Apes - The Untold Story

by Sally Chow and Louis Ng of Singapore, photographs by Teo Han Wue
April 2001

For a long time, apes have been seen as human caricatures, brutes who merely look like people. Many people could not face the fact that an animal can have qualities that are purportedly reserved only for human beings. After all, people are intelligent, we can reason, we can be altruistic, we make and use tools... and animals do not have any of those traits.

Simple as that! Or is it?

To heighten the Singapore community's awareness of and concern for the apes, our closest living relatives, an exhibition sponsored by the International Primate Protection League and the National Geographic Channel was held in a busy shopping mall in Singapore from 29 November 2000 until 3 December 2000.

Put together by a group of young local nature enthusiasts who worked hard on the project for six months, the exhibition was well received by both young children and adults.

Through moving photographs (provided by Karl Ammann) and a story- line format, the exhibition not only introduced the public to the intriguing social lives of these amazing animals but more importantly, it raised the underlying themes of the illegal pet trade, habitat destruction, and the bushmeat trade.

The illegal pet trade in Singapore is still rampant, and while authorities have confiscated many gibbons over the years, many others die or are sold undetected. It is our hope that through this exhibition, people will realize the pain these gibbons have to suffer just to be their pets.

The exhibition also involved both local and international organizations such as KSBK (Indonesia) and Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage (Zambia), to inform and encourage Singaporeans to make a difference toward the conservation of apes and the environment. Signatures for the Great Ape Project were also collected during the exhibition.

Volunteer guides were present to provide more information and spark off lively discussions and the sharing of ideas on conservation with members of the public.

A drawing area was provided for young children to encourage the love for nature through creative expression. To further generate interest about apes among the young, a mini-library was set up, stocked with informative books on primates and childrens' books carrying a conservation theme.

A quiz was also designed to guide the audience through the exhibition and highlight the key issues put forward in the exhibits.

The exhibition is currently continuing its run in schools to further reach out to the young.

Our Hope
It is our hope that one day the conservation idea will grow here in Singapore and that Singaporeans will be more actively involved in the conservation of primates.