ARE DIAMONDS THE GIRLS' BEST FRIENDS?

There was a movie which entitled "Diamonds are the girls' best friends" starred by Marilyn Monroe and was shown at the theatres ages ago. Back in the old days as a child I was too inquisitive asking too many questions as the result my father would scold him. I asked my father why diamonds were the girls' best friends but not for the males. He laughed at me and said that I was too young to understand but perhaps when I grew older, I would know the real reasons.

I would not want to dispute that diamonds are the girls' best friend. In my opinion, I would say that the dogs are the men's best friends. They will wag their tails to greet their masters who come home from work. Not only will they run round and round, expressing their cheerfulness but also smiling and licking their masters.

We have a mixed Japanese dog who has been with us since she was a tiny puppy for more than ten years. She is called Micky and likes to show herself off. After being with us for a couple of years she gave birth to six puppies but we gave four away and keep Daisy and Spot. All three of them are our body-guards stationed at the backyard of the house. Whenever there are strangers moving in the vicinity of the backyard, they will never stop barking and leaping against the fence.. They will bark at other dogs passing by. We have to clean the tiled flooring of the backyards every morning not because of their droppings but their foot marks on the floor. Initially, we had a hard time pulling them one by one into the cage situated at the end of the compound before the cleaning up. They were so pampered and stubborn at first but they are so obedient now. As soon as they hear the sound of water spraying from the hose, they will run to the unlocked cage waiting for us to lock it until we have finished cleaning up the floor. They are so disciplined 'cause they have never wet nor left the droppings on the floor as they will finish their business on the grass. We seldom left them to run on their own for fear of losing them. It was perculiar of Micky that each time when we brought her to Veterinary station, she would do her business by leaving traces of her droppings in the compound as a mark of her presence there. Funny thing about her is that she would leave her droppings in the Animal Centre, a private veterinary, without fail. We felt bad but there was nothing we could do as the clinic is inside the building where there is no place for her to do her business. Micky, the grand old lady likes to travel in a car. She behaves like a human being by looking out the windows impatiently. They seem to be able to distinguish people. They will never bark at nicely dressed friends but they will never stop barking at the people who send the cooking gas cyclinder and strange gardeners.

There is no name given to our pet "cat". My son brought this mixed Siamese cat all the way from Singapore a decade ago. She was quarantined for one month before she was allowed to join us. When she was small, she gave us lots of problems leaving her droppings at any convenient place like the corners or underneath the cupboards where it was so difficult for us to reach. Whenever she urinated, the whole house would stink. So far, she has never left the house except waiting at the garage to catch birds. She is quite destructive as she will sharpen her claws by scratching on the sofas damaging them and doors leaving some undesirable marks behind. There were times when we locked her in the room accidentally. She would scream at her highest voice, crying for help. She would draw our attention by scratching on the door leaving visible marks on it. She still follows my wife like a leech and wait for her inside the loo. Sometimes, when she misses her timing to join my wife in the loo, she will wait outside patiently for my wife to come out. It is her duty to catch lizards and cockcroaches at night. We would expect cats to catch mice but not this one. We cannot accept the fact that she is afraid of mice. On one fine night, there was a small mouse running about in the house. My daughter and her husband watched her movements closely. Instead of pouncing at the mouse, she stayed at one corner, watching the tiny mouse running about in the house. However, there is one good about her. She has replaced the alarm clock. She would make loud noise at about 5.30 in the morning to wake us up. Sometimes, when the door of our room was left opened slightly, she would push the door open and wait there until I left the room. Like a good watch-dog, she would wait until all of us left our room upstairs. Would you believe that cats can also act like weather-cocks? There are many a time when she would curl herself up and sit beside me looking frightened. Her action would prompt to us that it was about to rain. True enough, there was either a slight rainfall or a heavy downpour.

All three of them are our faithful companions. They are a very friendly lot for without them the whole house will remain very quiet. My conclusion is based from our experiences that our dogs and cats are our best friends.