Thanks to Nandhini, who did all the reccee work in looking for the two places, ie. Desapark City and Solaris Dutamas, we managed to find the venues.
However, when we arrived at Desapark City, it was raining rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses! We were stranded and could not unload our stock. And the rain was very persistent, too. It poured, it subsided, and it poured again, and this went on and on for at least an hour.
But believe me, Desapark City is out-of-this-world. I didn’t know there was such a beautiful housing estate in our country!
By the way, the Blueys live here on weekends. Andy and Mr Teh did say they would be at the event too.
Amy Tham brought her niece, Janice, to help. That’s Nandhini, my life-saver for the day, as far as directions were concerned. We brought down the books, but left the tshirt stock in the car as the ground was totally wet and we were only given two chairs and one small table, so we had no where to put our stock.
Rain, rain, go away….
Donovan and Bernice, our new volunteers and helpers.
Despite the rain, there were visitors.
But their poor doggies got soaking wet in the rain. There were many, many Huskies – big, small, baby, in all different sizes and colours. They seem to be the fashion-dog of the day.
Things kind of moved along at around 4.30pm but it was time for Nandhini and me to move over to Solaris Dutamas. Terry and Jessie were manning the booth over there.
On the way out, we met Mr Teh and Andy Lew at their Canine Caviar booth!! Yes, this would be the first photo ever published of Andy Lew, the Blueys’ “daddy”! Andy pointed out to me where the Blueys were. We could see his house from their booth. But we could not visit because we had to get to our next event.
From here, Nandhini and I drove over to Solaris Dutamas. It seemed a very long way, and I am totally amazed at how Nandhini could remember the roads without a map, and after doing the reccee at night! I am always amazed at people who have a good sense of direction, and it’s partly because I am a total retard in this area.
As we were driving over, Nandhini remarked that we were treading in this part of town where you’d find the rich and famous. True…this is Mont Kiara, and I’ve never been here before. But I must say, their township is very well-planned.
We soon arrived…
Now, Publika at Solaris Dutamas was a totally different ballgame altogether…
Yes, it’s totally artsy-fartsy.
Confirmed for those with the finer taste in life…
We’re approaching the Black Box Theatre now….
Here we are…and there’s Terry.
And Jessie Yee!
Lian Hua and Gary had helped Terry and Jessie with the stock-check and setting up earlier.
Interestingly, Lian Hua and Gary are both vegetarians! It’s always nice to know young people who make an informed choice to adopt a more compassionate lifestyle. They are the key to our future.
Choon Leong also came over, not just to purchase our tshirt (which is put on immediately) but also to help us with closing.
 The emcee invited me to tell the audience a wee bit about AnimalCare since we were the only booth at the event and Teresa Chian, the Principal of the school, was going to dedicate 10% of the ticket sales to our fund.
And while I was giving a very, very short speech about AnimalCare, someone in the audience recognised me…
I couldn’t believe this…after the show, this couple came to our booth asked me if I was a former teacher, and yes, I was. It only took me a split second to recognise them. Both were my students from more than 20 years back while I was a teacher at Catholic High School. That’s Ling Yoke and Kee Peng, and now, their children. These are the unspoken money-cannot-buy rewards of being a teacher.
And while we were at the Black Box Theatre, Jessie went over to DesaPark to help Bernice and Donovan close the booth and pack up. Jessie then drove over back to the Black Box with all the stock, but not before braving several queues at DesaPark. She told us that the queue to pay the parking ticket itself was 1km long, and then there was another queue to get out of the parking lot! Living in the city is all about braving queues and jams, I guess. Do we spend, maybe 30% of our lives, in queues and traffic jams? If we do, we had better find something productive to do while queuing up! I think the easiest would be to look at everyone around us and everything, and say, sincerely, “May you be well and happy”. Easy to do, and has a great impact, too. Try it? You’ll actually find yourself a much happier and tolerant person after some time. It’s free therapy.
And this is Teresa Chian, the Principal of Living Arts Theatre. We watched Teresa perform AcroYoga on stage. She was amazing!
Thank you, Teresa, for your very kind and generous thought of donating part of the proceeds of this concert to the street animals who come to us for help.
Teresa herself is a rescuer and caregiver of street animals, too, and we have helped spay-neuter and also with the medical treatment of a few of her animals in the past two years.
We reached home at around 10pm after the two events.
Many thanks to our volunteers of the day – Nandhini, Terry, Bernice and Donovan, Amy and Janice, Gary and Lian Hua, and Choon Leong, and the visitors at both booths who supported our efforts.
It’s all for the animals, and in the process of doing what we do, the humans also foster goodwill, friendship and lots of fun!
More Articles By AnimalCare
|
| 
Member Login
