KUALA TERENGGANU: He dropped out of Form Five 14 years ago but today, Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman, is helping researchers from the Natural History Museum of London identify and record more than 200 local fish species.
The 31-year-old claims his English is "awful" and most of the time, he either writes the names of the fish on paper and uses sign language to communicate with renowned ichthyologists such as Dr Ralf Britz and Dr Ariane Standing.
But that hasn't stopped his dreams of becoming the first “kampung ichthyologist”.
Ilham is an expert on local fishes in every sense of the word. He believes that despite his lack of formal education, his dream can be achieved if he mixes with the right people who recognise his talent, passion and determination.
He has travelled throughout the country, including Sabah and Sarawak, on his own expense. On some of his expeditions, he is accompanied by his wife Noor Hidayah Hashim, 27, a nurse.
However, he says it always pays off when he scoops up rare and critically-endangered species to share with his friends from the Natural History Museum and fellow local enthusiasts.
“Most of the recorded local fishes were found in old journals and described in drawings. I want people to see the real fish, its colours and habitat where they are found. I have followed some of the journals to visit the habitat,” he said when met during his expedition to locate the critically-endangered Parosphromenus paludicola in the brackish waters in Terengganu.
He already has a good collection of pictures of local fishes and plans to work closely with ichthyologists from University Malaysia Terengganu, Dr Amiruddin Ahmad, and Dr Zahar Azuar Zakaria from Kemaman to publish a book.
“I am on a mission to save some of the endangered species by raising some of them at my home in Parit Jawa, Muar, Johor. I will release some of these tank-raised specimens back into the wild."
Ilham however admitted to being heartbroken when he revisits the habitats of these fishes.
“The peat swamp forests are nearly all gone due to the opening of new oil palm plantations and logging,” said Ilham.
He also has a dedicated team of youths from his village who support him during expeditions as some locations are infested with snakes, leeches, bees and wild boar.
Ilham said Malaysian fishes are unique and beautiful but unless these species are tank-raised and protected to boost their numbers, they will soon become extinct.
He also contributes some live and preserved specimens to Dr Amiruddin to identify the fish, including some specimens which have yet to be described.
Dr Amiruddin described Ilham as a fine example of a youth who is passionate about pursuing a dream, whom despite his education level, was willing to sacrifice time and money to learn what usually only interests experts in the field.
“He may be a kampung boy but he is not far from becoming a self-made ichthyologist. His knowledge on the subject is outstanding,” said Dr Amiruddin, the first person who discovered Paedocypris micromegethes, the second smallest fish in the world.