I have grown quite jaded with technology these days, I avoid using all the social networks. I rarely stay online longer than three hours a day because I simply have no time for it. When my colleagues ask for my facebook account, I would stall them as long as possible, because the human element is missing, for me at least.
But today I saw a different kind of resurgence in technology. It lends a more human, albeit a little disconcerting, tone to what I have come to consider a purely virtual experience.
It began with a little video. It was mercifully void of sound, of reasons which I shall elaborate later. A person stands on a pavement of an unknown location. It could be an entry into an apartment, because on the left side was a row of postboxes. She (it turns out to be a tomboy) waves her umbrella to a small kitten, maybe only a few weeks old.
The kitten shrinks away, for the said umbrella is waved not in the gentle manner one would when one plays with a kitten in order for it to catch it, but haphazardly. Then she waves her umbrella again, not at the first kitten, but at an unseen second kitten, hidden by the wall. This kitten tries to stand up as the woman walks away, only to turn around at the helpless animal.
The kitten shrinks away, for the said umbrella is waved not in the gentle manner one would when one plays with a kitten in order for it to catch it, but haphazardly. Then she waves her umbrella again, not at the first kitten, but at an unseen second kitten, hidden by the wall. This kitten tries to stand up as the woman walks away, only to turn around at the helpless animal.
The first kitten limps away. A pause follows, only to be broken by another wave of the umbrella. This time, however, it hits the target: the second kitten. The tip catches the kitten and drags it across the pavement, twirling it in the process. At this moment the kitten must have squealed loudly because the mother comes running towards them. She tries to pick up her injured kitten, but the woman waves again the dreaded umbrella, making the mother second-guesses herself, and moves away.
At this moment, the kitten is still moving, if barely. It tries to rise to its feet. The mother cat runs again towards her kitten, only to be threatened by the woman, who then cruelly pushes the kitten closer towards the camera. Then she tries to hit the kitten, but mercifully misses.
Here the woman did something I would never have dreamt of committing, unless I am in danger: she kicks the kitten. I wonder, why in the world would one kick at a kitten that is smaller than the sole of your foot?
The mother cat must have attempted to retrieve her beleaguered young a few times, because the woman keeps on swinging the umbrella up and down threateningly, and missing the kitten. At one point, the kitten crawls away, unseen by the camera, and the whole drama would have stopped. I wished it would have stopped by then, too.
She stops, too, the woman with men's baggy shorts and t-shirt and an umbrella, and turns slightly away, moving to the wall where the kittens had been. Does she walk away?
She does not. She swings her umbrella again, and this time it lands on something. Hidden by the wall, there was another kitten. She hits it again, and this time the mother cat doesn't wait for another mewl to realise that danger is near: she runs toward the woman, who avoids, then hits the bolting mother cat. The mother cat cannot do anything else but watch what unfolds next.
As if Providence itself had placed the camera, anything and everything that the woman does next was mercifully hidden. The pavement is slightly raised off the small lane, and behind a low table is presumably a drain. What she does here on stops my blood cold.
She begins beating the kitten. There is no sound (the reason why I am thankful) but it is evident from the video that the beatings must have been very severe; at one point the kitten's legs are seen pointing to the air - so hard were the hits administered.
The kitten tries to fight back now and then, but its end is foreseeable. Stopping only now and then to see if people were around, she would resume her beating of this kitten, who by the three-quarter length of the video must have been very nearly dead.
The kitten tries to fight back now and then, but its end is foreseeable. Stopping only now and then to see if people were around, she would resume her beating of this kitten, who by the three-quarter length of the video must have been very nearly dead.
After repetitious beating, she seems to leave the scene for good. At this point my blood, which has run cold, is boiling. If I were near, or if I was on guard at this moment, I would have drove this woman away. I probably would have done the same thing she did to these cats. All manners of punishments comes to mind. Sadly, I am now an onlooker.
