This is the third of the trilogy on my passion with pets when I was a small boy.
When I cycled around Ipoh town, I loved to stop over at the pet shops selling birds and aquarium fishes and the market where there is a small corner selling fishes and sometimes puppies, birds and pigeons.
Once I kept Siamese fighting fish in a jar. I used to challenge my friends to a duel. By putting the two jars next to each other, the Siamese fighting fish would spread out the colouful fins to display their aggressive posturing.
I had always wanted an aquarium but had no money to buy one. Years ago, my father and sister kept gold fishes. My father used cement to build a large aquarium with a piece of glass in front. I was still very young then.
Saving my pocket money, I bought five pieces of thick glass, cut to my specifications. What a way to start an aquarium. I persuaded my mother to hold the glass while I tried to use scotch tapes and putty to hold the glass together. It was of course, a stupid way of building an aquarium when the whole thing collapsed. Luckily I did not break the glass.
Sometime later, I approached a friend of my father, who used metal angle iron to make window frames, to weld the aquarium. He agreed, for the princely sum of $20. I got hold of my trishaw rider friend, Salleh, to transport the glass to the shop in Old Town and to later carry the completed aquarium home.
It was an exciting day when I got the aquarium home. Using putty I bought from the hardware shop, I started to mount the glass after painting the metal frame with aluminum paint. With haste and impatience, I managed to get all these done within a few days and left the aquarium to stand for another few days. Home from school every afternoon, I would fuss over the aquarium.
Finally, the acid test - to fill with water. Running the hose in, I turned on the tap. After several inches of water, lo and behold, the darn thing leaked like a sieve! I immediately used putty to patch the leaks until the whole aquarium looked so grotesque. The putty needed time to set and I was so impatient. This went on for a week or so until I finally got all the leaks plugged. Unfortunately the aquarium looked terrible with patches here and there.
It was another happy day when I put sand in the aquarium with stones and rock to create an underwater scene. I managed to get some aquatic plants and even some snails to dress the aquarium. Looking at it, I was very pleased with the result.
Time to introduce the inhabitants - fishes. With limited funds, I visited the pet shop and had some difficulties trying to decide what fish to buy. They were all so beautiful. I finally settled for the triangle fish which goes with the Latin name of Rasbora Heteromopha! A colourful fish, pinkish with a blue triangle on both sides. After I introduced them into the aquarium, I spent hours sitting in front of the aquarium admiring them. Ah! such joy.
As time went on, I saved up enough pocket money to buy more fishes. I bought the swordfish and Mollies. They are live breeders i.e. they do not lay eggs but give live birth to tiny fry. They almost immediately started to breed, and I was astonished one day, when I saw tiny fry swimming among the water Hyacinth. I was as excited as the proud parents.
Later, I had enough money to buy some angel fish, both the white ones and the black ones. They were so beautiful and serene as they glided around the aquarium. They were also very tame and I would hand feed them with worms. They would come up to me to eat off my fingers.
I was plaqued with the problem of algea. Because the aquarium was in my backyard facing the sun, algea grew so fast I could not clean it in time. Every few days, I had to use cotton wool to clean so that I could see the interior. I could not afford the pumps and filter. It got so bad that I could only see the fishes when they came close to the glass. I persevered and changed the water frequently. The algea later became almum, which is dark brown in colour.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the aquarium and spent many hours sitting in front and admiring the underwater antics of the fishes. When I left home to join the Air Force, I gave the aquarium and the fishes to my neighbour.
Till then....
Monday, July 30, 2007
"Tinker!"
Tinker was the name of a black & white mongrel, that was owned by a neighbour, three houses away. Originally, the name was Tinkerbell, but it became Tinker, less of a mouthful. When he needed a bath, he was called Stinker, for apparent reason.
Tinker had the run of the whole estate where we lived, and everyone knew and loved him. He was well tolerated.
After a short while, Tinker decided to come to my house and refused to go home. Every efforts were futile in trying to get him home to his owner. When he was let off the chain, he would run to my house and went to sleep. Finally his owner decided to give him to us. Offers of compensation were refused since we were all friends and neighbours. So I became the custodian of Tinker. I was still a schoolboy at that time, and Tinker became the family pet.
