ok, hope some of you guys can help.

my relatives they live in some old pre-war house in penang where they have stayed for umpteen years. recently one fella bought the next door house and turn it into a swiftlet farm. the sound is bloody noisy and irritating and my relatives really cannot tahan.

i'm not against swiftlet farming per se, but please la have some empathy and common sense. how can you do this between 2 houses where there are ppl (including old ppl and children) staying? actually the whole stretch there are occupied either by families or some small businesses (like sundry shop, clinic, etc). i really wonder how they get the license to do so.....some neighbours claim they probably bribed the approving officer.

so, i hope you guys have some suggestions how to cope with this problem. i'll try complaining to the local council but if its true someone "makan" i doubt it'll work. since you guys are experts at making the swiftlets come, maybe you'll know ways how to keep the swiftlets away too? maybe some counter-noise? or certain smell the birds don't like?

if the venture not successful, then maybe the fella will give up and go somewhere else la... please help!!!

well it's those type of pre-war terrace houses, with those 5-kaki side walks. maybe you wont see much of it in kl, but penang and other small towns still have many of these.

i don't really know how to measure the loudness but i can say that even if you stand 5 houses away, you can hear it loud and clear.

seeseng, thanks for your comments.

we did try to talk to the operator, but he's not making it easy. until now we hardly got the chance to corner him. according to one of my neighbour,the way he acts is very sneaky, he comes by at odd hours and glances around and quickly sneaks into his farm and shut the door. when he come out, also quickly run to his car and drive off. don't you think this is the action of a person that know what he doing is annoying his neigbours and is going great lengths to avoid talking? what are the chances of such a person will compromise?

our first choice is still to negotiate with him. getting the methods to chase the swiflets away is just a backup plan/negotiation tool. something like a subtle threat to drop into the conversation if he still stubborn and dont want to compromise.

so would you mind teaching me some anti-swiftlet methods yet? or please pm me if you feel inappropriate to disclose it here. can?

You say people simply blame you. But have you spare a thought on the neighbours who have to bear with the side-effects of your money making venture?

These people never asked for you to relocate your bird farm there, yet they are the one who have to live with the sound 12 hours per day, every day, every week , every month and every year. No break even on weekends, public holidays or even Chinese New Year.

Do you think the bird sound is music? It is noise, and very irritating noise at that. To you it may sound like music, it may even sound like the sound of money. Once you have your farm up and running, how often do you go there? Once a day? a week? a month?

To me the operators who set up their farms despite knowing that nearby there are a lot of people staying, they deserves all the brickbats and complains thrown at them. They are just inconsiderate, selfish, self-centred and do not care about other people's life and feelings.

Too bad then, too many of these "bad apples" among your so-called fellow bird farm operators are spoiling the image for the rest of you.

You don't have to apologise to me. You are not the one to do me wrong. Of course, if you feel that you have affected other people with you bird farm, then you can apologize to them.

I know this is a swiftlet thread. Of course, I am not here to convert or to convince anyone to give up bird farming. It will be futile, not to mention stupid. It will be like going to a porno forum and tell the people there don't watch porno or going to a football forum and tell the people there don't gamble on football.

If you feel like enlightening me, then do so with proper reasons and don't patronise me, ok? Ask yourself honestly...how many of your so-called BH ranchers are in it because they "are nice men for people who love bird". If they really love the birds, they should rear them at home. How many of you does this?

And, yes I was an affected party once. The fella was a lawyer and talked big "If you dare go complain la..." And I did, and hard. I also ask him "is it ok if someone builds a bird farm next to your nice house. And let your parents, wife and kids enjoy the bird noise too?" He was taken aback for a few second, then quickly said "yes i dont mind, if he has the proper license". Yeah right, the few seconds of stunned silence already shows he is bullshitting. Nice men, indeed!

I was trying to point out that, those people who KNOWINGLY operate their farm when they know that surrounding areas are populated deserve whatever complaints and brickbats. And these are the people who give all of you a bad name. You may be an examplary farmer, operating your farms in the kampung and away from populated areas but you cannot help but be associated with them.

In fact, if you are trying to get the govt to promote and encourage bird farming in a big way (eg, reduce tax, improve infrastructure), you should lobby to have everything more regulated, do things properly and keep away from populated areas. Regulation will weed out the bad hats and opportunists and can only be good in the long run. Only then will the public have no reason to complain about you.

And sorry if I enter the wrong thread. The title is "Swiftlet Farming-EVERYTHING About The Industry -- Techniques, Tips, Tricks, Complaints etc".