To my surprise, the woman - the perpetrator - the murderess - returns to the scene of the crime. The umbrella is missing. She rubs her hands, crouches and picks up the kitten. There is no sign of life by now. Not a tail moves, no legs twitching, no life. The kitten is clearly dead.
When she picks up the kitten, I thought dear me, she's going to hide the evidence. But no, dear readers. She does every single criminal who has ever committed crimes: act out the level of her intelligence, which, as I reviewed the video, is single to nothing.
She brings the dead kitten into the small hallway, looks up at the camera - thus revealing her face - plops it down like a piece of trash, and stomps on it. Twice for a good measure. Then she turns away. By that moment, she must have seen a person walks by while she stomps on the lifeless kitten, but she is barely perturbed.
When she walks away, I again thought this must be the end, and steals a wary glance at the time. There are about fifteen seconds left, and I dread these seconds. I dread myself for being correct. And I was. She returns, rubs her nose, kicks the dead kitten away, out of the camera's angle, and finally walks away.
When she walks away, I again thought this must be the end, and steals a wary glance at the time. There are about fifteen seconds left, and I dread these seconds. I dread myself for being correct. And I was. She returns, rubs her nose, kicks the dead kitten away, out of the camera's angle, and finally walks away.
The first time I viewed the video, I did not cry. Yes, I felt sorry - deeply sorry - for the kittens, for the mother cat, but I was more angry than sad. A human being, the pinnacle of evolution, the creature God made angels bow down to, has committed such insidious acts of cruelty. Is she trying to prove something by killing kittens? Is she simply trying to incite hatred against herself? Then again, she is not my concern. I feel deeply for the cats more than this woman's motives or her mental well-being.
This video has been spread in facebook.com, by bloggers, and a Chinese daily did an article on it. In facebook.com, soon after this video surfaced, a facebook member reported it, who then quickly deleted her account. But it was too late: someone else found pictures of the woman online, and has since placed them online. As it is now, many online users have ganged up in search for what they angrily labelled as 'Cat Killer'.
Online opinion is divided upon this video. While most are leaning towards the capture of the woman, not a few voiced their astonishment; why would a video of a woman killing a helpless kitten should provoke anger enough to trigger a manhunt all over Serdang? Aren't there more things to do than looking for this woman? Like, maybe, help the Libyans? For that question, I provide only one answer: in order to change the world, change the small things first. Like what my Muslim friends always say, 'nawaitu' matters a great deal.
There is nothing more precious than life, be it human, animals or any other forms of sentient beings. According to the Bible, when Cain murdered his sibling Abel, the latter's blood cried out from the ground to God. Surely, when the woman kills this kitten without mercy, for purposes none other than to excite herself, I imagine that animal's blood would cry out unto God, seeking justice as well. Then lo and behold, a CCTV video appeared online, of all places.
I would imagine an atheist would have to agree on this logic as well: To erase an existence is a morally wrong decision.
Online opinion is divided upon this video. While most are leaning towards the capture of the woman, not a few voiced their astonishment; why would a video of a woman killing a helpless kitten should provoke anger enough to trigger a manhunt all over Serdang? Aren't there more things to do than looking for this woman? Like, maybe, help the Libyans? For that question, I provide only one answer: in order to change the world, change the small things first. Like what my Muslim friends always say, 'nawaitu' matters a great deal.
There is nothing more precious than life, be it human, animals or any other forms of sentient beings. According to the Bible, when Cain murdered his sibling Abel, the latter's blood cried out from the ground to God. Surely, when the woman kills this kitten without mercy, for purposes none other than to excite herself, I imagine that animal's blood would cry out unto God, seeking justice as well. Then lo and behold, a CCTV video appeared online, of all places.
I would imagine an atheist would have to agree on this logic as well: To erase an existence is a morally wrong decision.
I wish not to share this horrible video, but as Curiosity is an insatiable monster, here is the link. It is a facebook link, so prepare yourself suitably.