Visit to Mdm Wong's Shelter

I first come across Mdm Wong's Shelter (MWS) when I visited the Ericsson Pet Farm early May in my rented Toyota Axio. It was really a by chance thingy and I am so glad it happened.



I didn't have a walk in the shelter then but simply chatted with Ray, one of the more seasoned volunteer at the shelter. He shared with us things about the shelter and the furry friends - about 50+ dogs and 200+ cats.



Since that brief visit, I had been planning to do a visit to have a tour of the place and to mix around with the kiddos. Finally, today's the day! I was so excited.



We had also brought some items, ie key chains, handphone hangon straps, frames and some stuff which pal Irene had also contributed to Yian for the coming weekend's carnival.

Catties asleep in comfort of their little beds. Couldn't help but hiding a smile in my heart.

Cats community. When we stepped into this room, and the moment I squatted down, the pack all came towards me and fuss around! Was a little overwhelmed at first. One of them even climbed up my legs on its own accord and sat there!! Hahahaha...Then one of them (the one lying on the blue cage) 'patted' on my back while my attention was with the rests in front. Gave me a scare. But it was just trying to get attention. It kept meowing to get me to pat him/her. :)

Two catties at the bar welcoming us.

The catties at another private shelter.

This is Buttercup, the timid and shy abandoned doggy. It has been 'bullied' by the 3 fast growing doggies in the same bunk. I hope she gets adopted soon. I couldn't bear to put her down with those 'playful' folks below. I hope she gets her deserved happiness.

2 of the 5 pups which were abandoned and sent to MWS. One of them had been adopted. I carried one of them today. Wow, I love it!!

Though I was happy and excited to visit MWS, I was at the same time sad to see so many abandoned furry friends. And worse still, some were abused. I almost cried while playing with those cats, thinking they would be much happier if they had the freedom to roam about instead of being cooped up in a shelter. On the other hand, with the situation for some of them, it is probably safer for them to be at the shelter. Otherwise, once caught, they will be sent to SPCA or AVA and be put to sleep. Isn't that sick to the core?

And I really cannot tolerate the people who can simply abandon their pets for some unbelievable and atrocious reasons. And equally so the people who abuse them. I really hate to say some uncouth words to describe these people except to say - what goes around comes around.

I really have mixed feelings seeing the furry folks at MWS. First, feeling sad for them to have to end up in the shelter for some human created problems. But at the same time, I am also glad they have a shelter to continue with their lives and hopefully get a second chance in life. Some of these would have been sent to AVA/SPCA otherwise. In fact, a couple of them were rescued from AVA/SPCA.

Since young, I thought SPCA is a place which saves animals. But as I grew older, I realise that is not really the case. Yes, they are the body to lobby humanity to animals. That doesn't mean keeping them alive alone, but to administer death in a humane manner. My god!

So don't think sending your pets or whatever animals to SPCA will save their lives. Such a contradiction which has misled me since young. It has become a scary body in my view now.

And...I don't want to talk about the govt authorities in their role. I just feel.............!!

To end this all, I must say, I thought of my Chantek Xiaohei again. Wonder if she is in one of these shelter, if she's still alive or had she been sent to somewhere. :(

9.12pm

翰墨陶情II（21 - 26 May 2010)

今早陪老爸到个画展，是他老友（林振群叔叔）邀他因他妇人也有两幅参展的画。

林阿姨的画《争艳》

林阿姨第二幅画《秋天的诗》

林叔叔，林阿姨及画家老师刘禄在

香港艺人米雪也是刘老师学生之一。米雪也有四幅画在展上亮相。

米雪画《一枝独秀》，卖价$6800!

米雪画《梅报太平》

米雪的无题画。自己想象吧。

米雪画《春韵》

以上两幅是刘老师的画画。米雪的《春韵》很象第一幅吧？是刘老师教的。

展厅给人很舒服的感觉

刘老师在展厅给学生讲画

Commenting on Sumiko's column - Fear of the unknown

I have just re-produced Sumiko article "Fear of the unknown" in my earlier post.


I read with amazement that two paras she mentioned had accurately reflected my thoughts:

I'm afraid of being happy because experience has shown that whenever I get carried away, something bad will happen, so better not risk it.

To folks like me, happiness is cyclical. We've discovered that unhappiness invariably follows happiness, so it's best to keep your head down, stay under the radar and control your emotions.

This is something I have been feeling since many many years ago, but it is very difficult to 'explain' to people. Sumiko hit the nail right in.

As shared in her article, her feeling that way had something to do with her one experience some time back. For me, it was another story which seem to happen many times in my life but the 'phobia' stayed on.

