Media Article # 520

Friday, November 17, 2006

[Possible tracks found in Kota Tinggi, Malaysia]

The New Straits Times

Researcher produces new evidence of Bigfoot's existence

17 Nov 2006


KLUANG: A Bigfoot researcher came forward yesterday with what he claimed was new evidence of the creature’s existence in the deep jungles of Ulu Sedili in Kota Tinggi.

Mansur Poh gave several unpublished photographs to the New Straits Times, claiming they showed the footprints of the creature.

He said the photographs were snapped by some nature lovers early this year.

"The pictures of the footprints were taken in Ulu Sedili in Kota Tinggi and Kahang in Kluang this year."



Mansur is currently holding an exhibition on Bigfoot at the Dewan Che Luan Khor here in conjunction with the 5th Kluang Commerce and Industry Fair which will end this Sunday.

He is also a researcher of the Lesser Adjutants at the birds’ habitat in the coastal areas stretching from Muar to Batu Pahat.

Mansur said a preliminary report on his research on Bigfoot had been submitted to Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman last month.

The report is titled "The Identity and Distribution of Bigfoot in Johor".

The research project is supervised by Associate Professor Dr Azhar Kassim who is with Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Department of Animal Science.

In his report, Mansur said he had interviewed 10 people from Segamat, Mersing, Kota Tinggi and Kluang who claimed they had seen Bigfoot or its footprints in the jungle.

One of those interviewed claimed that he saw four huge footprints, measuring 46cm by 28cm, last June.

The footprints, which he said were found at the Ulu Sedili Forest Reserve, were about two metres apart while the depth of each footprint was nearly 8cm.

Dr Azhar, meanwhile, said he is guiding Mansur in his research to ensure that it is being carried out in a scientific manner.

The local media highlighted the possible existence of Bigfoot early this year following the discovery of footprints in Kota Tinggi last December.

The New Straits Times (founded in 1845) is the oldest newspaper in Asia. It was the first newspaper service to report on the giant ape incidents in Malaysia in the 1960's.

The media in Malaysia is still reporting on finds and developments in Johor.

Several months ago, after a lot of media attention about sightings and track finds in Malaysia, a photo of a bigfoot-like creature surfaced, and got some press attention, before it was debunked. Some people assumed the debunking of the photo meant the Malaysia bigfoot story was over. It is not over.

The impact of researcher Vincent Chow's first inquiry into the sightings and tracks in Johor in recent times, is apparently still reverberating in the region. Scientists and academics in Malaysia now understand the economic potency of a discovery there. So instead of dismissing reports from witnesses, as most scientists and academics do in North America, Malaysians are much more likely to investigate any incidents which could potentially yield some clues or evidence, or real photographs. This article documents the ongoing interest there.

Click the link below to see the original article in the New Straits Times, containing a photo of a possible track. The track might not be real -- it is a "possible track" -- but the new interest in any possible tracks, in Malaysia, is very real, and probably will not evaporate any time soon.

What happens in Malaysia is relevant to American and Canadian bigfoot research in one sense. It providins a preview, in a sense, of how a nation will begin to accept and understand that sightings of bigfoots are not claims of seeing a mythical character, but rather potential modern observations of a line of apes that were assumed to be extinct.

Years ago the BFRO made predictions about how events like these would play out in North America, and where the tipping point would be: It would happen as soon as the collective conscious of the press, and the academic world, de-stigmatized the subject by acknowledging the possibility that reported sightings might actually be modern observations of a thought-to-be-extinct species, this perceptual change would create social approval for a larger pecentage of witnesses to report their own sightings directly to the media, and the media would be receptive, viewing them now as important news stories that people want to know about.

That seems to be happening at the moment, to some extent, in Wisconsin. However, a few journalists in Wisconsin are still writing about "Bigfoot" as if there is only one of them, as opposed to a dispersed, elusive population.

Part of the problem is the word "Bigfoot". Many people use that word in the plural sense, as they would talk about the "Blackfoot" in the plural sense (Blackfoot is an American/Canadian indian tribe).

In Malaysia the word "Bigfoot" is also being used in the plural sense, which causes some confusion. One place where this is clear is the title of a semi-academic paper with the title "The Identity and Distribution of Bigfoot in Johor". They would not refer to the "distribution of bigfoot" unless they were refering to more than one specimen.

To avoid that confusion, it would be best to say "the distribution of bigfoots," even if that sounds awkward to some. It would be less confusing to many more.

There would be even more confusion if their plurality was expressed as the "distribution of bigfeet". "Bigfoots" is less awkward than "bigfeet".

The BFRO chose to use the term "Bigfoot" in the name of the organization because, for better or worse, it is the word most often used by most eyewitnesses.

And therefore it is the term most eyewitnesses search for first on the Internet, partly because it is the term they can spell correctly the first time.

The term "Bigfoot" is unavoidable, at this juncture, if the goal is to connect witnesses with researchers. The term must be accomodated and utilitzed for the benefit of greater information collection. It has been working out well, ever since the BFRO formed about 10 years ago.

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Addendum about Malaysia:

The Malaysia Bigfoot Story will re-surface from time to time, but will not be controllable from this point forward.

Inevitably the Malaysia Bigfoot Story will produce some internationally recognized heroes. One of them will be Vincent Chow.

See also: The article "Introducing Malaysia".

See also: The Malaysia Bigfoot Story

Click here to view the original article

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