Taken from news.asiaone.com
Distraught after being berated by animal activists for euthanising too many dogs, a veterinary doctor and director of an animal shelter in Taiwan has reportedly committed suicide.
The threats started coming in after Jian Zhicheng, the director of the Xinwu Animal Protection and Education Centre, revealed that she was forced to euthanise 700 dogs in just two years due to overcrowding issues at the animal shelter.
Her death on May 12 was confirmed by a staff member from the Taoyuan Office of Animal Care and Control to MailOnline, although they declined to reveal the exact cause of her death.

"Public animal shelters are allowed to carry out mercy killings when they are running out of space, according to Taiwanese law," the staff member told MailOnline.
"Since this is an animal shelter, it cannot refuse to take in stray animals, when there are more coming in than leaving, and in order to maintain the standard of the living quality of animals here, this is allowed," said the article.
410 dogs and 94 cats are currently housed in the Xinwu animal shelter, which has a capacity for 500 dogs and 100 cats.

Colleagues described Jian as a kind-hearted and dedicated person. Reported to be 31-years-old, Jian had been working at the state-run shelter for a couple of years.
She had revealed the euthanisation figures in a news report, leading animal rights activists to brand her as a 'female butcher' and 'butcher with beauty'.

Upset by the name-calling and the woes faced by the animal shelter due to the increasing number of animal abandonment cases, Jian was under immense pressure to solve the problem.
According to People's Daily Online, her husband lodged a police report after she failed to return home on May 5. She was later found unconscious on the same day by the police after injecting euthanasia drugs meant for the animals. She died in the hospital a week later.

Taken from  www.elle.com

Jolie was awarded with an honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, given to those for their outstanding efforts in humanitarian causes. 
She ended the speech by making us all reflect on how we can make change. "We are all, everyone in this room, so fortunate," she said. 

"I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had—with this path in life. And why across the world, there's a woman just like me with the same abilities and the same desires, the same work ethic and love for her family who would most likely make better films and better speeches. 

Only she sits in a refuge camp, and she has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe, and if they'll ever return home. I don't know why this is my life and that's hers…But I will do as my mother asked, and I will do the best I can with this life to be of use. And to stand here today means that I did as she asked. If she were alive, she would be very proud, so thank you [gets choked up]."

From aljazeera.com
South Korean author Han Kang has won the Man Booker International Prize, sharing the £50,000 ($72,000) award with her translator - who had only taught herself Korean three years before.

Han Kang, 45, an author and creative writing teacher who is already successful in South Korea, is likely to enjoy a spike in international sales following the win for her book, The Vegetarian.
"I'm so honoured" she told AFP news agency. "The work features a protagonist who wants to become a plant, and to leave the human race to save herself from the dark side human nature.

"Through this extreme narrative I felt I could question ... the difficult question of being human."
Described as "lyrical and lacerating" by chairman of the judges Boyd Tonkin, the tale traces the story of an ordinary woman's rejection of convention from three different perspectives.

It was picked unanimously by the panel of five judges, beating six other novels including The Story of the Lost Child, by Italian sensation Elena Ferrante, and A Strangeness in My Mind, by Turkey's Orhan Pamuk.
"This is a book of tenderness and terror," Boyd told guests at the award ceremony dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

For the first time this year, the award went jointly to the translator, Deborah Smith, 28, who only started learning Korean three years before she embarked on the translation.
"This was the first book that I ever translated, and the best possible thing that can happen to a translator has just happened to me," she said. 

"When I was 22, I decided to teach myself Korean ... I felt that I was limited by only being able to speak English. I'd always read a lot of translations, and you get the sense of this whole world being out there, very different perspectives, different stories," she said.
"It felt as though I looked up almost every other word in the dictionary. It felt a bit like climbing a mountain. But at the same time just falling into this world that was so atmospheric and disturbing and moving - it was a wonderful experience."

We're all demons

Taken from www.straitstimes.com
BEIJING (AFP) - His father killed himself in prison after being branded a counter-revolutionary, but during the Cultural Revolution Huang Nubo became a Red Guard himself, humiliating and beating others. It was the making of him and his generation, says the billionaire - yet he dreads a repetition.

