I went to the Monet Inside exhibition last Saturday at Parkview Square.
Claude Monet’s masterpieces were brought back to life through an immersive, 360-degree journey that was both impressive and captivating.
The entire experience lasted about 50 minutes.
Below is the painting that captured most of my attention.
It depicts a sunrise, but I mistook it for a sunset.
It still gives me the feeling of dusk.
Below are some of Monet’s other popular works.
I can’t imagine how Claude Monet managed to raise eight children from his two marriages, especially since life was so tough for him initially. Toward the end of his life, he went blind, his famous water lilies were painted entirely from memory.
Pigeon poisoning happened again after a year of persistent pigeon killing.
Petitions were signed and proposals for managing the pigeon population were submitted, yet no special effort has been made by the authorities to explore humane alternatives. Instead, heavy fines have been imposed, effectively discouraging and locking away human compassion for animals.
On 15 June, last Monday, while on my way home after a badminton game, I saw two pest control staff carrying a black plastic bag and picking up a live pigeon sitting in the middle of the road. To my astonishment, I began filming what was happening. I felt I had to. One of the pest control staff also filmed me, which I welcomed, because my hands are always kept clean.
Dried green beans and tiny pieces of poisoned bread were scattered on the ground, waiting for pigeons to eat them and die. I filmed the entire process without disrupting their work. The emotional pain was enormous as I recorded the birds up close, watching them die in distress while knowing they had done nothing wrong.
My compassion extends not only to the pigeons, but also to those who carried out the killing, those who gave the instructions, those who supported it, the complainants who called for it, and those who rejoiced in the killing process.
When the filming was over, the two pest control staff walked away, though not very far. I took a broom and dustpan belonging to the Town Council and began sweeping away the poisoned food. The two staff members waved at me, seemingly supporting my efforts to clean it up.
The dustpan did not work very well, so I decided to pick up the remaining pieces with my bare hands. Suddenly, I heard someone shout that I could die from handling the poisoned food without protection. I looked up and realised they were standing very close to me, filming what I was doing and saying.
Well, I am not afraid of losing my life, let alone being filmed. I told them that if I died, they would be responsible for it.
I continued cleaning the area, making sure not even a tiny bean or crumb of poisoned bread was left behind. It was not only about protecting the birds, but also about protecting people who might unknowingly come into contact with the poison.
Every day, I breathe in second-hand smoke from smokers, which directly affects my health, yet no one seems to be talking about it. Instead, we point our fingers at creatures that do not harm us.
I would encourage complainants to write in and propose humane solutions for managing pigeon populations. Such efforts could help not only pigeons, but, more importantly, ourselves.
Never suggest killing when humane alternatives exist.
Curtain and Huabao have been friends for a long time. Curtain loved bullying Huabao by acting dominant. He didn’t actually hurt Huabao, he just put on a show. Huabao would always cringe away, yet whenever food was served, he was always the first to eat.
Curtain and Huabao
After I took Huabao home and left Curtain behind, Curtain looked completely upset and lacked his usual energetic spirit. Meanwhile, the town council continued to make things difficult for me and the community cats by not even allowing a bowl of water. The weather in Singapore is scorching hot almost every day. It always makes me wonder what kind of human would want to stop others from providing kindness to living creatures who experience the same thirst and hunger we do.
Other feeders kept telling me how lonely Curtain was. It took me quite a while to make the decision to bring him home. One of the best reasons to bring him home was that I could finally close the feeding area and not have to go back anymore, which saves me 20 minutes every night.
Both of them recognized each other at home, but now Curtain has stopped acting dominant toward Huabao, and Huabao actually dares to slap him in the face!
Some things never change, though. Both of them still have their third serving of food after midnight, just like they did when they were living on the ground.
I attended the tournament throughout the week. My focus was on the women’s singles player, An Se-young. She is a 24-year-old, 1.7-meter-tall, world No. 1.
When I was at the indoor stadium, I noticed that most of the ushers were middle-aged or retired. I was a little disturbed when I was told to follow the zigzag queue even though no one else was queuing. I literally went under the belts to take a shortcut, but I was told not to do that and had to go round and round the queue anyway. When I went to another staff member, I was told the same thing. That really sucks!
It was not a perfect view from the seat that I bought, but I heard we were allowed to take any empty seats. In fact, someone handling the lighting told me to take empty seat next to me so that I’ll not block the lightings. However, a middle-aged usher shooed me away. She told me she had already shown leniency by allowing me to sit there for a while and demanded to see my ticket. I was like, “What the fk!”** So I left! That’s my signature move!
I spent a good Sunday afternoon catching the finals. It was an exciting match between An Se-young and Yamaguchi.
She also had a “meet-and-greet” session at Kallang Wave Mall. I didn’t know about this session until I was at the mall and asked people what was going on and why they were queuing. I managed to take a short video of her.
She looks like a kid! The next badminton tournament was in Jakarta, and she was playing. I continued to follow her matches on TV.
The above photo was a display at our stadium. She won again in the tournament in Jakarta!
Today is the second day of the three-day retreat at KMSPKS. I only sit in the afternoon, as my mornings are always busy when my home looks like a cat shelter.
I may not sit to meditate the way I used to, however, I try my best to attend the meditation sessions held at KMSPKS at least twice a week.
What does Dhamma exhaustion look like? The Buddha allowed four types of feelings and they are loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. Out of nowhere, these qualities came to mind yesterday while I was in the bathroom, and I started to examine myself. Surprisingly, they are still there. My desires remain strong, desires that do not cause harm to others and that is enough. I need to live!
My fingers are too exhausted to flip the pages of the Nikaya texts. I don’t read right now, but I remember the teachings. I have always been intrigued by Sarakani’s alcohol habit.
Last week, I was having tea at the “Real Food” vegan restaurant and ordered a glass of fermented sparkling lemonade. Strangely, it tasted like alcohol and I got tipsy. At that exact moment, I thought of Sarakani. I have always wondered what was on his mind when he was drinking. When the tipsiness kicked in, my mind went blank, zero content. Was that what was in Sarakani’s mind when he drank?
I’m definitely not done with this experiment, and when the time is right… it won’t be kombucha.
“Bhikkhus, dwell with yourselves as an island, with yourselves as a refuge, with no other refuge; with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as a refuge, with no other refuge. ~ SN 22.43
“Enough, Vakkali! Why do you want to see this foul body? One who sees the Dhamma sees me; one who sees me sees the Dhamma. For in seeing the Dhamma,Vakkali, one sees me; and in seeing me, one sees the Dhamma.” ~ SN 22.87
A place to discover and explore the discourses of the Buddha.
I highly recommend reading the sutta translated by Piya Tan. His "Laymen Saints" has been an inspiration to many lay people.
Cats who teach me to fly... 