A Typical DIY Architectural Designing Works Of A BH !!!

I was in a meeting today with an established architect personnel.

"Pak Harry I have come out with a BH design which I hope will be okay with you."

My first question was, how much do you know about swiftlet?  Have you attended any Seminars and perhaps used some advise from an experience BH expert.

"Very little just one seminar with Dr.Lim."

Okay what about any visits into any BHs?

"Nope never given a chance before."

Okay let me have a look at what you have come out with.

He got his laptop started and showed me a 3D BH using google sketch.

Hmm.... not bad but his poor knowledge about swiftlet is clearly shown on his laptop.

I sighed and shook my head with amusement.

Your BH design has too many flaws and when you  are designing it you are not thinking like a swiftlet, I told him. Just look at the LAL, your LAL is a staircase and it is for human but you forgot that the BH is for those birds.

The entrance holes were poorly done, the two entries are in communication, the size of the LAL was too small, the location of the LAL on the top floor was not proper, the lower LAL was also not correct, the size of the roving area was too small, the ventilation holes were too many, the VIP room not there, the size of the building were not right, the ceiling heights were wrong and many more defects.

This is like going to a deep sea on a Sampan (small wooden boat) and upon reaching home you designed a Titanic.

I believed with only one seminar, a one day basic course, with Dr. Lim is not good enought to come out with a good BH design, I told him. You need to learn more, if I were you.

You need to do more researches, attend a few more seminars, visits a number of BHs in operation and take a good look what is inside.  You also need to start thinking that you are those birds flying in and out looking for a place to stay.

He smiled and accepted my verdict.

"Yes I do agree with you." That was his professional answer.

No hard feeling but he needs more exposure and experiences before getting his company to splash those monies into the project.

Well what I would say is that this is a typical setback in out swiftlet industry.  Most people have this mind set that everybody can design a good BH and there is no need to have any knowledge about those swiftlet.

At the end of the day more then 80% BHs constructed failed.

Who do you think should be blamed?

Note: The author have no intension of condeming Dr.Lim or anybody but everybody have to understand that a one day workshop with any "sifu" is not enought to come out with a RM250,000 BH design.  Try to learn more then those basics provided by Dr.Lim or perhaps get some experience swiftlet farmers to be involved. Dr. Lim have been one of the most admired person by myself. He is one professional person who have been helping many newbies to learn more in swiftlet farming.

Trying To Act As A Pro !!!

You can easily pin point a young "Pro" and a real Pro in Swiftlet farming.

A very interesting day with two set of newbies.

One was totally ignorant of swiftlet farming and never own a BH before.

You can learn a bit from analysing what they understand about swiftlet farming.

1) Pak Harry is it true that BH located near to the sea is very good?

    This question is like saying that those salt water is the major attraction to those birds.  My answer was "Not always true".  He should have asked "Pak Harry birds loves to populate those BHs close to water sources like sea,  river, lakes, reservoirs, even fish ponds and even those waste water treatment plant?"  My answer will be yes you are right.  They need water to survive and at the right time of the day those water traps do generate insects.

2) Pak Harry, we should install those corner covers in order to get better raw nests price.

  He might be right but not always.  During the early stages of your new BH it is advisable not to insert those corner covers yet.  Those birds loves to build their nests at these corners so let them enjoy using the 90* corners.  Once your BH have about 300 nests then you should place those corner covers.

3) Pak Harry is it true that those water surrounding the BH will cool down the house?

  There is no truth or studies being done in that.  When people placed water around the BH is mainly to prevent those ants from crossing into the BH.  There might be some evaporation created by those water but it will not drastically reduce the heat from entering the BH.

4) Pak Harry, those ventilation holes should be open in total to cool down the BH.

  I disagree to this idea.  Main reason being during the daytime, after 10.00am, the external air is a bit to hot and too dry.  If you allow these toxic air to enter your BH in large quantity it will eventually damage the internal temperature and humidity in the nesting areas.  Worst is when you apply those expensive aromas.  If you allow too much air to flow inside via the ventilation holes those expensive odor will be push out thus you will waste a lot of money.

5) Pak Harry, it is good to put water pond on the rooftop of a stand alone BH.

 I think having a water pond on the top or your BH will call more trouble then cooling your BH.  I have entered so many BHs and nearly 80% of those with pond on their rooftop have leakages problems. These are mainly due to microcracks in the cement.  Those water will wet your nesting planks and encourage fungus to grow. Swiftlets hates those spores in the air.

6) Pak Harry, all entrance hole should face the direction of the sun all the time?

I beg your pardon?  Who says so?  I believed your BH entrance hole should firstly face the flight path of those birds coming home in the evening.  In cases where your BH is closed to a water source, you might consider to change the direction to face those water source.

There is some truth that if you face the entrance hole to the west more often then not those birds will construct their nests closed to the entrance areas.  This is because they hate to wake up late in the morning. When you wake up late, you will have nothing left to eat for breakfast.