One of China's richest men, who climbs mountains to relax and has summitted Everest three times, Huang is best known overseas for a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to buy a swathe of Iceland.
But under the pseudonym Luo Ying, he has written two volumes of poetry describing his experiences during Mao Zedong's decade of social upheaval known as the Cultural Revolution that began 50 years ago on Monday.

His father Huang Junfu - a colonel who fought for Communist forces in China's civil war - fell victim to one of Mao's earlier purges, and was jailed and abused. He saved up medicine to take a fatal overdose when his son was only three.
"When they buried him in the dunes, his eyes were still staring," Huang describes in verse.
"An enemy got no gravestone, so he rotted like a nameless dog."

Despite enduring years of stigma from villagers in the northern region of Ningxia, during the Cultural Revolution Huang became an enthusiastic Red Guard. One poem describes him punching a landowner - who later died - with his "steel fists".
Later he was one of some 20 million youngsters "sent down" by Mao to toil alongside farmers in the countryside and correct their elitist ways.
With neighbour pitted against neighbour, individuals condemned by their colleagues at "struggle sessions", and children denouncing parents, the era was a complex web of victimhood and complicity.

"I am a victim, a participant and a perpetrator; I denounced others and was denounced," Huang told AFP.
The last line of his second book - banned on the mainland - reads: "For people who lived through the Cultural Revolution, it's no use trying to figure out who's a human and who's a ghoul."

"We're all demons. Myself included," he said at Peking University, where he has funded a poetry research centre.
China's rise in recent decades - triggered by the Communist party's repudiation of Mao's ideas and the introduction of market forces - was built on the foundations of the period's most destructive legacy, Huang believes.
"The Cultural Revolution taught this generation of mine that you must act like a wolf in order to survive," he explained.
It destroyed old value systems and replaced them with the belief "that winner takes all, that if you can beat someone, then you're a hero, that if you're rich, you're in the right."
Huang's own life followed a similar trajectory to the ruling party: he left a job in its propaganda department to set out on the capitalist road to riches with his Zhongkun real estate and tourism conglomerate.

Now 59, his fortune is estimated at US$1.3 billion (S$1.78 billion) by Chinese wealth publisher Hurun.
But he has never found the bones of his father, settling instead for carving his name in the mountainside tomb he built for his mother once he became rich.
In 1981 the Communist Party officially pronounced the Cultural Revolution a grave error that "led to domestic turmoil and brought catastrophe to the Party, the state and the whole people".
It ascribed chief responsibility to Mao, avoiding the question of the party's own culpability, and now it limits discussion of the period to prevent undermining the legitimacy of its rule.
Huang's first book, "Diary of a Sent-Down Youth", is also less directly critical and is freely available on the mainland.

But censors barred "Memories of the Cultural Revolution", which is filled with visceral recollections: corpses torn open, female bodies floating downriver with sticks in their genitals as testament to their rape, and the execution of an elderly woman for singing the wrong lyrics to a patriotic song.
As many of the era's horrors are slowly forgotten, nostalgia for some aspects persists in certain quarters: television shows romanticise the lives of sent-down youths, and there are more than 50 museums about them around the country.

Six of the seven members of the party's Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful organ in China, were sent to the countryside during the period, including President Xi Jinping.
An anniversary concert earlier this month at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing stirred controversy for an uncritical presentation of the period's anthems and propaganda imagery.

Huang decries the whitewashing of history.
"If we continue on like this and don't reflect on this past, there will be another Cultural Revolution," he said.
"If the impression left behind is that the Cultural Revolution was so romantic... people won't be afraid to turn once again to brutality."
As a poet he feels a responsibility to record what he witnessed.

"When at the end you look at your current position in society, you'll think back and wonder whether the nightmare you lived through was in fact right or not," he said.
"But the harm it's brought to your heart can never be got rid of in a lifetime."

I'm always amazed with people who take big pride in their occupation. Taken from www.themalaymailonline.com

Yong Chee Seng in a light moment when he was awarded the ‘Tokoh Guru Kebangsaan’ at the 2014 MBSKL Alumni Association annual dinner. — Picture from MBSKL Alumni’s Facebook page
PETALING JAYA, May 16 — A former headmaster of Methodist Boys School Kuala Lumpur (MBSKL) has died from old age, weeks after his car plunged into a 13m-deep manhole.
Yong Chee Seng, who was 85, made headlines after surviving the May 3 accident in Jalan Universiti here.
Described as the “best in the country” by his former students, Yong has been suffering minor illnesses associated with old age. A close relative of Yong, who declined to be named, said Yong died at midnight on Saturday.

