He was an orange-and-white domestic short haired (DSH) kitten, probably no more than a couple of months old. He was hiding timidly underneath a neighbourhood park bench overlooking a long canal, along a route I usually take when I walk home every night. I’ve seen many stray cats before in the Bishan area, but this one caught my eye immediately when I first encountered him a few months back.
For one, he looked really hungry, and it showed in his skinny physique and tender, bony paws. I bent down to take a closer look but he scurried off, so I decided to leave him alone.
The next night however I saw him again, under the same bench, looking even skinner than before. For some reason, I decided to sit down on the bench to see how he would react. To my surprise, he did not scurry off like before. Instead, he stayed put where he was sitting, and after a while, he tentatively approached me and took a few sniffs of my shoes and socks. When he realized I meant him no harm, he grew a little bolder and started to toy with my shoelaces.
I realized then that he was not a completely feral cat (who are naturally afraid to approach strangers), but more likely a kitten that had been previously cared for by someone and who had either been lost or abandoned. He looked extremely pitiful, with that particular expression on his small, cute face betraying his intense hunger. In the past, I left stray cats alone, but that night, I felt compelled to do something for this little kitty.
I reached down and picked him up, and that surprised him a little. I held him gently with two hands, one hand holding his front paws so he could not leap off, and another supporting his slender belly so that he would not feel too uncomfortable. Then I walked towards the nearest block of HDB flats that I knew had some other community cats who are being fed by caregivers on a regular basis. I wanted to see if I could find him some food left out for the other cats.
It was disconcerting for the sweet little kitten to be taken away like that, and he struggled a few times, but did not try to bite me or claw at me. I tried to comfort him, and I somehow knew I was doing the right thing for him even though I was taking him away from a place that was familiar to him.
I managed to find a big pile of cooked chicken scraps that someone had dumped near the rubbish bin area for the other community cats to feast on. I sat him down immediately and actually half-expected him to leap out of my grasp and dash away in fear. But there was no fear in him, only hunger.
The moment I released him, he lurched toward the food and started eating ravenously. And boy, was he a hungry one. When I checked back on him a good 15 minutes later, he was still ferociously clawing at the scraps of chicken bones and meat and wolfing them down like there was no tomorrow. My heart totally went out to him.
The next few days however when I went in search of him around the same area, I couldn’t find him anymore. I wondered what happened to him. Perhaps he had been chased away by the other community cats who can get pretty territorial. Or perhaps he had wandered off elsewhere in search of another meal.
I never did see him again but to this day I remember that famished little kitty digging frantically into that dirty pile of cooked chicken, barely pausing once or twice to gaze at me with a pair of teary eyes.
Even to this day sometimes I would sit under that HDB block or around the bench where I first picked him up, hoping beyond hope that perhaps I might see him again.
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By Ng E-Jay
Headline image courtesy of Love Meow
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The current animal/pet problem we face is the result of ONE and only ONE culprit-AVA.
By refusing to allow cats as pets in HDB and stopping the irresponsible parallel importing of dogs/chinchillas..etc without quotas, these poor animals will see the brunt of brutal measures and from the harsh environment. Compounding to this, dun forget the abandonment from equally irresponsible pet owners without stiff penalties.
We are known by cat lovers worldwide as the 1st & only nation to CULL cats indiscriminately by a government body-a move initiated and sanctioned by Mdm Minister Vivian B.
Singapore is truly a socially backward state.
“The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi.
It used to be that cats can help to catch rats, but these days cats don’t do that anymore. Being a vegetarian myself, I would rather not have a cat as a pet, since they have to eat meat, and the meat has to come from some other animal. In this article, is anyone thinking about the chicken the cat ate?
I guess a rabbit, or some other vegetarian, would be a better pet!
Many humans in Singapore go hungry – let alone cats.
My advice to cats: Try not to come to Singapore. There is more (& better) food for you elsewhere. Put your curiosity to good use – curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat.
Yes, I agree we should pay attention to human beings first. Animal lovers who avoid the responsibility of keeping and caring for these cats in their own homes or rooms should not feed them in public areas as they will only multiply and give society a bigger problem to deal with.
We have to put up with all the noise they make when they have their nightly sex (and they seem to be constantly pregnant). Frankly, it makes me want to puke. And they keep crying when they aren’t fed by “caregivers” as they can’t hunt for themselves (Fat cats and useless!) not to mention the mess and foul smell of the leftover food in public areas. These so called “caregivers” should be heavily fined for littering public areas.
People who claim to be animal lovers and “caregivers” without the related social responsibilities should donate their time and money to the poor and unfortunate in society since they have so much. There are millions of people who are poor and hungry and they really need “caregivers”. So be kind and do something really good for your fellow human beings. That is what counts in the end!
Yawnnnn.
I just wasted 10mins of my life, reading this article thinking there was a moral to this story.
Thanks TOC :-P
Hello Incred,there are readers here who believe in reincarnation.Your time is not wasted.
Ng EJ,
Please continue to look out for that baby cat. He could be hiding under parked car or tree shrubs. Make sure he is fed well and looking chubby and beaming with satisfaction like our ministers. Well…at least kitten are more loyal to the hands that feed the them. Never give up on that kitten.
It’s about having a kinder heart to animals and we have a human versus animal debate? Expected heartland auntie mentality. Many a times, animals deserve way more care than selfish humans. Yawnnn.
Incred – took you 10 minutes to read this article which took less than that to write? Wow.
Golden Retriever, you’re absolutely right. Yeah, humans NEVER “multiply and give society a bigger problem to deal with” and don’t make a nuisance of themselves either, unlike defenceless cats. Yep, without a doubt, we would hear a pin drop if not for the “fat cats and useless”, who somehow – in spite of the fact that they “can’t hunt for themselves” – can meanwhile find the energy to “have their nightly sex” (note: cats don’t mate for pleasure).
So pray tell who are the poor and unfortunate who have benefitted from your counsel then? Do back your assertions with facts and identity – then perhaps we can take your observations seriously.
Finally, please talk to a responsible community cat-feeder yourself and you’ll realise it is much harder and requires more commitment to care for a group of feral cats than to take care of one or two house-pets.
the title is very misleading. using “bishan case” i thought it was an investigative report. but it’s just the personal thoughts of a cat lover. no disrespect to e-jay and his actions but wasted my time clicking here to read.
Moderating Editor: Noted; we will be mindful of such unintentional misrepresentation in future, apologies.
Thank you very much, E-Jay, for taking care of the kitten. We can only hope that he has found a nice place to stay in…
On this topic, the first comment (by nonsense) placed the blame on AVA. But the situation, as I understand it, is way more complicated than that. From what I can recall from the Animals Welfare Symposium held at NUS last year, part of the problem lies in the fact that the decision belong not to AVA but the individual town councils as well as HDB. AVA can advise and recommend, but they cannot rule that TCs should allow cats in HDB flats.