7) Pak Harry can I build a BH 30' by 60'?

Well if you like it please go ahead.  Do you know anything about those birds characters?  Have you ever heard that they need a roving area of at least 4 meters by 4 meters?  Why don't you consider the 4x4 configuration?  Make your BH a multiple of 4X4 !!!

8) Pak Harry, can we play both the external and internal the whole day long I mean 24 hours a day?

What is the purpose of those sounds?  To attract those wild young birds to enter your BH.  Once there is no more birds outside, i.e at night, what is the purpose of playing them at night?  Yes for those internal sound you may want to play for 24 hours.  Maybe you should stop at midnight so that those birds can talk to their kids.

9) Pak Harry, which entrance type is better, the side entry of the top entry?

There no appropriate answer to this question.  It depends a lot on the types of entrance holes of those BHs around your land.  Remember your new BH depends totally on those young stray and have yet to build their nests birds that I believed were bred inside your neighbor's BHs.  They tend to have this preference to the same type of entrance hole where they were hatched.  If all your neighbors are using those side entry then you go for side entry. Likewise if many of the BHs are the top entry type then you go with the top entry.  What if the top and side entries number are nearly equal?  Think about dual entries type.

Well those who have read the above questions and answers please try not to post this questions again, please !!!!

Swiftlet Farming: So Now Who Is The Looser, Sabah Or Trengganu !!!

This morning I read this article from the Star.

Click on this link:  http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/26/nation/6132258&sec=nation

Quote:

China to invest RM1bil in Kemaman iron ore plant

KEMAMAN: China is expected to invest RM1bil to build an iron ore factory at Teluk Kalong industrial zone near here.


Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said work on the factory was expected to start early next year after an agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting between the Terengganu government and Guangzhou state officials during a recent trade mission by the state to China.


“The visit by senior state officials, together with Terengganu industrial captains, ended on a high note as many Chinese investors were keen to explore business opportunities here.


“During the visit, the state government also approved proposals by Chinese investors to invest in swiftlet farming business for the production of edible bird’s nest, apart from the iron ore factory,” he said after opening the annual general meeting of the Welfare Body of Wives of Terengganu Assemblymen here on Saturday.

The meeting was chaired by its chief Toh Puan Norliza Mahmud, who is also the Mentri Besar’s wife.
“For a start, the factory will provide 800 jobs that can be taken up by the locals,” Ahmad said.

Unquote:

So the Sabah Government is still trying to make their mind up and Trengganu is moving much faster.

Now those Chinese investors are coming and what are they waiting for?

Oh yes we need to draft those guidelines !!!

The Putra Jaya people have been sitting on it more almost two years and I think Sabah will take another 5 years.

By then the birds have flown away to mainland China !!!

So You Think Breeding Of Young Swiftlet And Later Release Into Your BH Is Something Very New!!!!

"Never Under Estimate Malaysian."

The "Malaysia Boleh" (Malaysia Can) was mooted during the last Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir.

His philosophy was to change the mindset of Malaysians to show to the world that we can achieve no matter what we wanted if we are determined and perseverence.

We have our own astronauts, mouth Everest climbers, the south pole explorer, the big submarines, the badminton and squash world champions, the F1 drivers and so on.

While they are focusing on other front, we also have gone into swiftlet breeding in a big way.

Last week I received a frantic call from the guy who wanted to start the eggs incubating and breeding.  He found the eggs incubator supplier and the big surprises was what the supplier told him.

" I have been supplying these swiftlet eggs incubator to a few prominent swiftlet farmers."

You mean there are a few people in Malaysia already doing the breeding operation?

"Yes and these people bought the large quantity hatches.  One was purchased by a prominent business man who own many properties at Bukit Tinggi.  He is hatching 4,000 eggs one time."

"There is another unit purchase by a Kulim birdhouse owner.  This guy got a huge grant from the Government."

"I send two more units, similar capacity to Sarawak."

So the jist of the above story is that there are at least 4 units of hatching machines in Malaysia with a capabilities of incubating 4,000 eggs a cycle.

That is "Malaysia Boleh" syabas.

Pak Harry there is a small snack.

What shall that be. I asked.

Well  I talk to somebody in the Veterinary Department in Putra Jaya.  The person in charge is not in favor of these hatching techniques of swiftlet.  We might damage the natural environment of those birds.

Hmm ..... I am not sure how that will happened but ........

During my Penang Seminar, I touched on Trans location subject.

Out of the blues one my attendance told the class that he attended a full day course in Johor a few months ago. 

I was again very surprised with another "Malaysia Boleh" development.

A Malaysian company giving courses in breeding of swiftlet.......

Hmmm....... very very interesting.

It seem that the organiser has been breeding and transferring those young birds into his BH for many years already and since it works he continued with the breeding ....

If you happen to wanting to purchase these young babies you need to pay at least RM 100 a bird.

