MELAKA: Many associate the Melaka River with its scenic view and historical buildings, but the sight of a 62-year-old man with his exotic pet tortoises along the historical river has caught the attention of curious tourists and locals alike.
The retired goldsmith, who only wished to be known as Khoo, who lives along Jalan Jawa next to the river here, welcomes the attention when he takes his son's three African tortoises and an Indian tortoise out for evening walks.
"I passed my business on to my eldest son earlier this year and Iām now free to enjoy my time taking his pets out for a walk,ā said Khoo, when met by the New Straits Times by the river along Jalan Jawa here.
He said tourists would stop to ask him about his pet tortoises, with some even posing with them for photographs.
"They find my pets fascinating, especially when I tell them that they are named 'Gong', 'Xi', 'Fa' and 'Chai' which means 'wishing you an abundance of wealth' in Chinese.ā
The tortoises are a star tortoise, aged 13, named 'Gong', while two leopard tortoises named 'Xi' and 'Fa' are aged 3.5 and 1.5 years, respectively. The African spurred tortoise, named 'Chai', is 3.5 years-old.
Surprisingly, 'Gong' being the eldest, is one of the lightest tortoises among the four, weighing 700 grams after 'Fa' (600 grams).
'Xi' and 'Chai' weigh 2.5kilograms and 5kilograms, respectively.
Besides spending time relaxing by the scenic river, Khoo said the tortoises have helped him become a more approachable person.
"Previously, I was quite an introvert and shy person. However, since I started taking these tortoises out for a walk, I have become a little more open and will gladly chat with passing tourists and members of the public who stop by to ask me about my pets," he said.
He added that there was a Chinese saying 'ren yuan' (human fate) and he believes that the tortoises had the attribute of establishing good relationships with humans.
"The tortoises have 'ren yuan' as they have helped me foster better relationships with other people," he quipped.
Khoo said every evening, he would usually spend several hours with his tortoises, accompanied by his neighbour's daughter, who suffers from depression.
"It is a good thing because she is afraid of interacting with people, but now, the tortoises can help her as she feeds them," he added.
To ensure that the tortoises have a good 'workout', Khoo lets them putter about on the semi-pebble and grass section of the Melaka River walkway.
Every evening around 6pm, Khoo puts the four tortoises, weighing about nine kilogrammes in total, in a basket and cart them some 100 metres from his house to a walkway by the Melaka River.
"Besides feeding them with sweet potato leaves and long beans, it is also very important to allow them to have a good sunbath to keep them healthy.
"This is why I would take them out for a 'walk' every evening and spend time outdoors for a good three hours," he said, adding that he also allows his tortoises to roam about freely when at home.
"You know, they also know how to feel tired because after a good interaction with humans and getting lifted up, they would then be able to sleep happily every night at home," he said, adding that one of his sulcata tortoise, also the biggest, but not the eldest, named 'Chai', enjoys being hugged.
Khoo said the tortoises belong to his eldest son, Andelson Khoo, 35, who started rearing exotic tortoises as pets 13 years ago.
"They are living beings and it is important to take care of them properly. Besides, you can't trade or transfer of ownership of such tortoises as they are now considered protected animals.
"In fact, you have to get a license to rear them from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks which my son obtained 13 years ago," he added.
Meanwhile, Andelson said he wanted to be different from others by rearing tortoises instead of the usual cats and dogs.
"I decided to have four tortoises because four represents the number of people in my family - my parents, my younger brother and I.
"But three of them died several years ago, before I purchased another three from a local pet shop several years ago.
"The tortoises are slow, quiet and good-mannered, which makes it easy to take care of them," he said.