Tinker had a nose for trouble. He would fight with every dog in the neighbourhood and get himself into many scrapes. Sometimes human beings become involved and I would have to step in to rescue Tinker. Several times, he would injure himself so badly that I had to send him to the veterinary. In the evening, I would go with my father and sister to visit him and bring him his favourite food. He would howl and cry and beg to be taken home. Driving away from the veterinary, I could hear him barking and howling away pitifully.
Tinker was also the 'Casanova' of the dog community in the neighbourhood. Sometimes he would stay away for the night and we knew that there was a bitch on heat nearby.
Being the family pet, Tinker showed his protective nature for my mother. One day, a young girl came to the house to sell eggs. After my mother paid her, the young girl picked up her bags to leave. Thinking that the girl had taken something from the house, Tinker lunged and snapped at the girl, frightening the girl, who broke down in tears. This created one heck of a commotion with the girl's family coming to claim compensation. We finally paid her some money and apologised to them.
When I placed a piece of 5 cents cake and a piece of 20 cents cake in front of Tinker, he would gobble up the 20 cents cake and left the 5 cents cake uneaten. This story appeared in the Straits Times children's page, when I wrote to the Wise Owl Club of which I was a member.
Sometime later, my father bought a Pekingese for my sister for $50. When we brought the new dog home, Tinker was absolutely irritated and intolerant of the Pekingese. We decided to call the Pekingese 'June' as it was the month of June, and it was a bitch. There were a lot of growling and snarling between the two jealous dogs.
June was a rather cantankerous and spoilt dog and snapped at everyone. Unlike Tinker, who was more friendly, June distanced herself from me for most of the time. She used to drive Tinker up the wall every time she came on heat, by snapping and hiding under the furniture. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I had to go downstairs to tick off Tinker for his amorous behaviour and separate the two. A very frustrated Tinker went back to sleep under the settee.
When I joined the Air Force and had to leave for the UK, Tinker became a problem. He refused to eat when the servant gave him his food. He ate when I gave the bowl to him. So I spent many days weaning him from me and finally he accepted food from the servant. They finally got along well. My father and sister kept me updated on Tinker by mail.
After all these years, Tinker became old and feeble. He would spend most days sleeping under the settee.
One day, I went home on leave. I noticed Tinker had goitre and was in very bad shape. He would wag his tail to greet me but I knew he was in pain. He looked bad and struggled to move.
My father spoke to me and we decided to do something to end the misery for Tinker. He called the veterinary and a vehicle was sent to collect Tinker. I carried Tinker, who had refused to come out at first, and prepared him for his final jouney. The handler insisted I muzzle Tinker to prevent him from biting. I knew that Tinker would not have the strength or will to do that, but had no choice. So I tied a white cloth round his mouth and carried him into the vehicle. Tinker sensed that it was the end as I looked into his sad eyes. I gave him a final pat on his head and stood watching the Land Rover as it drove off. Tinker looked over the tail board with his sad eyes until the vehicle turned out of sight. My tears fell for Tinker and as I think back to that day, my eyes still well up for Tinker.
Till then....
Tinker had the run of the whole estate where we lived, and everyone knew and loved him. He was well tolerated.
After a short while, Tinker decided to come to my house and refused to go home. Every efforts were futile in trying to get him home to his owner. When he was let off the chain, he would run to my house and went to sleep. Finally his owner decided to give him to us. Offers of compensation were refused since we were all friends and neighbours. So I became the custodian of Tinker. I was still a schoolboy at that time, and Tinker became the family pet.
Tinker had a nose for trouble. He would fight with every dog in the neighbourhood and get himself into many scrapes. Sometimes human beings become involved and I would have to step in to rescue Tinker. Several times, he would injure himself so badly that I had to send him to the veterinary. In the evening, I would go with my father and sister to visit him and bring him his favourite food. He would howl and cry and beg to be taken home. Driving away from the veterinary, I could hear him barking and howling away pitifully.
Tinker was also the 'Casanova' of the dog community in the neighbourhood. Sometimes he would stay away for the night and we knew that there was a bitch on heat nearby.
Being the family pet, Tinker showed his protective nature for my mother. One day, a young girl came to the house to sell eggs. After my mother paid her, the young girl picked up her bags to leave. Thinking that the girl had taken something from the house, Tinker lunged and snapped at the girl, frightening the girl, who broke down in tears. This created one heck of a commotion with the girl's family coming to claim compensation. We finally paid her some money and apologised to them.
