Oyen the cat is ‘the star of Zoo Negara’

Enclosure buddies: Oyen with the capybaras in Zoo Negara. The cat has become so popular that the number of visitors to the zoo has doubled during the weekends.

Compiled by FATIMAH ZAINAL, TAN SIN CHOW and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE presence of ‘Oyen’, a ginger cat which lives among capybaras in their enclosure at Zoo Negara, has boosted the arrival of visitors to the zoo to over 3,000 people during the weekends, Harian Metro reported.

Zoo Negara vice-president Rosly@Rahmat Ahmat Lana said Oyen, which is now the “star of Zoo Negara”, has gained extraordinary popularity following his unique friendship with the capybaras over the past three years.

“About 95% of the visitors come just to see Oyen. Oyen is very popular, that’s why I call him ‘the star of Zoo Negara’.

“The number of visitors has also doubled, especially on weekends,” he said.

Rosly said the zoo intends to find a partner for Oyen and would also continue to look after the cat’s welfare.

The friendship between the two animals of different species became a new attraction at Zoo Negara after a video showing Oyen, which used to be a stray, sleeping and hugging a capybara went viral on social media.

> Singer Datuk ND Lala has divorced his wife Fauziah Sarman through WhatsApp, ending their 34 years of marriage, Utusan Malaysia reported.

Fauziah said she was informed on Aug 8 about the divorce decree which was done by ND Lala on Aug 2 at the Ar Rahman Mosque, Bangsar.

Fauziah, who is also the mother of singer Shila Amzah, said she shared the information to clarify her status so that no slander would arise.

“I accept everything that I have been through. I am sure that this arrangement of Allah is the best for me. Pray for me to stay as strong as I have been for all those years I lived in deception,” she wrote.

The status of the relationship between 1980s era singer ND Lala, whose real name is Amir Amzah Salleh, and Fauziah started to become the talk of netizens a few months ago when allegations that their marriage was falling apart began to surface.

The speculation heated up when in April, Fauziah uploaded a photo of a woman and announced that she was ND Lala’s new wife.

● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.