Sunday, January 15, 2012

SACD's Twelve Favourite Sherlock Holmes Stories

  
This post is random, I know, forgive me, but I need to vent about my obsession
since the new year, which is the Second Season of Sherlock. I'd written about
this before but HHNNNG to quote Irene Adler,
                         
          "Brainy is the New Sexy"
                  Spot on, Irene.xxx

Which brings us back to what I wanted to write or list down, which is
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's(SACD) 12 favourite Sherlock Holmes stories.
Well, he wrote 56 of them but the 12 best he likes were,

1. The Speckled Band
2. The Redheaded League
3. The Dancing Men
4. The Final Problem
5. A Scandal in Bohemia
6. The Empty House
7. The Five Orange Pips
8. The Second Stain
9. The Devil's Foot
10. The Priory School
11. The Musgrave Ritual
12. The Reigate Squires

To be honest, I've read only a few of the 56 stories but am somehow
pleased with myself for having read no 1 to 7 and also no 11. And 
I concur, I like the Speckled Band most followed by the 5 Orange Pips.

BROMANCE YAY!!
Ah, the things I do for literature and how they make me go sleepless. :)

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Euthanasia and Pets

Title
Putting Down a Sick Cat: Permissible?

Question
As-Salamu `alaykum. My parents have a pet cat and it is very sick now.
They are planning to have it put down. Is this kind of mercy killing allowed in Islam?

Date
10/Jun/2004

Name of Counsellor
Ahmad Kutty

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.


All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, we are very pleased for the great confidence you place in us, and we commend your interest in having a better understanding of the teachings of Islam and the rulings of this great religion in all matters. In fact, Islam is a religion that encompasses all aspects of life and secures guidance and light for all mankind.

Concerning your question, Islam, the true religion of Allah, cares about the well-being of all creatures. Therefore, animals should be treated kindly and mercifully. If a pet cat becomes sick it should be treated.

Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada states:

“If your cat is sick and it can be treated you must do so if it is within your means and ability. Simply allowing a cat to be put down because it is sick is not allowed in Islam; should you do so, you will be responsible before Allah for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

If, however, your cat is too sick to recover and there is no hope of it ever being able to lead a normal life, or you do not have the means and resources to obtain adequate treatment for it, then you must hand it over to the humane society. It is up to them to decide what to do with the cat. If they decide to put it down because of not being able to find a home, or because of their decision that such an animal cannot be cared for or set free, it is permitted to do so according to the principles of the Shari`ah. It is generally agreed by scholars that if leaving certain animals free becomes a cause of genuine concern for the safety of society, it is permitted in Shari`ah to put them down as a lesser of the two evils.”

Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.muslim.ca
_ _ _ _             _ _ _ _           _ _ _ _

p/s: I didn't PTS my cat. He passed away naturally.

Requiem for Yoyo...

My beloved, handsome, darling cat, Yoyo, or his pet name,
A-yo passed away this afternoon, at 3pm because of FIP.
He was 3 years, 1 month. 

I have a lot of cats, and each and every one of them is special
to me, but he was way too special. Every night he slept beside
me and every morning he would wake me up. He was the alpha,
dominant male, but he was very gentle with any kitten that
he met. He would go out every morning and waited for me
by the house gate when I returned home. And what I remember
most about him is that he would stay quiet whenever I kissed his
face. During a visit to the clinic, when he was screaming at the
vet, I kissed his face and he became quiet. Such is the 
bond that we shared


For him, i dedicate a poem.

Missing You

When I was yours and you were mine
You missed me.

When I went to work
Or to the store
You missed me.

When I talked too long to a neighbor
Or went out with the girls
You missed me.

When I worked in the garden
Or hiked in the woods
You missed me.

When I was yours and you were mine
You greeted me.
You sang
You danced
You hurdled the couch
You knocked me down
You greeted me!
I’m still yours, but you are gone.

When I am at work
Or at the store
I miss you!

When I talk too long to a neighbor
Or go out with the girls
I miss you.

When I work in the garden
Or hike in the woods
I miss you.


I’m still yours, but you are gone.
No one greets me.
No one sings
No one dances
No one hurdles the couch
No one knocks me down
No one greets me!

I’m still yours but you are gone
And
I’m
Missing You!

