Today: Where’s the ‘heart’ in heartland? 25th June

Sarah:
Helga sent in a very nice letter to Today. You can look at it
here.

She says that the caregivers in her area have been working hard at establishing bonds between the community. However, she noticed that there have been problems with the local town council, who trapped sterilised cats and released them elsewhere. This has caused a lot of pain for the poor caregivers, who are left wondering what happened to the cats.

Essentially, her point is this: the caregivers have been heeding the government’s call for active citizenry, and have been fostering community and social cohesion. Despite this, why is it that the people who complain about cats are considered so important, that their complaints are addressed immedietely? Surely the people who have been helping out in the community - like the caregivers - are the ones who should be respected as well.

She’s not asking for caregivers to be given more respect. She just wants them to get what everyone else gets - the respect of being a member of the Singaporean community.

More letters to ST by same person

Ivan:

Referring to the letter to Straits Times forum by Tony Tan about the Class 95 DJs remarks on the Morning show, SPCA issued a reply to Tan on 16 May that feeding strays is not a cruel act as he has said. 

Anyways, Tan is up to another issue again and you can find his letter here in response to this report on Straits Times. 

Bad behaviour workgroup formed

Sarah:
There’s an article in the papers today, announcing the formation of a workgroup to look into dirty habits of HDB dwellers. They’re planning to look into bad behaviour that causes tensions, such as dripping laundry and littering.

I wonder if they’re going to include cat feeding as “bad behaviour”. Right now, I’m wondering if CWS should draft a letter asking that they look into irresponsible feeders. Of course, the end result is that they actually look into banning cat feeding completely.

Local news and letters

Sarah:

Wanbao had a report on the Class95 DJ incident. It came out on the 19th, Vesak Day. I can’t get a scan of it, so this will have to do. My Mandarin isn’t very strong, but essentially it’s a round-up of opinions about the issue of cat feeding.

Two letters in the ST

Sarah:
I saw these two letters in the ST online forum before I left. By now, I’m sure everyone’s seen them. We didn’t comment about them, because we’ve already addressed the Class95 dj issue, and moved on. There are other things that need doing.

However, for those of you who are interested, there were two letters, one from someone who felt the DJ’s comments were out of line, and the other was Tony Tan Tuan Khoon.

For those of you who don’t know who he is, read here, and here. Basically, he’s boasted of having killed 200 cats, and appears to enjoy his fame. He’s really not interested in finding a solution - or if he is, we haven’t heard it yet. He’s gone on TV to spread his “views on cats” - which, as far as I can tell, are very very strange indeed. We’re talking Martian strange.

ST 20th May: Jurong dogged by strays

Sarah:
The Straits Times carried an odd story today about the stray dog problem in Jurong. The choice of headline “Jurong dogged by strays: Cat & dog lovers at odds” was a poor one, because it made it sound as if animal lovers were fighting with each other.

In the report, the reporter claimed that “Dog lovers do not mind them (referring to stray dogs), but cat lovers are hoping that life can be less of a hazard for the neighbourhood felines.”

Letters to Mypaper

Sarah:

Choi Wah alerted CWS and various others to two letters in Mypaper, 14th May 2008.

(Click for the large pix)

Basically, there are two letters. One seems to be inspired by the Class95 DJs comments. A Ms Florence Goh Gek Siok says that while she does not condone killing animals, she feels that feeding cats has caused the population to explode. The increased population results in a neighbourhood nuisance, such as water bowls left unattended, cat faeces left in flowerpots, and of course, the good old car scratching accusation.

Straits Times forum letter on Class 95

There’s a letter complaining about the Class95 djs in today’s online edition.

It’s great that people are speaking up. I like that the letter writer pointed out that the problem isn’t about cat feeding, it’s about irresponsible cat feeders. She even noted that people who feed irresponsibly aren’t doing it because they love cats, they’re doing it because they enjoy doing it, or just getting rid of food. Responsible cat feeders care about what happens to the cats, and clear up.

Small point of correction though - the letter writer mentioned that the Class 95 DJs said that the cats should be sent to Peru and eaten. However, this actually occured a few years ago. It’s possible that the letter was heavily edited by the Straits Times.

People are reacting in a variation of ways on the Straits Time forum. Some agree that responsible cat feeding should be allowed, but they’re concerned about cats poo-ing and pee-ing all over the void deck.

As most cat and dog owners know, that’s very unusual behaviour for a cat. Cats like dirt and soil for their toilets. I’ve raised orphan kittens before - when they were just four weeks old, they figured out what the litter tray was for, and refused to pee anywhere else. If there’s pee or poo on the void deck, it’s usually an irresponsible dog owner at work.

Class 95 calls for fines for cat feeders

Ivan:
Just got word today from an ex-committee member who said that her mum heard the Class 95FM’s Morning show. DJs, Glenn Ong and Flying Dutchman were talking about stray cats again. This time, they compared feeding of stray cats to the feeding of monkeys. They added that cat feeders should be fined heavily as their monkey feeders counterparts. The DJs also said they have seen people feeding many cats and stray cats mess up the rubbish bin and leave their poo around. They were inviting listeners to send in sms or call in till 10am today (7 May). CWS is drafting a letter to the local press to address this issue.

Note from website editors: This is not the first time Class 95 has expressed themselves in this fashion. There was the 2003 incident, where the same DJs suggested that cats should be drowned en masse, or sent to Peru to be eaten. In 2007, the same DJs spread inaccurate information about community cats, undermining the goals of animal welfare activitists.