Dani Irwan
Emput: In remembrance
Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one...
This is Emput (short for Semput, or asthmatic in Malay). Emput is a stray cat that started appearing around my mother in law's apartment block about a year and a half ago. Contrary to all the other cats that linger around the area, we've never seen Emput while he was still a healthy little kitten. Instead, he just came out of nowhere, all sickly and thin. His health is lacking to say the least. He was so thin that when I touched & petted him, I could see that he was barely more than skin & bone. His body and fur was covered in dried scabs & cuts from fights he had with the other neighbourhood cats. How he fared in those fights I can barely think about. In addition, he always breathed in this ragged gasps, his flanks & sides moving up and down erratically. As if he had asthma. That's how he came to be known by me as Emput.
Being a stray, he had no owner & no home to speak of. What he had was an elderly Chinese couple living in the same apartment block who took rudimentary care of him and fed him at least once a day with cat food and boiled fish with rice. What he called home was the entire ground floor of the apartment block. This however, was his favorite spot.
Because of his ill health and because I have always had a soft spot for stray cats, I took a liking to him. I'd always make it a point to stroke & pet him as much as I could whenever I walked by him. I guess I pitied him...when I gave his head & chin a rub, he would roll over and expose his stomach just like house cats do. That's the only time he felt safe & loved like one, I think. In spite of his condition, Emput held on to life for the longest time, like an old hardy soldier. For that, I respected him. I've always had it in mind to do something for him to make him better, like take him to the vet. I made a resolution to myself that I would do so in 2 months time, after Eid. I told him once while I gave him a head rub..."Hold on for 2 more months, okay?". I guess that was too much to ask.
Ever since he appeared, I have always wondered how long he could last. My wondering has ceased...
I went back to my mother in law's house yesterday. Emput was nowhere to be seen. Previously, if I didn't see him anywhere, I would ask my father in law where he was and he'd say "Oh, he was there just now, I saw him"..and then I'd feel at ease. After asking them the same question yesterday, his reply was in the negative. Instead, my father in law told me that there was a new burial mound in the little yard at the back of the apartment block. I should explain...the aforementioned elderly Chinese couple had always took it upon themselves to bury the cats they fed & took care of when they died. They did so by digging up a hole in the yard and later, when the hole was covered, they would put bricks & stones on top so that other scavenging animals can't get to the corpse. Up till recently, I noticed that there were 3 such burial mounds in the yard. Yesterday, I saw there were 4.
In the last couple of weeks, I began to do a strange thing. I began photographing Emput in his daily environment. Whenever I went back to my in law's place, I took one of my cameras along with me, always loaded with film. I photographed Emput as much as I could. Somehow, a part of me already knew that Emput had not long to live, and if no one else took photos of him (like house cats whose pictures were frequently taken by their owners)...then at least I did. If there are no photos of him at all in this whole wide world, then at least there are some in my archives. It's almost like I wanted the photos to be a record, proof that a stray cat called Emput once existed at Block F10, Seksyen 2, Wangsa Maju.
I didn't know it then, but this is the last photo I took of him.
I just wish I had done something for him earlier. Here's a photo of you Emput, published on the this crazy thing called the Innernet where everyone can see you. Turns out, it's the very least I can do for you.
Rest in peace, my friend. May Allah SWT have nicer things in store for you.
Kodak Retinette Type 022 ~ Schneider Kreuznach Reomar 45/3.5 ~ Expired Kodak Gold 100 ~ Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Emput: In remembrance
Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one...
This is Emput (short for Semput, or asthmatic in Malay). Emput is a stray cat that started appearing around my mother in law's apartment block about a year and a half ago. Contrary to all the other cats that linger around the area, we've never seen Emput while he was still a healthy little kitten. Instead, he just came out of nowhere, all sickly and thin. His health is lacking to say the least. He was so thin that when I touched & petted him, I could see that he was barely more than skin & bone. His body and fur was covered in dried scabs & cuts from fights he had with the other neighbourhood cats. How he fared in those fights I can barely think about. In addition, he always breathed in this ragged gasps, his flanks & sides moving up and down erratically. As if he had asthma. That's how he came to be known by me as Emput.
Being a stray, he had no owner & no home to speak of. What he had was an elderly Chinese couple living in the same apartment block who took rudimentary care of him and fed him at least once a day with cat food and boiled fish with rice. What he called home was the entire ground floor of the apartment block. This however, was his favorite spot.
Because of his ill health and because I have always had a soft spot for stray cats, I took a liking to him. I'd always make it a point to stroke & pet him as much as I could whenever I walked by him. I guess I pitied him...when I gave his head & chin a rub, he would roll over and expose his stomach just like house cats do. That's the only time he felt safe & loved like one, I think. In spite of his condition, Emput held on to life for the longest time, like an old hardy soldier. For that, I respected him. I've always had it in mind to do something for him to make him better, like take him to the vet. I made a resolution to myself that I would do so in 2 months time, after Eid. I told him once while I gave him a head rub..."Hold on for 2 more months, okay?". I guess that was too much to ask.
Ever since he appeared, I have always wondered how long he could last. My wondering has ceased...
I went back to my mother in law's house yesterday. Emput was nowhere to be seen. Previously, if I didn't see him anywhere, I would ask my father in law where he was and he'd say "Oh, he was there just now, I saw him"..and then I'd feel at ease. After asking them the same question yesterday, his reply was in the negative. Instead, my father in law told me that there was a new burial mound in the little yard at the back of the apartment block. I should explain...the aforementioned elderly Chinese couple had always took it upon themselves to bury the cats they fed & took care of when they died. They did so by digging up a hole in the yard and later, when the hole was covered, they would put bricks & stones on top so that other scavenging animals can't get to the corpse. Up till recently, I noticed that there were 3 such burial mounds in the yard. Yesterday, I saw there were 4.
In the last couple of weeks, I began to do a strange thing. I began photographing Emput in his daily environment. Whenever I went back to my in law's place, I took one of my cameras along with me, always loaded with film. I photographed Emput as much as I could. Somehow, a part of me already knew that Emput had not long to live, and if no one else took photos of him (like house cats whose pictures were frequently taken by their owners)...then at least I did. If there are no photos of him at all in this whole wide world, then at least there are some in my archives. It's almost like I wanted the photos to be a record, proof that a stray cat called Emput once existed at Block F10, Seksyen 2, Wangsa Maju.
I didn't know it then, but this is the last photo I took of him.
I just wish I had done something for him earlier. Here's a photo of you Emput, published on the this crazy thing called the Innernet where everyone can see you. Turns out, it's the very least I can do for you.
Rest in peace, my friend. May Allah SWT have nicer things in store for you.
Kodak Retinette Type 022 ~ Schneider Kreuznach Reomar 45/3.5 ~ Expired Kodak Gold 100 ~ Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia