Lizard Rescue!

A few months back, as I was walking home from school, I came across 3 Primary 1 students from SAJS poking something with a stick. I decided to see what they were poking and to my horror, it was an innocent lizard! I told the boys off and carefully picked him up. He didn't struggle or put up a fight at all. That was not a good sign. I noticed he had many injuries. Serious ones too. He was missing scales everywhere, he was bleeding and the worst part was that he had a rubber band tied around his tail! I felt very sorry for the lizard - those boys were cruel to abuse him like that. 

I knew he would not be able to survive if left in the wild. He would be easy prey for birds. So I decided to take him home and try and nurse him back to health. 

We have a little garden in the common corridor just outside my flat. I figured he would be safe there because nobody could hurt him and he would not run far anyway because of his injuries. I fed him crickets and worms everyday. 

Look at him now! This is about 6 weeks later. However, he still has a dent in his tail left by the rubber band but other than that, he is looking happy and healthy. Maybe a little plump.

The recovered lizard. Still no name though. 

I think he's happy I found him and I'm happy I rescued him. It's pretty cool to have a living fossil in my garden!

Favourite quotes

Today my Mom and I were talking about our favourite quotes. She shared with me the 2 she loves best.

The first one is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: 

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever."  

I like that quote; I thought it was a wise way to live your life. My Mom is always trying to learn new things.

Her second favourite quote is one I really love! And I thought it was funny because it came from Yoda!

This is very true! You DO NOT TRY your best, you DO your best no matter what!

This made me think about finding a few quotes to inspire me...

Here's a couple that do and I hope they inspire you too.

Lessons from the Japanese Occupation in Singapore

During the school holidays, I worked with my group on our Oral History Project. We interviewed my grandfather, Mr David Tharmaraj Row, 82. We asked him questions about the war in Singapore, the separation of Singapore from Malaya and post-independent Singapore. He shared many experiences with us - you can view the full interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9oRKappIco.

But I also remember other war stories he told me when I was younger.
One frightening story was about how a Japanese soldier almost cut off his finger with a sword when he caught Kong-Kong stealing an egg. The Japanese soldiers terrified the people of Singapore and beatings and torture was not uncommon. Kong-Kong himself was even given a tight slap across the face once for forgetting to bow to a Japanese soldier.

Kong-Kong and Mama, my grandmother, also told me about Mrs Elizabeth Choy, Singapore's War Heroine. We knew her because Mama used to work with Mrs Choy at The School For The Blind. Uncle Ian was also a student at St. Andrew's Secondary School when Mrs Choy was a teacher there.

Mrs Choy was tortured by the Japanese because she helped the British and prisoners at Changi. All of them were not allowed to talk or move from their cross-legged seating position. Although they were not allowed to speak, they continued to communicate through sign language.


Mrs. Choy was subjected to beatings by the Japanese officers and was even electrocuted in front of her husband. The Japanese tried to force her into giving out the names of informants or admitting that she was anti-Japanese. After 193 days, the Japanese finally released her from prison, after learning that they would never get the 'confession' that they wanted out of her. She was released the day after her husband was sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment on 25th May 1944.
                                         
We used to visit Mrs Choy in her home when I was a toddler. I wish I had a chance to speak with her. From the stories I heard and read from my grandparents, I know she was a very courageous person and a forgiving person. Did you know that even at the War Crimes Tribunal, when she was given a chance to name her torturers, she never revealed any names saying  she condemned war and not the people who tortured her?