“He passed away peacefully at home and funeral arrangements are being made,” the relative said.
Yong, who had been a principal since 1979, had a wing in the school named after him in 2009.
He started teaching at the Methodist English School in Tanjung Malim, Perak, in 1950. He retired as the Methodist Board of Education secretary in 1995.

Former students and fellow teachers shared their memories of Yong, who they described as an idol of the school, on MBSKL Alumni’s Facebook page.
“He taught me Economics in Sixth Form and made a boring subject come alive. He is stern, but a very kind man, a real gentleman. Still remember how he pulls up his trousers before he begins his lessons,” Albert Y.M. Lee said on the page.

One of his former students posted on Facebook saying Yong had touched the lives of many students, colleagues and staff.
“Mr Yong will be well-remembered for his no-nonsense approach in administering discipline. Unruly students had felt the sting of his canes which he used with fairness and justice,” the student said

Another student, Ron Leong, posted: “He was a caring, committed and dedicated principal who has transformed the school to a greater height. We will definitely miss him very much”.

Former student Harold Huang mentioned how Yong had given him financial assistance.
“My heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the bereaved family,” he posted on Facebook.
The wake will be held tomorrow and on Tuesday at 8.30pm at his residence, and the funeral will take place at 10am on Wednesday at Trinity Methodist Church here, where he was a member.

I remember this news very well.
I had read and reread the news.
The young man had such promising future.
I had recognized this place the moment I saw it when I came out of the building, after the job interview early last month.
It was eerily and distinctively familiar.
I never fail to think about him each time I see the building.
It's like I'm staring at a friend's grave.

It was that exact dark spot.

Taken from nydailynews.com

A big-hearted Georgia veterinarian has found Internet fame after eating breakfast alongside a dog he rescued.

Dr. Andy Mathis has been treating Graycie, who was abandoned on a dirt road two weeks ago starving and dehydrated.
The dog was unable to eat around people due to the trauma she had suffered, so Mathis sat by her until she felt brave enough.
“She's been eating for the past two days, but not so comfortably, unless I leave the room, so today I decided to sit in the cage with her,” Mathis, who works at Granite Hills Animal Care in Elberton,

Now, his video has been watched more than 7 million times and shared more than 95,000 times.
In the video, Mathis feeds Graycie with his hand, until she slowly crawls forward and begins eating alongside him.

Mathis said he originally believed he would have to euthanize Graycie after she was discovered in “bad shape” on Jan. 29.

His friends advised him to try to save the dog while she still had a will to live — and Graycie soon responded to his care and kindness.

My good friend Mn is facing some breakdown.

"I've been crying in the car to work for the past few days."

This whatsapp message was scary to read because Moon is one of the most positive people I've known. Work has taken a huge toll of her emotions.

Her boss attempted to lighten the mood with this joke, "Don't ever cry for work, cry only when you dropped your new phone and the screen broke."

Huh?
I hope my friend is coping well.

My friend Yw whatsapp message-ed a prayer for me.

Lord Jesus, I want to commit H unto You. I pray that You will bless her with love, peace and joy. Embrace her and let her find comfort and love in You. I pray that she may find joy in her new job and in her every day life. Bless her beautiful soul so that others may be blessed by her too. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

So sweet.

Taken from thestar.com.my
TELUK INTAN: Couple Ngou Yeow Hock and Tan Bee Choo, who were killed in a hit-and-run accident, might have been homeless but their undying devotion to each other was a symbol of love and an inspiration to many.

Going about their own business collecting recyclable items with their tricycle, they were known to be a happy and loving couple despite being intellectually challenged.
Clerk Mary Ng, 70, said the 51-year-old Ngou and Tan, 52, went everywhere together.

“They were always laughing and in a world of their own. They offered each other their food, scooping spoonfuls onto each other’s polystyrene boxes,” said Ng.
It was common to see Tan wiping the sweat off her husband’s face as they waited for the traffic lights to turn green.

“It always put a smile on my face watching them. It’s so sad that they were taken away so tragically,” said Ng.

On Tuesday, a vehicle, believed to be a lorry, ploughed into Ngou and Tan as they were crossing a T-junction on their tricycle at KM3.5 of Jalan Maharajalela here, killing the couple instantly.
There has since been an outpouring of shock and grief among the local community.

Teacher Ahmad Faizal Osman, 47, who wrote a tribute to the couple on Facebook, told The Star that the pair had lived with dignity, never accepting donations.
“I have friends who offered Aunty money but she gave it back to my friends’ children. Once, another friend met Aunty at the bakery.

“She was so happy to see and play with my friend’s child. She even gave the girl RM1,” said Ahmad Faizal, adding that their hard work and determination ought to be emulated.
“Many times, Aunty fell from the tricycle and once, she was even warded at the Teluk Intan Hospital after receiving stitches to her head,” he said.

The couple, said Ahmad Faizal, usually showered at the hospital or the Petronas station near the accident scene.
At night, they could be seen sleeping near the 7-Eleven outlet in Bandar Baru.

Despite having almost no possessions, the couple were charitable, he said, adding that Ngou had once refused money when he offered to buy some boxes.
“I tried again to offer him money but he wouldn’t accept it and so at last, I bought a few canned drinks and placed them on his tricycle,” said Ahmad Faizal.

Businessman Robin De Silva said despite the hardship, the couple always wore smiles.

“They were quite an inspiration for our family because though homeless, they were still happy,” said De Silva, adding that the couple’s children used to go around with them on the tricycle when they were young.
Yesterday, the couple’s three sons, one of whom has been adopted by a relative, bid them a final farewell as their remains were cremated.

It is believed that the couple had a daughter, who died at a young age after falling from the tricycle.
Hilir Perak OCPD Asst Comm Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said no arrests have been made so far, adding that investigations were ongoing.

Excerpts from the Life in the lens, By N. RAMA LOHAN

“ADULTS are outdated children,” said Dr Seuss. 
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children,” professed Nelson Mandela. 
“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see,” insisted former US President John F. Kennedy.

“I believe that a child is innocent, true, with a beautiful light in their soul – they are our future,” says Kiran Kreer.
... 
“Knowing that millions of children live in poverty, hunger, and in the dark with no proper homes, keeps me going till today.”
A lot of us stand accused of viewing the world through rose- tinted glasses, and turning a blind eye to injustice around us, yet Kiran hasn’t lost faith in the human race’s sense of solicitude.

“I think that every simple act of compassion makes life worth living and fighting for. I hope that my photographs will someday change people’s perspective in creating awareness about life and humanity. It would mean the world to me even if a single photograph or story makes an impact or inspires someone,” he says

...“I do what makes me happy first, and I live one day at a time. I guess, photographically- speaking, I have earned an identity from what I capture, and my storytelling and reflections of humanity define who I am.”

...“Stop being materialistic ... forget your status and labels. Leave your comfort zone and venture into something unknown, and find your true self first. Stop making excuses for yourself.

“I hear so many of my friends saying ‘ I wish I could do what you do’. I say, ‘ Go do it, don’t just wish it’. Rest assured, the life that you are looking for will gradually appear like you are seeing it for the very first time.”

ShW shared her unusual dream with  me last night on the phone.
It was a rare dream which she remembered long after awaken.
I paid extra attention as I was also part of the dream.

"You and I entered the Mental Health Association.
The building was big.
When we were inside, the place became unwelcoming.
There were many unruly patients.
You and I quickly decided to exit, but couldn't find a way out.
Then, you found a window we could escape from.
You jumped out.
I wanted to follow but another patient grabbed onto me.
I struggled awhile but managed to jumped after you."

"Hey, this dream isn't that bad after all, it has a happy ending, " I said, trying to allay her concerns about this dream.

"I guess," she answered, unconvinced.

One thing great about working with these youths.
The raw enthusiasm for life is at its optimum.
I'm definitely at the right place to be now.
This is what I need to restore my wounded soul.

