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A fixture at the zoo remembers 32 years of people and animals
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Before Subluxmi d/o V Vathumalai worked in Wildlife Reserves Singapore, she was anything but an animal lover.
“I was really scared of animals. I jumped when seeing a cockroach, and never even went near a dog or cat,” she recalled. “The first time I walked into the zoo, I was a bit worried about what would come down from the tree, what I would see.”
After working 32 years with Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Vathumalai is a fixture. Devoted to her work, she has forged deep bonds with the animals. She plans to retire nearby.
Known as Bibik, a Malayan term for matriarch in Peranakan families, she is the hostess at the Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant at the entrance of the Night Safari.
As the supervisor, she looks out for customer service, which mainly involves taking orders, recommending dishes and giving suggestions on what to see. “My job is to sell this place and explain the food and culinary culture,” she said. “For example, satay is the not the food to eat with forks, but hands. So I say, ‘Use your hands. Don’t worry about the nice colors that will be on your fingers’.”
A third-generation Malaysian in Singapore, she enjoys bustling around the restaurant, chatting with diners and sharing her experiences. Serving at most VIP and fine dining events, she has a long list of customers, including former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, then President S. R. Nathan and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Some friends have urged her to change jobs since she works six days a week, often on weekends and holidays. But she has been at the restaurant since 2004 and doesn’t want to leave.
“I made a lot of friends here and they come just to eat and see me. Here, I see people grow,” she said.
While working in the WRS guest relations department before moving to Ulu Ulu, she befriended a family with a baby boy and watched him grow. On his 10th birthday, he went to the zoo and gave Vathumalai a chocolate cake. “Do you know how that feels? These kinds of memories are not easy to come by,” she said.
When the Night Safari opened in 1994, Vathumalai was the first commentator on the first tram on the opening day. “My hands were shaking and I stuttered a bit when reading the script,” she recalled.
For eight years, she was both trail guide and tram commentator, making four or five rounds a night. She didn’t always stick to the script, sometimes digressing with jokes and funny stories that raise awareness of the need for animal protection.
One visitor ignored her reminder against flash photography that startles the animals. “The next minute, a flash of lightning came down, and I said: ‘Please God, no flash photography. It will hurt the animals’ eyes.’ Everybody laughed and the woman turned the flash off,” she said.
Bibik always arrives two hours earlier before work and used to walk around to see and learn about the animals, talking to their feeders.
“I have many good friends in the zoo, such as the Asian elephant Chawang and the giraffe Josephine. When I call their names, they will come,” she said. “Keepers always wear the same color of clothes, so the animals can recognize them and know it’s their people.”
Like human beings, animals have their own mood swings and don’t hold back on expressing themselves. Vathumalai was once “attacked” by chimpanzee Sasha, who had been very close to her since she was three years old. The primate was jumping up and down, then suddenly rushed over and pushed her on the ground. Feeders asked Sasha to apologize.
“She kept kissing me on the face, took my skirt and looked at my knee. You could tell she was really sorry,” she said.
She has also witnessed births and deaths.
“When the pygmy hippopotamus Bibi gave birth, I was on my last stop on my last tram that night. The driver stopped and I saw the whole process. It was so beautiful,” Vathumalai said.
When star orangutan Ah Meng died in 2008 from old age, around 2,000 people showed up for her funeral without being invited. “She (Ah Meng) was the Dowager Cixi (China’s last empress) in the zoo.
“The news went out and people came. Everybody sent their condolences, from the prime minister to ordinary people.”
After nearly three decades with WRS, she is familiar with every nook and cranny, and almost every animal in the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park near her home. Her next strolling destination will be the new River Safari.
“But I can tell you, in 32 years I have never touched a snake,” she said. “It’s the only animal I fear.”
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