My Longkang

Mr Hii is a 30 year-old man, tall, muscular, slim and the father of two. He is also an expert in IT matters.

Bengbeng: What happened?
Mr Hii : Nothing happened. Just that my dog has moved on. You know like go to heaven?

BB: I understand you must feel very sad.
MH: You understand nothing. I bought him a few months ago to protect my house after burglars broke in and frightened my grandmother. I paid RM10.00 for him at the market. A few days after that, I started to realize something was wrong. It was moving round and round in circles. It moved until it hit something and then it moved until it hit something.

I sent him to a vet who confirmed that it was blind. It was my fate. He was now my responsibility. He was totally useless as a watch-dog but I fed him well. He ate the same food as my sons and not left-overs. But it was a very picky eater. If the food was not to its taste it refused to eat or to eat the same food e.g. chicken for three days in a row. It just got bored I think.

Anyway, we had to be extra careful lest we run over him or step on him. Because it was blind it was almost impossible for us to train him in even the most basic tasks. Toilet training was impossible with this dog. Luckily my garden is big and it had free rein all over the place. It destroyed my flowers, my vegetables and anything that was in its path. It was a burden to me and yet it had no function. I wanted to be rid of the burden.

Recently it started to lose its appetite. It grew thinner and I sent it to the vet. The vet just smiled, gave it an injection and sent us home. Now, it is gone.

I miss it. I feel like I have failed it. But I have done all I could have done. I feel like fate sent him to me but I have failed big-time. The minute I took it home, it was my responsibility and my burden.

That was when the other guys hanging around eavesdropping chipped in and made remarks like,
Andi: Would have thrown it away ages ago
Mr Bong: Crazy you! Look for money. Forget the dog.
Mr. Shii: Why didn’t you simply return the dog and ask for a refund?
Mr. Tu : You could have asked me over and I could have made curry and sent some back to you ( in a joking manner ).

This remark by Mr. Tu angered Mr Hii and the discussion was over.

To be handicapped by blindness is a difficult burden and even more so to its care-givers. Yet all creatures are God’s creatures.