Wee Willy Winky

Winky

Our dear Winky left us today, in the early hours of the morning.  It was a short illness - maybe about a week or so.  The vet thought it was pancreatis when we brought him in just Thursday evening, and gave a shot of antibiotics which was supposed to address the infection.  We didn't expect it to be so fast.  Just one week ago, he seemed perfectly fine.  Then a few days ago we noticed that he was listless, and off his food.  That was when we brought him in to the vet.

We have had our dear Winky ever since 2006 when he was a young kitten; he and his three siblings - Inky, Binky and Dinky.  Inky (all black) disappeared and Binky got hit by a car.  With only the two of them left, they were the closest of playmates.   Dinky lived with us until he died of cancer a few years ago.  And now, with Winky's departure, all four are indeed gone.

Winky loved his brother Dinky

Winky had all sorts of adorable and not-so-adorable habits.  He liked to read the newspaper, jumping up on our laps in the morning as we tried to catch up with the news.  He would come when called, jumping up on the sofa where he would snuggle next to us as we watched TV.  He was a needy cat, ensuring that we paid our dues of strokes and ear-rubs by digging a single claw in our leg until we complied. 

Winky catching up with the cat news

He was our original planking cat.  He loved lying on the cool granite floor of our house and would stretch himself out as much as he could.

Planking

Come Christmas-time, he was fascinated by the crib.  He would jump onto the cabinet where the crib was placed and lie in it.  Whilst it was sweet to see how God calls all creatures to Himself, we did not dare let Baby Jesus rest in his manger for fear that Winky would carry him off.

Winky looking for Baby Jesus

He also liked escaping and making little trips around the neighbourhood.  That's why we got him a collar so that at least people would know he was someone's cat and not a stray.  But as he grew older, he became more inclined to stay at home. 

Winky in his collar

He was a loving little cat, hiding his affection behind his impassive little mask of a face.  And now he is gone. 

We will miss him.

His photo gallery is here.

Emmeline's last bow

Emmeline

After losing our Darling Dinky, it was sad to say goodbye to Emmeline just two months later.

Just before leaving for Japan, I instructed my family: "do not euthanise any cats in my absence". It was said half in jest, but little did I know that a few days after my departure Emmeline would suffer a serious ear infection which led to a vet visit, and diagnosis that she too had feline cancer.  She was treated for the ear infection, and so was still alive (but feeble, not eating well) when I returned.  She fell ill again shortly, and had difficulties breathing - difficult to watch.  So we took her back to the vet, and said goodbye one last time.

Emmie and her little pirates

Emmeline started off being called "MC", itself a short form for "mother cat".  She was the mother of our cute little "pirate kittens" (her first and last litter, for we sterilised her after) and was a very devoted mother to them.  

After the little pirates got adopted, MC continued to hang around and from an occasional visitor, became a regular inhabitant of our front yard.  She was on good terms with Mollie and Paddy (our late tom cat), and snuffled amiably at the indoor cats when she caught glimpses of them through the open door.  Eventually we decided that we had been thoroughly adopted and therefore formally named her "Emmeline", or "Emmie" for short.

Watching over her kit.

Emmie's health had its ups and downs.  She developed a mouth infection which resulted in expensive dental treatment and the loss of numerous teeth (she became our $500 cat).  From the front yard, we moved her to the back yard to watch over her recovery.  But she was hard to budge - even after her health improved, she became the undisputed queen of the yard, with all our other cats watching her warily whenever they ventured into her territory.  She happily invaded the house too, lying on our sofa in the afternoons.

It's hard picking out her photos; she looks a great deal like Mickey (our other dear departed black & white) so I'm picking out the ones I definitely know are of her....

Emmie indeed gave us many warm and fuzzy moments, and we miss her.

There was never a cat like him

Dinky on thealert

My family recently said good bye to one of our most adorable cats - Dinky, or Dinky Darling as we affectionately named him.  Dinky came to us as a kitten.  One of four kittens, his sister disappeared and one brother got knocked down before we decided to take Dinky and his remaining brother Winky into our home.

Dinky's siblings- Inky, Winky and his lookalike Binky

Dinky and remaining sibling Winky

Dinky amply repaid our kindness with lots of kitty love and affection.  He was always ready to be cuddled and stroked, and had this most appealing way of looking at us in adoration with his big luminous green eyes.  Of course this earned him more strokes, cuddles and kisses.  Dinky was always on the look out for what was happening and even when we called one of the other cats Dinky would also come running.

