auntie ah lan is an elderly lady. she still works and all the money she earns as a hotel kitchen staff goes to cats. sterilisation. food. and the time someone threw a cat on the roof of a refuse collection centre which costs her $50 for a contractor to bring down, in less than 5 minutes. spare an old lady her lunch money!
what truly sets auntie ah lan apart from the rest of the caregivers?
deja vu, someone threw another cat down 7 stories. a ledge breaks his fall but leaves him with internal bleeding and paralysis in the hind legs. the vet says he's a goner but instead of putting Jamie to sleep, auntie ah lan brings him home. the vet has nothing for it so she tries TCM. yes, traditional chinese freaking medicine. herbs to flush out the blood (it came out in black clots) and ointment for the legs, everyday, for 3 months. and Jamie has been walking, jumping, bouncing ever since for 5 years.
that's not all. old ginger here she nursed back from severe scalding by hot oil. she is currently nursing another scalding case.
someone please give auntie ah lan a nobel peace prize. for picking up all the shattered fragments of humanity in her neighbourhood.
after living in the neighbourhood for so many years, the caregivers know who the culprits are. but when they make a police report about cats being scalded, beaten, killed, the police ask where's the evidence, got photo? yet when these culprits make the slightest complaint about cat sightings, officers show up in a hurry badges flashing to 'inspect' the caregivers' apartments threatening eviction, confiscation.
these are from evocative accounts with evocative words from feisty little old ladies but the discrepancy in the dispensing of justice to do with cats is plainly evident, in any dialect.
over and above, one of the caregivers, auntie ah lan's friend has this to say about her cat-abusing neighbour, "every week go church don't know for what. say cats smelly, his heart even more smelly. you mean people shit not smelly? only cat shit smelly? say the cat shit on his window. of course la, even a kid if you beat and corner him and make him scared he also will shit and pee everywhere."
the woman knows what she wants to be when she grows up(old). a feisty little old lady. hopefully one who can work a miracle. if auntie ah lan can work one on Jamie, maybe the caregiver can work one for unknown.
5 comments:
bless auntie ah lan for her selfless love & care for the cats. the cats in the neighbourhood are very lucky to have a caregiver like her.
very often, people claim they are religious - be it christians, buddhists, muslims etc. they go to church, temples & mosques religiously each week. but for selfish reasons - to get a winning toto/4D number, to get straight As in exams, job promotion or whatever, without truly appreciating or understanding the real teachings of their religion.
every religion teaches us not only to be a good person but respectful of all living creatures on this earth.
sometimes, it is better that one is a free thinker, at least, one doesn't come across as a hypocrite.
yes, it's not the religion, it's the person. people really shouldn't be ostentatious about what faith they have when they have next to no understanding of it.
People like Ah Lan are the unsung heroes of human courage and compassion. They dare to be different and follow their heart.
A person is not "judged" by religious labels or any number of PBM awards but by the kindness and compassion rendered to another being, even if it were be a cat. Cat is not the end of a mean but an object of developing the higher quality of a truly spiritual universal being, aglowed with the rays of universal kindness.
Haiz...I hope justice will be served on the cat-abuser soon.
How much better our world would be if everyone were like Ah Lan. She is a beautiful human being.
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