Why This Blog
2nd Feb 2010. I witnessed for the first time killing of innocent lives by the pest controllers. This was something I'd often heard about, but which I was blessed enough not to have seen with my own eyes.
I was walking home and saw at a distance a man picking something up from the ground. It looked like a bird, but the dark object didn't move, so I thought it was probably a bottle. He threw it into a black trash bag. In that instance out flew a bird from the bag.
I hastened towards the man and asked him what he was doing. He said the pigeons were a nuisance.
Nuisance?! The birds were a nuisance?
He told me it was ok, the birds were only sleeping.
I couldn't believe myself, even though I'd read enough of such nonsense logic on the internet. Soon another two men came, one of them who was supposedly in charge of the killing spree.
He told me he was sent by the town council, so I asked to speak to the town council. He called them, and later passed his mobile to me.
It was Ms Angeline Tan of Jalan Besar Town Council. Though not harsh, she was apparently defiant about their approach. She said they had received many complaints about the birds. I asked her a few times how many complaints they had received, she just wouldn't reveal the figure.
Very soon after starting the phone talk, I was crying uncontrollably. I knew crying would only irritate her more and wouldn't solve problems, but the sight of the poor birds hardly able to move and awaiting death, and being thrown into trash bags while still struggling for their dear lives, was something too much to bear. People are taking lives, and they are so numb to such a horrid act, this is indeed frightening.
After the phone talk, I noticed that a few people had gathered. One of them was an officer from NEA, and apparently was worried because I, a member of the public, was crying. He said he couldn't leave because it would be terrible if the public thought that pest controllers had made a resident cry. Well, that was the truth. If only crying would make the hard-hearted authorities more merciful!
This officer told me that things couldn't be helped. On one hand were animal lovers, on the other hand animal haters. As if this was a fact that had to be accepted.
But I thought this was pessimistic. I believe there is a way for all beings to co-exist in peace. Some day, people will come to their senses. I may not live to see the day, but one day, people will.
I came home feeling very lost and extremely disturbed. I could continue to keep an eye shut if I hadn't seen anything. But now that I saw such a cruel act first hand, it was time that I did something.
I decided to write a letter to residents appealing to them not to feed the birds. That was the first step. Then came emails to the authorities. Now, I'm compiling everything into this blog as a friend suggested. Letters, emails, thoughts, actions and everything.
I don't know how things would unfold, but at least, I've started to do something for my poor innocent friends. My dear fellow residents of good old mother earth.
8th March 2010