Dinky with his mousie

Other adorable little habits: jumping onto the bed (or sofa) and clambering all over me to be stroked and hugged (he always was, at least for a moment) before snuggling down next to me.  Sweet little mew when looking for food.  Jumping up when watching TV, coming when he is called ready for a hug.  Allowing you to rub his tummy, to do his exercises, could do anything with him.  Timid and a little afraid of others but with his family, and those he got to know better, he was the most affectionate of cats.  

Utter Abandon - after disposing of the cardboard sheet

Dinky was also very good with other cats - at least with little kittens/ young cats who joined our family.  And there were many!  Dinky dealt with them all with patience, affection and lots of licks.

Dinky and little niece Ariel

Dinky would depart just when he was around 9.5 years or so.  We didn't suspect anything but realised he was getting a little lethargic- we thought it would pass.  Then we found some bumps and lumps growing, one on his head and the other on his back.  His lethargy increased and he ate less and less.  Finally we brought to the vet, took an x-ray and heard suspicions that it was cancer.  The situation worsened, and his breathing got more laboured. Eventually, we took him to the vet for that final goodbye.  

Snoozing

I took some time to write this post -- he left us on 4 June but the feelings of loss are still there and I still miss him very much.  Goodbye dearest Dinky Darling.

Farewell, Mr Lee

Queue at the Padang, Thursday

Singapore's Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, passed away at 3.18am, on the 23rd of March 2015, at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where he had been warded for severe pneumonia.  This triggered the start of a week of national mourning.  People from all walks of life mourned his loss.  They left tributes at SGH, where he passed away, at the Istana, where the private family wake was held, and at Parliament where he lay in state until his funeral service on 29th March.  Thousands waited for hours, queuing to pay their last respects (myself amongst them).  Each journey his coffin subsequently took was made through streets line with people.  Everyone wanted to say good bye to one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore.  

Mr Lee said once that Singaporeans are champion grumblers.  Somehow, this week, we decided to prove him wrong for once.  Despite hours queueing in the hot sun, despite more hours in the rain waiting for the funeral cortege to pass, Singaporeans took it all with good humour.  Strangers handed out drinks, food and umbrellas to those waiting in line.  We remembered the uncommon privilege we had in growing up in a society where success in life did not depend on the family you were born to or the colour of your skin.  It was a time which bound us together as Singaporeans.  Amidst all the sorrowful thoughts, there was a confidence that we could go on as one nation, one people, one Singapore.

Aside from queuing (mercifully, for only three hours), I visited the tribute site at SGH and also waited by the roadside for the funeral cortege to pass.  But much time was spent reading through the many newspaper articles, including in overseas newspapers, talking about his legacy.  Some critics complained that the hype in the media was just another attempt at propaganda by the ruling party. But the mass turnout, far greater than anticipated, and the soaring of the Singapore spirit indeed showed SIngaporeans' true respect and gratitude for Mr Lee.

At the SGH Tribute Site

Goodbye, Mr Lee.

The Passing of the Iron Lady

As someone who studied in the UK during the Thatcher years, I have utmost respect and admiration for her - a lady in what was essentially a man's world; determined; driven; and ultimately someone who led Britain out of despondency, industrial strife and economic stagnation into a country which was safe, relatively prosperous and attractive to live and work in. 

Internationally, she had recognised in Mikhail Gorbachev a leader who had the potential to change the Soviet Union and in so do, helped see an end to the Cold War.

So it was with some sorrow that I heard last week on 8 Apr  2013 about the death of Margaret Thatcher, after many years of decline.  The Iron Lady, who led her country, had left the world.  To mark this event, here are some extracts from the many obituaries about her: :

The BBC says:

She was, above all, that rare thing, a conviction politician who was prepared to stand by those convictions for good or ill.

The New York Times summarises these convictions:

But by the time she left office, the principles known as Thatcherism - the belief that economic freedom and individual liberty are interdependent, that personal responsibility and hard work are the only ways to national prosperity, and that the free-market democracies must stand firm against aggression - had won many disciples.  Even some of her strongest critics accorded her a grudging respect.

As does the Economist:

Mrs Thatcher believed that societies have to encourage and reward the risk-takers, the entrepreneurs, who alone create the wealth without which governments cannot do anything, let alone help the weak. A country can prosper only by encouraging people to save and to spend no more than they earn; profligacy (and even worse, borrowing) was her road to perdition. The essence of Thatcherism was a strong state and a free economy.

She was a divisive politician, with many from her own party ultimately turning against her.  But, as she herself said:

I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.

Find more great quotes by Margaret Thatcher here.

