Flush no more

A terrible thing happened over the weekend. Last Saturday, N came into the office to feed Flush, the kitten we've rescued from the drain downstairs, and found it listless with no appetite. M later brought it to Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital for observation, only to have them call back on Sunday morning saying she was very weak and can go anytime.

We all rushed down in time to bid her a tearful goodbye - you can imagine us crying our eyes out as we pat her limp body in a cardboard box. Apparently she was anaemic and her red blood cells level was so low at 4 (min level is 24!) due to reasons that she might be infested with worms and her young body couldn't cope with the stress. All we could do was to agree to the euthanasia to end her suffering. I told her she was such a brave sweet girl and as M called out to her, she managed to meow back softly one last time. Sigh, it was really, really sad. But we did our best and were glad we didn't turn a blind eye to her pleas and gave her a safe and warm home for 3 weeks. Flush, we'll miss you dearly.

We have received some kind condolences from friends such as T and J who said: "Our deepest sympathies to the passing of Flush. T and I were teary eyed when we read your post. It was so, so sad. Though we were pretty depressed after the news, we were glad that at least his last days were not spent in the drain, unloved and all alone. He was in the company of people who loved him and what few days he had on earth was spent with hope, affection and a warm roof over his head. Thank you for showing him and giving him all that. He is in a happier place now, a place with abundant love, food, and all the wonderful gifts he couldn't experience here. Our hearts are with you as you go through this difficult time. Love..."

J's email ended with a brilliant quote by M. Ghandi ~ "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." How true. It distressed me a lot when there seems to be less room, empathy and tolerance for animals in our progressive societies, especially with the recent debate in the forum about allowing cats in flats. Plleeeease lah. Can't they just see the humane logic behind it?

It saddens me that more and more creatures are edged out of their natural habitats and face extinction as humans relentlessly take over and milk whatever natural resources left for the sake of economic growth and process. Pui to that! On the contrary, we should encourage sustainable means of living and practise responsible consumption for the sake of humanity and our environment.

Flush per favore

Just 2 weeks ago on a lazy afternoon, we heard a persistent meow from downstairs our office and when I got down to investigate, I found the tiniest kitten in the filthy drain choked with dead leaves and litter. It was calling out desperately for its mamma who was nowhere to be found. Ming and I were brokenhearted just listening to it (for a small fellow, it had powerful lungs). Suddenly the rain poured and from our window, we could see it being flushed out of the drain! We screamed at each other and ran down with an umbrella and box in time to scoop up the wet, trembling furry ball.

They say you don't adopt a cat, it adopts you. In this case, 'Flush' has made itself comfortable in the office's pantry-library, after an all-clear by the vet. It was only 5 weeks old when we rescued it but we were planning to give it up for adoption. So anyone who's keen, please contact me - it's an extremely affectionate responsive white kitten with brownish-orange patches and grey eyes (toilet-trained already and sits quietly as a lap cat too).

If you're wondering why we didn't adopt it, that's because I have 3 big pussies at home already - Jarvis, Ripley and Mimi who will all probably use Flush as a scratching post, while M has her Tiggi and a baby on the way. Our intern has gone back to school and now it's just us in the office, except for V who has met her Italian stud for the first time in Italia since they met on the dating website. Yay, I'm so happy for her since he didn't turn out to be psychotic and she's having the best time of her life. See, it IS possible to find love on the net! Okie, I'll re-activate my account - err just I can practise my italiano lah - ah but then! (Un grande bacio per i miei amici Eka, Qin, Andre e Prab) Sono molto contenta che posso studiare e parlare la lingua di nuovo. Ero preoccupata che ho dimenticato tutto!

Risoluzioni molti

As we entered the 8th day of the new year, I suddenly had a mental seizure and panic attack just thinking of my impending 32nd birthday 7 months, 8 days, 2 hours and 30 secs away. I thought to myself; life began 31 years ago for me and what have I done to make myself proud?

1. Ok I'm not a drug addict/ rapist/ compulsive gambler / alcoholic / materialistic bimbo... yet (in that order)
2. I've no debt, except eternally to parents, whom expect money from me at the end of every month
3. I run a sustainable business based on my acumen, talents, wit and beauty
4. I am modest, smart, funny, successful, easy-on-the-eye (so eligible but yet so single)
5. I am kind to animals and old people (who don't talk back)
6. I expect close to 86 loved ones (yes, even those who hate my guts) to show up at my funeral
7. I count myself an independent global traveller, having only been on a package tour three times in my life; age 9 at Genting Highlands with family, age 14 at Phuket with relatives, and age 20 in Japan/China with granny
8. I am a natural linguist and speak seven languages - Hokkien, TV Cantonese, B3 Mandarin, English, Singlish, Intermedio due Italiano and fluent Cat Talk
9. I can survive anywhere if they need a chef, driver, maid, gardener, pet-sitter, waitress, bartender, amateur actress, back-up singer-dancer, mural-painter, proof-reader, tour guide
10. I am quasi famous now that I've done numerous interviews in mags, radio, websites and soon TV

Hey, I didn't make up the last one; I really spent the last Friday being trailed by a TV crew and quizzed by a TV/radio 'celebrity' for a possible new show called "The Mostest Jobs" on primetime television. My episode was "Most Delicious Jobs" where I was captured quaffing down food albeit elegantly at one of my regular food tastings. They asked: "So what are some of your occupational hazards?" I replied with absolute wit and deadpan seriousness in one single take: "Hmm, let me see... an unchecked cholestrol level, fatty liver, obession with photographing every dish and resisting the mental checklist at every meal." Ha! Take that!

I hope I'll appear smart, professional, witty and close to my actual weight when it airs (stay tuned if you want to know when). But in all seriousness (when wasn't I?), I've given some thought to my new year resolutions and they are:

- To quit smoking (again)
- To improve my italiano (advance livello)
- To hold an exhibition to share my artistic interests
- To be kinder to parents and relatives (even those who bug me to get married soon)
- To achieve a lean, mean body thro' healthy living (no plastic surgery)
- To get a bike licence (so can borrow sis' brand new Vespa)
- To travel to new exotic places (e.g India and Philippines)
- To tornare a casa mia, Italia di nuovo in Settembre per una mese (yay!)
- To start praying for il mio grande amore (please, oh please, per favore - I'll be such a good girl)