When I placed a piece of 5 cents cake and a piece of 20 cents cake in front of Tinker, he would gobble up the 20 cents cake and left the 5 cents cake uneaten. This story appeared in the Straits Times children's page, when I wrote to the Wise Owl Club of which I was a member.
Sometime later, my father bought a Pekingese for my sister for $50. When we brought the new dog home, Tinker was absolutely irritated and intolerant of the Pekingese. We decided to call the Pekingese 'June' as it was the month of June, and it was a bitch. There were a lot of growling and snarling between the two jealous dogs.
June was a rather cantankerous and spoilt dog and snapped at everyone. Unlike Tinker, who was more friendly, June distanced herself from me for most of the time. She used to drive Tinker up the wall every time she came on heat, by snapping and hiding under the furniture. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I had to go downstairs to tick off Tinker for his amorous behaviour and separate the two. A very frustrated Tinker went back to sleep under the settee.
When I joined the Air Force and had to leave for the UK, Tinker became a problem. He refused to eat when the servant gave him his food. He ate when I gave the bowl to him. So I spent many days weaning him from me and finally he accepted food from the servant. They finally got along well. My father and sister kept me updated on Tinker by mail.
After all these years, Tinker became old and feeble. He would spend most days sleeping under the settee.
One day, I went home on leave. I noticed Tinker had goitre and was in very bad shape. He would wag his tail to greet me but I knew he was in pain. He looked bad and struggled to move.
My father spoke to me and we decided to do something to end the misery for Tinker. He called the veterinary and a vehicle was sent to collect Tinker. I carried Tinker, who had refused to come out at first, and prepared him for his final jouney. The handler insisted I muzzle Tinker to prevent him from biting. I knew that Tinker would not have the strength or will to do that, but had no choice. So I tied a white cloth round his mouth and carried him into the vehicle. Tinker sensed that it was the end as I looked into his sad eyes. I gave him a final pat on his head and stood watching the Land Rover as it drove off. Tinker looked over the tail board with his sad eyes until the vehicle turned out of sight. My tears fell for Tinker and as I think back to that day, my eyes still well up for Tinker.
Till then....
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Pigeons
I just saw a documentary on homing pigeons in China. It is amazing how the pigeons can find their way home after they were released 500 km away. Furthermore the pigeons were bought from overseas and sold to local breeders. This brings back memories of how I had wanted to keep pigeons when I was a young boy.
When I was a boy, I had this love for animals, fishes, birds and four legged animals. They formed the background of my dreams besides aeroplanes and guns. I even dreamt of owning a horse or pony! I was also thinking of being with the veterinarian services, but being in the Arts stream, that eluded me. In my future postings, I will write about my other pet keeping episodes.
My eldest brother, was working as an Air Traffic Controller, in Alor Star Aerodrome up north in Kedah state. He had a pigeon loft and kept many pigeons successfully. Below the loft, he had kept rabbits, and they were multiplying like there was no tomorrow.
One day, he brought some pigeon chicks home. I was thrilled by this and decided to keep them as pets. Unfortunately after a couple of days they all died.
A friend of mine, a pigeon fancier, invited me to see his pigeons. Seeing his big flock of various pigeon breeds, I was enthralled by the beauty of the birds. I decided to read up on the pigeons and bought some fascinating books. I was to learn of the different breeds - Turbit, Rollers, Pouters, Carriers, Fantails and the Runt, a giant pigeon the size of a chicken! My friend had all these in his loft. I quickly fell in love with the Fantails - a beautiful white pigeon with crested head, tail like an open fan and fluff legs like white feather stockings. They certainly looked cute and elegant. Rollers are pigeons that fly and perform rolls in the air like aerobatics. Pouters are pigeons that blow wind into their crop which expands like a big electric bulb. They may appear rather grotesque. Carriers are racing pigeons with very pronounced Ceres on their nose and circled eyes.
One day, this friend of mine gave me a few pigeons, much to my delight. Among the three birds, one was a Turbid - a cute pigeon with crested and frilled head and frilled legs. A small and elegant pigeon with grey wings and a white body.
