Farewell, Irwin.

Imran and I spent the entire day yesterday watching 'The Crocodile Hunter' on the Animal Planet channel, a marathon programme as a tribute to Steve Irwin, the wild life conservationist who was killed by a stingray on Sept.4.

Steve's passion towards conserving especially wild animals, made him a very special and kind person that should the stingray lived, even it would have regretted stabbing Steve on the chest, piercing his heart, in that freak accident last Monday!

I watched documentary after documentary filmed by the brave Aussie. I laughed out loud watching him made a face like a spoilt child, declaring "I want to be an OrangUtan!!!", after spending a whole episode being with a family of the specie.

I cried when his dog, Sui Irwin, died of old age. He spent the last hour with her, him sobbing as she died in her sleep. It was just like a page from the book 'Marley the dog' which I've just finished reading.

Steve started catching and rescuing crocodile at age 9 . The knowledge he imparted through the documentaries he made were those he acquired from the school of hard knocks, scratches and scars. He said that he didn't believe in spreading information through reading from pages of texts, but by demonstrating them. Indeed, the way he went about explaining the habits of the Slow Lorris, and the life in a colony of Macaque, were exactly what I learnt from the text books for my Animal Behaviour class in University Malaya, doing my own degree in Zoology. I had to memorise the mechanics of the snake's movement through an imaginary pattern but Steve explained it all by just holding on to a snake's tail!.. But he'd later say: "Now, this is really dangerous, don't try to do it at home, kids!"

Irwin spent his life trying to rescue endangered animals and it was only appropriate , I suppose, that he died doing what he loved.

Goodbye now, mate,
May you rest in peace...