Jellical Cats!

The name jellicle comes from a previously unpublished poem by T.S. Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where jellicle cats is a corruption of dear little cats and pollicle dogs of poor little dogs.It also appears in the musical Cats in the song "Jellicle Song for Jellicle Cats".

My dear cat, Kentoi in slumberland..

I am a cat lover. Ever since I was a little tot I was fascinated with cats. I used to beg Mama for a pet cat/kittens. It always seems to bemuzed me why Mama was never enthusiastic about the furry ones. Although my wishes were always turned down, my passion for cats never faded.

I was studying at UKM reading law. It was my 2nd semester during matriculation that I by chance met this kitten wandering in the dormitory. It was small, scrawny and sad-looking. But something in its eyes caught my attention - its spirit.

Once in a while I would bump into the kitten and once in a while I notice that some girls would feed it. Until one day, I saw this kitten sleeping in a mailbox at the gound level of the dormitory. My classmates, Aini and Harlina were trying to get hold of their mails. Then I saw the little kitten persistently taking aim at my friends' hands with its paws. It was a sight to behold. The girls were screaming out "Tolong!", the zesty little kitten simply wont allow them get their hands on their long awaited mails. It looks at them straight into the eyes as if saying "i will not let u disturb me from my sleep."

So I went to rescue the girls from the wrath of the furious lil' feline. Since then whenever i am at the ground level of the dormitory, i will pay my furry friend a visit. It was always sleeping in the mailbox and will always be angry at girls for wanting to collect their daily/weekly correspondences.

We grew closer each day. I will use my matriculation ration card to buy it food and whenever i am not around i will give my entrusted friend my ration card for her to help me feed the kitten.

The kitten became attached to me and came over to my room and slept on my bed. My heart mealt.

Tragedy! For two weeks I didnt see the kitten. I asked around if anyone saw it but none of them did. I gathered by cat lover friend, Jaja to go and search for the fellow. We went from floor to floor and block to block. Alas, despair.


One day Jaja looked excited after class when she broke the news that she thinks she spotted the kitten. I rushed to see whether the news was true. So we went marching to the mailbox which was 2 blocks away from our dormitory! Happiness: it was the kitten. It must have been wandering and thought that it was more convinient to make the next available mailbox a home. We quickly took it back to our dormitory block and i let it lay on my bed.

My roommate, Tarita wanted to call it "Tam" because of its dark fur (hitam) and the way it was always greedy (tamak) when it senses food is around. I ignored the suggestion.

The half semester break was nearing. I was restless. I dont have the heart to let it run around and be hungry. Ayah and I got hold of a box and put it into the box and tried to slip it into the house without Mama noticing (fat chance!!). Of course, Mama noticed it and was furious but the idea of having the kitten grew on her too.

Mama said "Anak orang lain bawak balik boyfriend bila cuti semester. Tapi ikke bawak balik kucing..." Thanks, I shall take that as a compliment, Mama..

I named her Pepper because of the colour of her fur but she became too hyper-active. Mak Ngah suggested Dewy (bagi sejuk sikit). But we all got stuck with the name Ayah calls her: Kentoi. Ayah calls her Kentoi because her tail is slightly bent at the ends. Now, we call her Toi for short - a pet name for a pet!