KUALA LUMPUR: Like their fellow animal rights activists in Malaysia, Singapore's growing animal advocate community has condemned the government's decision to accept a pair of pandas from China. The activists told Bikyamasr.com that the conditions in Singapore “are not appropriate for pandas and the move would cause unnecessary stress for the animals.” Brihana Chow said that the government should not accept the animals, “as it is a symbol of cruelty and they won't have access to their natural, dryer and colder climate that they get in China.” The anger comes after Malaysia also accepted two pandas last month as part of boosting diplomatic relations between the two countries, but animal rights activists said the government was unprepared to host the animals. According to Singapore's foreign ministry and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is currently in China on an official visit, the giant pandas will be in Singapore before the end of the year on a 10-year loan. Teo is on the last day of a three-day visit to China. The move, however, is not likely to see an end to the battle over animal rights in Singapore, which Chow says is “just beginning.”
