'Bulbul' Competition A New Tourism Draw

By Mohamed Nasir Hassan

KOTA BAHARU, May 20 (Bernama) -- Kelantan folks now have a unique activity for their spare time, that is the 'burung candik' competition. This hobby is now fast turning into a tourist attraction for this East Coast state.

The hobby of having this bird, known as 'Burung Telinga Merah' or 'Red-Whiskered Bulbul' as a pet came to this state some decades ago but the first ever competition for such birds was held some 15 years back.

This competition has began to gain domestic and international interest when the event was marked as an activity in Kelantan's International Bird Festival.

The increasing popularity of this competition has prompted the bird's lovers to form an association named 'Persatuan Seni Suara Burung Candik Kelantan' (Kelantan 'Burung Candik' Club).

Chairman Mohd Ariff Yaacob said from a survey conducted by the club, 65 per cent of the bird's enthusiasts are Malays, 30 per cent Chinese and the remaining five per cent are those from other ethnic groups.

ENCOURAGING RESPONSE

According to Mohd Ariff, as the response shown towards the club is encouraging, it has set up an arena to stage the burung candik competition. The arena is located on private land at Jalan Sri Cemerlang here.

"This event has been held six times at the international level since the 2004 Sultan of Kelantan's birthday celebration, he said.

"Initially this event drew the participation of 250 birds including avians from Thailand," he said.

Mohd Ariff said most of the birds that were entered for this competition came from Thailand as this country is known for its birds that have 'sweet and melodious' tweets as compared to that produced by local birds.

In terms of judging the bird's performance, it differs from that in other bird competitions as the marks are given based on the movement and melody emitted from the birds.

JUDGES

Mohd Ariff said the judges were picked from locals well versed with the bird's singing and other features. A judge would take no more than 90 seconds to award marks to a bird in the competition.

He said the most expensive among these birds are that of the 'thunami' variety which reach RM6,000 each. One of these birds won the first price in the competition held in conjunction with the Workers Day celebration held May 1, last year.

The burung candik competition is usually held in conjunction with four celebrations in a year -- the Sultan's Birthday, Workers Day on May 1, Agong's Birthday and Merdeka Day on Aug 31.

A regular participant of the competition, Ruslan Muhammad, 41, said he began to have interest in keeping burung candik as a pet after he was introduced to the event nine years ago.

INTEREST

"After that my interest in this comeptition deepens and I was willing to buy a bird named 'Haji Somad' from Narathiwat in South Thailand for RM3,500." he said.

Ruslan said his pet bird had won several competitions held in Thailand and here.

He said taking care of this bird is not that arduous as they eat fruits and vegetables such as the banana and papaya as well as tomato and other leafy greens.

Ruslan who is a teacher said he would use his schoolterm holidays to take part in competitions held in the state and also in Terengganu and Pahang.

He also calls on the tourism authorities to turn the competition into a new product to lure foreign tourists to visit the country.

TOURISM

Meanwhile Kelantan Tourism Malaysia Director Sulaiman Ismail said the tourism authorities have identified Mukim Apam in Pasir Mas, some 15 km from here, as the arena to stage the burung candik competitions.

He said the event will be turned into an annual activity and incorporated into the Visit Malaysia Year programme.

Meanwhile the recently-held Kelantan International Bird Festival 2010 saw the participation of 410 of the Red-Whiskered Bulbul. The event was staged simultaneously with the 'Ayam Serama' (Malaysian Serama or bantam chicken). The competition also drew participants from Singapore and Brunei