Sharing breakfast with a hairy ape

Press, 24 June 1986, Page 14

Sharing breakfast with a hairy ape

SUSAN KUROSAWA

visits Singapore’s zoo

I’ve had supper with a sheikh, taken tiffin with a maharajah and even picnicked with a family of deer in the Japanese city of Nara. And, on occasions, I’ve breakfasted with taciturn, hairy-chested types but never, so help me, at a zoo. And never, that I can recall, have they scratched their armpits, bared their teeth and sat crosslegged on my lap.

Sharing my breakfast with a strong, silent orangutan at the Singapore Zoo was, therefore a novel first. The animal in question, Ah Meng, is the First Lady of the Zoo and has been a visitor drawcard ever since the breakfast concept was introduced several years ago.

On Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 9 a.m., visitors can join Ah Meng for a meal at the edge of the semialfresco zoo cafeteria. Bookings should made in advance; the meal consists of a wide choice of dishes selected from a buffet-style spread. High Tea with Ah Meng takes place from 3 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and she makes a most genteel partner for a cuppa on the terrace. Ah Meng is, in fact, much in demand for children’s parties, gala events and charity functions. The Singapore Zoo charges a princely sum for Ah Meng’s outside appearances and it’s no exaggeration to say that

this short, tubby and, well, rather butch young lady is one of Singapore’s highest-paid models.

The breakfast concept is just one unique facet of what is arguably the world’s most innovative zoo. It’s a neat, orderly complex guaranteed to dazzle the most earnest ecologists and ardent animal lovers.

I must admit I was taken there by force. I’ve always had an aversion to zoos. Memories of school excursions come flooding back on a wave of assorted mid-summer stinks and a claustrophobic collection of bars, fences and wire mesh. Within minutes of arriving at the rambling, open plan Singapore Zoo I realised that animals, too, have come out of their closets.

Officially opened in June 1973, the Zoo has established itself as one of Singapore’s premier attractions. In a city famous for its lush green parks and gardens, Singapore Zoo rivals them all with its many hectares of landscaped grounds on the promotory of the Seletar Reservoir, some 25 kilometres from the city centre. The animal enclosures have been designed to conform to the natural topography of the area and to recreate the

habitats of the various animals. There are few visual barriers — moats and ditches separate onlookers and residents so if you have ever longed to shake hands with a monkey, or just indulge in some pure Doctor Dolittle, then this is the place to go.

A fruitful future has been assured for the Zoological Gardens by the planting of a profusion of tropical vegetation, including many unusual types of fruit-bearing trees. The children of Singapore have a rare opportunity to see such exotica as star fruit, mangosteens, chiku and rambai in settings other than on market stands. There are also more recognisable varieties such as bananas, mangoes and guava, and the herbivorous animals can feast on the scenery between meals.

A well-signposted road around the Zoo prevents back-tracking or you can ride for short hops on sleek electric trams. Special, not-to-be-missed parts of the complex include the orangutan enclosure, the small mammal section, and the amphitheatre where animals shows take place at regular intervals each day.

Elsewhere in the Zoo, Bengal tigers stand potentate in their grassy domain, chips fly as leopards sharpen their claws on specially positioned logs, the air bursts with riotous colour as birds home in on their feeding bowls in the aviary, young visitors yell with delight as they pat animals in the Children’s Zoo Adventureland, and fatso hippos make waves in their capacious pools. Getting to Singapore Zoo is easy, too, as an air-conditioned coach service is operated by Elpin Tours with morning and afternoon pick-ups from major hotels. This Zoo Express transfer includes admission to the Zoo and cost sSingls (SNZI2) for adults and sSing9 (SNZ7) for children under 12. Otherwise, simply hop on the Singapore Explorer bus service number 171 from Orchard Road or number 137 from Upper Thomson Road; the Zoo is open from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Book at your hotel tour desk for the breakfast package or a selection of other Zoo tours.

I would recommend a half-day visit and, if you have the family in tow, try to catch the elephant bath-time at 9.30 a.m. and the hippo feeding at 10.30 a.m. the Zoo stands as a very viable inclusion in a Singapore holiday programme.

You’ll find that in this squeaky clean, traffic-light green oasis, not even the bears have anything to grizzle about.