I Miss Ah Meng

As waves of tributes pour over the demise of dear "Ah Meng", I too wish to show my sincere sadness over the lost this great friend of Singapore who formed a deep and special part of my childhood memories.



Ah Meng (18 June 1960 – 8 February 2008) was a female Sumatran Orang Utan who was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971. She was then 11 years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoological Gardens.

Ah Meng belongs to the Sumatran species, a rarer breed of Orang Utan now critically endangered due to illegal logging and poaching. There are about only 7,500 Sumatran Orang Utans left in the wild in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

She passed away at 48 years old (95 human years) and is survived by 2 sons, Hsing Hsing and Satria, and 3 daughters, Medan, Hong Bao, and Sayang, as well as 6 grandchildren. A memorial service for Ah Meng was held today before a crowd of 4000 visitors at the Singapore Zoo and a durian tree will be planted at her grave as durian was her favourite fruit.

Perhaps more famous than many of our local celebrities, Ah Meng was like an ambassador of Singapore and her name was synonymous with the Singapore Zoo. Every time I went to the zoo, I made it a point to see Ah Meng -- something I enjoyed doing since I was a kid. I will certainly miss Ah Meng and may she rest in peace!