In the past, I noticed that whenever I was very happy, reaching home and sharing it or having the happiness reflected in my mood, and rah-rah-ing with dad; having happy talks with dad on some common things, etc - the next day, dad will be feeling unwell and on some occasions, i have to take leave to bring him to the doc or sometimes admitted to hospital for whatever reasons.

It had happen too many times, according to my standard and the fear of feeling happy is carried forward till today. Whenever there are happy things, I would play it down, or try not to reflect it too obviously, as Sumiko has shared.

It is obviously not right but it can't be helped and the thought is that - if such happy feeling is later going to be traded off by something bad that will happen to my family, then perhaps it is better off to maintain a neutral feeling.

Fear of the unknown - Sumiko Tan (Sunday Lifestyle, 16 May 2010)

A colleague made a remark the other day which gave me a bit of a jolt.

"In the 1.5 years that I've known you, I've noticed that you always make a U-turn whever you face the unknown," he said.

Wow, I thought, I'd never realised that about myself.

I'd been confiding in him via the office instant messaging system about a dilemma I'd found myself in.

It wasn't the first time I'd sought his advice or, to be more accurate, unloaded my laments onto him (poor guy).

He knows me fairly well by now or, at least, he's in the loop about the many permutations of my mental state. (That's the beauty of instant messaging, isn't it? You can be personal yet keep an impersonal distance, whether you're the person seeking advice or giving it.)

His words were food for thought. Was he right? Do I really fear the unknown and flee from it? Am I the sort who would rather stick to the familiar? What is it I'm really afraid of?

I thought about the crossroads I've faced in my life and realised that he was not wrong.

Faced between striding with what I'm comfortable with, I have often scooted back to the road most travelled.

That's probably the reason I'm still unmarried at my grand old age, why I've stuck to the same job for 25 years and lived in the same house fo 37.

It's also why I return again and again to eat at the same restaurants, why I revisit the same holiday destinations every year, and why I've stuck to the same Sunday routine for donkey's years - wake up, go for yoga, shop, home, dinner, CSI, sleep. (And yes, it's also why my columns deal with the same topics too.)

I look at people I've grown up with and, goodness, it's like I'm floating in a time warp.

Some have children already in their mid-teens, entering national service even. They have graduated through so many stages of their lives, sold and bought homes, dealt with in-laws, survived the stress of their children's exams and live through other such grown-up things, whereas I am stuck in the same old groove.

It's not a bad groove, of course, and I've many things to be thankful for and for which i am, but what if more exciting experiences await if I were more daring? Or let's not even talk about exciting, just different experiences?

But I don't like shocks to my system. I don't like feeling awkward. I don't like being put to a test. I like things to be predictable, dull even. I'm too lazy to change the way my life is. It takes so much effort and the thought of it makes me want to just curl up and sleep instead. Besides, what if I make a change and things go wrong? Why risk failure?

The problem is, the more one focuses on the megative aspects of a change, the more real the fear of those negatives becomes, and self-fulfilling too.

What is clear, though, is that the few times in my life that I ahve allowed myself to do something out of character have been liberating.

That same colleagues pointed out how I'd taken up bowling last year and didn't regret it. Now, bowling is not something any of my friends would imagine me doing given how unadventurous I am, but I decided one day that I wanted to learn it.

I bought a ball and shoes, got a coach, went down to a bowling alley and learnt to bowl. I ventured outside my comfort zone, met new people and it was fun. It was a personal milestone.

It is natural to dear the unknown. Who isn't afraid? But something must be wrong when that fear so inhibits you that you miss out on opportunities that can make a positive difference to your life.

What compounds my problem is that I, ironically, find the concept of happiness scary. I strive for happiness yet am afraid when it comes a-knocking. (There's even a term for fear of happiness - cherophobia.)

I'm not what you'd call an upbeat or extroverted person and I like to maintain a state of perpetual glumness.

Any time something threatens to make me happy, I'll talk to myself or the thing down so that I'm no longer on cloud nine.

I find it hard to take compliments and if someone were to say to me:"What a pretty dress you have on", I'll immediately try and think of something negative to say so that I'm taken down a peg or two - "Thanks but I'm putting on weight and the dress is getting really tight" or "Oh, it's just a cheap dress and not well-made at all." I am more tha a little wary of hubris.

I'm afraid of being happy because experience has shown that whenever I get carried away, something bad will happen, so better not risk it.

One episode is still clear in my mind.

Many years ago, I did a signing session after a book I'd written was launched. It went well and I was as pleased as punch with myself. I drove home with a grin on my face.

At a road junction, I mis-read a traffic light and nearly hit a car head-on. It was a good lesson on the dangers of being smug. I've since never allowed myself to be on any sort of high.

To folks like me, happiness is cyclical. We've discovered that unhappiness invariably follows happiness, so it's best to keep your head down, stay under the radar and control your emotions.

Besides, if I'm negative about something and something negative really materialises, then I won't feel too let down as I had predicted this all along.

