Cats who teach me to fly…

I came home late last night after my volunteer work with homeless families who were referred to the organisation through social workers. These are often homeless people who have been picked up on beaches.

In my opinion, I don’t believe that Singapore has poor families. Yes there are those who are single parents with low-income and have children to support, or those who are disabled or ill and not able to work or take care of themselves and their families. For these groups of people, I strongly believed that they need support from the society.

When I reached the venue yesterday, I saw big, strong and healthy parents with their healthy children. The first impression that I had was how these people could need support from the organisation – various organisations I should say. The parents are strong and healthy, big in size and mentally sound. “What could have gone wrong with them?” I asked myself. I told myself I am going to find out today.

Other volunteers and Mel were there. Mel had always wanted to be a volunteer but had no time to do so. She thanked me for pushing her to fulfil her wishes. She said she doesn’t want to wait till she retires. She doesn’t want to be too old and weak before she contributes to society. She wants to make time for it now. Ok, I am glad to hear that. Life is very unpredictable. We have to cherish every moment of our lives.

The event yesterday was a workshop for the parents to help them set goals to improve their lives. We served food for the participants before the workshop. Our role was to take care of the children and teenagers while the parents were at the workshop. We chatted with them, joked with them and played with them. The children were playful and noisy as expected. I played table tennis with them for only a while as I found that they were very violent. They were not playing the game properly. They were hitting hard on the ping  pong ball to make it fly high and far. Well, I freaked out and surrendered my table tennis bat to them.

Next, I played table soccer with an Indian boy. He behaved himself well and I liked him. He is clever and always winning. So I observed how he played. He played calmly and unlike me. I was as excited as a puppy. I started to stay calm like him and yes, I managed to win a few games while playing with him.

Whenever I play badminton games, I would make sure I show sportsmanship throughout the session. I will not allow myself to be angry. Anger is the ugliest and most meaningless emotion to me. Playing games like table soccer needs one to be calm too. I think a person should be calmed in all kinds of situation. That, I shall remember.

When it comes to the end of the event, I didn’t even realise that everyone was leaving as I was too busy clearing the tables. Sigh… no one even bothered to say “goodbye” to me. However, a teenager came to me and told me it was her birthday. I gave her my wishes and offered to give her another piece of cake but she said no. I wished her happiness.

It was nearly 10pm and we were going home. Mel, Rachel (the staff that was in charge of the event )and I took the same train home. I started to ask Rachel what is actually happening to the parents since they look healthy that they need support from them. She told me they made the wrong decision. In my mind, I knew that the wrong decision that these parents made might have to do with something illegal such as taking drugs or getting divorced. Something that must have hurt the family… However, the persistent me wanted to know exactly what were the wrong decisions that they made. I asked Rachel again.  The parents had actually sold their flat to repay their debt and they now have no place to stay. One thing I never like about myself is, I find it difficult to accept such reasons. How could someone be that reckless to not put their family members into consideration first before making silly decisions that jeopardise the comfort of their own home and family? I mean these parents are strong, healthy and mentally sound. Surely they can take up any jobs to help themselves and their family members. How bad can you be when you are in a developed country like Singapore? The pay might be low but jobs are plentiful if they aren’t choosy. I don’t understand and I can’t understand. Perhaps I was brought up by a set of lazy parents who refused to work. That might be the reason that I find it difficult to accept…

Maybe… I should accept the fact that people do make wrong decisions and not that they are being lazy or even greedy. Yes, I will start see things differently…

Looking back on my diary, the time spent in January 2011 was a meaningful one. I never took life for granted. I always picture myself on my deathbed and ask myself what I want to see in myself in this lifetime – a person who pursues luxury or someone who gives? It is the latter one I want to see…

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It’s cold today and has been raining non-stop since yesterday. It’s such nice weather to be home, sleeping… but I am not sleeping at all.

I went for a game of badminton this afternoon and had a few good matches. Got to keep pushing myself to do a little workout. Otherwise, my body would feel stiff and feel kind of old too. Exercise makes me feel light as I could run and jump easily. I love to be active, to  run without feeling too old to move. 

I don’t cough that much now. I’m getting better. Recovering in no time I should say. Oh.. the picture on the right is my favourite pineapple tart. I finished the pineapple tarts today and bought myself another one. Yes, I finished the whole bottle by myself. It’s like, when you have a piece of a pineapple tart, you can never stop having another piece… This is at least true for me. Greedy hor? Actually, I am not so bad. I would only eat pineapple tarts during CNY and would not touch it again for the rest of the year till the next CNY.

Mel wishes that she could be like me, to be able to finish the whole bottle of pineapple tarts. She said she might take her whole life to finish the whole bottle. We shall see what happens if the world has nothing left for her to eat except this bottle of pineapple tarts. Perhaps then will this bottle of pineapple tarts disappear into her mouth.

I am good at eating snacks. I can finish a whole big pack of potato chips. I eat and I munch like nobody’s business. Never afraid of gaining weight. I am neither fat nor thin. Medium frame and healthy BMI. Been putting on weight lately anyway:). I am not ignoring it. That’s why the exercise today. Well, the bottle of pineapple tarts shall be the last bottle for me this year.

