Letter from Jumiah Ahmad (Ms), Straits Times Forum 23 Jan 08;
IT WAS like a breath of fresh air when I read the article about 'Getting to know your neighbours' with Miel's cartoon showing a smiling woman poking her head from her flat with an equally happy cat beside her (The Sunday Times, Jan 13).
I recalled a similar picture of a woman in red feeding a group of community cats at an HDB void deck with fireworks in the background during our National Day celebrations of 2007 that came out in the National Day edition of The Straits Times.
I do not recall if Miel was the artist but the picture made a strong impression on me then too.
I also read the letter by Mr Tan Chek Wee, 'HDB should reconsider replacing ban on cats with 'motivational' regulations' (Online forum, Jan 21) and I realised that even though the HDB may have antiquated notions about how cats affect the neighbourhood, it is undeniable that cats and, particularly, community cats can be a great source of joy and inspiration to many in the heartlands.
Community cats bring people together, as Miel's cartoon shows. Many Singaporeans complain about them but just as many find the time and are willing to spend their own resources to take care of the many cats that we have in our neighbourhoods. Many caregivers are private individuals who come together because of their love for cats and feel that more care and attention should be given to these animals who share this Earth with us. Caregivers transcend race and stereotype.
I am a caregiver myself and hence I may have a particular bias. I readily admit that I spend much time and energy trying to give my community cats as much care as I give to my family and friends.
When community cats get into 'trouble' because they might have 'transgressed' in some way or they had unintentionally offended someone, all of us get together to solve the problem. We are as young as 14 to as old as 72. I do not ask the 'old aunty' who takes care of the community cats around my house her age. She said she is as old as she feels and she is a fiery one, unafraid of people who had tried to intimidate and scare her into giving up her passion of saving 'her' cats.
What about the cats themselves? Well they come when it's time for dinner or breakfast and then they leave just as quietly, leaving no trace and disturbing no one. Sometimes, their notion of public property and public space may be different from ours but surely we also need to consider that we are not the only ones with a right to live and should exercise love and care when relating to them.
They live their lives and they let us live ours and one of these very long days, we hope that the HDB would really look at how small our lives are, how limited our space is and how much we really would benefit from having community cats in our houses as well as living safely in our neighbourhoods.
An indoor cat is a safe cat and a human being who takes in one community cat saves one life from extermination. One day, some of us would be able to open our doors to our neighbours and smile widely at them with our happy cats by our side. Until that day comes, we will soldier on in our quiet way, smiling with warm affection for cartoons such as Miel's who gives us hope that our dream will come true... some time in Singapore's future.
