Bernard Ming-Deh Harrison (born 1951) is a zoologist who was the executive director of the

Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. It is operated by the Mandai Wildl ...

from 1981 to 2002.

Early life

Harrison was born in Malaysia. His father, John Leonard Harrison, was a retired

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the British army and a zoologist who specialised in rodent-borne diseases. His mother, Song Kiew Ying, was a former nurse. The junior Harrison studied

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, and returned to Singapore in 1973 to work as a curator of zoology at the Singapore Zoological Gardens.

Career

Harrison became the executive director of the

in 1981. In 1994, he founded the Night Safari—the first of its kind. On 2 July 2002, he announced his resignation, and was succeeded by

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry. History The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and ...

marketing director Asad Shiraz. During Harrison's tenure, the Singapore Zoo saw record-breaking attendance; according to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, it became "one of the most successful in Asia with its open concept of animal display." In an interview with ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'', he described the last couple of years at the zoo as "pretty bloody boring". ''The Straits Times'' writer Yong Hui Mien described Harrison as "Singapore's

Doctor Dolittle Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 '' The Story of Doctor Dolittle''. He is a physician who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in th ...

", although the zoo's celebrity

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

Ah Meng reportedly disliked him. Harrison opined that a majority of zoos worldwide were mismanaged: "If I could, I would shut down 90% of the 10,000 zoos in the world. The world is full of horrible stink holes that call themselves zoos." A biography of Harrison, written by

Singapore Management University Singapore Management University (SMU) is a publicly funded private university in Singapore. Founded in 2000, SMU is the third oldest autonomous university in the country, modelling its education after the Wharton School. The university is trip ...

English literature professor Kirpal Singh and titled ''Naked Ape, Naked Boss'', was published in 2014.

Personal life

In his thirties, Harrison wrote a novel titled ''Malacca And Beyond (Media Masters)'', as well as an unpublished poetry anthology whose working title was ''No Leaf Unturned''. In 1997, Harrison separated from his second wife, landscape gardener Nazli; he attributed the failure of their ten-year marriage to his working long hours at the zoo. In 2002, he married former corporate trainer Tina Lim, with whom he established the zoo design consultancy Bernard Harrison & Friends. Harrison has two children, both from his second marriage.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading