Helga's posts with tag: town-council
I went to town for a free student haircut with a fellow caregiver today... to relax and be pampered for 2 hours...or so I thought. Ended up spending the whole time on the phone...my friend had to give the instructions on what to do with my hair because I was more concerned about getting a cat back from AVA. A few days ago another caregiver IK had messaged me that the town council said there were complaints about caterwauling and too many cats at the bin center of this area: http://meowies.multiply.com/journal/item/299/A_bad_estate She checked the area and agreed to sterilise the cats after one of the feeders (the owner of the hairdressing salon) offered to pay for the vet fees. She sent an email to inform TC. Today IK smsed that the pest control came this morning. Luckily the hairdresser had noticed and managed to get the cat released. The caregiver called her property officer, who denied having called in the pest control ! Saying that they are only trying to trap one black cat which defecates on the common corridor. AVA confirmed that they had an unsterilised cat from that area. The cat was caught by the TC's Pest Control service yesterday. I advised IK to go down to AVA... I had learned my lesson on betrayal the hard way. Penny also went down to assist and support... while I spoke to the property manager, who first told me the same story about trying to trap only that particular black cat until I confronted him with the fact that the trapped non-black cat is at AVA right now. Then he said there was a complaint and he had to be fair. Okay, so the complainant (who sent some emails without even giving his address to tc) is promptly served. The caregiver, also a resident of that area, is not even told the truth that the cats are being trapped.. Is that a way to treat people who spent much time and money to control the cat population in a humane way. When I requested for a letter to be sent to AVA the TC manager even suggested "to let this one go". I said " No Way!" IK said the same thing when I told her. In the end the cat was micro-chipped at AVA because of miscomunication between Penny and myself... I had assumed she would request for TC letter. IK had to pay $80 before the cat was handed over to her. She will get him sterilised tomorrow with the help of SPCA voucher from Penny and then release him in a safer area. She will still make arrangements to get the remaining cats sterilised.
TODAYonline http://groups.msn.com/SingaporeCats/sporenews.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=14943 A blow to Pasir Ris residents
Felled old trees were pride of quaint neighbourhood They were healthy – why cut them down?
Tuesday • February 26, 2008
Letter from Ong Siew Khim
Letter from David Law Kah Hock
I AM shocked and utterly disappointed at the felling of several old handsome casuarina trees along Elias Road (pictures).
We have been staying here for about 15 years and my family and neighbours take a lot of pride in these majestic willowy trees, which add a lot of character to the quaint neighbourhood.
Even visiting friends and relatives often comment about how beautiful they are. Very often, I look out of the window and spot various breeds of exotic birds resting and feeding on the fruit. They are one of the main reasons why we have chosen to stay here for many years.
So, imagine our horror on Saturday morning when we discovered a team of workers chopping down the trees.
When I approached them to find out why, they asked me to contact the Pasir Ris Town Council, which is closed during the weekend. They also told me they were going to chop down all the casuarina trees.
My family and I are upset that this has happened and hope to hear the justification for this insensitive action. As we are a green garden city, we should have more respect and consideration for residents and our surroundings.
I hope that through this letter, we can prevent more of these trees being felled. It takes just minutes to cut them down, but decades for them to flourish.
I AM dismayed by the Pasir Ris Town Council's decision to cut down mature and healthy casuarina trees in the area.
For many years, these tall and graceful trees have provided residents shade and comfort. One gets a sense of peace and calm just by looking at them.
Now, two of these gentle giants, each about 14 storeys high, have been cut down.
I do not see a need for such action. Many visitors have said that these beautiful trees give this estate a distinct feel.
I spoke to the contractor in charge and he attested that the trees were very healthy. He, too, is at a loss as to why he was instructed to cut them down.
I am disappointed with the National Parks Board for allowing this to happen. I am sure that without their approval, these trees could not have been felled. Can someone explain why these trees were cut down? Reply from Meow Meow 3: Whether trees or community cats, they "belong" to the residents! Town Councils have no right to act dictatorially and remove them based on "some" complaints! Sometimes town council officers forget that they are paid to serve ALL the residents and not just cower in fear to a few residents act aggressively or if they belong to RC or hold some PBM titles! So do not be afraid to exert your right as a resident, no more and no less that the complainant! If complainant says… too many cats. What is to stop you from saying… too few cats!
At 6 am this morning Penny arrived at my place to pass me a cat to bring for sterilisation today then she met up with a Malay feeder and took taxi to AVA. She told me that this feeder cried when he heard that the 2 cats were caught. The Pest Control people also went there to explain their "mistake" and claim the cats back. AVA refused and still insist on a letter from TC! All left in frustration, then Penny called me and I asked her to turn back... At first AVA said that a faxed letter was not acceptable as they are now very strict, until I managed to speak to someone from the Welfare side. TC was also very hard to reach...but finally Andrew agreed to fax the letter.... hopefully Penny will soon be able leave with the 2 cats. At first they even refused to let her see the cats but later she saw and identified them as the 2 missing cats.
After several calls to the Pest Control Company, they finally called back to admit that their employee "made a mistake by catching the two cats at the bin center" and that they were actually supposed to catch cats in Woodlands that morning. Luckily there was a resident who had seen the trapping going on and later informed Penny. So the 2 cats are now at AVA (one ginger boy and a tortoiseshell female). The pest control company (and caregivers) will try to claim them back on Monday morning. No wonder I was told there are no cats from our area at AVA, because they were recorded as being caught at Woodlands. Two more tipped-ear cats had gone missing from the bin center earlier... but no one saw what happened. They probably were the victims of another "mistake" and it will be too late to save them now because AVA will keep the tipped-ears for only about 3 days before they are killed. I guess many such 'mistakes' happen on a regular basis and it seems we caregivers have to make a trip down to AVA whenever any cat goes missing.
I am still trying to verify with TC...so far have not been able to contact Ms Veron or Andrew. The agreement was to give us until end of this month! AVA will call me if the cats come in and we will try our best to claim them back. I was told by AVA that lately more cats are being rounded up and that it will be very, very difficult to claim any unsterilised cat back. We still don't know exactly which two cats have been caught, but there were no unsterilised ones left at this bin center. Sponsors have come up with a total of $550.- to get 10 of the cats sterilised quickly...and 10 more were done with the help of SPCA. None of the many families we spoke to wants the cats to be killed... Are the TC officers afraid because this complainant, who wanted to call in the police because Penny mentioned "Race" when talking about abandonment, would complain to the MP if TC didn't remove the cats? TC denied having activated pest control...and the cats did not turn up at AVA. The Pest Control company employed by TC is Clean Solutions. I suspect they have relocated the 2 cats...
A mother cat from Tampines is being held at AVA for more than a week now because TC refuse to issue a letter to the caregiver who wants to sterilise the cat and board her at a cattery. All her kittens have already died at AVA. Can someone please tell me why there is a need for such a letter in the first place when the caregiver is willing to home the cat in a cattery and is paying for all the expenses? More closer to home, the Town Council Manager informed Penny that the (sterilised) cats will still be rounded up after end of this month because there is a complaint from a resident at Blk 172 about too many cats and that they are making noise. She refused to reveal which unit the complaint came from. So all the families that we spoke to at Blk 165, which is even closer to the bin center must be deaf....because we asked them and they said there was no noise! Also it doesn't matter that none of the residents we spoke to wanted the cats to be killed. All that matters is that that the one complainant and one property officer want them removed. I wonder if the complainant is actually aware that the cats will be killed and that there is a better and humane way of controlling the cat population... probably not! There are around 10 cats at the bin center now, 2 have been removed. A caregiver has adopted the one that had one eye removed. Another cat gave birth at a caregiver's home, while waiting to be sterilised and she is now nursing her 6 kittens there untill they are ready to be adopted. We actually came to know about this problem because a resident feeder named Caren contacted me... but in the end she was not willing to do anything at all. Penny then took over as it is quite close to her area... then another 2 caregivers and some sponsors came in. I am quite encouraged by such community spirit... what a shame to have such an unsupportive TC.