I had five wooden boxes stacked two on top of the three, and nailed them to the wall at the back of the house. A wire mesh covered the entire make-shift loft to keep the pigeons inside. I was instructed to keep the pigeons inside for several days and with their droppings, the pigeons will make it their home and will not fly away.
After a week, I decided to release them. Except for the Turbit, the two ordinary pigeons flew off. They sat on the roof refusing to come home. To make matters worst, they joined other pigeons belonging to a neighbour across the street. I quickly caught the Turbit and put him inside a basket so as not to lose him. Days went by and the pigeons refused to come home. This caused me great distress. To add to my troubles, I had a scolding from my father and was told to get rid of the pigeons. My pigeon dream world came crashing down!
Deeply distressed, I brought out the Turbit and holding a knife in one hand, I wanted to kill it. But I could not do it and broke down in tears. My mother saw me and quickly took the pigeon and knife away. I simply stood there sobbing uncontrollably. The next day, I returned the Turbid to my friend, giving him all my books as well. It was a very sad end to my dreams of keeping pigeons.
Till then....
When I was a boy, I had this love for animals, fishes, birds and four legged animals. They formed the background of my dreams besides aeroplanes and guns. I even dreamt of owning a horse or pony! I was also thinking of being with the veterinarian services, but being in the Arts stream, that eluded me. In my future postings, I will write about my other pet keeping episodes.
My eldest brother, was working as an Air Traffic Controller, in Alor Star Aerodrome up north in Kedah state. He had a pigeon loft and kept many pigeons successfully. Below the loft, he had kept rabbits, and they were multiplying like there was no tomorrow.
One day, he brought some pigeon chicks home. I was thrilled by this and decided to keep them as pets. Unfortunately after a couple of days they all died.
A friend of mine, a pigeon fancier, invited me to see his pigeons. Seeing his big flock of various pigeon breeds, I was enthralled by the beauty of the birds. I decided to read up on the pigeons and bought some fascinating books. I was to learn of the different breeds - Turbit, Rollers, Pouters, Carriers, Fantails and the Runt, a giant pigeon the size of a chicken! My friend had all these in his loft. I quickly fell in love with the Fantails - a beautiful white pigeon with crested head, tail like an open fan and fluff legs like white feather stockings. They certainly looked cute and elegant. Rollers are pigeons that fly and perform rolls in the air like aerobatics. Pouters are pigeons that blow wind into their crop which expands like a big electric bulb. They may appear rather grotesque. Carriers are racing pigeons with very pronounced Ceres on their nose and circled eyes.
One day, this friend of mine gave me a few pigeons, much to my delight. Among the three birds, one was a Turbid - a cute pigeon with crested and frilled head and frilled legs. A small and elegant pigeon with grey wings and a white body.
I had five wooden boxes stacked two on top of the three, and nailed them to the wall at the back of the house. A wire mesh covered the entire make-shift loft to keep the pigeons inside. I was instructed to keep the pigeons inside for several days and with their droppings, the pigeons will make it their home and will not fly away.
After a week, I decided to release them. Except for the Turbit, the two ordinary pigeons flew off. They sat on the roof refusing to come home. To make matters worst, they joined other pigeons belonging to a neighbour across the street. I quickly caught the Turbit and put him inside a basket so as not to lose him. Days went by and the pigeons refused to come home. This caused me great distress. To add to my troubles, I had a scolding from my father and was told to get rid of the pigeons. My pigeon dream world came crashing down!
Deeply distressed, I brought out the Turbit and holding a knife in one hand, I wanted to kill it. But I could not do it and broke down in tears. My mother saw me and quickly took the pigeon and knife away. I simply stood there sobbing uncontrollably. The next day, I returned the Turbid to my friend, giving him all my books as well. It was a very sad end to my dreams of keeping pigeons.
Till then....
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Down in the dumps!
I have been down in the dumps lately with depressions. That is why there has been no postings for sometime.
Had a big fight with my stupid wife. She started to throw things at me including a rattan foot stool which grazed my right shin. So I picked up the electric fan and tossed it at her. I wanted to throw the television at her, but it was too heavy for me. Nearly ended with me jumping twenty floors down. Neighbours must have thought I was rehearsing for the NDP when I raised my voice. It has been a long time since I lost my temper so badly. I have been trying to control my temper and keeping quiet all these days of retirement but it has been in vain. My wife figured that my quiet demeanor must be a sign of dementia. She always take undue advantage of that. Difficult trying to be nice. At times I felt like giving it all up.
