I didn't have a big enough handbag

Several weekends ago, I had the pleasure being chauffeured all the way to Semenyih. Of course I had no idea where on God’s green earth is Semenyih, yet by hook, crook and GPS we made it to Beh & Yeo’s Rabbit farm.

Only food and furry animals can entice me to wake up before 8 on a Saturday, so we were there slightly after 9 am. The trip should have just taken us half an hour but Garmin was having a bad day. (bloody thing kept going “turn left in 200 meters” AFTER we missed the turning). Evil, evil thing.

Run by an owner who is based in Ampang, the farm is located in the midst of a kampung. Hey, its Semenyih.

When we arrived, the workers were busy cleaning the cages. They were friendly enough and allowed us to walk around freely. The surrounding enclosure was certainly clean but the compound was strewn with rubbish.


I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting.

Of course the bunnies looked well cared for and their cages clean yet I felt a little sad seeing them cooped up in their wire mesh boxes, living to breed, only for their offspring to be taken away and sold. We are the only species capable of doing this. Yet herein lies my conundrum. Do I save what I can by giving them good homes or do I stop buying in a bid to lessen the demand? Sigh. No use asking me to adopt as there are no wild rabbits for adoption in this country.

One thing we noticed was that the bunnies at the farm were all a little afraid. Curious as all bunnies are, all of them eyed us as though we came courting for a bride. But as we reached out to them, quicker than you say can Peter Rabbit, they would dart as far away as possible from us. Perhaps we smelt strange or we were complete strangers, it was a very different reception compared to my first encounter with my present rabbit.

My present bunny came over to say hello to me first before I even thought I needed another bunny, which is to say, pretty sweet of her.

I got Peanut from another breeder at Subang Parade. From across her cage, she crawled over to nibble my fingers which started the chemical reaction of turning my heart muscles into tofu and now she is growing fat lounging in my dining room - at my expense.

Anyway, here’s some photos of bunnies to turn your heart into soy products too.

I dislike cages desperately.

Lop-eared rabbit

Dog eared um, dog. This puppy is one of 5 others bought by the owner, presumably to guard the place. Lets just say that if I managed to coax him into the car, 5 would become 4 quickly enough.

Revisiting old favourites

A

Pasti Ada Sudahnya - charting the future

The latest PAS Muktamar delivered no surprises.

Make no mistake, PAS will always maintain its ambition of creating an Islamic state, despite toning down its clarion call during the last general election to garner multiracial support (which of course drew criticism from some quarters within PAS who see this as a concession in exchange for a bite of the cherry that is federal power.)

Of course we all know this.

I am sure that I am not the only one, who in support for the Opposition, derived more than a little comfort supporting a coalition that had PAS on one end of the table and DAP on the other, and Keadilan in the centre keeping them from killing each other.

Be it a belief in checks and balances, or foolhardy optimism, we rejoiced in that there was a viable alternative to an Umno-led government.   

But back to the annual AGMs and Muktamars –we have the same rhetorical regurgitation that endears the politicians to their grassroots. I guess when in Rome.. or Kota Bahru in this case. 

So does it make a difference to us, the new generation of non-muslims and non-traditional voters of PAS, whether the party is helmed by the ulamas or the “Erdogan”, if it is to be conservative or progressive, if at the end of the day an Islamic state is their ultimate aim?

I would venture a yes. Because despite being a party that still functions at the will of the grassroots, it will be the leadership that defines and articulates what an Islamic state is to be. 

To quote Shanon Shah:

“PAS needs to be asked, point blank, what it really envisions as its ideal government, whether or not it calls it an "Islamic state". The questions must go beyond such easy-to-fudge concepts as "democracy" and "good governance".

What will the party's position be on apostasy? On the religious conversion of minors? On homosexuality and bisexuality? On moral policing? On disconcerting-concert-banning? On the rights of other religious communities? On turning personal sins for Muslims — not going to the mosque on Fridays or not fasting during Ramadan, for example — into crimes against the state? On the status of deviant sects? On marital rape? On polygamy in Islam?”

Answers that I have been seeking too but nobody seems to be able to enlighten me.

With PAS’ resolution for the National Fatwa Council to investigate, ban and rehabilitate members of Sisters in Islam, the language quickly brought to mind my long history lessons on Soviet Russia. Freaky I know.

With punitive action identified even before engagement with SIS has even commenced, it will be an uphill battle for PAS to convince the masses that it is not out to hang SIS. Despite the press statements where PAS leaders say that they disagree with the punitive actions, the fact that the resolution was adopted and without debate even, the impression that PAS is out to smother opposing/liberal views is already cast.

Bad PR? You bet.

While I am certain that rehabilitation by the National Fatwa Council is not via exile to the frozen plains of Siberia, the obvious question here would be rehabilitation by whose Islam? 

Far be it for me to say whether SIS’s “views caused confusion and were a threat to Muslims' faith” yet SIS’s efforts in championing Muslim women’s rights and access to the legal system is very noteworthy, it being an unpopular and lonely road.     

There is good chance that this resolution would further alienate the modern Muslim woman who is comfortable and confident enough in her religion to not let anyone be it SIS or PAS, to dictate to her the terms of her own belief.

I have yet to read the responses of my compatriots in SIS who fall squarely within "the younger generation and those who have a secular education".  I am anticipating a hailstorm.

I have yet to meet a SIS member who is not educated, articulate, fiercely intelligent and not capable of giving you whiplash should you even suggest that peranan SIS bertentangan dengan syariat Islam.

