Bonding over a 'community cat'

Letter from Dr Tan Chek Wee
Today Online 17 Feb 10;
FIVE YEARS ago, when I moved into my block of Housing and Development Board flats, I noticed a tri-coloured cat at the void deck.

She was easily placed into a carrier and taken to the vet for sterilisation.

She was then returned to the void deck bearing a surgical cut on her left ear, a symbol of her neutered status.

Ginger (picture) - as she was affectionately called - became a mascot of the block and is cared for by several families.

One day last week, a Jewish neighbour told me that Mr Ali, a Malay resident on the third storey, was concerned that he had not seen Ginger for the past few weeks.

I went to his flat and we chatted about Ginger and cat-related things. Most importantly, a friendship was forged.

I then went to the second storey and knocked on the door of a Chinese family whom I knew was very fond of Ginger too.

Sure enough, the cat was safe and sound in the flat.

I walked up to convey the good news to Mr Ali who said he would pay a visit to the Chinese family to see our "block cat".

I then took a lift to the 11th storey to inform the Jewish lady.

It is time for Town Councils to stop "automatically" assigning "cat nuisance" to any feedback about cats.

What Ginger does to bring about inter-racial harmony and neighbourliness is akin to what some community events can achieve.

That is why cats like Ginger are aptly called "Community Cats".

This is how people really make friends ...
Letter from Raymond Lee Swee Mun
Today Online 18 Feb 10;

I REFER to "Bonding over a 'community cat' " (Feb 17). The community cats at our Housing and Development Board block in Sengkang have also worked the same magic in creating friendship among some Malay and Chinese families. My family has been feeding them from about three years ago. (Of course, we clean up thereafter.)

Along the way, we got to know a Malay couple who were also taking care of them. We named the cats together and conducted joint sterilisation exercises.

One day, a Chinese woman, unaware of what we were doing, thought we were rounding the cats up for culling and scolded us. But after she realised what we were doing, we became friends.

Another time, while taking one of the cats to the vet, a few Malay women and their children came to talk to us because they were concerned for the animal. They were relieved to hear that we were not sending the cat to be culled. Again, we made friends.

Now all of us are pretty close, but our friendships have expanded beyond the mutual goal of caring for our community cats. We go to each other's homes during festivals and once, to one of their sons' wedding.

Of late, a young Chinese boy has asked to join in our activities. His China national mother has given him the go-ahead because she thinks the boy will learn how to care and love small animals.

Once, an Indian national initiated conversation with us saying that he wanted to befriend us because he thinks we are a bunch of good people.

I hope the town councils and any related government bodies take note of what is happening on the ground - community cats do help people make friends with those from another race. My "new" friendships would never have happened if not for our cats.

We're really a community now...
Letter from Shirley Goh
Today Online 17 Feb 10;

I refer to "Bonding over a 'community cat'" (Feb 17) by Dr Tan Chek Wee.

I have been taking care of the community cats in my neighbourhood for four years and it is through these cats that I get to know many of my neighbours of various races, religions and cultures, whom I may not have got to know otherwise.

Sending greetings and presents to each other during our respective festive seasons and inviting each other to our homes for dinner are just some of the activities that we do. The bonds we forged through a common love and interests for these community cats are really far greater than those from other community events.

Playing with community cats helps relieve tensions
Letter from Lawrence Lee Today Online 18 Feb 10;

I refer to "Bonding over a 'community cat'" (Feb 17) by Dr Tan Chek Wee.

I am a resident of Pasir Ris and the community cats there have added colour and joy to to my life and that of many others. For various reasons, many residents are not able to keep pets of their own. The community cats provide an avenue for me to ease the tensions of the day by stroking and massaging them. In the process, I get to know other residents who are happy to play with the cats. They come from my block and the neighbouring blocks, and I would not have met them if not for the cats. They provide a platform for us to connect with residents of different races, including foreign nationals. The cats are properly cared for by responsible cat carers. In the interest of community bonding and fostering harmony, it would be helpful for the town councils to be mindful of the positive contributions made by the community cats and not overreact to complaint from non-animal lovers who may even exaggerate the nature of complaints in order to get the cats out of the community.

Kindness to animals is an important value to teach children
Letter from Abdul Rashid, Today Online 22 Feb 10;

The intent of this letter is purely to raise our awareness of the general lack of compassion to animals (cats, especially) in our society. Lately, it has been moving to read about the concept of community cats. But here, I hope to bring to the fore the effects of negative behaviour inculcated in our children, through our behaviour.

Here is my observation of things which happen around public places like void decks, coffee shops and even parks - some children's lack of compassion for animals manifested in the way the children treat them. I thought compassion for animals would come naturally with children but I can understand why the forces of nurture can far outnumber nature itself, in children's growing years. I have seen adults in the presence of their children, kicking animals (gently or otherwise,) or throwing things at them. Judging from the adults' behaviours and mannerisms, I can safely say that they were probably brought up seeing such behaviour in their own growing years. They seem to be overly careful about hygiene and disease such that they treat these animals as balls of plagues on four legs.

I was at the vet recently with my kids, to pay our ailing cat Louie a visit. Another cat, Dani, was in a neighbouring cage with obvious bowel control problems. It was such a sorry sight - his fur was wet with urine and we thought Dani had undergone some form of surgery. A tearful elderly lady with her daughter came to visit Dani. After some small talk, we learnt that somebody had brought Dani up to the top floor of a block near the owner's flat and threw Dani off. Dani sustained a fractured spine which rendered him paralysed on his hind limbs with loss of bowel control. Honestly, this note can never paint the horrific picture of what Dani is going through. The situation for Dani is so bad that he may be euthananised.

Getting back to the issue of how this came to be, I have seen for myself the number of times children abuse cats (probably, because they seem to be more ubiquitous in public housing estates) by kicking, spitting, throwing lighted candles at them, shooting them with rubber-bands, etc. Perhaps we can partly blame the media for casting a black shroud on cats. Cats are almost always portrayed as conniving and evil. Such images send sub-conscious negative connotations about cats in general. But how we guide our children remains at the core.

To be fair, I have seen children who are very nice and kind to animals and simply love to see animals at the zoo or some animal shows - but loving animals goes beyond just being entertained by them. Kindness to animals is an important value to teach children and for them to continue to uphold throughout life. In a society bent on achieving A-stars and educational excellence, seeing such cruelty to animals indicates a significant lacking in what we can teach our children at school as well as home. Some people may not like animals, but they can at least learn not to be mean and cruel if there is inculcation of kindness and compassion towards other creatures. Let children grow up to realise how therapeutic animals can be and how good it is to be kind to them. They are after all, a form of life, worthy of respect.