Correcting falshoods

I was unpleasantly shocked to learn sometime ago that Alan Pang had boasted to someone ("A") that he had taught me everything about hand-raising shamas but I had still failed miserably. Actually, his words were “I teach dds so many time he oso cant" and "I teach him everything but he still fail.” 

Below are the statements in the context of Alan's whatsapp conversation with “A”:

A: “No one can be as good as u in handrearing”

Alan:  “Not easy lah.  I teach dds so many time he oso cant”

A: “U sure got yr secret tactic la”.  

Alan: “Sure have but I teach him everything he still fail.”

In the same whatsapp conversation Alan lied that his female offspring were from my male birds:

Alan: Now all my female is the off spring from his male birds. That’s why I seldom sell. I did offer u that time liao leh

A: Oh that is from his line too?

Alan: Kns [kena sai] all my female is lah.

A: Any females from dds 237 directly?

Alan: Only one. Not for sale

I consider below, each of Alan's claims as well as other matters that persons dealing with him should know about.

"I teach [DDS] everything but he still fail"

Alan’s claim is disgusting.  Not only is it false, but he was bad-mouthing to "A" whom he hardly knew, about someone who had treated him as more than a friend.   

On 19^th May 2013, I had received an email from “A” enquiring if I had shamas for sale.  In the belief that Alan was a friend and wanting to assist "A", I replied by email as follows:

“I presently don’t have any shamas for sale.  You may wish to check with Alan Pang who may have.  For an idea of prices and quality visit his website at whiterumpshamacollections.blogspot.com”.

As a result of my referral, “A” (like others whom I had referred to Alan) had bought a shama from him.

Personally, I really don’t care what Alan says.  However, it is likely that he has also tried (and will continue to try) to tarnish my reputation to others in order to promote himself and his shamas. He should not be allowed to do so.  It is also important that potential buyers of his birds have information of the person they are dealing with so that they can better decide if the representations that he makes about his shamas can be relied upon. 

After reading this post, those who regard him as a friend and think that he values their friendship may also wish to reevaluate the relationship to determine if there is really genuine friendship or if Alan's professions of friendship have no backbone and are only a self-serving pretext to promote his own interests. 

I first met Alan sometime in early 2011.  Thereafter, he would be a frequent visitor to my home when we would talk about shamas. Readers can decide for themselves if he visited to teach me how to hand-raise shamas or to learn how to care for them and breed them.  This is what he himself says in his blog post in February, 2012, about a year after he had got to know me:

“The Tranquil of Shama’s Melody. I couldn’t find another better phrase to express how I feel when I visit Mr David De souza’s house. Nothing beats the tranquility feel of sitting in the garden filled with lovely melodies of shama and chatting with two very experienced Shama sifus David and Jeffery.  It was what I’ve been dreaming to fulfill, a garden filled with lovely melodies of shama.  The song of nature ….”

So, according to Alan in February 2012, Jeff and I were “very experienced Shama sifus”. Fast forward slightly more than a year to sometime in 2013 and Alan is now the shama sifu (according to him) and I have become a bungling novice who is unable to learn how to hand-raise shamas despite his best efforts to teach me everything "so many time".  How extraordinary!! It's people like him that can make me regret providing information about how to care for and breed shamas.

A month earlier, on 25th January 2012 he had posted on his blog that he was lucky to have a “good friend” like me. He wrote: 

“DDS ever told me, he says it is always easier to breed in the first year but it gets harder and harder when one has more Shamas at one place.  It is true, lucky for me to have a good friend like him to pre warn me on what is going to happen and what to expect."  

Alan also wrote in the same post of 25th January 2012:

"I am also glad that with the help of the most reliable incubator and DDS “brand” Brooder [photo below], I have successfully incubate 8 eggs and bring up 8 chicks without casualty!" 

Below is the story about the brooder. I don't go around broadcasting what I do for my friends but I will make an exception for my "good friend" Alan with regard to the brooder, and leave out the many other things that I did for him.

