Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Jamus Lim shared a photo of a white cat he had come across during a recent estate walk at Compassvale.
He noted in a March 5 Facebook post that the neighbourhood he visited at Northgate cluster, beside CompassOne mall, is a “well-maintained” one, and he had gotten to talk to long-time residents there.
Compassvale was the ward of former WP MP Raeesah Khan, and after her resignation late last year, her duties were divided between Prof Lim, Ms He Ting Ru, and Mr Louis Chua.
One of the highlights of Asst Prof Lim’s Compassvale walk was meeting “Hui Hui, a beautiful white cat, outside one of the residents’ homes.”
He added that he learned of the cat’s name from the Bangladeshi conservancy cleaner in the area, adding that the workers,
I also had the fortune to meet Hui Hui, a beautiful white cat, outside one of the residents’ homes. Interestingly enough, we learned of the kitty’s name not from the family, but from the Bangladeshi conservancy cleaner.
“The cleaner—like most across the estate—was clearly embedded in the community. It is these sort of bonds—between foreigners and locals, across ethnic distinctions and class divisions—that make Singapore the complex, interesting, and beautiful tapestry that it is. #SengkangGRC,” he added.
Asst Prof Lim’s post drew a lot of attention from netizens, many of whom left encouraging and thankful comments on his wall.
However, one commenter asked him, “Pls campaign for cats to be allowed in HDB homes.”
The Sengkang GRC MP replied by crediting PAP MP Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC), who has “extensively (and exhaustively) championed” the issue in Parliament.
Asst Prof Lim added that he himself is in favor of allowing cats in HDB flats, writing that he believes “that there are others in the House that agree, too.
The government, however, has thus far refused to budge.”
Indeed, Mr Louis Ng has been a longtime proponent of animal rights, having volunteered at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in his youth and then founding Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) in 2001.
He announced in a Facebook post in December 2019 that he would be fighting for the right to keep cats in HDB flats.
“I do think it is time to review the rule of not allowing people living in HDB flats to keep cats. I’ve spoken up about this for many years and will raise this in Parliament. Let’s debate this.
I’ve filed the following Parliamentary Question for next month’s sitting: ‘To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what is the rationale for not allowing people living in HDB flats to keep cats; and (b) whether the Ministry is reviewing this rule.’”
In a written reply the following month, Mr Lawrence Wong, then-Minister for National Development, said that the government must “strike a balance between residents who are pet lovers and those who are not. Irresponsible pet ownership can lead to disamenities in the community and cause unhappiness.”
This has not deterred Mr Ng, however, as he has brought up the issue in Parliament several times since then.
/TISG
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