SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

I watched an interesting documentary last night which detailed that cockroaches hold medicinal value. I do a "google" on this theme and I am quite surprised: there are some research pointing to evidence that cockroaches' body can be used to battle some of the most dangerous bacteria in the world.

Paul the psychic Octopus who created headlines around the world with his amazing and accurate prediction of the World Cup 2010 results earlier this year, has passed on.

So World Cup 2010 has ended! Life returns to normalcy in this little country called Singapore. So Spain, a country, many fans, including our Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, have guessed correctly, right from the beginning of the matches to lift the Golden trophy was really crowned the winner! AND Life goes on in Singapore.... For Singapore, though our "Lions" team did not qualify yet again in  this year's world cup, our "Singapore 2010" did come alive! Instead of the "Lions", Singapore found some international fame in a parrot called Mani, who has predicted to a fair accuracy the quarter-finalists of the World-cup and such accuracy soon propelled Mani to local and international sensation and centre of media attention.

Singapore calls itself a Lion City, after its founder, Sang Nila Utama encountered a lion, as the legend goes. However, in modern Singapore, you cannot see any lions in Singapore except in the Singapore Zoological Gardens… of course! However, there are thousands of cats roaming the streets of Singapore. You may ask how these stray cats manage to survive in Singapore. Well I believe most of these stray cats will still manage to ‘eke out a living’ off the rubbish and litter dumps of the hundreds of hawker centres scattered around the whole of Singapore. Remember, Singapore is a food paradise, as such I believe there should be no problem for these stray cats to survive as there should be enough food for them to just barely subsist on. There are some fortunate stray cats though in Singapore. They are well-fed owing to some kind Singapore cat lovers feeding them daily. Near my house, two fat cats, one male and female hardly move a din away from their regular spot in a void deck where days a...

On a hot Saturday afternoon, while many Singaporeans were busy spending their time on recreation: shopping or lazing around, I caught something unusual at a void deck of a flat. What those small things on the wall? On closer look, it were two houseflies. But what were they doing? The silhoulette of these insects gave me some hints as I went forward to investigate.... Yup, I inched forward slowly, not wanting to scare the couple off. And then, I caught them! The male housefly in a missionary position and the two of them was in a still position (though there must be some 'muscular motion' not visible to the untrained human eye). It is nature, every living things, be it human, animals or insects procreate and give life! Read more for REAL tips here.  

Today, I happened to catch what seemed to be a new Zoo Ad from the Singapore Zoo, which may be riding on the ongoing school holidays to attract more visitorships. In the Ad, I caught a glimpse of the white tiger, the animal which mauled to death the Malaysian contract worker Nordin just a week ago. Though the white tigers were not to be blamed, I do not know whether the inclusion of the white tiger in the Ad is appropriate and sensitive at this time, soon after the mauling.... it would inevitably bring some morbid memories to Singaporeans like what it did to me. Memories do linger, especially if they were still fresh!

I have initially mentioned in my earlier posts that Omar, the only white tiger out of the trio was involved in the killing of Nordin in Thursday tragic accident. But I was wrong, the two tigers which mauled Nordin to death were the two female tiger or so called tigresses! I do not know the names of the two female tigers but how I came to the perception that Omar was one of the maulers was the fact that I visited the 3 white tigers just a month ago and Omar was the only one prancing around, see video below: Omar's prancing around suggested to me that he is quite reckless and naturally I would believe he would be the first to maul at a human intruder. Ironically, it was reported that Omar showed no interest at Nordin at all and stayed clear of him. The chinese has a saying. 'mu lao hu' (female tiger) to show someone who is really fierce.... there may be some parrallels here in this tragic incident. The two white tigers which mauled Nordin to death were however traumatised t...

Around 12.30 pm today, a Malaysian contract cleaner entered into the enclosure of the White Tigers at the Singapore Zoo and it happened: the white tiger killed the man at our beloved Singapore Zoo! Our world-class Singapore Zoo is known for its open and natural concept of housing the animals, it is never known for bloodshed, it is unthinkable a white tiger kills a man at our Singapore Zoo! I still remembered watching one of the white tigers prancing up and down when I visited the zoo 2 months ago, you can refer to my blog post on my zoo outing under the label ‘Places’, which shows a picture of the white tiger. I believe it is this active tiger which perpetuated the ‘crime’. But, hold on, was it really a ‘crime’? and who is to blame for this tragedy? It is hard to say, though I must say that the white tigers should not be blamed. Animals are protective of its territory and if there is ‘intruder’ into its territory, their first instinct is naturally to protect their kins and to ward off ...