Another interesting way of earning money...

Maybe we should get those un employed graduates to start this business and I am sure they will be filthy rich very soon.

I am thinking of changing my profession right now.....

So if one day I am no longer updating this blog, you should guess where and what I am doing....

Maybe should start a new blog.  He he he he.....



Do you learned something from reading my blog? If your answer is yes then you should be kind enough to donate a small fee to this account: Maybank, 564155503944, Azlina Ang Abdullah.

In Manado, It Is A Great Sin To Paint Your Internal Walls All Black !!!

I was in Johor a few weeks back and during dinner I was with a blog reader of mine that takes a lot of effort in perfecting his new BHs.

He now owned at least three BHs and about to purchase a few more (how about 5 ).

His method of getting more BHs into his asset  is by locating as many investors as possible, mainly Singaporeans, and help them to purchase BHs that are not doing well.  Once purchased he will turn around one by one by using his, plus mine, expertise in swiftlet ranching.

To be able to turn around failed BHs is not an easy tasks but he managed to collect lots of knowhow by investing into field trips to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

It was during his trip to Manado, Indonesia that he discovered strange things that sometime it is mind boggling.

One such phenomena is meeting someone who calls those swiftlet by blowing those bamboo leaf.

Unbelievable but  true.

The moment this swiftlet's "Bomoh or Witchdoctor" blew the bamboo leaf the sound generated will cause those birds, within a few kilometers, will be drawn to the sound.  Those birds staying inside his BH will fly out to check where the sound came from.

In this way he can check the number of birds inside his BH.

I plan to visit Manado with him to verify the truth of his "Bullshit" Stories.  He he he.... Those who wanted to join please book your seat now. (3 person only).

One more interesting advise by the same WitchDoctor was never to paint your BH totally black, internally.

If you want to pain with black color water based odorless try to pain only the lower part. Leave the top part white.

His reason being the birds feel threaten if it is too dark or perhaps they could not find their way out in the early morning.

I remembered the important of light to these birds in the morning.  They cannot effort to wake up late.  Late means lesser food.  If they continue to wake up late they will be starved and weak. At the end of the day they will be dead.

So be careful when you wanted to apply those black colored paint..........
................................................................................................................................................................
Do you learned something from reading my blog? If your answer is yes then you should be kind enough to donate a small fee to this account: Maybank, 564155503944, Azlina Ang Abdullah.

The Bullet and The Flower Shaped Tweeters !!!!

These two tweeters looks very much the same but they are not.

I wrote about this before but I feel obligated to talk about the many special things that you can get by choosing the right tweeters for your BH.

The one on your right have a kind of flower in the middle and the other with a bullet in the center.

It was provent that the bullet center gives you a superior sound quality.

If you are unsure make sure you test yourself.

The only set back is that the flower is only about RM1.50 while the bullet it RM7.00.

Well my advise to you is to perhaps use the expansive tweeters in your VIP rooms and the cheaper units in the common room.

I have this feeling that you can use the bullet type as the external sound tweeters in your BH.

So learn something and make the right decisions.....

Best of luck to you all .................

Do you learned something from reading my blog? If your answer is yes then you should be kind enough to donate a small fee to this account: Maybank, 564155503944, Azlina Ang Abdullah.

How To Play The Right External Sound At The Precise Time Of The Day !!!

All this while our understanding of using those external sound are limited to one sound per day.

Then Pak Harry came out with the idea of playing two sounds in the day.  The most effective sound to be played during those Peak Hours (morning from 6:30 to 9:00am) and "Happy Hours" ( from 5:0 0pm to 8:00pm) and the rest of the time play the second best sound or a medley.

Many who have followed this new method have good results. 

One of those was MR L of Permatang Pauh, Seberang Prai.  I invited him to participate during my Penang Seminar. He was willing to share his dilemma and how he now own a house with at least 150 nests.

His technique was to follow Pak Harry advise where in the early morning played the "Black Cloud" at noon the "Awesome" and in the evening back to the "Black Cloud".

Before using this new technique he was following those old method of playing one sound from sunrise till sunset.  He did not even change his sound from day one.

After getting Pak Harry to visit his BH and following up with all the recommendations provided he turn to the dual sounds technique.

He claimed that he used to have not more then 60 nests three months ago and now his total nests is 120 +++ and plenty of bird shit spots all over the place.

( If you need to talk to him to confirm the above story please call this phone number : 0124931098.)

Today I wanted to expand your mind further to the next level.

Can we play more sounds in a day and know exactly what sound is being played at that time of the day and the day of the week?

The answer is yes if you know how to.

Will it be more effective?

Many BH owner complained that most of the sounds they bought and played seem to last about 1 week or so.  The first day there will be lots of birds flying in and out.  Some will start to pack the tweeter and some will cling to the wall beside the tweeter. 

When the day changed the effectiveness will reduce and further reduce and the activities around the entrance hole will become less effective.

