Bird singing competition

david-low

Bird singing competition is perhaps unique in our region which appears to associate with lowly educated men drawing pleasure from it. These unfortunate birds, though seemingly well taken care of, is “jailed” in her life span which I personally will not condon such activity. Nevertheless, there is this group of bird watching and singing enthusiasts who have their very own needs that make up the social fabric of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Singapore</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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<o:p>Cages are veiled in various colourful fabrics. I'm not sure what's the reason but I guess if it is opened it might start to sing prematurely and thus running out of stamina. </o:p>
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<o:p>Even it attracted foreign reporters </o:p>
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<o:p>Specially crafted hooks to enhance the beauty of the cages</o:p>
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Cages are hung up ready for competition. Looks like X'mas decoration, isn't it?


The moment of truth - unveiling their prized catch.



Juding begins. The judge has to stay low for this kind of birds (Merbah Jumbul) to prevent frightening the birds. I'm just wonder how on earth he diiferentiates the singers when all birds are chirping. That to me is a stressful job !!



These are smaller birds (Mata Puteh) and the judging can be standing.



And the score sheets


Hope you all enjoy my series. More bird photos can be viewed at: http://david-low.smugmug.com/gallery/2087440_cPevF

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aj986s

Nice pictures, and a great summary of a unique sport. First time I'd ever heard of it.

david-low

aj986s wrote:

Nice pictures, and a great summary of a unique sport. First time I'd ever heard of it.

I'm quite surprise this activity seems alien to the other side of the globe.

Cheers

Wil Davis

Nice pictures…

…and you have cleared up a mystery that's been haunting me for the past thirty five years; I've often wondered how Mao Zedong was able to answer so quickly in Episode #25 of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_Little_Birdie )

…so now we know

- Wil

david-low

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your comments and digging up my post.

Its a bigger mystery to me how can these guys take pleasure admiring the birds whilst locking them up.