I had a whale of a time today with my dear at the Singapore Zoo. Admission per adult is priced at $18 (increased from the previous price of $16.50). Optional unlimited tram ride is at $5 per person. We settled for the bundled package of $23 (the ride+ the journey) per person. It has been indeed many years since I set foot on our Singapore Zoo, the previous visit was during my primary school days. My dear and I came early today for the visit as soon as the zoo opened at 8.30 am in order to beat the unrelentless afternoon sun. There was a host of animals to treat our eyes to at the zoo. The first animal which welcomed us was the white tiger: There were three of them but only one active white tiger which pranced up and down for the entire of our stay in the zoo! It must be frolicking in the attention given by the scores of visitors to it or simply it was uneasy or just guarding its terriority routinely. But why is there only the white tiger? Where is the colorful Sumatran tiger with its n...

The Tasmanian Devil, not the one we see in cartoons, but the actual ones, grazing in the fields of Australia, may soon become extinct. The population of the animal has dwindled from 140,000 in the 1990s to only 80,000 in 2006. Cancer has been cutting down the population of the animal significantly to the brink of extinction

Singaporeans are a fortunate lot to lead a comfortable living though they may lament on certain issues at times. I would like to share with readers that even stray animals, particularly cats, in Singapore may be leading a good life too! I have been observing the activities of the top of a small hill near my house whenever I pass by there in the late evenings. Amidst the trees on top of the hill, there sits astride a dog which looks like a lion as it has grown so fat and it has colour of the latter. The calm and majestic pose it strikes while sitting on the top of the hill also make it seem ever more like a lion. I was shocked when I saw the dog at the very first time, thinking that I have seen a lion in Singapore (outside of the zoo)! Slowly over time, I realised at this period of the day, there was always an old woman cycling from her home nearby and bringing food at the bottom of the hill for the dog to feast on. The woman looks like a normal person, no odd or insane behaviour spotte...

Just few days after the famous Orang-utan Ah Meng passed away, her grand-daughter, Atina (‘Anita’, (name of her mother) spelled backwards), caught her neck in a hammock and has it crushed by Anita and the pack of other Orang-utans after their frantic attempt to rescue her. With Atina’s death, the Singapore Zoo has 23 Orang-utans remaining.

I saw the TV footage of Ah Meng being laid to rest in a coffin on TV just now. It was sad that Ah Meng, our affable great Orang-utan has finally passed on. Many Singaporeans came to pay their last respects to Ah Meng. Ah Meng has touched the lives of many Singaporeans. I think if I am an author like Roald Dahl, I will be inspired to write a story about Ah Meng. I would also end the story of Ah Meng by having a great state funeral procession attended by all Singaporeans, and animals of the Zoo, birds flying in the sky.... It would be a colorful and interesting procession where human and animals pay their last respect to this great ape and come together. The procession participants comprising of different animals walk at different speeds, and for this one day, forget about the complex relationship that separate the man from the other animals, preys and predators, herbivores and carnivores.......the rule of the jungle between different animals and between man........ just for today. The u...

Though Ah Meng is an animal, she has contributed much to Singapore in public service. Do you think a posthumous Public Service Medal (PBM) should be conferred on her for her outstanding social service to Singapore? Though the public service medals are given out to human, the authorities can be creative and create a separate category : the animal category to confer her the PBM (posthumous). Or better still, award her with a BBM or BBM(L)?

" Ah Meng, the Sumatran orang utan that was considered an icon at the Singapore Zoo, died on Friday. She was about 48 years old and had died of old age. In 1971, Ah Meng was confiscated from a family which had illegally kept her as a pet. She then found her home at the Singapore Zoo. Ah Meng was the first to host the Zoo's famous 'Breakfast With An Orang Utan' programme. She soon became a celebrity, both locally and internationally. She had been featured in over 30 travel films and 'interviewed' by more than 300 writers. In 1992, Ah Meng received a special award from the Singapore Tourism Board in recognition of her contribution towards tourism in Singapore. As an icon of the Singapore Zoo, Ah Meng has met numerous foreign dignitaries and world-renowned celebrities such as Prince Philip, David Copperfield, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. Ah Meng also contributed to the Singapore Zoo's captive breeding programme. She had five children and became a gran...

While passing the park connector between Tampines Avenue 10 and Pasir Ris, there are evidences of people poaching wildlife. Laying nets, armed with some traps, they straddle the shallow rivers, the canals and lay their baiting traps, hopefully to catch some wildlife. These can be fishes, or sometimes some rare creatures such as iguanas. Most often, they fail in their attempts as they are not skilled but once their baits are caught, they may be rewarded handsomely. And if they themselves are caught, the cost is even greater.

There is a cat somewhere in the western world which has made news this week with its ability to sense death. Some hours after the cat sits near a patient in a home, the patient will leave the world. The accuracy of this cat in predicting death to such an accuracy baffles even the doctors. Is this cat really able to sense death? Or, does it emit some viruses which invades patients with poor immune systems and ..........?