This is why I suggest the use of multiple sounds that you arranged as such the sound will be running the whole day without changing the amplifier.

One thumb drive (2GB) can easily hold all the sounds required to cover the 13 hours of playing time.

Prior to doing this you need to do something with those sound that you have in your sound library.

You need to firstly profiled them to the sound level that will be consistent will all the sounds to be added.

You can use Microsoft movie maker software for this.

Once that is done you have done that you then arrange as such all your sound are shorten or extended into two sets.  One able to run for 30 mins and the other 1 solid hour.  Use the cut and paste technique.

One you have these two sets of sounds for all the sets you can now plan which sound your wish to play on your amplifier.

Let assume you wanted to operate sound number 1 from 6:30am till 8.00am, sound number 2 from 8.00 till 12 noon, the 3rd from 12 noon till 5pm and sound number 4 from 5pm till 8.30pm.

Pick sound number one with 30 mins run and move into yout thumb drive or a folder, then the same sound no 1 with 60 mins run, then sound number 2 you copy four times, then sound no 3 you drag it in and copy for 5 times, sound number 4 you copy the one hour twice and the 30 mins once.

So now you have a set of sound as follows:

Sound  1 30 mins    time to run 6:30am till 7:00am  change the name to 06

Sound  1 60 mins    time to run  7:00am till 8:00am change the name to 07
Sound  2 60 mins   time to run 8:00am till 9:00am   change the name to 08

Sound  2 60 mins  time to run 9.00am till 10.00am  change the name to 09

Sound  2 60 mins time to run 10:00am till 11:00am change the name to 10
Sound  2 60 mins time to run 11:00am till 12:00 noon change the name to 11

Sound  3 60 mins time to run 12:00 noon till 13:00pm change the name to 12

Sound  3 60 mins time to run 13.00pm till 14.00pm change the name to 13

Sound 3 60 mins time to run 14:00pm till 15:00pm change the name to 14

Sound 3 60 mins time to run 15.00pm till 16.00pm change the name to 15

Sound 3 60 mins time to run 16:00pm till 17:00pm change the name to 16

Sound 4 60 mins time to run 17:00pm till 18:00pm change the name to 17

Sound 4 60 mins time to run 18:00pm till 19:00pm change the name to 18

Sound 4 60 mins time to run 19.00pm till 20:00pm change the name to 19

Sound 4 30 mins time to run 20.00pm till 20:30pm change the name to 20

Set your digital timer to switch the amplifier from 6:30am till 8:30am and inset the thumb drive you have set.

Make sure you synchronise your watch with the digital timer watch.

If you look at the back of those settings the number 06,07 ........20 is actually the time when the sound starts (except 06 and where it will start at 6:30am).

The amplifier will sort the sounds and will play the programmed sounds as per these numbers.

You need to start your sound library and then apply the above technique.  If you only have one sound then you are doomed.  That was why I keep barking on the important of starting your sound library.  Do not depend on your "Sifu" to provide the sounds.  You should owned them yourself.

I hope I did not confused you but never mind if you cannot understand why don't you attend the next seminar at Hotel Sentral this May 8th 2010, Sartuday.

Call 017 755 1318 to book a seat.  Only 20 seats are available (5 taken).

Remember there are not many people out there who claimed to be "Sifus" are willing to share this special secrets but Pak Harry does.......

Let me help you to get more birds into your new BHs????????

The Negative Side Of Becoming A Birdhouse "Sifu" !!!

Many of us tend to look at bird house "Sifus" as those who have the magical touches that can bring those wild birds instantly the moment the new BH is put into operation.

Some will have this imagination that the moment their new BH is put into operation the Sifu will draw in every single swiftlet found in the sky into their house, only their house.

The truth is not that simple.  Every BH have its own peculiarity and those birds will be the one that will decide to stay or not to stay in the new house.

We human can only predict what they like and dislike but the final decision will be those birds.

How long do you think my new BH will show signs that the birds have entered and stayed overnight?

My normal answer will be:  It depend but normally the first week you can see some signs if you stay away from the house.  Try not to enter the house too often because every time you enter the house you will leave some traces of your body odor.

From my many experiences, if you design the house properly with good external and internal sounds, those birds will enter your BH within days.  Those that stays are usually young birds that are looking around for a place to call home.  During their stay they actually will carry out a kind of due diligent to ensure that the house is safe for their family.

This is why it is not advisable to keep entering a new BH because if you bum into them you will actually scares them unnecessarily.  They might immediately decided to move to a new place.

After staying in the house around 5 to 8 weeks, if they feel safe, the couple will then start building their nest.

Once the nest is partially readied they couple will start to copulate and the female will lay her two eggs.

It is nice to have your BH to reach that stage after having nightmares thinking when will my BH be populated.

It is rather easy to have a few nests after a few months but to move to a profitable level is not so.

The BH owner need to continuously monitor the situation and if the growth suddenly stopped or slowed down, there must be something affecting those birds.

