Two animal shelters

I went with the Vegetarian Society Singapore to two animals shelters across the border at Pekan Nanas in Johor today.

One was Noah’s Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary (NANAS) and the other was Animal Paradise.

It rained quite heavily about noon today and when we got to NANAS, it was wet. So when we got into the animal shelter, we were greeted by lots of wet paws.


The dogs at NANAS are free ranging and they run about the compound freely.

The cats, on the other hand, roam about in a house of their own, separated from the dogs.

It amazing how much the animals yearned for people's attention and affection. They squeezed around me and let me pet and scratch them. I basically came out all muddied with paw prints.






Over at Animal Paradise, there were no eager dogs to greet us. Instead, it was a big Buddha statue that welcome us to the animal sanctuary. According to the guide it was salvaged from the Haw Par Villa in Singapore.

Things were quite different over at Animal Paradise. There more types of animals. Besides dogs and cats, there were cows, turtles, pigs, camels, monkeys and various birds like pheasants, geese, turkeys and ostriches.

The animals were caged or penned up. According to the guide, the dogs were some times released and roamed with the compounds on days when there are no guests.

But I found the two places quite different and it took me a while to figure out what's was it.

It was affection.


There was a lot more affection at NANAS. The dogs were allowed to roam freely. Visitors are encouraged to interact and get friendly with the dogs. The animals have names and stories behind them. Even the cat house was made like a home. There were a lot more affection and attention give to the animals.

Over at Animal Paradise, the philosophy seems to be different. They came from the perspective of saving lives. I do not doubt that they took good care of the animals. But it appears to lack a little personal touch.

There was a sign that warned against touching and getting close to the animals. While the cages were clean and well kept, and quite spacious, they felt very sanitized, harsh and stark. It does not have the homely feel that NANAS has.

What I did not like was that besides acting as a shelter for abandoned animals, it was also a place for "animal liberation". It's something I could not quite agree with.

Animal liberation is a common practice in Chinese Buddhism. According to the guide, the fishes in the big tanks are "liberated" by several Buddhists groups.

I took a look at the fishes. They were ornamental fishes like koi. And this is where I start to find it a little difficult to understand. I could understand if the intention was to save the fishes from being killed. But in this case, these were ornamental fishes. They were in no danger of being killed. To me, it seems that they were simply being "saved" from a small fish tank and got "liberated" into a bigger fish tank.

While some Buddhists have started to see the problems with modern practices of animal liberation, there are many who still stick to it rather dogmatically. (I'll say the best way of liberation is to liberate them from your dinning table!) This seems to be a case of doing animal liberation for the sake of doing it.

Nonetheless, it is great to see people saving and caring for the animals. I just wish they would reconsider the animal liberation part of their operations.

As we left for dinner, I pondered over the stark difference between the two shelters. The founder of NANAS is a Catholic and the volunteers and supporters are more "English educated" and tends to be those that kept pets. Animal Paradise is sponsored by a Buddhist organisation and the volunteers are Chinese educated. The difference showed in the way the shelters were managed, and I wondered why it would be so ...

《盼望》

其实 我盼望的
也不过就只是那一瞬
我从来没要求过 你给我
你的一生

如果能够在开满了栀子花的山坡上
与你相遇 如果能
深深地爱过一次再别离
那么 再长久的一生
不也就只是 就只是
回首时 那短短的一瞬

《盼望》 - 席慕蓉

Cancellation of Thailand Trip

I had been eagerly anticipating the backpack trip to Thailand's northeast. But I have decided to cancel it given the civil unrest in Bangkok.

I guess by next Monday, flights might have resumed. Safety is probably not an issue although it will be greatly inconvenient if the airport shuts down again.

However, my mum will be greatly worried. It's just not right to let her worry for the whole week while I have a good time there.

Some other time perhaps.

遗忘原来是一种治疗

《禅意》之二

当一切都已过去
我知道 我会
慢慢地将你忘记

心上的重担卸落
请你 请你原谅我
生命原是要
不断地受伤和不断地复原
世界仍是一个
在温柔地等待着我成熟的果园

天这样蓝 树这样绿
生活原来可以
这样的安宁和 美丽

-- 席慕蓉

初读这首诗，原来以为是失恋之后，收拾了心情，重新开始的感情。

昨夜突然有了新的诠释。

原来这不是失恋以后的心情。

这是失去了至爱以后的复原。

遗忘原来是一种治疗。无法忘记过去，无法卸下心中的重担，生活就无法继续。

其实，若有真正的交过心，怎么可能真的忘记？怎么可能把已融入自己的一部分抹去？

要忘记的，是悲伤和心痛。

用留下来的思念，看这蓝天，看这绿树，继续珍惜生活。

Lest we forget

Last year's 23 Nov 2007, five fellow paddlers met an accident and departed. It was day of shock and sadness for the dragon boating community.