CNY is three days away. As usual, going home for reunion dinner on the eve of CNY but this year, it is lunch instead of dinner as my younger sister has to work. She will leave home at 1pm, so will I. On the first day of CNY, I’ll be visiting my granny and on the second day, I would visit my aunt. No changes, nothing new, every year is the same.

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The picture on the left is my cat, Miemi. Look at her, resting her head on a cushion. She sure knows how to make herself comfortable huh. It was raining in the late afternoon, I am sure she had a good sleep on the couch.

Miemi is 9-years-old. Healthy and cool. She usually eats different brands of dried food such as Science Diet, Royal Canin, IAM and others. All the dried food I bought for her are meant for indoor cats. I only feed her a tiny portion of canned food once or twice a week. She doesn’t like premium canned food but only “Pussy Cat” which is not good for her, that is why I feed her only once or twice a week.  She usually eats 3/4 of it.

Anyway, I can see lots of love in her stomach. Everyday, I shower her with love and kisses. I brought her in or rather she appeared at my corridor when she was only 2 months old. It was raining heavily that night and she was meowing. I brought her in, fed her and showered her and she became my companion till today. She brought me so much joy. Hmm… She made me a wiser person. She taught me how to love animals. She taught me to be brave when alone. She taught me to forgive but not forget. From her, I achieved enlightenment.

Guess what she is doing now? Grooming on my bed! She pooed twice today. Really don’t know what is in her stomach. Mel loves her too. Whenever Mel comes, Miemi would quickly go to her and rub herself on her leg. Sometimes, she even lies on the floor with her legs facing the ceiling. This shows her trust.

Mel often buys treats for Miemi. Oh… Miemi loves the sashimi snack. It’s CNY next week and I am getting her sashimi for this Chinese New Year celebration. It is not going to end if I keep talking about her and there really is a lot to talk about… :).

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My temper has been foul these two days and I don’t like it. I hate being angry.  Looks like I need to concentrate more on patience. Yes, I have to. While I was walking, a man sitting on the table sneezed without covering his mouth and  sneezed on my leg! I gave him my famous “killing look”.  🙂 I quickly went to the nearest basin, wetted a piece of tissue paper and wiped my leg. Out of anger, without knowing what I was doing, I threw the tissue paper in the basin and left. That was very irresponsible of me. Even when Mel told me, I just ignored and walked away. Should have picked it up and threw it away.  Look at how silly I was to have punished myself with someone’s unintentional mistake.

Yesterday, while I was in the food court waiting for my food to be served, a cleaner was refilling forks and spoons on the tray. I did not take the spoon from the tray that he was filling up. Instead, I took from his tray cos I felt it was cleaner. He was impatient and yelled at me. I told him off by asking, “Why is it so difficult for you to allow me to take one spoon from your tray?” I should have ignored him.  Sigh… I will be mindful, more mindful, extra mindful next time and every time.

Feeling bad and happy at the same time because I have successfully signed an agreement to purchase a flat! This is the most expensive gift I have bought for myself. Miemi and I will have a bigger place to live in the near future. I have decided to decorate a corner for Miemi. It would be called Miemi’s corner. Miemi’s corner will have plants around. Hope she doesn’t nibble up all the leaves.  I am also going to stack up some carton boxes for her, like stairs. A nice one. Cats are very simple. They just love to sleep in the box. i remember I bought a nice cushion bed for her but in the end, she never actually slept on it and I had to throw it away. She is happy with boxes. Just love her so much.

I have not stopped coughing since last week. It’s terrible. I have to get health supplements tomorrow. Going to get some rest.

Be mindful! 🙂

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The picture on top is a stall at Chinatown. In Chinese tradition, red is an auspicious colour. Red symbolises prosperity and good luck. There are 12 Chinese zodiac animals. They are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. It is said that each animal will take turns to take charge of  one year. Now is still a tiger year but when it is past midnight on 2nd of Febuary 2011, the rabbit will take charge of the brand new lunar year.

What is in the stall? The stall is selling Chinese New Year decorative items, like 春联(Spring Festival couplets) and many decorative items related to rabbits. As you can see, there are 6 big ” lanterns” hanging on top. Well, those are not lanterns. They are pineapples, used for decorative purposes. Pineapples in Hokkien (a dialect) is called “Ong Lai”. To translate it literally, it is called “wealth come”, meaning bringing wealth to those who hang these pineapples in their shop or house or anywhere. 

For me, I did not hang any pineapples. The pineapples are too huge for my humble flat. The pictures on the left and right which is the front and back of the decorative item is what I bought to hang from my ceiling.  Yeah, baby bunnies:). Mandarin Oranges symbolize luck and wealth and I have a pot of tangerine plant. On the left 福, pronounced as “fu” means “good fortune” and on the right, 春 pronounced as “chun” means “spring”.

I have not done my spring cleaning yet. Looks like I have plenty of things to throw away. CNY is less than 2 weeks from now. I am eagerly looking forward to it.

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