The owner must identify the possible problems and find ways to eliminate or minimise the problems....

Coming back to the negative side of becoming a "Sifu" I tend to agree that there are many a time when a BH is successful all the credits will go to the owner but when it failed the failure is due to a bad "Sifu".

Both seem to be favoring the owner and "Sifus" seem to be always the looser.

So if you have a good and dedicated "Sifu" give some credits to him and make sure you treat him like a normal human being. .......

The Door Width Of Your VIP Room Must Not Be below 2 Feet !!!

I carried out a number of test to check if a smaller door width is better then a wide sized.

It seem that those birds prefer the larger door width.

My main reason to try the smalled door size (1.5 feet)  is to perhaps minimise the risk of those owl from entering the room.

Well since the door is too small and those swiftlet seem to shy away, I have decided to open the size to about 2.5 feet.

I was very lucky since during the design stage the room was designed with a preset wood to be used in case that those birds do not know how to enter the room.

The research was done in Bukit Tinggi Klang.

I am on the opinion, after the observation, it is better to have the door width at around 2.5 feet.

My observation was based on two facts.  First there were lots of bird shits at the external sound tweeters located at the main enterance area but nothing inside the VIP room.  The shit count is showing positive increases but the number of shit in the VIP below those external sound tweeters are zero.

In Kerling and Penang, both with wider VIP rooms door width are much larger and it seem that the bird shit spots seem more inside those rooms.

I am sure there must be some good reasons why those birds are not in favour of a smaller door width.

Interesting Questions and A Tale Of Going To Fail BH Owner !!!

Well since my eyes are still not tired I would like to write about two messages that I think can make you learn something.

The first email came from Pattani, Thailand. He wrote in Malay and I translated into English in brackets:

Pak Harry, Saya Anwar dari Patani Thailand.  Saya ada masalah tentang rumah burong saya.
(Pak Harry, my name is Anuar and I am from Patani, Thailand.  I have a strange problems in my BH.)

Rumah saya sudah operasi tigatahun sarang didalam 200 lebih sarang.

(My Bh have been in operation for 3 years and have about 200 plus nests.)

Masaalah saya kerana apa anak piyek dirumah saya selalu jatuh mati iaitu anak merah dan yang sudah

(My strange problem is that those baby birds are always on the floor, fell down from their nests, the red colored,)

ada bulu. Tiap kali anak burung menetas tiap kali ada anakburong mati dalam jumlah 10-20 eror

(and those with feathers. This happened nearly every breeding cycle with about 10 to 20 chicks)

Saya harap pakHarry dapat bantu saya.

(I hope Pak Harry can help me)

So what do you think is the main cause that those young chicks to jump out of their nests?

I strongly believed that there is something in BH that is scaring the birds away or trying to ascape from a kind of bitting from a predator.

The most probable is Geckos. Geckos are  giant house lizards. They can be as big as your thumb and more then 10 inches long.  They eat swiftlet eggs and baby birds.

I remembered when I entered a BH in Pekan Sedeli in Johore about 6 -7 months ago.

I saw the exact situation where there were many young birds lying of the floor.  I told the owner that there must be a Gecko in the house.  The moment he shine his torchlight to the ceiling, yes there was a big Geckos on the nesting plank.  In a split of a second it runs hiding in between those planks. The owner smiled at me as if giving me the credit for being so smart.

I was right and I told the owner that if he do not remove that Geckos, there will be more life baby birds on the floor.

The next strange email was  from someone who will joint the Failure Club:

Good day Pak Harry,

Following our teleconversation, attached is the sketch plan of my new BH which started construction on 25th Mar 2010.
Regret to only found out your blog recently and after reading it days & nights, I am starting to wonder if my BH properly designed & I am begging for your precious advices.

Also please do advice on the sound system for my BH, I am pretty sure to purchase the whole sound package from Pak Harry, however, please don't "extra charge" me because of such confirmation to purchase from you... hehe jk.

A quotation would be nice which include all the soundless humidifier, hexa tweeter & etc.

Btw, I am still not sure about the location & design of the VIP room, perhaps some advice on that too?

I am afraid I am asking too much, sorry for that but I am really worried as this is the very 1st BH of mine.

Thanks for everything.
 

After a short conversation on the phone he send the above email plus the BH sketches.

 

I reviewed the sketches and I told him that he need to take a flight to KL now.  There were so many mistakes, blunders and told him to stop construction works temperorily.

 

It will be a big mistake to continue the construction. 

 

The data room and the staircase to reach the 1st floor was too far apart.

 

The LAL was too small.

 

The LAL locations were all wrongly positioned.

 

The entrance hole size was too small and it location was not right.

 

Well his reply was: 

I am too busy with my schedule and will continue with the construction due to penalty if he stop them.

 

Hmm ..... what a waste.

 

I thought I can stop something that is clearcut will failed but unfortunately the owner seem to have other schedules.