After lunch, as I was getting ready to 'restart' my work, three lads went to a young pretty lady's workspace.
"Hey, Rw, would you like to go out with us tomorrow?" (it's Friday today)
The question seemed ordinarily harmless, if not for the obvious nervous level stressed in their body language and voice intonation.
They were so nervous that all three of them had to approach her for combined courage!

So adorable !
Reminded me so much of my previous witness back in my old workplace.
I don't know what happened after that because I left to give them some privacy.
It would be a bit awkward had I stayed.
I wouldn't be able to contain my amusement.

My way of support to the lads.

Look what my sweet friends Moon and Meow forwarded me after I shared my insecurity in being the oldest in the newbies group in the office.

"there's going to be alot of these moments i spose, its not easy hiding something like this, but this is the breath of fresh you so badly needed, so breath in deep, chin up, chest out, and big bright smile. You can do this, i believe in you!

p/s: get yourself a pair of heels with your first paycheck, coz why not stand tall once in a while for a lil added confidence. it works ;)

It was the effort of sending me the message that made me feel so encouraged.

I have friends who care.

Sometimes, I feel like Harry Potter.

Crappy family but great loyal friends.

I'm the oldest in the induction group of 12 newbies.
The group was over spilling with youthful energy and enthusiasm.
I really felt like that guy in the Google intern Hollywood film.
To my surprise, it was common to ask one's age around here, so it was hard for me to avoid the inquiry.
I have to admit, my pride was stung.
Focus.
Focus.
I'm here to work.
For a salary.
Not weighing in my self-worth according to scales tuned by others.
Sigh.
I hope I'm convinced of the above statement soon enough.

When we were about to set up our own company usernames & passwords, my senior told us to check our personal email as the HR may have sent the authorization link there.
So I mindlessly did.
Shit.
Guess what was flooding my inbox?
Depression forums, Depression blogs, 'how to get out of depression'- was among the common titles in my inbox.

The senior was right behind me.
Suddenly, I realised the rest of the newbies had left their workspace and were now also looking at my screen too - as they were awaiting instructions.

My senior apologetically whispered sorry and quickly click on the right title on my inbox.
The longest 5 seconds in my life.

Everyone went back to their workspace and opened their email using their phone.

It was very hard to resist giving money to him.

A card I posted to my good friend M.

She took this photo and message-ed me her thanks.

"Thank you for popping by few weeks ago. Really appreciate it. As you might ,have known for a while, things haven't been smooth-sailing for me here in P. Many times I question my decision to come here. Of course, now that I'm already here, I definitely have to persist. Should the worst case scenario happen, at least I have a little while more before moving back.
I remember writing you a card back in 2008-2009(?) I had finally calmed down from a manic episode and decided to quickly write you something before I lose it again. Well, this is something like that too. But this time, instead of mania, it is from an utmost despair.
 I do understand that I am being troubled by things that shouldn't. Logically, I should be able to go on with my life and work - unaffected. Unfortunately, my brain doesn't work that way for me. My mind doesn't tell me logic and rationale. My dysfunctional upbringing causes me to yearn for more of what is absent. Illogical and hurtful actions and remarks make me obsess for their reasons and justice when there are none. My entire focus was on the very thing that wasn't good for me.

I enjoy writing. My head gets clearer when I write. Clarity in mind doesn't come often for me. It's a luxury. I'm sorry I wasn't in a good shape when you came to visit. But then again, you have seen worse. When we were in the restaurant, when I was listening to you, I thought of the time I met up with you in McD in 2010(?) I was beginning to get back on my feet again, with a new job commencing and I was just in awe of you. You have accomplished so much, moved so far ahead since our graduation. I don't mean it like we are in a race, more like how everyone else have moved on to many bigger things, forwarding in their lives, while I am still at the same old spot, fighting the same monster. I don't mean it in a self-pity way, because that's life. I mean it in a seeing myself in perspective - sorta way.
Anyway, thank you for being my friend, for being there - always."

I received an email reply from the interviewer that a job offer will be issued to me by the end of the week.
Best news of the first quarter 2016 year.

So, I told myself I must do something good for someone today.

Someone's laundry flew off their balcony and landed on the cable tv antenna at the bottom of my unit.
I found the longest stick and lay almost flat on the floor to reach it.

Tadaa !

I left it in the Lost and Found open box in the concierge.

*******************update : it was picked up the next day.