TODAY
This is how people really make friends ...
05:55 AM Feb 18, 2010
Letter from Raymond Lee Swee Mun
I REFER to "Bonding over a 'community cat' " (Feb 17). The community cats at our Housing and Development Board block in Sengkang have also worked the same magic in creating friendship among some Malay and Chinese families. My family has been feeding them from about three years ago. (Of course, we clean up thereafter.)
Along the way, we got to know a Malay couple who were also taking care of them. We named the cats together and conducted joint sterilisation exercises.
One day, a Chinese woman, unaware of what we were doing, thought we were rounding the cats up for culling and scolded us. But after she realised what we were doing, we became friends.
Another time, while taking one of the cats to the vet, a few Malay women and their children came to talk to us because they were concerned for the animal. They were relieved to hear that we were not sending the cat to be culled. Again, we made friends.
Now all of us are pretty close, but our friendships have expanded beyond the mutual goal of caring for our community cats. We go to each other's homes during festivals and once, to one of their sons' wedding.
Of late, a young Chinese boy has asked to join in our activities. His China national mother has given him the go-ahead because she thinks the boy will learn how to care and love small animals.
Once, an Indian national initiated conversation with us saying that he wanted to befriend us because he thinks we are a bunch of good people.
I hope the town councils and any related government bodies take note of what is happening on the ground - community cats do help people make friends with those from another race. My "new" friendships would never have happened if not for our cats.
