In the eyes of Ines

I am Ines, born what the human called me, a mongrel dog of mixed breed. I must have been lost or unwanted because I was rescued by Sally Anderson, the founder of HKDR (Hong Kong Dog Rescue). I was a doglet then, barely a year old and was put into a homing centre in Tai Po. That was in 2012 and I have been here since.

There are so many other dogs in this kennel and we are put into different pens or enclosures. I suppose I am lucky to be placed in one of the downstairs pens, called the tree pen, right in front of the main thoroughfare to the office and the area where the volunteers have their lockers and a table where they would indicate on a chart, which dog has been taken out for their twice daily walks. So I am in a vantage position to see everything...the people, the cleaners doing their chores; Sue Kuok, our angel-volunteer with her pail of food in her arm, going around feeding the dogs in their pens each morning; the coming and going of the dogs as they are being taken out, in short, the daily activities of our homing centre.

My pen mates are Ziggy, Scribble, Tookie and Orla. We get along well except for Orla, although a nervous wreck herself, likes to squabble with me over little things like whose food bowl is this? If she can bare her teeth, so can I! You have to learn tolerance here since we spend 24 hours together each day, except for the 25 minutes walk twice a day and the afternoon free-run where we get to socialize with dogs from 4 other pens. 

Ziggy is a big, mature boy of 15 years and we learn not to mess with him; but he is reasonable, showing his dislike by growling only if he finds us irritating. We used to have another big boy called Le Roy, younger, and oh! he is so easy-going with no temper and very forgiving. He has found his forever home in November last year and we are happy for him. Besides, it clears up a space for us to have some breathing space. 

The men from AFCD come now and then when our rabies shot are due. Some of the nervous dogs have to be chased. cornered and brought shivering to the men, and although the injection itself is quick and smooth, poor big boy Walter would whine like a baby!  

One day, there was a commotion in the free area behind my pen. Apparently, Copper, Leila, Lucius and Oakley were on free run when a cleaner went into the pen of the 2 Rottweilers, called Fred and Wilma and did not latch the gate properly. Fred came out and somehow got into a tussle with Oakley and being a a powerful Rottweiler as he is, his mouth caught hold of Oakley's head on one side and refused to let go! The staff tried to pull him off, doused him with a water spray and finally had him release Oakley. Do you know, Oakley did not suffer any wound on his head; he was clearly in shock and shivering! Yes, Fred, the mighty Rottweiler, just wanted to show his dominance! Poor Oakley, from that day on, he dared not venture out of his pen even though it was time for him and his mates to have free run!  

We all have many mummies and mine are mummy Kim, Jacqueline, Stella, Wing and Sylvia. Sometimes when the weather is good, I get taken out for a day of hiking! I really enjoy the outing as it gives me an opportunity to see the world outside our kennel; to enjoy the fresh air, the myriad smells, explore new grounds and see different people!  

I have seen many of my friends left for their forever homes and I miss them...especially Mac, Portia, Tamara, Elsie, Boosh, Archie, Aliz and Zuma. I always wonder when my turn will come?  Each day when I wake up, I ask myself, is this my lucky day? Everyday, I wait patiently and expectantly for that special person to come for me so that I too can have a family and a home I can call my own. I know when that day comes, I will shower my family with lots of love and kisses and show them how thankful I am to them for saving me and I know I can bring lots of joy and laughter and love into that family. That I can promise! 

Hmm...meanwhile, the same daily grind goes on here... 

Orla the white dog is just behind me.

The window to my small world in the Tai Po Homing Centre

                                          

Here I am on our free-run. I am slim and sleek.
  I may not be a beauty, but I am beautiful inside,
gentle and sweet-natured.
  

                                      
                               Saving one animal won't change the world,
                             but it will change the world for that one animal.
                       
                                                              -unknown-
                                                                         









     

A sad farewell to my Beloved mother!

I lost my mother last week. She passed away peacefully on 13 March 2015. When my brother called me on Tuesday with the news that my mother was in a coma in the Intensive Care Unit in the Kota Bharu General Hospital, my heart went cold with fear and anguish and my mind went fuzzy as I asked him the questions of how, when and why, in an effort to comprehend what went wrong that fateful day. 

My mother, we were told by her attending doctors, suffered a brain haemorrhage that sent her into unconsciousness until her last breath in the early hours of Friday morning. In a way, it was a peaceful way to go. No pain, No suffering. She was 86 years old; but I can tell you, no matter how old a person is, the physical loss of a loved one is still very painful.

As I sat in the plane on my long and sad journey home to Kota Bharu (Malaysia), images of my mother and her life as told to us, flashed through my mind.

My mother's life had not been an easy one. Born in China in 1928, she lost her father while still a toddler. Her mother (my grandmother), a young widow then, had no standing in a conservative, Confucian household of her in-laws, so she took my mother to Malaysia and left her in the care of her uncle and aunty and their extended families, while she went out to work in another city.   

My mother became a child slave in that family, doing all the household chores of washing, cooking, cleaning. She had a few years of primary education, but hardly given the time to play with other children. This went on until she was 16 years old, and when my father sent a matchmaker to ask for her hand in marriage, she agreed, as a desperate attempt to get out of her misery, even though she had not met my father! 

Life as the wife of a small businessman with nine children in post-war Malaysia was also difficult; but one big consolation was that my father loved her and doted on her. As the children grew up, and life became easier, she faced another tragedy, one that she had not been able to get over for many years...she lost her husband, my father, when she was 51 years old. From then on, it was very much a lonely life for her, even though she had her sons and grandchildren living near her and we, the daughters, married to other cities came by to see her each year. But it was never the same for her. 

I still feel a deep sense of loss whenever I think of my mother and memories of her will forever be etched in my heart. We will continue to honour her by living the examples she had taught us... to be strong in difficult times, to work hard, to be positive in everything we do and to love and care for each other, our siblings. Yes, her legacy lives on in all of us, her 9 children, 23 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.    

My mother's death has taught me to treasure our families, our friends, our loved ones who are with us today and whom we tend to take so much for granted. Her death also taught me to live simply ("we don't need much" she had always told us), to be more forgiving of each other, and to be selfless to help others less fortunate than us. All for the simple reason that one day, we too will have to depart, bade farewell and leave this world.     

Rest in peace, my dear mother.   


                    They who have gone, so we but cherish their memories,
                    abide with us, more potent, nay, more present than
                    the living man.
                                                        Antione-de-saint Exupery

My mother's 9 children and their spouses, with her grandchildren 

and great-grandchildren (60 in total) at her funeral on 17 March 2015.