The Lizard King: A Hatchling Tale
Earlier this month, TWELVE author Bryan Christy toured Southeast Asia-- promoting The Lizard King, and learning of the book's positive impact on the wildlife laws of the region. In this blog post, he shares some of the highpoints of the trip, and reveals just what it feels like to be treated like a "minor rock star" in Thailand and Malaysia._______________________________
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I've returned from three weeks in Southeast Asia, ground zero for international wildlife trafficking. I was invited there by a number of organizations, including the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Singapore Law School, the Siam Society of Bangkok, and MPH Bookstore.
In Malaysia, where I spent the most of the trip, I felt like a minor rock star. I appeared on a Regis and Kelly-type morning television show and the Charlie Rose-style, "Point of View." I did FM radio from LiteFM to TraXX (this is not the range it might appear to be). I spent afternoons at a Starbucks while every 90 minutes another reporter showed up for his or her appointment. Every major newspaper, from the free daily to Malaysia's top three papers, has covered The Lizard King, most with a full page or more. I am told that more stories have appeared on wildlife trade in Malaysia in the five months since The Lizard King appeared than during the past three years.
The main interest in Asia is the chapter entitled, Fortress Malaysia, which chronicles the undercover operation against Malaysian Anson Wong, "Pablo Escobar of wildlife trafficking," and his role in the syndicate run by The Lizard King, Mike Van Nostrand. Anson confirms what many in Malaysia have long believed: government corruption is what makes their country wildlife trafficking's top hub.
Predictably, the Malaysian Wildlife Department has criticized the book, calling it "a fiction" to one newspaper. I obtained a copy of the Department's official statement, which describes The Lizard King as "... merely a fiction. An imaginative literary work and it involved [sic] imagination, fantasy, invention, fabrication and made-up story." The statement goes on to praise Anson Wong for carrying out his business legally.
Central casting could not have provided a better governmental thug.
That's not me talking, it's the Malaysian people. Letters poured into the media decrying the Wildlife Department's defensive response. The Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, the trade-monitoring arm of the World Wildlife Fund, called on the Wildlife Department to investigate corruption presented in The Lizard King, as the Royal Malaysian Customs Department promised it would do. In coming weeks the Ministry of Environment overseeing the Wildlife Department changed its tone. It issued statements acknowledging that Malaysian law was inadequate to deal with criminal syndicates and promising to amend the law to address such crimes. The government also promised to increase enforcement at the country's borders. Those familiar with PR efforts await the pudding, but it is a start, and I'm proud of it.
The book has had other impact. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia has begun distributing it during its law enforcement trainings throughout the region. A new judiciary workshop has designed a case study around it. Universities are asking how to include the book in their environmental programs. I have received thanks from law enforcement officers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Thailand, Japan--and, most rewarding, from Malaysia.
Given the Malaysian Wildlife Department's official response I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the Academy of Sciences in Kuala Lumpur. To my great and humbling surprise, wildlife officers from around the country drove hours in some cases to hear me speak. Their courageous, career-risking acts broke my heart. Veterinary programs in the U.S. have asked me to come and speak on the world of exotic animal trade. The reptile world, too, has embraced the book. For three days I autographed books at a Border's booth at the world's largest reptile trade show.
The Lizard King is less than six months old. It has fused my childhood passion for reptiles with my adult interests in law and culture. I'm pleased it's made it from the egg to the ocean.
In Malaysia, where I spent the most of the trip, I felt like a minor rock star. I appeared on a Regis and Kelly-type morning television show and the Charlie Rose-style, "Point of View." I did FM radio from LiteFM to TraXX (this is not the range it might appear to be). I spent afternoons at a Starbucks while every 90 minutes another reporter showed up for his or her appointment. Every major newspaper, from the free daily to Malaysia's top three papers, has covered The Lizard King, most with a full page or more. I am told that more stories have appeared on wildlife trade in Malaysia in the five months since The Lizard King appeared than during the past three years.
The main interest in Asia is the chapter entitled, Fortress Malaysia, which chronicles the undercover operation against Malaysian Anson Wong, "Pablo Escobar of wildlife trafficking," and his role in the syndicate run by The Lizard King, Mike Van Nostrand. Anson confirms what many in Malaysia have long believed: government corruption is what makes their country wildlife trafficking's top hub.
Predictably, the Malaysian Wildlife Department has criticized the book, calling it "a fiction" to one newspaper. I obtained a copy of the Department's official statement, which describes The Lizard King as "... merely a fiction. An imaginative literary work and it involved [sic] imagination, fantasy, invention, fabrication and made-up story." The statement goes on to praise Anson Wong for carrying out his business legally.
Central casting could not have provided a better governmental thug.
That's not me talking, it's the Malaysian people. Letters poured into the media decrying the Wildlife Department's defensive response. The Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, the trade-monitoring arm of the World Wildlife Fund, called on the Wildlife Department to investigate corruption presented in The Lizard King, as the Royal Malaysian Customs Department promised it would do. In coming weeks the Ministry of Environment overseeing the Wildlife Department changed its tone. It issued statements acknowledging that Malaysian law was inadequate to deal with criminal syndicates and promising to amend the law to address such crimes. The government also promised to increase enforcement at the country's borders. Those familiar with PR efforts await the pudding, but it is a start, and I'm proud of it.
The book has had other impact. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia has begun distributing it during its law enforcement trainings throughout the region. A new judiciary workshop has designed a case study around it. Universities are asking how to include the book in their environmental programs. I have received thanks from law enforcement officers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Thailand, Japan--and, most rewarding, from Malaysia.
Given the Malaysian Wildlife Department's official response I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the Academy of Sciences in Kuala Lumpur. To my great and humbling surprise, wildlife officers from around the country drove hours in some cases to hear me speak. Their courageous, career-risking acts broke my heart. Veterinary programs in the U.S. have asked me to come and speak on the world of exotic animal trade. The reptile world, too, has embraced the book. For three days I autographed books at a Border's booth at the world's largest reptile trade show.
The Lizard King is less than six months old. It has fused my childhood passion for reptiles with my adult interests in law and culture. I'm pleased it's made it from the egg to the ocean.
posted by Twelve Books at
4:50 PM
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