When Alan encountered problems with his pairs destroying eggs and chicks and he wanted to artificially incubate shama eggs, I advised him that he needed a brooder to house the chicks after they hatched.  I had a spare brooder and I gave it to him.  He thanked me for the brooder "and all the advice on shama" in his blog post of  7 March 2011.  This was what he wrote:

“And also David, if you do read my “Blog” i will like to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the Brand New Brooer!! Really appreciate your generous gift and all the advice on Shama”

Alan used the brooder to raise many shama chicks.  When it broke down, he bought a new brooder which gave him many problems as its electronics would not allow the humidity to be set above 65 and there were also temperature issues resulting in him having chick fatalities. 

At that time, Asby Ang, who is the local distributor for several brands of incubators and brooders, had offered to give me his sample set of an Israeli made incubator/brooder.  It was an expensive brooder and Asby did not think there was a market for it at the price. At his suggestion I took it on trial. I found that the temperature and humidity could be set very reliably. 

However, I did not need another incubator/brooder as I had the Brinsea incubator and brooder with which I had already successfully hand-raised many shama chicks. I informed Alan that I was returning the Israeli incubator/brooder to Asby and advised him to get it.  I told him that Asby would likely let him have it at a very low price since it was a sample and he did not intend to market the brand. Alan got the brooder and, after trying it out, told me that he was happy with it as it had resolved all the temperature and humidity problems that he had been having.

I state as a fact that Alan has taught me nothing about hand-raising shama chicks and that whatever I know on the subject was obtained through my own research and experience and from information provided by knowledgeable friends such as Michael and Jeffrey in the continuing discussions that we have. 

In considering Alan's claim that he had taught me how to hand-raise shama chicks, bear in mind that I had already hand-raised more than 100 shama chicks (including those hatched in an incubator) as at June 2008 and this was 3 years before Alan had even learnt how to keep shamas successfully. In my blog post of 2008, I had informed that:

“ I have hand-fed (rather my wife has) more than a hundred shama chicks, or about half of the shama chicks that I have bred and my opinion below is offered from this perspective.”

Alan himself admits that before he learnt how to keep shamas from the information on my blog, all his shamas had died under his care.  In his blog post dated 8th February 2011, he says:

“I have been following Mr Davids Blog since I restart to keep shama.  It is because of him I find out the reason of how I loss all my shama years back, without his blog infor I don’t think I dare to take the chance again.  He even offered solid advise whenever i email him, what a great guy..! Btw, till today, I still don’t [know] him or how he look like.”

Just look at the laudatory phrases that Alan uses when he was trying to curry favour with me.  I was offering " solid advice" whenever he emailed me and I was“a great guy”.  

I really had no need to learn anything from Alan about hand-raising shamas. In fact, by the time of my blog post in 2008 I had already acquired much knowledge on the subject and I was able to advise on the requirements for artificially hatching shama eggs and how to use the brooder.  I had said: 

“I hatch my shama eggs at 37.4 degrees Celsius and reduce the temperature to 36 degrees 2 days before the eggs are due to hatch.  When the newly hatched chicks are placed in the brooder, the temperature is maintained at 35 degrees for a day before it is reduced by 1 degree a day.  When the chicks start to feather, the temperature is turned off.  I may then continue to keep them in the brooder or transfer them with the nest to a cage.”

In Alan's above whatsapp conversation with "A", he had claimed to have some “secret tactic” to successfully hand-raise shama chicks.  This is nonsense and he probably says such things to promote himself and/or to discourage people from breeding shamas so as to reduce the competition.

Actually, hand-raising shama chicks is not at all difficult and anyone can learn to successfully do so.  For instance, the outstanding chick (22 days old) shown below was recently hatched in an incubator and hand-raised in a brooder by an absolute beginner in breeding shamas by using the information provided in my blog and with some further guidance that I gave over the phone.

"Now all my female is the off spring from [DDS] male birds.

There is no way that this claim can be true.  It shows the extent to which Alan will stretch the truth to try to sell his birds.

Of the 40 or so females that Alan claims to have bred at the time, it is within my knowledge that at the most, only 1 or perhaps 2 or 3 were the offspring from the 2 male birds bred by me and whose services were provided by their owners to him under a chick sharing arrangement.  Persons dealing with Alan may wish to substantially discount any representations that he makes about the ancestry or qualities of the shamas that he is offering for sale.

