Cruelty to Animals

I lost my cat to a careless driver a couple of weeks ago. It didn't hurt too badly at first, but now it feels like there's a hole in my heart which will never heal. The worst part of all this is the knowledge that my cat didn't die due to unpreventable reasons; that he didn't die because it was his time. He died because of this odd ingrained part of Malaysian culture: it's fun to kill animals.

Yesterday, my father found fresh roadkill: another dead cat. The thing is, unless these cats crossing the street are deaf and blind, it's not that hard to avoid them. It's called the brake pedal, and last time I checked, you needed one to avoid losing life and/or limb. Somehow, a lot of drivers tend to forget this device exists when they see an animal, particularly a dog or cat (or even monkeys, in rural areas).

I'm no stranger to dealing with roadkill; I've seen more dead animals on the road than I can count. Last year we lost my sister's cat to another reckless driver. What I'm pissed off about is the fundamental lack of compassion in Malaysians for other living things.

This is not about being a whiny liberal douchebag who raids a pig farm to free the poor little creatures. This is about doing something which does not inconvenience you at all. It's like, okay, we don't have to eat meat, but what the heck, it tastes good, and it's the easiest source of iron and protein to find. But this...I don't see what's so inconvenient about slowing down for a second or two to let an animal cross.

Instead, the Malaysian attitude is, it's just an animal. I can maintain my speed, or even accelerate. Why bother slowing down for an animal? It's a bloody nuisance!

All I can say is, I'm really disappointed with Malaysians. I'm reminded of this advertisement I saw the day: "First world infrastructure, third world mentality?" It embodies Malaysians perfectly, in whatever we do. It's all right to not care. After all, it's just an animal/people's taxes.