Industry players want more govt support

Friday October 30, 2009
The Star
By THO XIN YI


SWIFTLET farming is gaining popularity in the country with many entrepreneurs setting up houses for the birds.

In Selangor alone, there are about 2,000 “hotels” for the swiftlets to build their nests.

One striking feature of the multistorey buildings is the absence of doors and ventilation holes.

Malaysian Federation of Associations of Bird’s Nests Merchants secretary Mah Swee Lye said the industry made its presence felt in the country about 10 years ago.

“Swiftlets began inhabiting vacant shoplots, to the surprise of the owners.

“Gradually, we picked up the know-how from our Indonesian counterparts, who have been in the business for at least 80 years, and brought the knowledge back here,” he said.

Currently, Indonesia still tops the bird’s nest supply chain by catering to 80% of the demand worldwide, followed by Malaysia, Thailand and other South-East Asian countries.

“The competition is intense. A swiftlet farmer needs both expertise and luck to succeed,” Mah said.

The owners of the bird houses do not actually rear the swiftlets.

Instead, they only set up the ‘hotel’ with the right temperature (28°C) and humidity (85%) to provide a suitable habitat, and then install the swiftlet tweeters to attract the birds.

“The swiftlets usually leave the house in the morning to hunt for food, and then return in the evening.

“They can live in the same house for generations,” Mah said.

He added that harvesting the nests did not deprive the birds of a place to stay.

“Swiftlets build nests only when it is time to lay eggs and once the birds learn to fly, the nests can safely be harvested.

“The birds do not sleep in the nests but perch vertically on the wooden planks.

“If their nests have been harvested, they will make new ones when it is time for another reproductive cycle,” Mah said.

The noise and hygiene issues of the industry often draw criticism and objections from the public, but Mah said a responsible farmer could eliminate these potential problems.

“The speakers should be positioned in such a way that they face the sky instead of the opposite buildings, and they should be switched off at night.

“A bird house should also be cleaned every two weeks to clear the faeces but some operators have the misconception that the smell attracts more birds,” he said.

Mah said the bird droppings made good fertiliser.

Nevertheless, the federation is pushing for the new guidelines to be implemented to achieve a win-win situation for the operators and the public.

“The federation’s chairman, Datuk Beh Heng Seong, has recently launched the guidelines in Kedah.

“One of the clauses is that new bird houses can only be constructed in light industrial areas, agricultural land and city outskirts,” Mah said.

He also hoped that the federal government could support and legalise the industry nationwide as the operators had difficulty in obtaining bank loans to start this business.