2. The canine spirit

INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE STORIES

Jan 16, 2009

I believe that many Myanmar people believe in the existence of spirits of people who have died. So do many Chinese in Singapore. Do they exist? Now, what has the ice-cream vendor photographed in this report has to do with spirits?

Whenever I see an ice-cream vendor, I recall this incredible story. On Jan 14, 2009, the sound of ice-cream bells attracted my attention as I completed a case of Miniature Schnauzer bumps treatment. The ice-cream vendor was licensed to sell ice-cream only in the vicinity of Toa Payoh. The Singapore Government had strict rules restricting street hawkers to play their trade only in approved areas. Any licencee flouting the rules will get fined.

So the ice-cream vendor passed by my Surgery every afternoon. It costs $1.00 per piece of ice-cream with bread. I wondered how he could make a living since he had poor traffic in an industrial park and there was a melamine in milk scandal resulting in many people not eating ice-cream.

The vendor was happy to see me, saying: "I am free only in the night and so I consult your colleague. You know, I stopped selling ice-cream for a few days after my dog died." I will not go into details. His mahjong friends had bought him a puppy as he and his wife were grieving for several weeks.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew off his plastic ice-cream cups and his helmet. Nothing unusual as the two industrial buildings of 10 stories create a wind tunnel effect. "My old dog is angry with me," the vendor said as a stronger gust of wind uprooted his large umbrella from the holder. The umbrella floated upwards to one storey high and gravity pulled it down some 10 metres away with a loud pomp.

I had this shivering feeling as I knew the old dog and had wondered at this new development before the vendor expressed my thoughts. Is there such an entity as a canine spirit?

The vendor picked up the umbrella and put it back into his holder. He screwed the knob to hold it in position. The breeze got stronger. "Your umbrella is going up," I shouted. "Don't worry, I am holding onto it." After several seconds, the breeze just died.

"How do you know that your old dog is showing her presence?" I asked him.

"I can feel her presence even at home," he said.

I was sceptical. "How do you know?"

The vendor said, "Clumps of her hair appeared in the apartment suddenly." The dog had died around 2 months ago.

The vendor continued, "Sometimes, I could hear her swaying her backside at night under the bed. One night, my wife asked why I was shaking the bed."

As to why his mahjong friends bought a replacement puppy for him, I thought it was due to friendship. The vendor elaborated, "All of them bought 4-digit lottery and won due to the dog."

I could not talk more to him as my assistant Mr Saw came out to remind me that another client was waiting.

This story of a canine spirit sounds incredible. I can't believe it myself if I had not experienced the sudden shivering when the breeze increased in force and intensity at the time the vendor spoke and grieved about his dog that had died young.