It's perverse, I know, and pop psychologists will have a field day with people like me.

Can it be that I had once experienced such great happiness only to have it end so abruptly and painfully that I never wanted to be put in a situation where it might happen again?

Whatever the reasons, I've become comfortable with my glumness. It's my shield against future unhappiness.

But surely I can change and must, especiallywhen an opportunity to do so stares me in the face?

Yes, it's certainly more painful to lose a new-found happiness than it is to be constantly unhappy. But spending your life feeling perpetually morose - or forcing yourself to be so even when you aren't, really - prevents you from embracing beautiful moments that might come your way if you only gave yourself a chance.

Thinking positively won't be easy. We instinctively return to beliefs we've depended on to cope with the ups and downs of life.

Maybe it's just a matter of repeating to myself statements like "It's okay to be happy" or "I'm grateful for my happiness" - cheesy though such self-affirming statements sound.

A character in a Japanese movie once said that "humans are cowards in the face of happiness. It takes courage to hold on to happiness".

Courage - and the ability to conquer your fear and take a leap into the great unknown.

Dr Goh Keng Swee (6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010) passes on

Farewell and may you rest in peace, Dr Goh.

Singapore will see a state funeral for former DPM on 23 May 2010 (Sunday). His body will lie in state at the Parliament House from 20 - 22 May 2010.

Spirits dampened

How often do I have things that really excite me? Sad to say, not many (not that I don't have interests, but lots of them really doesn't make sense to others).

But whenever I thought I have really found some opportunities to fulfil my interests (at least the very one or two things that brighten up my eyes and spirit), someone has to be there to pour water. It's really sickening. If in life, I can't even do the things I really like (in my already 'sickened' world), then it's really not a life I would want to live.

Should I even bother to let other's (or others') comments affect me? I try not to but many times, it comes from people close. I really hate these road blocks.

So what kind of life should I live to make you happy? Doing nothing, work, stay at home, play computer games, watch TV, eat, sleep, rest. Duh!!!

I am really frustrated. I can't get my message across. I am tired of trying. Let me just rot and die.

Drive again

White Toyota Axio (1.5A)

Yes! After talking and talking and thinking and thinking for a long time, I've finally set a date to get a car - not buy, but rent. The May Day holiday period was a good time, I thought.

Picked up the car at lunch time on Fri (30 Apr) and returned it noon today.

Long before I got the car, I had been planning where to go, how to go and I studied the directory like an encyclopaedia.

So finally, we had the following covered:

Fri, 30 Apr

- Got car from Sin Ming's Bull Carz (Blk 22) during my lunch time. Took a cab down.

- Drove it back to workplace. Send it for valet parking at $4 per day. Well, at least cheaper than parking in the carpark.

- Drove it back home after work amidst the heavy traffic (but not as bad as some days, still manageable traffic conditions, i was glad)

- For dinner, we drove out to Teacher's Estate somewhere Yio Chu Kang Rd. Been driven there before but i really didn't know the way till I did it myself!

Sat, 1 May

- Drove to IMM (havent been there for a long time)

- Dinner was supposed to be at the prawning place at Bishan but the carpark was full. Partly my fault cos I had a chance to park at one available lot far from the restaurant but I sort of gave it up. After that it was taken and that's it! So we changed venue to a seafood restaurant in AMK.

Sun, 2 May

- Was west yesterday, today east. Today we drove all the way via TPE to Pasir Ris Farmway. Colleague recommended the Ericsson Pet Farm. We were half hr earlier than the opening time so we went to other farms to look at fish, corals before coming back. The place was nice and I chance upon an animal shelter (Mdm Wong Shelter) and spoke to a volunteer, Ray. He was nice in sharing quite a bit of things. Decided to go back there to do some voluntary work whenever I can. Lots of abandoned cats and dogs. Wonder how people can just 'throw' their pets out. Sad humans.

- After that, we drove to Changi Village for lunch. Had the nasi lemak at the most famous International Stall but didn't really find it very special. The nasi lemak at my place tastes nicer. Bought some muffins home though. Had a little walk at the Changi jetty before set for home.

- Dinner was at Jack's Place, AMK Central. Got a fan home at Courts.

- Had a short evening casual drive to end the night.

Mon, 3 May

- Drove to the central to run a little errand.

- Before returning the car, we went to Bright Hill Temple and Tse Tho Aum.

- And it's bye bye to the Toyota Axio (1.5) which had accompanied us for the last 3 days.

Afternote: I was made to pay $280 for a scatch mark found at the left front bumper! I didn't know how that was there because I would have known if I scratched the car when I drove it! Clearly, it was done to my car unknowingly. Well, my since the car was my responsibility, I had to bear it. Took it as part of the entertainment expense. :)