Has Muar town 'gone to the Birds?'

I am a Muarian, and am very proud of it. There is nothing that I like to do better than to return to the town occasionally to visit my siblings and to eat some of the famous Otak-otak or the Ikan assam pedas while in town.(not to mention the 'mee pok' and the durians)

Yesterday afternoon, I took my wife for a leisurely walk in the town centre, and our walk took us around Jalan Ali, Jalan Abdullah, Jalan Meriam and Jalan Yahya. All over town, we could see pedlars selling the ubiquitous otak and many shops carried the famous Muar coffee brands like '434' '282' 'AAA', among many others. It was pleasant memories,and good for the soul.

However, against the backdrop of vehicle noises, we could hear an incessant twittering, and to my horror, I suddenly realised that Muar town, has through the years, been turned into a noisy Swiftlet breeding town. Wherever you turn, you can see double storey shophouses with closed darkened windows, and there you can hear twitters emanating from them. Some of these enclosed structures are even built on top of the double storey shops! What was even more amazing is that the residents in the shops surrounding the many swiflet 'farms' seem oblivious to the noise, and also the the health hazards posed by this business.

One more fact that stood out in the swiftlet business in Muar is that they seem to be concentrated only in the town areas, or areas where there are a collection of shops. Driving just out of town, we can also see more breeding structures in places where there are shops being built. In fact, we even noticed that some new shops have already been 'converted' into swiftlet homes.

I am not anti business, and I am glad my fellow Muarians have found a way to earn some lucrative income. But have the swiftlet 'homes' been approved according to the terms and guidelines issued by the Government, which, if I have not read incorrectly, the homes should be built in agricultural areas, and should be of some distance (500 metres??) from any residential areas?

Has the local authorities in Muar a different set of guidelines for swiftlet breeding? I love my town, please do not let be degraded by unscrupulous or worse, corrupt practices.

Muar a swiftlet farm!!
The Sun E paper on Swiftlets
Swift action please!