 

The BH seem to be less important and good luck to him.

 

The important lesson here is that try not to do something on your own without understanding some basics about swiftlet farming.

 

Attend some courses and make sure to avoid stupid mistakes.  Get someone to be your advisor and make sure you get the right design before starting any construction job.

God Bless Him ......

 

 

Do you learned something from reading my blog? If your answer is yes then you should be kind enough to donate a small fee to this account: Maybank, 564155503944, Azlina Ang Abdullah.

We Need More Helps Than Those Negative Comments!!!

I do not want to be labeled as a person who is against the Ruling Party or being influenced by the Opposition Parties.

Frankly I want to stay neutral and my scope of interest is to promote the Edible Bird Nest Industries in Malaysia.

There are so many things that are lacking to make the industry a major income earner for the country and everyday we will only receive complains and issues that are prohibitive in nature.

Like I said before many Malaysian Investors in the Swiftlet Industries are running to the neighboring countries to invest and here we are still do not have any guidelines to follow.

Those guidelines was said to be readied and to be tabled to the Cabinets early this year however nothing happened. It went dead or the person in charged must have been removed.

Recently another issue was raised in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Go to: http://web.thestarmobile.com/news.jsp?article=132284

Exactly the same miserable statements from a Ruling Party Politician and then being criticized by another Opposition Politician. Its a mess and what do you think it will do to the industry that we loved so much?  I feel like being stab with those rugged sharp knive on my back.

Not one or not many will try to look at the Industry in a wider and positive prospectives.

What we need are Politicians, like Datuk Louis Rampas,  that support the Industries and help the Swiftlet Community to increase the benefits for the state.

Perhaps we should organise big forum or seminars to promote the industry to the local, foreign and the world.

We need the top brass in each state to help in guiding the industries to a proper direction.

We need a proper guidelines, beneficial to the industries,  to be issued and allow investors to follow.

We need the state to look or adopt the industry similar to other industries like Palm Oil Industries, Fishing Industries, Tourism Industries, Padi Planting Industries, Mushroom Industries, Rubber Industries  and so forth. We can call it as Swiftlet Farming Industries.

It encompassed all activities that starts from the allocation of land to develop the precious industries to the export of every product that are associated with bird nests.  Good example manufacturing of collegent for beautiful skin, birdnest creams for your body, capsules to cure cancer, mineral water laced with birdnest, Non Alcoholic beverages laced with birdnests, biscuit with birdnest, Gingseng with birdnest and many more.

Allocate say RM100 million as a start. Slowly increase it to maybe 500 million when there are good income coming into the state.

Also possible is to provide research grants.  Get those local universities in the state to conduct research into turning the industries into greater height.  To individuals who wanted to conduct specialised research ask them to come forward and let them apply those grants with minimum qualifications.

What we need are newer methods to push this specialised industry toward a scientific method of populating those BHs.

A smart State Government will adopt this business as one of their core income earner.

This special industry have so many benefits if the state can come out with a master plan in encouraging more investors to come with their money into the state.

Look at the Industry now which is without proper master plan? 

Millions of Ringgit, both from local and foreign countries, are being poured into it. Just imagine if there is a proper master plan?

Why don't the Sabah Agricultural Ministry or State Development Board look into a proper Master Plan? Something long terms that will propel the State as the Major Swiftlet Farming Destination.

I am more then 100% sure that the state can lure those investors from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Japan, Korea and the Middle East to flock into the state to own a BH.

With Air Asia using KK as one of their flight center linking mainlan China, Hongkong and Manila I am sure it will be very easy to promote the industry in a large scale.

There is no use of coming out with makeshift statements, mostly negatives,to kill the industry.  What we need are some commitment to help the industry. 

We do not need negative dosages of comments that the industry will bring in diseases, foul smell, shits everywhere and so forth. This matter have been mentioned so many many times at many seminars and meeting with the Ministries.  

Proof to us that they do and and give us the right guidelines for us to follow.

The Prime Minister have many times talk on the TV and the Parliament about this special high valued ( "Nilai Tinggi") industry and those Ministries are still doing nothing to help the industry in General.

Treat us with respect and we can be a big force to help the country to bring wealth into the country
Try to look at this industry as a positive force and find ways to maximize from it.

I came to know from someone yesterday, the number of swiftlet farming BH in Malaysia now have surpassed 120,000 units. If each unit is, on the average, cost RM 200,000 we have so far dump in 120,000 units X RM200,000 = 24,000,000,000.  Please count those zerooooooooos. Yes we are looking at 24 billion ringgit and rising every day.

Is 24 billion ringgit still not strong enought to call for some serious attention?

Nearly 70% of these BHs are not doing well. Not doing well means sick and not producing enough income to pay their monthly bills.

Where do you think these owners can get some helps from? Sometime it is much better to have those goats or plant some tomatos.  You do have a place to ask for assistance or fertilizers, insecticides or supply of goats from the vetinery Department. Swiftlet farmers are not welcome and there is no appropriate helps to be given.

