Monkeying around after dark has proven to be a rather profitable gimmick for Jamal Ismail, 37, who uses the donations from passers-by to care for 107 stray cats.
While his three pig-tailed macaques have been entertaining pedestrians at Bintang Walk nightly with their energetic antics over the past six months, this animal-lover has been a regular on this busy tourist stretch for over three years now.
Also known as Jamal Kuching, he would display around six cats on his tiger-striped scooter every night and the unusual sight led to many individuals wanting to take photographs with these cuddly creatures for a small contribution.
Jamal then used these donations to care for the stray cats he has been rescuing and keeping at his apartment in Pandan Perdana — an altruistic trait that had him featured on BBC, NHK, NTV7 and other media.
A German couple has also been sending him contributions since 2005, as does another Swedish woman — with these contributions sometimes amounting to Є300 (RM1,450).
All that changed when he spotted a baby macaque about seven months ago on the roadside.
After naming it Jaku (his nickname truncated), he decided to bring it along on his nightly jaunt. It proved to be such a hit with passers-by that Jamal bought another, which he named Shaki. A tourist gave him the third, Baby.
With this trio proving a crowd puller, Jamal now charges RM5 for a photograph with them or RM10 if a video is recorded.
“The extra money helps because it provides me with a more regular income to help feed all my animals, especially the stray cats,” said Jamal. “I hope that I will be able to get enough money someday to open up my own animal welfare centre.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment