08.30, this morning, upstairs in
my study, going through my emails. I could hear Julie talking to her mum on
Skype. Such conversations always make me smile. In a single sentence you are
almost certain to hear Teochew, Cantonese, Malay and English. Suddenly the
conversation was loudly interrupted by the hysterical shrieks of Julie’s sister.
As I made my way down the stairs, I could hear Julie telling her sister to calm
down and explain what had happened.
At the back of the garden there
is a long strip of land on which, over the years, has developed into secondary
rain forest. The sister’s dog, snuffling along the edge of the garden, had
suddenly become very agitated. The sister moved across the garden in time to
witness a cobra spit its venom and hit the dog’s face. I ran back upstairs,
googled “cobra spitting facts” and found this blog:
The sister and her brother then
spent 15 -20 minutes washing out the venom from the eyes and went off to the
vets with the dog staying overnight.
After all the excitement, Julie
and I were relaxing with a cup of coffee when Julie remarked “do you remember
1984?”
June, 1984, Julie and I had just arrived
in Singapore and had yet to make friends. We had been invited to watch a
cricket match at the Padang. I don’t believe it is an exaggeration to say that
cricket can be a little boring and with the tropical heat and humidity we may
have closed our eyes once or twice. The slumbers were rudely interrupted by the
spectators shouting for a fieldsman to get the ball. Instead he froze. Lying
next to the ball was a cobra.
November, 1984, Julie and I were
now settled in Singapore with a circle of expat and local friends. Most
evenings were spent in the Chip Bee Coffee Shop, Jalan Merah Saga. This became
an alternative Senior Common Room. It was one such evening when we were drawn
into conversation with a young English couple. On the previous Saturday, the
couple had celebrated their 5 year old son’s birthday and presented him with a
puppy. On the Sunday, the boy returned from the garden crying that he couldn’t find
his puppy……………..you know how this is going to end! The fire service caught the
python (and puppy) and released it in Bukit Timah nature reserve.
John
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