Thursday 16 April 2009

My Earliest Cats

My Earliest Cats. I started to rear cats when I was based in Penrissen Camp, Kuching, Sarawak in the 80s. A nice neighbour's female cat used to come over to our house and we used to feed her. It became attached to us and finally it was ours. Soon it gave us a litter of 4 hyper-active kittens that you see here.
Hi there! My name is Dottie. My master said because of my black marks on my head and backside, therefore I should be named Dottie. I hate the name. I prefer Sylvester (Stallone) or Steven (Segal) or Robert (Redford) because they sound more manly, but what choice do a cat has?
I love singing. You can call it natural talent. I hope to be
popular like Elvis Presley one day. My brothers love singing too. We hope to form a singing group one day.
My life is all play and no work. One of my passion is the aerobics. Once I start it I can never stop.
eh wah!
Sometimes I'm curious what my Masters swept under the carpets.
Sometime I look for my Master's ball of woollen thread
and chase it around the house. It's really fun.
At times we used to stretch mummy's patience to the limit
and she would give us a yell.
But at the end of it all, life as a kitten is good. Mummy would
pamper and pour out her love on us.

When I was transferred to KL in 1987, I brought three of the kittens, including Dottie. A month later, he died - he played and swallowed a poisonous frog. One more was attacked by a stray dog. Possibly heart-broken at the loss of his brothers, the third one disappeared and was never found.

6 comments:

  1. Hmm.. I'm a cat lover too. It touches my heart reading ur entry regarding your beloved cats. The story touches more than listening to an orphan, or poor people's life story. *LOL*

    btw, ur cats were all sporting, how did ya make them yawning while capturing their pics Sir?

    *psst! By the way, finally Kedah's govt agreed to relocate the tomb. Thanks a zillion!

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  2. Dear Cokelat,

    Thanks for your comments. I wanted a number of times to brief you on the progress of LKpl Ungkok's case but I couldn't go into your blog to make comments.

    I got the story from Wayne's blog who copied it from your blog.

    Last year, I had my books launched by the CM of Sarawak in Kuching and I took the opportunity to brief him on the case. Later I wrote to Jabatan Hal Ehwal Veteran ATM who took up the case. The British Army couldn't move the grave as they couldn't locate the next-of-kin. There was an attempt to move it by Persatuan Bekas Perajurit, who had located the NOK but no further action was taken.

    Anyway to cut the story short, the reburial will be done on April 28, 2009. I will be there personally. There will be a big group of journalists. So watch out for the paper report. The sad thing is, his remain couldn't be found - even after a special scanning 100m radius (even under the highway.)

    If you want to read the details about the case you can read it under the label IBAN TRACKERS.

    Thanks to you for highlighting it in your blog.

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  3. Dear Cokelat,

    Forgot to answer your querry on how I manage to capture them yawning at the same time.

    Well, actually, they just woke up from their afternoon nap - or rather we woke them up and they kept on yawning one after another and sometime all at the same time!

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  4. OMG..OMG.. thanks a lot. I did ask my daddy about you and hmm.. from his story, you are a very very super strict officer. well he was serving for a short period about 13 years with 8th Ranger. I'm so touched and proud that you've answered my comment in a blink.yayyy! I'm so grateful to hear the news from you. Well, once a Ranger's kid always a Ranger, Sir.. pssttt.. even thru blogging, don't you agree with me?

    I will update this at my blog and hmmm.. well, will follow up the news from you, the media and this blog, too.

    Have a blessed day ahead.

    Patricia Charles

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  5. Dear Patricia,

    Nice to know you are from the Rangers family too. Are you in Semenanjung or in Sarawak? So you father was from 8 Rangers? I saw a lot of your photographs with your cute daughter and husband in your blog. Another successful batalion. They had Kanang, both an SP and PGB holder - he's a national hero now.

    Your father said I was super strict officer? I tried to be an all-round officer - strict in following rules and orders both in camps and in the jungles, kind and firm, caring and courageous. My principles were always: "Lead by examples". "What the soldiers can do, I can do better".

    I have soldiers who hated me but I think many more like me because even today they hugged me whenever I came across them somewhere. Some even take the trouble to try and locate me by phone. There was one who called me recently from Sabah. He is a successful businessman now and is a Datuk. He told me he followed my style in his life - hardworking, transparent and fair. I felt honoured when he said that as I felt I was just merely doing things my own way, naturally.

    I can talk on and on about the life in the Rangers - the good, the bad, the sweet and the bitter ones. I'm 60 now but the memory is still very fresh. It is as if I had just left the service.

    Thanks Patricia for listening.

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  6. Oh yes, my father was with Kanang. My apai left army in 1985 but I still can remember his 931577 number. SOmetimes it's fun to listen to him reminiscing his good old days. FYI, I was born in Ipoh, Perak and now residing in Kuching. :D :D

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