Being a non-muslim and only a Friend to the Sisters in Islam, I very obviously lack locus standi on the matter of the authenticity of faith. Yet I strongly believe that the right to hold a differing opinion is enshrined in the constitution. But then I can anticipate the not unfamiliar, "Kafir, keep out," retorts to that. 

And if SIS is banned on the basis of confusing Islamic society and also infiltrating the minds of Muslims, as a multiracial society, should we be concerned as to where it would stop? The potential to "corrupt" may come from unconventional scholars, to next door churches to even Akademi Fantasia – seek and thou shall find thy bogeyman.  

Surely we have had enough of those to last us a lifetime? 

What if I came back as a coconut tree?

Now, if I make fun of this site - it would be bad for my karma. 

So please check it out and let it blow your mind. Someone should let the Dalai Lama know about this.  

http://www.reincarnationbank.com/  

Its a new dawn, its a new day

so says Nina Simone.

So things change. No surprises there. Rolling pebble down an abyss or hurling meteor across time and space, change is the single constant of the universe.

Yet I am going to be stubornly adamant and reel at the thought of how different a year makes. Am I any the wiser? Unlikely so. Becoming more of a fool - most certainly. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Our growing up only allows us to cultivate thicker linings to stomach pain, heartbreak, injustice and disappointments that come out way. Guess we get better at accepting fate and what she throws in our laps, be it strawberries or herrings.

And it takes an epiphany/breakdown to jolt us out of apathy and self-indulgent martyrdom, toss caution back in her face, and seek happiness before we die.

It may all sound like claptrap to you but wait till you hit your threshold. (Yes I am talking from experience, dammit!)

And when realisation strikes you that you are exactly where you navigated yourself to be, that its all YOUR fault, there is a very pronounced "Oh Damn!" moment followed but a moment of empowerment in that you know that you are the master of your destiny after all. After all you got yourself in this shit in the first place. So you can get yourself out.

Hurrah!

So I am backing out from this rut, comfortable as it has become. My half year resolutions already has a soundtrack. Changes have been set in motion. As my the Bwadah say, its all positive chi, man.

Today I lopped off 5 inches of my hair, finally.

And I am feeling good.

(Black) currant affairs

I had so much to say with the mess that is my home state of Perak. But my venom is akin to orange juice compared to the comments that have been spewed all over cyberspace. This, you can find on your own.

So whats your bet? Will BN & Pakatan talk or not? And how many days will it take to collapse?

icanhascheezeburger

Thoughts without a home

Hare-brained as it may be, I am starting to loath corporate work and am gravitating towards a career that involves animals. Now that is something I will definitely be passionate about. I have had enough of being a gopher (Cassie, Go 'fer this, and Cassie, Go 'fer that.) Now how do I get rich doing what I love. CAN I get rich doing what I love? Any ideas?

I have enough marketing books at home telling me that YES I can if I put my head into it. Hm. Time to strategise. Whose dog can I kidnap?

These past few months/weeks/days have been filled with revelations. I learnt that:

• I have a heart made of tofu and that I can burst into tears, set off by anything from a cat nursing a kitten to saying thank you to relatives who have come from across the country to see me.

• That the best-est of friends are not the ones I see everyday but the ones that do their best to share in my happiest and most neurotic times, even if I don’t get to hear from them in between

• VO5 Moisture Soak is God-send

• That I am loved beyond my capacity to imagine

• That belonging can be more desirable that striking out alone

• That having extended relatives isn’t a bad thing

• Don’t assume hair stylists knows best

• Personal happiness takes work and courage (now, to tell my management that they are tyrants)

All wishy washy feel-good babble? Maybe. But I have been so out of touch with myself that I have been a really nasty person to be around. But here is the strange thing, cats seem to like me lots now.

Today at the Vet

There is this marmalade cat
Who sits outside my vet’s
She peers through the glass
Won’t go in till she’s asked
But welcomes cat food and pats.

She is a mommy we know
With her own brood which don’t show
Stashed, we hope, safe and away
Yet to the vet she comes each day
To sayang a kitty abandoned not long ago.

The kitten was found on the floor
One night outside the clinic door
So Dr Yeoh’s taken him in
As it is so frail and so thin
But a mother he has no more.

Yet
This marmalade cat
Had a thing for this one
Nursed him as her own son
When she makes her trips to the vet.

I saw her today
This good hearted stray
And as she did her part
She also stole my heart
It’s a wonder I didn’t steal them away.

Ah, the weekend.

I miss blogging. Very much.

Not for the inherent narcissism (although admittedly the previous Oasis-related posts was bragging rights well earned. Yet there are fewer Oasis fans here than I thought. Nobody batted an eye-lid to my real cool Official Oasis T-shirt pun. Cheh!)

Anyway. Writing for pleasure is a luxury and a wanton act of rebellion.

Having to endure hard work to still be in work is a small sacrifice at a time when not having to worry about my job is something to be envied.

So blogging, when I still have a kabillion things to do is smack in the face of good sense because guess who will need to stay up again tonight to draft daft statutory declarations? *yawn*

Nevertheless, it’s been a very busy weekend that involved oh, pretty interesting things which included a trip to Malacca, coconut shakes, nyonya food, kicking a fuss with the hotel management because they could not get my astro working and a pretty shiny rock.

Somewhat unexpected, the weekend also saw a renewed interest in faith and religious philosophy. Which is interesting on its own because I was on the path of the darkside. Or truth. Depending on which side of the coin you flip I suppose. At the end of the day we all die. Sometimes that is easy to forget.