All these right over my birthday. I do not normally celebrate my birthday but this has to be my worst birthday ever. For lunch I had a bowl of Ban Mein at Tekka Mall. For every bite of the noodles, I shortened my life. The darn soup was so hot that I scalded my tongue. After that I browsed around the area and ended up at Sim Lim Square. Had some respite when I chatted with some friends who showed me his holiday video in Eastern Europe. For dinner, I sat down to a meal of sweet and sour fish and rice and carrot juice. The quiet meal gave me some peace and quiet and I was able to calm down. Seeing the people eating and drinking around me and laughing away reassured me that there is happiness among the people. After that I walked home to an empty place, washed and went to sleep. No one was at home and I was able to sleep after wandering around aimlessly for the whole day, feeling very tired emotionally and physically.
Maybe I will be in a better frame of mind to write the next time. Please pray for me.
Till then....
Had a big fight with my stupid wife. She started to throw things at me including a rattan foot stool which grazed my right shin. So I picked up the electric fan and tossed it at her. I wanted to throw the television at her, but it was too heavy for me. Nearly ended with me jumping twenty floors down. Neighbours must have thought I was rehearsing for the NDP when I raised my voice. It has been a long time since I lost my temper so badly. I have been trying to control my temper and keeping quiet all these days of retirement but it has been in vain. My wife figured that my quiet demeanor must be a sign of dementia. She always take undue advantage of that. Difficult trying to be nice. At times I felt like giving it all up.
All these right over my birthday. I do not normally celebrate my birthday but this has to be my worst birthday ever. For lunch I had a bowl of Ban Mein at Tekka Mall. For every bite of the noodles, I shortened my life. The darn soup was so hot that I scalded my tongue. After that I browsed around the area and ended up at Sim Lim Square. Had some respite when I chatted with some friends who showed me his holiday video in Eastern Europe. For dinner, I sat down to a meal of sweet and sour fish and rice and carrot juice. The quiet meal gave me some peace and quiet and I was able to calm down. Seeing the people eating and drinking around me and laughing away reassured me that there is happiness among the people. After that I walked home to an empty place, washed and went to sleep. No one was at home and I was able to sleep after wandering around aimlessly for the whole day, feeling very tired emotionally and physically.
Maybe I will be in a better frame of mind to write the next time. Please pray for me.
Till then....
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Million Hair!
Everyone knows by now the final outcome of my en bloc sale. Yes, Capitaland in association with Morganite Pte., Ltd., HP and several other heavy weights have clinched the tender with a bid of S$1,338,800. 00. They were the highest bidder.
Short of our asking price of S$1.5b, nevertheless, the owners will be receiving S$2.2m and S$2.1m respectively depending on floor area. It would be impossible to sell individually for this price. Unfortunately that prices of properties have since shot up by 7.9%, as reported in the newspapers, finding replacement property will be challenging.
With all the publicity, the market here is buzzing with astonishment. When I walk through the market place, everyone is talking about it and I get a lot of ribbing out of it. Every taxi driver talks about it and when I went to see my GP, he asked me about it before attending to my medical condition. One idiot in church went on and on about it and I had to turn around and walked away. Some people have his mouth bigger than his backside! Wonder why he ever comes to church at all.
According to the terms of the tender, it would appear that we will only get our money by February/ March next year, unless something should happen to shorten the legal procedures. It would be nice also if everyone now sign up making it 100%, so we need not go through the Strata Title Board, shortening the process and saving the extra cost.
But there are still pockets of owners who are still against the sale. We probably will have our EGM next month. The atmosphere around the neighbourhood is still cagey, with all those who have signed up talking excitedly in groups. I remember walking through the market last Thursday morning, and being greeted by a group of friends gesticulating with their fingers showing a two and a one! They were jubilent and offered to buy coffee all round.
The en bloc sale has been buzzing in my head everyday. Took time out today for my fast walking exercise and some relaxation. I weighed in at 64.5 kg, a drop from 64.8 kg last week. How low can you go!
Till then....
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