Written by Sonjalyn Dickson Rine

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Dancing Under The Rain

Last 2 Fridays, I went to Sunway Giza to appease my curiosity. Spent close to 4 hours 
there and as I was about to leave, it rained. And as people always say, 
“it never rains, it pours” And so I was stuck, within 2 metres from where I parked 
my car because the rain was indeed phenomenal, even for this country.
The wind was mind blowing and the rain was heavy, I was drenched within seconds as
I opened the doorof my car and got in.

Before going into my car, I was amused with a scene I saw by the mall. An English 
woman was shouting ecstatically looking at the heavy rain and she was busily 
snapping pictures of the rain. She kept running towards the rain but she didn’t get 
herself drenched. Maybe it was her self restraint, cuz she had a Chinese friend with
her. The English woman was still young, I guess in her late twenties, so pretty and 
excited. Her friend was trying to stop her but then she desisted.

This particular scene reminded me of the same scene I saw of my two trainee teachers 
back when I was schooling in Science Selangor. Every year we’d get a few 
native speakers as English teachers and in my form 5, we got two lady teachers, 
who were actually at the same age as us-17! But they looked way matured and adult
but very nice and sweet.

Well it happened one day, as they were staying in the dormitories with us, it rained quite 
heavily. Both of them jumped unto the basketball court and danced under the rain. It 
was so much fun, and some students even followed them!
I guess that says a lot about rain and how we actually do not realize that we are 
fortunate to get such heavy rain. I have always run from the rain, but one day,
I wish I could act like them, and dance under the rain..!



 p/s: I have been lazy yes, work has been a pain so... ><

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Adopt A Cat (For Free!)




           Actually if you think you are ready to have a pet cat, you don't have to buy it. Apparently they can be given free. Just check out the face book page like in the picture above- Malaysian Cats Free Adoption 
But don't dream of having those expensive breed of cats like Scottish Folds or Persian. Most of them are local or domestic breed. If u are lucky they might be mixed! This is a public announcement and I am not affliated with the page itself, only I feel that it's BETTER if we stop buying cats from pet shops for the sake of the cats... Besides there are many stray cats out there. I NEVER bought any of my cats. I picked them out from the back of my house and I trained and domesticated them myself. The first year was hell, yeah, but it was worth it..


              To get your pet, you just have to like the page, and then go to the public wall (it's written as everyone) and read the posts there. Look at the pics and if the original owner is in your area, you're in luck! I stalk this page everyday because i love reading about how this cat got adopted or found a new home. Yeah i'm messed up that way XP btw if i didn't have 3 adult cats, i would have scourged and devoured the page for those cute kittens they are giving away *be still my beating heart* :)

                 If u happen to have or adopt one, please make sure your cats are neutered and spayed. It's for your own and the cat's benefit. My mom used to disagree on this but after i persuaded her to spay the cats, she is now convinced. You can ask me where you can neuter or spay them in KL area.[or in any other area, i'll search the net for you :)]

p/s: do you know that if you send your cats to SPCA, and after 2 weeks, if nobody wants them, they'll be put to sleep? T____________T

Sunday, September 11, 2011

On September 11, 2001 where was I and what was I doing?


I remember clearly that morning. I was still in UKM, and I had class the whole day, and living in the college in my second year, it was my routine to watch the telly after Isya’. Usually I go and watch those Chinese dramas, so popular at that time. Around 10pm the news about 9-11 came out, and it was surreal. TV3 was reporting as ‘AMERICA UNDER ATTACK’ and it was pretty chaotic. As I watched, the number of students watching it grew, because it was a horrific sight. None of us said anything.  The news only reported what happened, and we didn’t know who was behind it or what repercussion it would bring later. It just felt bad. I went to my room at 11pm.

                The next day, it was all over the news and newspaper, and then the reality of the situation hit me.  I still remembered the news reported, close to 4,000 casualties but the story dominated the telly that day and the rest of the month. I kept thinking how horrible! I remembered talking to my friend about the huge amount of deaths, and how terrible it was. Imagine, it’s the number of occupants in the whole of UKM! It was nauseating and this act of terrorism is very, very appalling and disgusting. I never felt so bad for anybody, as bad as what I felt for the family of the victims(rivaled only what I felt for the 2004 tsunami victims) And when we watched about the firefighters who died trying to rescue before the towers collapse, it made it worse. I pray this will never happen again, not to me nor anybody in this world.

This was the exact news I watched on TV1 and it was repeated the whole week.


 RIP 9-11 Victims

Tuesday, September 6, 2011