visit from her, I started to feel agitated and curious. I have also lost my appetite. So, I decided to go look for her.

I have no idea where to start as I didn't know where she lives so I ended up just circling the block, twice, but no luck. Feeling disappointed, I went back and found my mom waiting for me by the front door. Then I remembered that we were supposed to go for a doctor's appointment.

My mind was occupied with the mystery girl all the way to the clinic. I wanted to tell my mom about her but I was too embarrassed. For one, I didn't even know her name or where she lives and now, she's disappeared. What was I supposed to tell her? What can she do anyway? Besides, I felt that this is something I have to do on my own. I am old enough anyway. I have also decided that I finally found her, I'm going to tell her how much I like her and that I would like to go out with her.

When we finally reached the clinic, the cute and nice nurse greeted us and I went in to see the doctor. Then I think I must have blacked out because the next thing I remembered was waking up feeling really drowsy and my eyelids felt really heavy. It took a lot of effort to open them. I can't see my mom anywhere and it made me confused and scared. I tried to move and that was when I felt a slight pain on my lower abdomen. I was lying on my side so I tried to curl my body to see where the pain was coming from. That was when I saw it and my first thought was, " Oh no, my balls are gone!"

Somewhere in the background, I can hear my mom talking to my doctor.

"I think he's waking up. thank you again doctor."
"No problem, you're most welcome. You have made a wise decision by choosing to neuter him."
"Actually, I wanted to wait until he's a little bit older but there's a female cat that has been coming to our house quite frequently lately so I didn't want to take any chances. He seems to like her and I'm afraid he'll get her pregnant. In fact, maybe I'll talk to her owner about getting her spayed, if they haven't already."

"Miow..." was all I managed to say before I fell asleep, hoping to dream about her.

Rumah Baru

Malam masih awal tapi aku sudah bersiap untuk tidur. Badan aku penat sebab hari ini aku agak sibuk dengan kerja. Ke hulu ke hilir buat itu dan ini. Sambil baring aku pandang ke arah KLCC yang kelihatan dari tempat aku baring. Cantik dan mengasyikkan.

Bunyi kereta yang lalu lalang berselang seli dengan bunyi hon agak bingit tapi langsung tak mengganggu aku sebab dah biasa, dah lali. Lagipun, aku tinggal sini sudah lama. Terlalu lama sampai aku tak ingat lagi rumah aku di kampung. Lama aku berbaring sambil sambil memandang KLCC. Kadang-kadang, tak berkebil mata aku.

Tiap-tiap malam, bila aku duduk seorang, aku akan berfikir tentang cita-cita, tentang masa depan, tentang keinginan, tentang kemewahan. Kadang-kadang fikiran aku diganggu oleh memori masa silam, tentang kesilapan, tentang kebodohan, tentang keperluan. Dan bila fikiran-fikiran kotor ini menjadi terlalu berat untuk aku tanggung, aku akan pejam mata rapat-rapat dan jerit sekuat hati aku. Mungkin aku harap, bila aku jerit, fikiran-fikiran kotor tersebut akan jadi takut dan tak akan datang lagi.

Masalahnya, bila aku menjerit kuat secara tiba-tiba, orang akan mula sedar kehadiran aku di situ dan orang akan rasa takut terhadap aku. Kadang-kadang, pakcik jaga atau polis bantuan akan halau aku dari situ. Jadi aku terpaksa lipat tilam kadbod aku dan selimut kertas aku dan cari tempat tinggal lain. Harap-harap aku boleh nampak KLCC dari tempat tinggal baru aku sebab aku ingin sambung berfikir tentang cita-cita, tentang masa depan, tentang keinginan dan kemewahan.