THOSE who have been following the news on the Thailand flood with concern would have come across many poignant stories of survival.
The number of photos that have surfaced of survivors saving the animals in their midst despite their own circumstances would have been hard to miss.
There have been detractors to the new direction taken by the Ministry of National Development and the Chong Pang constituency towards a humane approach to animal issues, including cat ownership, stray cat sterilisation and responsible community cat feeding. Like Mr Lee Chiu San ('Allow cats as pets in flats but ban community feeding'; Nov 11), they cite damage to cars and properties, which are, in part, valid observations.
Yet since National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan's first call for a humane approach in June, the number of people galvanised into positive action is simply remarkable. Beyond HDB estates, the National Parks Board, neighbourhood committees (NCs), factories, schools and condo estate managements have started sterilisation and management programmes since.
An NC chairman shared his experience with stray cats at a residents' meeting. He had trapped a cat that he felt was causing a nuisance in his yard and sent it in to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA). His daughter asked him what happens to the cat when it is sent to the AVA. It was a question he felt was hard to answer and never trapped a cat again.
We can choose to be a victim of our densely populated urban space or we can choose to be an agent of positive action in our communities, inspiring others along the way.
It's a fact that the more we try to save stray cats, their populations decline and nuisance is minimised. Their population has been more than halved in the last 10 years through sterilisation. It is the sweet irony of life.
Veron Lau (Ms)
Vice-President
