This page has been kindly
contributed by Julia
Oh . If any of you has any
feelings of stories to share, do
email them to me.
I would appreciate those of my
classmates contributing as when
we leave the school, hopefully
we can retain some memories.
Hey Jul, here's two pictures.
Compliments from the
webmaster. Enjoy.
~ words now serve as warm memories later ~
Hooi! Save the Earth 1998 - the scheduled year in the Chinese zodiac calendar for the Tiger. However, there has been speculation as to whether this particular species will live to see the next Year of the Tiger twelve years into the future. The sad truth is that the tiger is in grave danger of being wiped out from the face of this Earth. Forever. If you're reading this, you probably know that already. Just like you know that us humans are the cause of this magnificent creature's distress. It really is time for us to sit down and examine what we have been doing to Mother Earth. Man considers himself superior to all other living organisms on Earth.
Boy, we don't know how far away we are from the truth. We are not an especially large species, not equipped with claws or talons of any kind, and we can't even run very fast. No camouflage either. The only thing that we have on our side is our intelligence. And yes, our intelleligence; this brain of ours, is the element that sets us off from all the other animals on Earth. And yet, for an animal( though we don't especially like to see ourselves as one) who has such a wonderful capacity of reasoning power, we are really quite dumb for not seeing the destruction we are causing to our Home.
So I guess it's not that we aren't aware of what is happening - we do know, but the thing is, we just can't be bothered. Plain, utter selfishness. (And that, in itself, is really much, much dumber than not seeing the destruction we are doing. Ironic.) I bet you must be thinking: Ha, you can't be any better yourself. Well, you're right. I am a selfish human being, sometimes so self-centered I don't care how my actions can affect the rest of the World. No, I'm not exaggerating. So in a way, what I've written is a reprimand to myself as well. Humans are used to taking things for granted.
Okay. So I strayed from the topic. As I was saying, humans consider themselves right up there at the epitome of superiority, and when we encounter dangerous animals like the tiger, we feel we are justified in hunting them down, exterminating them. You know, sometimes I wonder: what right have we got to shoot and kill these innocent animals in cold blood? They are just as deserving (some say more so) to live on this planet. It's not like we rule over them or anything. People used to kill tigers because they felt these big cats were a threat to human life. I don't know, but in my opinion, I think there really must have been another solution in there. By eliminating the tigers, we have upset the balance of Nature. There are only between 20 to 30 South China tigers left in the wild. How could we let such a beautiful creature go like that, forever? Sometimes it's not even the tiger's fault. Us humans go around destroying their habitats like nobody's business. Same, sad story for the panda, the orangutan, the dormouse... Other animals are caught and then sold as exotic pets. I don't even know half the tragic story about how a young animal is separated from it's mother.
And tigers? Tigers are known to be killed for their fur and various body parts. I elaborate. Bones, bile, blood, fat, flesh, gallstones, hair, testes, penis, tail, skin, brain, stomach, whiskers, nose and teeth. Yes, all that. Quite a mouthfull, huh? And who uses them? The Chinese. And I am ashamed of what we have been doing. "We" because I am a Chinese. The various body parts are used as medicine, but as far as I am aware of, they have no medicinal value whatsoever. Correct me if I am wrong. I mean, rhino ( I would like to spell the whole thing but I'm afraid my spelling isn't all that swell.) horns are also used for their so-called "medicinal" value, but in actual fact, their horns are made from the same material our fingernails ar made of. Imagine, killing rhinos to the brink of extinction for their "fingernails".
Now, this is too much. We have gone too far. We have to take responsibility for the damage we have done. They say prevention is better than cure, but hey, if the cure's what we have, we should jolly well make use of it. I guess after all that I've written, the message that I've been trying to drive through is that this Earth is one of miracles, of supreme beauty and awe one can never fully fathom. We share the Earth with all the rest of the animals and plants living on it.
The world is theirs as much as it is ours. It's high time we woke and see what we have done to them. It's really a great crime. We have no right, doing the things we have been doing all this while, exploiting them and acting as if they do not possess the ability to feel pain.
What I'm going to write next I kinda consider a cliche, but it makes a hellava lot of sense: do you really want a photograph, or a replica, or an animation on the computer to be the only way with which your children, and your children's children, can see what a tiger looks like? Coz I know I don't.
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