NEW STRAITS TIMES (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 26 July 05 For Adi, it isn’t once bitten twice shy - Abdul Kadir Abdullah, 35, dances with crocodiles .(Julia Chan)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: He is missing his index finger on his right hand after being bitten by one more than 10 years ago, but now he still kisses the reptiles and performs with them.
Adi is a crocodile trainer with the Tuaran Crocodile Farm, 35km from here, where he handles half-a-dozen Indo-Pacific crocodiles, locally known as buaya tembaga, at the farm’s daily shows.
He started working with the sharp-toothed reptiles in 1989 after high school in Malacca, when he joined the Langkawi Crocodile Farm before being transferred here.
While he loves his job, he is the first to admit that crocodiles are very unpredictable creatures and a slight change in the environment can affect them greatly.
"Even a mosquito bite or a fly on its back can set off the aggression in a crocodile and put us in danger."
Despite the countless shows he has performed since 1990, Adi still remembers vividly the frightening episode when he lost the finger.
It was during a show in November 1994 when he was trying to tie the crocodile’s mouth and the cord slipped from his right hand.
The crocodile was startled and in closing its mouth, Adi was injured in the hand and eventually lost the finger.
But the experience made him determined to continue working with the creatures and trying to understand them.
His current bosses do not allow high-risk, fancy stunts like putting one’s head in a crocodile’s mouth, but if that chance ever came along, Adi would be willing.
One who understands Adi’s passion more than most is his mentor, Abdul Malek Abdul Aziz, who is also his brother-in-law.
Malek was a pioneer of Malaysian crocodile shows, with some 18 years’ experience working with crocodiles.
He said the television stunts of famed Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin grabbing and jumping on the back of crocodiles were extremely dangerous and properly staged.
"For us, the safety of our trainers is of greatest importance," he said.
"We will not risk anything if we think something might not be right with the crocodiles."
The Tuaran farm, open for about five months, has about 1,000 crocodiles.
Abdul Kadir Abdullah, 35, dances with crocodiles