Something is not right and we need to push the relevant Ministries to get more or their staff into this territory to helps these poor investors.

Do you know that it is not easy to get loan from those banks to built BHs?

Those so called banks will push you to the ceiling when you ask for financial assistance.  They are not willing to take any risks or there are no allocation or the amount allocated "bow liow" or all taken. 

Even if they happened to allocate their is a 100% colletral is required.

We should be more well looked after as compare to being treated  like illegal immigrants or criminals.

More often then not the money dumped into these 70% failed BH comes from those Swiftlet Farmer's savings.

I urged all parties, be it political or NGO or individual, that are associated with this specialized business to be fair to the industry and try to minimize any friction between the BH investors and the local authorities.

It will only do harm to the beautiful God Gift Industry.
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YB Datuk Louis Rampas, The Only Sensible ADUN So Far Toward Swiftlet Farming!!!

Every morning I will receive a special alert about any new reports or news on swiftlet farming.

Mr Google do the works for me to scout around the www and report for my morning blogging.

Today got something special to report.

This to me is the most sensible statement made by a Yang Berhormat. All this while we have many who never use their brain cell (not sure if they have any left) and what they normally try to do is to protect their seat.

" I don't care what Swiftlet Business brings to the country but when I received any complains from my people I will take immediate action. I will make sure swiftlet farming will be banned in every town with no exception."

That was the exact words that came out from the mouth of a YB who happened to be holding a key position in the same state where Dato Louis comes from.

I was so annoyed and with this kind of Minister around we, the Swiftlet Entreprenuers, are dead? It happened during my last trip to the Minister's office and he point blank saying that he was not in favor of swiftlet farming to be in operation in KK town.

Let us read about Datuk Louis Rampas statement:

Taken from:http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=491687

Sabah Government Urged To Review Swiftlet's Ban


KOTA KINABALU, April 19 (Bernama) -- The Sabah government should reconsider its decision to ban swiftlet farming in the city and town areas, the state assembly was told Monday.

Datuk Louis Rampas (BN-Kiulu) said instead the state government should be proactive in boosting the industry which was regarded as one of the three high-impact industries by the state Agriculture and Agro-based Industry besides ornamental fish and seaweed industries.

"Don't kill the people's entrepreneur spirit. We just cannot reject swiftlet business applications (in the urban areas) simply because we do not have any guideline on the industry," he said when debating the Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah's address.

Rampas proposed relevant agencies to formulate the guideline by adopting the practice used in Peninsular Malaysia while the Wildlife and National Parks Department hold briefings on the health aspects of swiftlet farming.

He seem to be very sensible and willing to comply to our PM insperation in promoting the "Nilai Tinggi" agriculture business. The rest, in general, are dead against swiftlet farming.

They know very little about this high valued business but they seem to talk as if they are the master in this specialised field.

Without doing any investigation towards the industry they will start shooting poison darts into a dark room full of people.

Not only they make themself looks like a fool but they forgot their reponsibilites towards bringing in income and investment into the country.

Details on YB Datuk Louis Rampas:

Hon. Datuk Louis Rampas was born on 12 July 1951 in Kg. Poturidong, Kiulu. He is married to Lily Ng Le Li and they have 2 children.
Louis is currently the Chairman of the Sabah Rubber Fund Board and a member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the N.11 Kiulu constituency since 13 March 1999.
He was formerly with the Sabah Civil Service having served in various capacities as Executive Officer in the Ministry of Education and Assistant District Officer in Labuan. He also held the posts of District Officer in Kunak, Semporna, Ranau, Nabawan and Keningau. He was later posted to the Human Resource Development Bureau as its Deputy Director in 1999.
Louis holds a Diploma in Public Administration from the Mara Institute of Technology.


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When Those Flower Blooms, There Will Be More Insects !!!

I was waiting for a friend to visit an office when I saw a young "Mata Kuching" fruit tree blooming.

One of the branch with lots of flowers was low enough for me to take some Video clip.

There were more then a dozen those small bees (Kelulut) that were collecting the flowers nectar and pollens plus some zebra striped flies.

I am very sure that these bees and flies are food to your swiftlet.

The more the flower blooms the more will there be these bees around your BH.

I did recommend to plant the Mata Kuching around your BH however it seem that they also attract lots of fruit bats during fruiting seasons.

What the video clip shows you is that those plants are interelated to our swiftlet farming.  They produces flowers and attract those bees and flies.  The bees and the flies will attract those birds.

Enjoy the clip..............



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Beware Of Those Awning Extension !!!

Awning or roof extension above your entrance hole can be one of the important reason why those birds are avoiding your BH.

You main purpose in constructing these awning is to prevent rain water from wetting your tweeters and the inner part of the roving room.

It also helps to cut down those bright light from entering the entrance hole opening.

