Letter about Graciousness to the Forum page of Today
A VSS member sent the following letter to Today newspaper. It doesn’t seem to have been published.
I refer to “Gracious, really? 90 per cent of Singaporeans think so”, (March 12) and the reply by Mr Rick Lim Say Kong (March 16).
Perhaps we need an expanded definition of graciousness. Gandhi wrote that a nation’s “moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. These non-human animals are the weakest among us. They cannot speak for themselves; they depend on us to protect them. Is not the strong caring for the weak a key component of graciousness?
Fortunately, Singapore’s track record in regard to the treatment of our fellow animals displays many positives and shows promise of further improvement. For example, local organizations such as Acres, Cat Welfare Society, Action for Singapore Dogs, House Rabbit Society, Animal Lovers League and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals demonstrate people’s commitment to treating our fellow animals properly.
In terms of legal protection for other animals, laws are in place in Singapore and being enforced to stop the trafficking of wild animals, such as turtles, and the harming of domestic animals, such as cats.
While we still have room for improvement in how we treat domestic and wild animals, our treatment of factory farmed animals, such as chickens and pigs, stands out as the area where our graciousness towards other animals needs the most improvement. Worldwide, humans consume more than 50 billion land animals annually, and in Singapore we consume millions. Whether these helpless creatures are raised and killed here does not matter; our dollars make it happen.
The large majority of these animals live short, miserable lives confined from birth in cramped unnatural conditions. For instance, the typical chicken lives but six weeks, seldom seeing the sun, squeezed into a space about the size of an A4 piece of paper.
However, even in the area of meat eating, Singapore shines compared to the majority of the world’s countries. With approximately 4.5 million people, we boast about 400 dedicated vegetarian restaurants and stalls, with vegetarian options available at many non-vegetarian eateries.
Furthermore, my unscientific observation is that more people here are eating less meat. Recently, a medical doctor told me that she is eating less meat and dairy because of their effect on global warming, and a professor told me that he eats less meat due to his revulsion over the treatment of factory farmed animals.
Therefore, as to our treatment of our fellow animals, it does seem that Singapore already does relatively well and has the potential to continue as a model for other countries.
I love meat.