As a sign of mourning and for remembrance, I created the above picture.

This year's 23 Nov 2008, I found that I have forgotten, and remembered only when I saw the obituary on the newspaper.

I am not sure how many people paddling at the River Regatta remembered them amid their own joys and disappointments over the races.

If I had remembered, I would have asked my team to observe a minute of silence even as we celebrate our own achievements. But I had forgotten.

We humans are forgetful people aren't we? But that's also a mechanism to cope with loss and pain. Perhaps that's why we need memento like these: lest we forget.

Time to let go

After the exhilaration of winning, what comes is a strange feeling of loss.

The FLUS team is a team I have devoted a lot of time and energy over the past 2 years.

The sport and the team meant a lot to me because it had made a lot of difference in my life.

2 years ago, we were in crisis mode. Our membership had dropped to below 10 when we began the new season after 2006's River Regatta.


At the June race 2007, we came in bottoms among all the racing teams, only slightly ahead of the breast cancer survivors. (I have great respect for the Pink Paddlers. But it quite another matter for a bunch of guys to row not much better for a group of ladies, aunties and grandmas).

There were people who looked down on the team. Even within the team, some thought the team could not achieve anything and moved to the teams.

Yet through it all, some of us persevered. We trained inexperienced newbies from scratch. We maintained an open heart and welcome everyone: all sorts of shapes and sizes, all sorts of fitness level, from all walks of life. Many people left after a while. But some stayed and helped build the team together.

Slowly, we began to see the results of the hard work. When I took over the reins of the team after last year's Regatta, we were no longer down and out.

Through it all, there were many times I feel like giving up. I asked myself why should I do this. Isn't it easier to go join a stronger team and win medals with them, especially when my company's corporate team was doing so well in the corporate category.

But what kept me going on, was when I saw the transformation of the fellow team mates. Seeing how they got fitter and healthier. Seeing how some got more confident and comfortable about themselves. Seeing how many became happier and had a greater sense of well-being. Seeing how everyone was putting so much effort into this, helping and supporting each other, having great fun in the process.

Finally, the team achieved its breakthrough last weekend and we got into the finals.

It was a moment of great satisfaction and pride for me.

But I know, I am not really a great leader. I tried my best to keep the team going. But I do not have what it takes to lead the team to greatness. For the team to grow, I cannot continue to hold a tight rein on it. It was important to groom new leaders and transition leadership. In addition, I wanted to moved on to other things in life and wanted to offload the heavy responsibility of a captain. I had slowly been getting others involved in leading the team. I put in place an election process and we elected a new exco as we celebrated after the race.

Yet, now that the handover time finally comes, I find myself seized by a sense of loss.

There was a time, when I worry about how the team will do when I was not around. When I was away overseas in holidays, I get worried calls from team members when the coach also could not make it. Now, I can be assured that even when the coach and myself are not around, the team is capable of taking care of itself and there are capable teammates to manage the team well.

There is great satisfaction to see the team I put in so much effort to nurture come of age. Yet, I can't help feeling a loss realizing the team does not need me any more. (Of course the team never really did. People will definitely find a way to manage somehow. It was just really my perception because of my attachment to the team.)

I have not been a parent. But I wondered if that's how parents felt, when they realized their children had grown up and no longer need them?

No matter, it's time to let go. For while I will continue to paddle, I do need to move on to other things in life.

Ironies in life

All the hard work and sacrifices the team has made finally culminated into a result we could be proud of.

We had a goal. We had a dream. We wanted a breakthrough.

We wanted to get into the finals of Singapore River Regatta and be among the top teams.

Some times, our hopes where high. Other times, we were fraught with doubt. But we did not give up.

In the end, our hard work paid off, admittedly with a bit of luck. We got the breakthrough we worked so hard for. We got into the plate finals, coming in fourth.

Perhaps to the top teams, this was nothing great to boast of. But for a team we built from scratch, working upwards from the bottom, it was a great achievement for us. It was more than just a just a win in the race. In the process, we proved to ourselves what we are capable of.

The few days before the race, I dreamed that perhaps we could even win something, and I could get up stage and collect a medal for the team. Though I dared not be too hopeful.

As luck would have it, one of the team got a penalty time and we got bumped up from fourth to third!

But we did not realize that third position in the plate finals came with a plate. (Most Plate finals only has a plate for the 1st team). And we went away in joy and exhilaration over our own achievement, and missed the moment of glory of going up stage to get the prize we won for ourselves.

I found that a great irony indeed.

I am sure the team will continue on to achieve greater heights. But I won't be the one who will be going up the stage to collect the prize anymore. The new captain will do that.

However, I am deeply satisfied to have lead the team to its break-through. What was deeply satisfying, was to see the joy on everyone's faces, the tears some people were blinking away, the excitement hidden in their tense bodies, the pride, the sense of fulfillment... those were priceless.