Let’s go to the Zoo
“Let’s go to the Zoo, there’s lots of things to do…”
That was how a song went that promoted the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet at Zoo Negara, Malaysia, many, many years ago. The fast food joint went bust and closed down after operating for sometime and the building remains abandoned in the Zoo even today.
Our national zoo has always been a place where families would bring their kids for a day out and schools would organize outings for their students. How did the national zoo fall into such a bad situation that the only fast food joint in there actually closed down? In all honesty, the exact details as to why is not easy to come by these days but it still sad to see that.
The Zoo Negara is actually a non-government premise run by the Malaysian Zoological Society, officially opened on 1963, it received it’s 1,000,000th visitor by 1966. It has endured 45yrs but all in all, it has always been a fight to keep the zoo alive by ensuring public interest in it doesn’t wane as it derives most if not all of it’s income from ticketing. Despite many misconceptions, Zoo Negara doesn’t actually receive enough funds from the government for it to be maintained, let alone upgraded. [Read more →]
