Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie’s animal instincts

SINGAPORE — She loved watching Sesame Street when she was growing up, so when she had the chance to be a puppeteer herself, actress Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie jumped at it.

She’s part of the cast of ZooMoo, Asia’s first children’s channel fully dedicated to wildlife. Produced in partnership with Wildlife Reserves Singapore, ZooMoo features puppetry, animation, games, music, puzzles and activities “to create a unique viewing and learning experience for little viewers”. The channel also has an app that doesn’t require Internet access and allows children to interact with, rather than passively watch, ZooMoo’s programmes.

Lee MacQuarrie voices two characters, Hannah Hyena and Afrina the Otter, and said puppetry was the next logical step for her, having acted on TV and on stage, doing voice-overs and being on radio. “I’m always trying to push myself, because I don’t want to get bored. And I do get bored very easily! This is definitely something that I’ve never tried — and you don’t know if you’re going to be good at it until you try.”

The actress spent about eight months training under renowned puppeteer Sean Masterson, who put her through the paces. And no, it wasn’t easy. “It’s very painful and uncomfortable!” she said. “Our puppets are not glove puppets. These have rods to move the hands, which are quite heavy. You have to hold it upright the entire time. It’s the ultimate multi-tasking job. People who have problems handling chopsticks might have problems handling these rods!”

Lee MacQuarrie added that the channel isn’t just for children, but parents as well, so they can educate their children about the ethical treatment of animals. “Hopefully, children can grow and learn to speak up against cruelty to animals or the exploitation of animals. And from that, it can grow into caring for Mother Nature in general and for one another ... be more tolerant towards people as well.”

It’s a dream of hers to set up an animal sanctuary. “To own a huge plot of land somewhere and turn it into a sanctuary — not safaris or animal shelters — just a no-kill sanctuary that will be able to take in all sorts of animals,” she mused. “And being able to hire staff and pay them the amount of money that they deserve. Our world view is a little twisted. All these things for a good cause are always seen as volunteerism and not as an ‘actual job’. I think if we started paying people properly, there would be more people doing good for the world.”

Catch ZooMoo on StarHub TV Ch 306. Get the ZooMoo app http://www.starhub.com/zoomoo