Altogether about 20 over cats have been done, those at the bin center as well as those from nearby blocks. However the property officer still insists that there must not be more than 5 cats at the bin center by end of next week. Otherwise the Pest Control will be called in to round them up . Helped Penny to do a survey today, in 2 hours we covered about half of the block closest to the bin center. 23 families did not want the cats removed, and none of them had any complaints. 2 people were indifferent and one family wanted some of the cats removed as they were scared of them…but even they did not want them killed. Frankly I was surprised that there was not a single complaint about caterwauling, cat fights…I mean we only started sterilizing 2 weeks ago! Penny will talk to the property manager and show him the result of our survey. Why must these sterilised cats (there are now about 10 at the bin center) be removed, when the overwhelming majority of residents does not want them to be removed…just because one family has a phobia? The bin center is not even close to the first block and there is lots of greenery surrounding it...including a quite steep hill with overgrown grass…. more than enough space for 10 cats to play and hide away from human beings.
A lady called me about a month ago as she was interested to start TNRM in her area. However she gave manny excuses. Penny and myself offered her our SPCA vouchers but then she said that she could only sterilise one cat this month. So Pest Control was activated today. Two caregivers went to the area and somehow the captured cats were released. Phew...what a relief! Another caregiver has agreed to start sterilising those cats, so I will pass her my remaining 2 SPCA vouchers and Penny also has another 3 vouchers for her. The little black female kitten in my Area 1, called Bumboo, can wait until next month...I think she is not even 5 months old yet.
Got a frantic call from the caregiver this morning... I had met Penny only once, more than a year ago, when she approached me to help her sterilize the cats in her area. I refused, as I have my hands full but urged her to start sterilizing and to work with her TC. Seems she has now sterilised about 20 cats in her area, with only a few left to be done. The Pest Control people, as well as the Town Council officer, were at the car park of blk *55 this morning. Seems the TC officer refused to talk to her and also ignored her request to speak with me over the phone. The Caregiver told me that some of the cats had already been caught…which I later found out was untrue. The TC people had left by the time I reached there but the pest controllers were still there. They told me that they were not catching the cats today (even showed me the empty van with a cat trap in it) but they would come back… as instruction was given to catch the cats (including the tipped ears). I will pass some CWS material to the caregiver, who said she would do a survey of the 2 blocks from where the complaints originated. Anyone staying in this area, please call up your TC to let them know that you do not want the cats removed.
Some time ago there was a complaint about ''too many cats at blk *46 area 3". This was shortly after our MP visited this block...so Sylvia and myself were already keeping a watchful eye on the notice board. This time however CWS was informed and we were given a chance to solve the problem. I went down to look and see what the problem might be...since there has been a significant drop in the number of cats at this block and all the cats are sterilised. Some had moved to another nearby area and 2 were hit by cars and died. While walking along the 2nd floor corridor I noticed the complainant was in, so I approached her to find out more. I also noticed she had placed a piece of cardboard behind her gate. There was no sign of cat feeding or defecation on the common corridor. The lady told me that the problem was actually cat poo on the roof which runs around several blocks and covered walkways, connecting them. She said the poo was only cleared just before the MP's visit. I gave her my contact number and said I would come down to remove the poo if it happens again and meanwhile would try to solve the problem by sprinkling crushed moth balls. Sylvia happened to have a roll of plastic mesh so we also offered to put it up for her so she could do away with the troublesome cardboard.. She was pleased with the result. A few days later we noticed 2 lumps of poo on the roof just outside her unit. We managed to wash away one of the lumps by carefully pouring a few bottles of water and dislodge the other one with a piece of wire attached to a long bamboo pole. Later we saw one of the cats sitting on the opposite roof which is the building where the Town Council office is. There is a window at the staircase landing which is usually left open at night. So now we knew how the cat went up. We have since taken turns to close the window every night and there has been no further incidence so far.
Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/yishcats/petition.html Some of the people's comments: Some hate cats and some , like me , just loves all of them ... Do you give in to hate or love ?? Kill because you have the power to ... or respect the life of an animal and live in harmony with it ... Is your survey a fool proof democratic tool for determining the majority decision ? If 50 people want the cats dead for no good reason and one little child loves the little stray kitten that brings her joy and teaches her to care for other living things ... Can your survey determine the ethics of your decision to cull ?? I believe it is ignorant , skewed and blind. The survey is obviously flawed and biased. The cat caregivers have done more for their neighbourhood than the complainants. It is a shame that their efforts are overlooked, while the TCs rush to pander to the complainants. Let's see what they can do for their own neighbourhood instead of merely complaining all the time. Compassion is sadly lacking in our society these days, to the extent that people are persecuting ruthlessly the lives of just 3 cats. Are we getting too self-centred for our own good? Killing is not a solution! We should be working together for better solutions, and not against each other. How can we claim to be a gracious society if we can't let live 3 cats which are already sterilised and maintained under a humane society? Kindness begets kindness. Please allow the care givers to rectify this 'problem' and please stop the killing of innocent lives. Efforts have been made (and still ongoing) to help reduce the cat population humanely. Please do exercise tolerance and compassion for the less fortunate. The earth is not created for you only. It is not right to consider the views of complainers- might not be even be legitimate - could be residents' personal pursuit against cats - please impart some humanity to our children at least. Just cos someone dislike cats is NO reason for them to be culled.. the lives of the cats , the people who care for them and those who appreciate the presence of their feline friends in the neighbourhood should be respected too .. acting only to placate complainants without regard for the cats or other people in the community is a cowardly and too easy way to deal with the complaint ... shame on you !!! This cavalier attitude towards putting down animals which are cared for and sterilised by fellow residents cannot be condoned. There is no reason why the voices of complainants should be louder than those who have a stake in these creatures that share and enrich our environment. Cats are not guilty for soiled void decks or cars. Those are caused by irresponsible dog owners who never clean up after their dogs and birds. Cant they tell the difference? Duh. Cats need dirt and soil to do their business. And being strays, dirt and soil are aplenty for them cats to not un dignify themselves by doing big business on void decks or people's cars. I live in Blk 877 and Ive never received any such forms. Even if the rest of my family members did, we would have never agreed to the killing of stray cats. I know my neighbours well too and they would have never agreed to it as well! This is outrageous!!! Imagine the number of rodents running around if our furry friends ain't around. Compassion is sadly lacking in our society these days, to the extent that people are persecuting ruthlessly the lives of just 3 cats. Are we getting too self-centred for our own good?
http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?t=581 Helga Koh is right. I've made friends with an elderly Malay couple who regularly look after a particular tipear in my neighbourhood. Thanks to that cat, we commune as animal carers blinding racial, linguistic, generational and social differences.
This is organic - tons better than orchestrated inter-racial bonding. And likelier to endure as long as a catalytic animal exists.
Too often, the calloused squeamish get their way with ridding 'lowly' life forms deemed 'unhygienic' and 'pesky'. They are likely to raise children who replicate their irrational fears of harmless animals they project as 'dangerous' and 'in the way'.
Would they develop into empathic or abusive (not only to animals) adults thus conditioned? Mr Goh Han Chuan (Nee Soon Zone F RC Chairman) should respect animals and concerned carers rights instead of allow animal disrespecters their cruelty.
In the spirit of Ahimsa (no harm to life), stray-animal deciders should heed Mahatma Gandhi's dictum that a nation is judged by its treatment of animals. Stray animals are social/bonding/educative issues, not a simple problem of killing 'pests'. ----------------- Why are we killing the 2 STERILISED cats? Have they caused nuisance to be "sentensed to death"? Are they spreading disease? Have they bitten someone?
Maybe we should start killing all the birds cos they are potential spread of Avian Flu.
