The Factory Dog
It would seem like my little factory in JB does attract all kinds of animals into the compound. Let’s see, there was the cat who sashayed into my office on level 2 months ago, the monkey which caused havoc in the packing room, the family of 3 barn owls with the bad case of diarrhea & the cobra which scared away the malay gardener :))
Of late, there’s a dog who invited itself into our compound. It did so at first to take shelter from the heat of the afternoon sun. Then when the factory workers started feeding it, that mutt would appear promptly at 1pm at our doorstep everyday. Sounds harmless, huh? Lately, instead of just sleeping outside the perimeters of the factory, it has invited itself into the building too, much to our surprise. Just on Tuesday morning when we opened the roller shutter to the factory, we were shocked to find the entire place in disarray!! Apparently, no one saw the dog was asleep inside the factory when we locked up for the evening and that dog started ravaging through all the stuffs in the factory after waking up!! Raw materials were all over the floor and even the intercom lines were bitten off. We chased it out of the factory… actually, we had to drag it out. Grrrr… Btw, it appeared again at our doorstep this morning *pengz*
Here’s a pic of our factory’s security guard hard at work ;p Here’s another taken at lunch time feasting on braised duck bones ;p
Have been coming very early to the factory to open the gates recently because the aunty who is both my biz partner has been on urgent leave due to her husband being critically ill. He was warded last week into the Sultana Aminah Hospital, the red brick building next to the Hyatt along the coastal road. Seems like he had lung cancer. Then he passed away just on 2 nights ago. Seaweeds took a bus all the way down from KL just to attend the funeral wake with me last night.
One of the most touching things I’ve heard came out of that ICU where he was laying. When it became apparent that any hope of saving him was dim, aunty went beside him and said sumthing like "For 30years I’ve stuck it out with you. All these 30 years has been nothing short of hardship. But I bore thru it all cause I love you…"
Now, on the surface it may seem like harsh words. Let me explain the background to it all. He was a sailor when they got married. He was seldom around, leaving her to manage their 5 kids. But when he’s around, he would show her his foul temper. I know cause I’ve seen him shouting at her before. A fall and some personal setbacks later on reduced him to a homebound invalid with mental problems. Since then, she came out to work to support the entire family. And he couldn’t even be left alone in the house as he has a tendency to set things on fire. But the children are all grown up now except for one. I guess she has much to be proud of in this aspect. She said her religion (Soka sumthing…) kept her going in those times of need. I wouldn’t doubt her at all.
Like a conversation Seaweeds and I had just last evening. We all got to find a religion that suits us. I say that not because religion in itself has any flaws that makes it unsuitable for some, but the flaws lies in the people who managed these religions. For example, for all the goodness that Christianity is, sometimes, the folks who go around preaching it really puts me off. They go to funerals to check to see if fellow bro or sis cave in to pressure and hold the joss sticks or disrespectfully tell fellow relatives off for even suggesting they partake of such rites. Or that they go to friends’ houses and tell them there’s evil spirits in their homes because of the presence of carvings of phoenixes or dragons. Ironically, these people have nothing to say about statues of greek or roman gods or old English emblems/crests with dragon motives on them. These things are also common in houses of Anglophiles… If you’re to ask me, a dragon is a dragon; regardless where it originates ;p
It is little wonder then that such westernization of certain religions under these people puts others off. Sometimes, I do wonder if young people do convert to Christianity only because of the perceived hip factor, more excuses to celebrate Xmas or to acquire for themselves a legitimate a western name…