The reliability of Alan's promise to exchange if the taimong does not turn out with the tail length that he represents

I should mention that sometime ago a friend of mine whom Alan also knew bought a taimong from him.  At the time of sale, Alan told the person that it would have tails of 11” or 12” after the 1^st or 2^nd molt.  He also said that if the person was not happy with the bird, he would exchange it.  The buyer did not like the character or something about the taimong and Alan changed it with another taimong.  After the molt, the buyer still did not like its character and he also did not like the tails that were about 7” (the tails were about 7 1/2" after the 2nd molt).  

I saw the bird and suggested to Alan that it was only fair that he should change it as the buyer had relied on his representation on the tail length and he had not got the bird that Alan had said he would get.  His reply was that he had already changed once and could not be expected to do so again. The buyer eventually sold the bird at a fraction of the price that he had paid for it and mentioned to me that "once was enough".

A valid question to ask is this: When Alan changed the first taimong, did he try to give to the buyer, a taimong that would likely have 11" or 12" tails after the molt in accordance with his earlier representations or did he intentionally give junk by way of exchange?

Alan's "trade secrets"

A mutual friend informed me just the other day, that he had asked Alan as to the brooder temperature setting for a newly hatched shama chick and Alan had replied that the information was “a trade secret”.  What trade secret was he referring to? This information was already freely available on my blog since 2008 (see above) and Alan had himself got the information from there. Having learnt from my blog, the information has now become his trade secret and he must keep it under lock and key, even from friends.  

Conclusion

I understand that Alan no longer claims that he had taught me "everything".  I suppose he realises that such a claim is untenable. Instead, he now says that he has improved on my methods.  What a remarkable man!! Have a look at his shamas and decide for yourself if his birds are in better condition than mine. The only generous thing I can say about Alan is that he may be delusional.

I hope it can be seen that I have been more than kind to Alan and that I have always treated him the way a friend would wish to be treated. Sadly, I cannot say the same for him. 

The things that we say and do in our unguarded moments reveal our true inner self and who we really are.  It is a blessing that Alan has now exposed his true self.

Comments:

8/1/14 Hi David, Read your latest blogs, the word disgusting is a little mild, perhaps send this guy to Columbia to be F by the donkeys...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKWLC87Uzw&list=PL413299DC95044CED Best Regards, TC Dance4Rain 8/1/14 Hi David,

I do not know Alan Pang, so I can't say much about him.

But I do know you, both as a hobbyist and a friend. On the surface that appears serious, stern and assertive, hides a man that is caring, compassionate and generous (sometimes to a fault). Some people may see that as an opportunity to exploit and take you for granted.

Although you claim to be still learning about shamas, there is indeed very little out there that has not already been mentioned by you. Sometimes, acknowledging others' point of view could have been seen as "learning" if the person has an inflated ego. To me who he learns from is a no-brainer.

Wishing you all the best and may you be spared from such further unpleasant encounters. 

Jeffrey Low
8/1/14

My dear friend,

My respect for you has grown over the years. Initially it was for your dedication to this hobby but as the years passed and I got to know you more, I see in you, a person that is genuinely kind at heart, loyal as a friend and generous to those around you. 

Your sharing spirit has instilled into many of us, the courage to embark deeper into this hobby. If not because of the readily available information from your writings as well as your personal guidance, I would not have the confidence to go into breeding. 

There is a Chinese saying that you may not have heard. Loosely translated: 'When drinking, do remember the origin of water'. 

This one is more 'mat sallehish': "Ingratitude is a weed of every clime. It thrives too fast at first, but fades in time."

Timothy Sinulingga

6th January, 2014

Good Morning Uncle David, 

I just read the article on your blog titled, Correcting Falsehoods. I just wanted to say that I started to read your sharing regarding shamas on MBF in 2008 and later on you made your own blog.

I have searched and read many articles and personal blogs and I also joined the facebook group regarding shamas, but I can say that so far I NEVER find the site that is as informative as your blog and your comments in other forums. 

I had even planned to copy and paste the articles you wrote in your blog as sometimes I worry that one day your blog may not be accessible anymore :-).  Actually I translated some articles that you wrote and I printed them and shared with my friends.

Back to your article, I think it is the same principle with breeding shamas. Some shamas have good character and some have bad character.  In the end those with bad characters will be abandoned 

Again, please allow me to thank you for what you have been sharing with shama lovers. 

Wish you and your family a Happy New Year and May God bless 

Best regards, 

Timothy Sinulingga 

Batam - Indonesia