Goodbye, Ninja

We received the sad news that Ninja passed away while we were in England :(

Though heavy-hearted, we were not surprised as she had been doddering around terribly for a long time. Truth be told, I am almost glad not to have to go to the vet every three weeks anymore, yet I feel so guilty for admitting to this. I have loved her every moment she was with me, and gave her the best of all she needed. 

Goodbye, my dear little Ninja, my favourite hamster. She is the prettiest and most sweet-natured of them all. *sob* 

Potty training refresher.

Blackie is in disgrace. 

He naughtily set up a new pee corner in his cage, outside the litter box. WHYYYY! The litter box is cleaner these days, because he isn't using it! He has decided that he would do it beside the hay rack instead. 

V tried to train him again, by wiping up the pee and making him sniff it. He was very offended to have the smelly stuff waved in front of his nose, but after that, we saw him standing over the new pee corner contemplatively. Hm...let's hope for the best now. 

Hyde-ing in Cyberspace

There seems to have been an outcry among netizens against MDA's new regulations on the discourse in the Internet.

Much of the opposition against these regulations cite the right to free speech as a human right. But one's human rights cannot come with the right to harm others, even the American constitution recognizes this fundamental caveat to all forms of freedom. Why should free speech be any different?

Some protested that they are not children, and can do without this nannying. But dear friends, many are indeed either immature or nasty enough to engage in extremely unpleasant behaviour in the cyberspace. Just look at the vitriolic, hate-mongering comments in Yahoo, STOMP, or other political forums. Don't you ever wonder who on earth made them? If we meet these netizens in real life, are they just as uncouth, or maybe we would be surprised by how normal they appear on the outside. It is as if people behave like Dr Jekyll in face-to-face interaction, and then morph into Mr Hyde in the darkness of cyberspace, hiding behind anonymity.

It is obvious that the much vaunted free speech has turned into a free-for-all melee. Of course, one is free to give as good as he gets i.e. if you are flamed, trolled or slandered, you could jolly well retaliate in whatever way you like. But personally, I would prefer not to be attacked in the first place. I guess, since we live in a community, where one man's right is another's slander, it is best for there to exist some form of refereeing.

I, for one, have no objection to the new MDA guidelines.

:(

*sob* 

Ninja has reached extreme old age, and is now not even able to reach her water bottle. I have put a tiny dish of water in her cage. It breaks my heart to see her staggering around, half the time rolling in her bedding, trying to find her footing. We call her Ninja because she used to be the most nimble and energetic of our hamsters. 

Once again, we are at this painful stage - dreading the worst, and suffering while waiting :( We are bringing her to the vet tomorrow, but truth is, there is no cure for mortality :(

Robber rabbit at Breakfast

The dishful of delectable snowpeas is in the middle of the yard, so why are the two rabbits each hiding in a corner so far away from it? The reason is, they have each grabbed a peapod, and dashed off to eat in peace, far from each other. 

Unfortunately for Blackie, Whitty is a much faster eater, and refused to follow the rules of the game. Here she is, coming to partake of Blackie's share, having finished her own.

After a brief tussle, Whitty won, and poor Blackie is left sniffing around, wondering where his snowpea pod is. You are such a greedy girl, Whitty! Leave Blackie alone!

Kluang, Johor

My youngest uncle got married and since they live in Malaysia, we thought it was a good idea to drive in for the weekend. Kluang is a prosperous, quiet town in Johor, away from the usual tourist areas so one really gets to see the locals' way of life. Isn't this a lovely river? There are street markets beside it, but we didn't venture into that part because of the lack of time. 

My mother's primary school! 

 The fattest squirrel I have ever seen. No, I lied. I didn't see personally. Some of the folks in our family wanted to walk up the hill early in the morning, but I slept in :P HR took this picture instead. This is such a cute sight!

Conversation overheard

It was a lull period in the salon, and a group of manicurists sat around chatting. One was having a long-distance phone conversation with her daughter, explaining to her why she should not have stolen money. As she put down the phone in exasperation, she explained that it was difficult to discipline her younger daughter as she left her country to work in Singapore since the girl was very young, while the rest of the family remained in their home country. Another manicurist shared that she had the same experience, as she left her baby behind when he was only 40 days old. The conversation then wandered into a comparison of the cheapest way to call home, and I was left alone with my own thoughts.

Sometimes people carry out their daily activities while harboring quiet tragedy, and it takes unguarded moments like this to allow others a glimpse into their private struggles. In these migrant mothers’ efforts to provide more for their dearest, they ironically have to suffer estrangement from them, as well as the dreariness of working long hours in a strange land.

The media, both mainstream and on the Internet, often present these foreign workers in terms of statistics – the percentage they make up in our workforce, and the pay they receive relative to locals. Then there are the occasional hostile murmurings, rumblings of unfair competition. Fortunately, open xenophobia is not socially approved in Singapore. It must never be. Whatever political leanings one has, do not forget that each of these workers made immense sacrifice to come here, and who does not want to have a better life if they could help it? 

Balancing act

There is no doubt Potato is the most agile hamster we ever had. Tickle him in the middle of his wheel-running, and you will see him stand up effortlessly to check you out. The wheel is still swinging. Mind you, even we two-legged creatures would have difficulty balancing like this.

Thanks, SPCA

I wrote yet another email to SPCA, this time, complete with pictures and full address.

It makes me feel uncomfortably vigilante, but if not, what is going to happen to the poor rabbit?

The full story:

The rabbits were kept along the corridor of the block of flats, exposed to rain and sunlight. The cage was fairly clean, too clean, in fact, because there was not a SINGLE SHRED of hay inside! There wasn't any food either, so obviously, this owner doesn't know the feeding habits of rabbits. At first, there were two of them, and they appeared perky, so I did not interfere. Months later, when I went pass the cage again, one of the rabbits was gone, and the other looked distressed and subdued. There still wasn't any signs of hay, pellets or other food :(

So I made an SPCA report. Sure enough, they wrote back to inform me that the rabbit had an ear infection :(

Frankly, I hate doing reporting of this sort. It makes me feel like a tattle-tale or a spy, but   I cannot bear to think of all the mistreatment that goes on. Why don't people learn how to keep their pets properly before getting one? Why have pets if you find them too much work? Does it make you happy to have an animal suffering at home?

Because animals cannot seek help for themselves, I am just going to have to do it. Yes, be a busybody and make sure that all such cases are brought to light. So there!

Greedy

Whitty is really a very greedy little girl. When she is eating hay, she always places her paws on the box so that other rabbits (poor Blackie) know who the box belongs to.

Nom nom nom...this is my favourite organic meadow hay.