Ultimately, however, her funeral went off in a smooth and dignified manner.  After a week where perhaps too much attention was given to the noisy and angry voices, at the end, the street was lined with mourners, who wanted to pay their last respects to a woman who had transformed Britain:

This was a day, in short, of tributes untarnished. A day when, to a far greater degree than expected, abuse was overcome by respect, violence by decency, and hatred by love.

-Telegraph 

 Goodbye, Mrs Thatcher.

Martia

Back for her portrait
Originally uploaded by Taking5

Something like a month ago, Martia went missing. She had a run-in with the dog next door, and ran off thereafter. We could not find her, we did not know if she was injured or not. But she never came back. So we can only imagine the worst.

She was a shy, sweet cat, who was very much the lowest cat on the rung. The other cats would bully her and try and steal her food (she was always the one who got her food last as a result). On the rare occasions I fed the cats, I would stand above her and protect her whilst she ate.  She trusted so few, it was a privilege indeed that our driveway became her home.  I don't have many photos of Martia, largely because it is difficult to get her to pose (she is scared of the camera).

Ah, Martia. Our only consolation is that apparently she gave the dog a few nasty scratches before my mother and neighbour separated them.

On a more cheerful note, we were temporarily fostering Bonnie (or Sookie as she is now called). We found Bonnie on the roadside, much like little Smudge. But unlike Smudge, she was skittish and it took a few nights to capture her. She got used to us pretty quickly and I managed to find a home for her. Sweet little Bonnie! 

Adorable little Bonnie photos on Flickr.

P.S. It breaks my heart but the day after I put this up, Bianca too went missing.

The End of an Era - Goodbye Dr Goh Keng Swee

(photo from CNA website)

Like so many Singaporeans, I was saddened to hear last Friday 14 May 2010 of the death of Dr Goh Keng Swee.  I have never met Dr Goh, but his policies and actions have surely shaped my life in so many ways. I was probably one of the first batches of Singaporeans to go through streaming in secondary school (ended up in the Express class), and of course encountered his legacy in the workplace, through dealing with agencies he created and through reading and hearing of his actions and practices from others. 

For that reason, I thought I would also join the crowds to pay my last respects to Dr Goh as he lay in state in Parliament House.  It was a hot day with the sun positively blazing down on us, but still the queue built up steadily.  It did move quite fast, with crowd control done by the SAF officers.  There were young school children, parents with their kids, older Singaporeans coming alone including a short, elderly lady with swollen legs which made it difficult for her to even walk (not to mention rather improbably dyed raven black hair).  We moved forward, signed the many condolence books, and walked forward to the coffin where he lay.  His widow was seated beside it.  I said a quick prayer and then it was over. 

As I left, I realised that the Old Guard of leaders was indeed slipping away.  Mr Rajaratnam, Mr Lim Kim San, and others, and nearer home amongst the MPs, Mr Ho See Beng.  One of my younger colleagues confessed that she was not familiar with what Dr Goh had done.  I was surprised as somehow, I thought that there had been so much written in recent years (eg MM's Memoirs, the recent book "Men in White" etc.  It is sad to think that the younger generation these days probably don't read the newspapers, or books of this nature and because of that take for granted the Singapore of today.

But when I was reading through the stories on Dr Goh in the papers over the past few days, it struck me that the first generation of leaders were perhaps far less distanced from the rest of us masses than their legacy makes them out to be.  The stories of Dr Goh sitting and drinking in the mess with his soldiers, and telling risque stories; and working out how to improve his golf, paint a far different picture (or maybe a more complete picture) than the analyst par excellence and the architect of the Singapore economy and the builder of its defences.  We owe him a tremendous debt.

Not sure how long this will stay up but here is link to channelnewsasia videos on Dr Goh.

Goodbye Hwei Yen

Singapore has been hit by terrorism in a totally unexpected way. Lo Hwei Yen, a 28-year old lawyer, was in Mumbai on business when the terrorists invaded the Trident-Oberoi hotel where she was staying. She was captured by the terrorists and shot in the head.

I look at the pictures of a warm, friendly girl and find it so shocking to think of how terrifying her last hours were. It was a fate she did not deserve, and neither did any of the other people who died at the hands of the terrorists.

I look at her photos and think that this could be anyone's daughter, anyone's sister, anyone's colleague, anyone's friend. And maybe that's why everyone in Singapore feel it so much. Singapore is such a small country. Her husband's family go to the same church I do, they went to the same schools as my family members did. We mourn for her because she is our daughter, sister, colleague and friend.

Rest in peace Hwei Yen.