Let the sterilised cats live their lifes if they haven't cause or "committed" offense that warrents the DEATH sentense. Are you "cat-phobic"?
 | Petition | Jun 17, '07 5:18 AM
for everyone |
14 residents turned up at the Meet The People Session, hopeful that Ms Lee would look into this matter. Agnes was our spokesperson. She was wonderful, kept her cool all the time, even after the MP told us that the cats had already been rounded up this morning. 2 residents were so upset that they walked out immediately upon hearing this. Mostly we talked to Mr. Wee, the previous chairman of the RC, and he was agreeable to talk to RC about contacting CWS if there are complaints about cats, so that the caregivers can try to solve those problems. Mr. Wee however discounted my feedback from residents because I had used the word “killed”. He said, ”Of course people do not want the cats killed. We just remove the cats, we don’t kill them”. When told that AVA does kill them, he still maintained that they do not know that and whatever they do with the cats is up to AVA. What strange logic! The MP also maintained that that the results of the survey were valid and that the RC chairman had placed survey forms in all the letterboxes. Why would Anna, who is the caregiver of these cats, fail to respond to the survey…unless she did not receive it! Her vote alone would have changed the outcome of the survey! When I tried to explain that the original complaint was already resolved as the kitten had grown up and moved away. I was told that it didn’t matter “as long as residents want the cats removed we will remove them”. Even the complainant himself had not insisted on removal…he just was angry that nothing was done about his complaints to RC and TC.
http://meowies.multiply.com/journal/item/395 I managed to get a copy of the survey form and it is very clear now that the Property Manager was mistaken when she informed me that the survey was only targeted at unsterilised cats. I went to speak with the residents of this block yesterday and found that an overwhelming majority does not want the cats killed. I spoke to a total of 36 families and 18 of them claimed not to have received the survey form. The feedback I received was that: 2 residents want the cats killed 7 are neutral 27 residents do not want the cats to be removed and killed One of the 2 people who want the cats killed said she pitied them as people may abuse them…better to have them killed. She also expressed concern about cat fur and asthma. The other person told me that he had complained to TC and RC for a long time about cats urinating and defecating on the common corridor. He said 2 of his neighbors feed them upstairs on the 2nd floor. The two neighbours denied feeding the cats. I did not see any food or water bowls or defecation or noticed any smell. I gave the complainant my number to contact me if it happens again. This person has a problem and is angry that nothing had been done. Even he does not insist on removal of the cats…if other methods can work. Actually two very observant caregivers knew about the problem on this corricdor...but that was quite some time back. This kitten has now grown up and moved to another area. Both caregives still do spot checks and say that none of the other cats ever come up to defecate on the corridor I am very disappointed that TC does not keep to the agreement of letting caregivers know about and look into cat-related complaints. We caregivers are very willing to talk to the people who lure the cats up, to sprinkle camphor powder and to do spot checks and clean up. As “cat feeders” we always get very “special” treatment by this RC and this TC Property Manager! When I was outside the glass door of the RC, reluctant to enter as they were having a meeting, the chairman was getting up to attend to me, then one of the members told him “this is about the cats” and he promptly sat down again and ignored me...hoping I would go away? Silvia remained outside…although she had agreed to join me as long as I do the talking…she just “didn’t want to see his face”. Such is the bullying of the caregivers! The chairman did agree to ask TC to delay the culling to give us time to see the MP next Thursday. However when I called the Property Manager today she would not give me such reassurance saying that RC and TC will handle this matter and I was told that I am just a cat feeder and not even a resident of this RC zone. Sadly the caregiver of this zone who is also resides at blk 875, refuses to talk to TC…due to earlier experience with this property manager.
Sylvia just saw the notice that the RC had conducted a survey, to which 3 people responded and 2 of them were in favor of removing the cats. Therefore RC will inform TC to round up the cats. There are at the most 3 cats at this block at feeding time…all sterilized. The caregiver herself staying at this block said that she did not receive any survey form. This is totally unfair! Killing cats at the whim of 2 residents, who may not even be aware that the cats will be killed. And what about the caregiver who has so successfully controlled the population in this area? This is just totally beyond reason… I just caught another cat to be sterilized tomorrow…and have 4 more SPCA vouchers for this month. Gave one voucher to a new caregiver , Ivy, to sterilize the pregnant cat at *39. I wonder should I continue, am I befriending and sterilizing cats so that pest control companies have an easier job… just picking these trusting and friendly cats up to deliver them to their death? Has the Holocaust started?
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