I bumped into a dead flamingo today in my neighbourhood. Nope, I'm not pulling your leg; the proof is right here in my handfone's photo album... Unfortunately, i do not have the cable attachment that would allow me to transfer pics from my hp to my pc, and I am not keen on trying out the MMS thingy so you won't get to see that pic in my bloggy anytime soon. ;p Anyway, here's the gist of the story; I was on my way to NTUC to get some groceries when i saw some pink stuff lying on the pavement by the side of the road. Initially, I thought it was just a bundle of colored polythene bags.. u know, the sort they give out in shops. However, upon closer inspection, I was simply astounded to find the carcass of a pink flamingo! It wasnt really big so it was probably a young lesser flamingo... Anyhow, the poor thing must have been passing through the area and had stopped for awhile to feed or sumthing & had inadvertently gotten itself run over by a vehicle. Subesequently, someone (maybe the guilty motorist) had moved the body to the sidewalk so that it won't be a hindrance to other motorists... What a tragic way to end its life~! :( The weird thing was, there were several jurong sec students walking by that same spot but the sight of a dead flamingo didnt perturb them as much. It was pretty surreal... if it wasnt for the visual evidence in my handfone, I wouldnt have believed a word I'm writing right now...
While we're still on the subject of flamingos though, I read somewhere that seeing a flamingo in your dream represents either a sense of community or cooperation or an indication of new experiences or situations. OR it could also mean that you're overly conscious of your physical appearance... hmmmm. *ouch*~! Could this uncanny coincidence be Fate's pointed dig at my occasionally obsessive vanity??? wadever~!
Last monday, a chimpanzee tried to escape from the Singapore Zoo but ended up drowning in Mandai reservoir. It was hypothesized that the chimp, six-yr-old Rhamba, was agitated (possibly bullied) by some other chimps in her enclosure and this provocation was enough to cause her to climb over the electric barriers on a tree and run for freedom. Such is the power of peer pressure. If I had been one of the visitors at the zoo on that eventful morning, I would probably have considered this a wonderful anecdote to entertain my friends with. Fortunately, I hadnt and thus I could relate very well with young Rhamba's plight; as a young chimp raised by humans, to be thrown into an enclosure of strangers (though they may be of the same species) is certainly nothing short of distressing. Could the drowning have been avoided? Most probably yes if the zoo staff had been more responsive & careful. However, it is also inevitable that Rhamba would suffer from a panic attack due to the accumulation of stress she received in her living space. Still, how the culmination of such stress would manifest itself was unbeknown to anyone.
I mentioned earlier about empathising with the late Rhamba; I know what it feels like to be a social outcast. Frankly speaking, I was quite an introvert in my younger days so-to-speak and I practically lived on the fringes of "society". Thankfully, I managed to overcome my timid nature (to a certain extent) and I can be brash, outspoken & outgoing on occasion. It makes me wonder though, if things didnt turn out the way they did, would I have encountered my own version of Mandai Reservoir and drowned in my bid to escape???
I must admit, that's quite a morbid thought. On a more positive note, unlike Rhamba, I can swim. (I didnt go through THREE beginners' courses in swimming for nothing, you know! LOL )