I encountered two experiences where those birds simply avoid entering BHs with awning extensions.

The first was in Bandar Putra in Bukit Mertajam and the other was in Paya Terubong, Penang.

In the beginning I was not concerned with the obstruction created but after the revamp job at Paya Terubong BH, I noticed that the birds seem to like entering the BH. Their flying path seems to be better and smoother when gliding into the house.

If you still wanted to have one try to cut it to below 10 inches or so but not up to 3 feet.

In Paya Terubong BH I totally dismantled the whole awning structures (steel frame plus it's roof).

By doing so their flying path are cleared thus allowing them to feel free to enter and exit the BH with little chance of harming themself.

Beside blocking the flying path, the awning also block your external sound generated by those tweeters you placed at the entrance hole.

Try to make sure the roof above the entrance hole are slanting to the opposite direction. If they cannot be amended make sure you install those water gutters to prevent the rain water from forming a curtain blocking your birds from entering your house during heavy down pour.


Please take note that the above are my observation plus the fact that when I removed the awning the birds seem to enter the revamped BH in Penang.

I might be wrong but there is nothing wrong if you try it out.

The key issue to me is to minimize any obstructions that deter the birds from entering your BH.

Great News From Paya Terubong, Penang

"Pak Harry, I am now inside the Paya Terubong BH in Penang for the weekly inspection. The number of birdshit spots on the floor is 6. Three in the main nesting room and 3 in the VIP room."

That was the message received this afternoon from my caretaker who is looking after a BH under my care in Penang.

The BH was not doing well for almost two and half years. There were about three miserable nests and stagnant when it was handed over to my ICU unit.

The owner complained that he is in a very big trouble with his JV partner, happened to be his wife. So stressed up and wanted to give up swiftlet farming in total. The previous consultant refuse to pick up his calls and someone told him that he already passed away (KO, hit the bucket).

One day while attending a function the owner met a good friend who recommended my name. He called and I dropped by in Penang to view his BH.

Hmm.... not bad I told him. The BH was not properly constructed. The main obstacle was those rooms, too many and each room was too small (lesser the 4mX4m) for those birds to rove around. The location of the entrance hole was poorly chosen and those roofing extension was not helping the birds flying path, I told him.

The only way to turn around was to remove all those walls internally, relocate the entrance hole and remove those awning roof. Of course I created those VIP rooms and rearrange all the internal and external tweeters.

The external sound chosen was Tiger, Fabulous Call and Tongkat Ali. Internal sound was nothing else but the BabyKing.

To minimize his cost I recommended to concentrate on the top floor first. If the results, give about 4-6 months, then I will touch the lower floor.

He agreed fully (not many choices I guessed) and after about three weeks the house was ready and reactivated.

I remember the date chosen was 31st March 2010.

After one week there were two markings and now after two weeks it went up to six. The initial two spots were growing indicating that the two couples are permanent tenant.

What you can learned from this article is that if your BH is not doing well there must be some special reasons why. You need to identify those possible problems and find the solutions.

If you cannot identify yourself, get some one who can. You must not let the number of nests in your BH to stay stagnant for more then 4 months.

The longer you waited, the more the chances that your BH be forever stuck with the same number of nests.

At Connaught Bridge Power Plant In Klang !!!

Early this morning I was invited to visit another newly build BH located somewhere in Klang closed to Connaught Bridge Power Generating Plant.

The owner was not happy that his BH was emptied when the internal temperature went up to 33*C.

He never thought that the temperature can shoot that high and the result was a disaster. When he started the BH he can easily get more then 300 birds inside the house but when the nesting room temperature keep hitting the roof those birds went missing.

"Pak Harry I should have covered the rooftop and the side walls much earlier. It was a total mistakes and I took the blame for being so stupid."

Well try not to be too hard on yourself. You have make a bad mistake and learned from it. Right now after the incident your BH is not back to work.

He indeed installed those roofing with about three feet gap allowing those air to flow freely. The side walls are now covered with those Orchid Plant black plastic netting (two layers).

The birds are now back inside, about 8 to 10 new markings on the floor.

One big incident that he commented was when his BH was totally flooded to his ankle. It was due to using those unreliable humidity sensors running those chicken coop humidifiers.

Right now what he did was to use those temperature logger and determine exactly when the temperature starts to move upward. He will then use those digital timer to operate his chicken coop humidifiers.

He planned to switch to using those soundless humidifiers soon.

After the half a day visit I tried a few new sounds in my collection. He chose a sound called "Indra".

He keep saying that if at noon time the number of birds responded is good, by evening time there will be much more.

Yes, while writing this article received his sms message: "Pak Harry got more then 100 entered my BH this evening. Thank you for your help."

He followed up with a telephone call and confess to me that the activities at the entrance hole now is back to its original way where many birds rush in and out.

He was so relieved and now can have a better sleep as compared to before I visited his BH.

Well another happy BH owner......