Minister K Shanmugam Joins TikTok
Less than a month ago, the Minister for Law and Home Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam, joined TikTok. His first video, where he set out the reasons for coming onboard the platform that is popular with young Singaporeans, was an instant hit as it garnered more than 250,000 views.
In that video, to the disappointment of many, he ruled out the possibility of him dancing on the platform. You can check out the Minister’s first TikTok video here:-
@k_shanmugam Hello TikTok.#firstvideo
The his debut video, the Minister also shared with viewers that, should his 2 canine friends be co-operative, they may also be featured in his videos. The Minister currently 2 dogs, Samson and Millie. Millie is a Labrador who retired from active service in the Singapore Police Force, and Samson was a rescued dog who was abandoned by his previous owners.
Since he launched his TikTok channel, the Minister has chalked up more than 13,000 followers. Many popular TikTok personalities like Uncle Raymond and Ian Jeevan also welcomed the Minister to the platform. The latter also asked the Minister if they could collaborate.
Minister K Shanmugam and his Rescue Dogs
In previous posts on his Facebook account, the Minister has also shared posts about his rescued dogs.
In August 2011, the Minister introduced Bernard, a Singapore Special, to his followers.
Bernard is a mongrel, and he is a happy dog now. But with strangers (generally men of a certain build), he can be aggressive.
The Minister explained that Bernard, who was the oldest of his 3 dogs at that time, was adopted sometime in 2004. He was a “severely abused puppy” that was rescued by Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD). ASD found Bernard chained up and whimpering.
The Minister shared that Bernard still gets “nervous and unhappy if anyone touches his front left leg, or comes too close to his face.”
In April 2018, Voices for Animals (VFA), an animal welfare group, shared a picture of the Minister and 2 dogs that he adopted from VFA.
VFA noted that the Minister, during the process of adoption, went through the same process as every other potential adopter. He was interviewed, screened, and the Minister’s home was checked for suitability.
According to VFA, the Minister said:-
“He just want to be treated as a normal family coming to adopt without giving any special treatment because of his background”
VFA thanked the Minister for giving the 2 dogs an amazing home “despite their background and past“.
Adopt. Don’t Shop.
On 21 September 2022, the Minister posted a video where he was asked by a student about whether he would purchase a small poodle or a large retriever.
The Minister responded by stating that he personally objects to the idea of purchasing dogs, and pointed out that all his dogs are adopted rescued dogs.
He then talked about Millie and Samson.
Sharing a heartwarming video of Samson eating a mango, the Minister shared how Samson, who is an older dog, was once abandoned by his previous owners.
He also talked about his Labrador Millie, who was a retired SPF service dog.
Say No to Electric Shock Collars
The Minister has been a consistent advocate for animal rights. In 2021, he lent his support to a campaign against the use of electric shock collars, prong collars and choke chains.
Wearing a T-shirt that supported the campaign’s message, the Minister said that he was happy and proud to support the “great initiative”.
“Dogs are for us to love and they show a lot of love. Let’s treat them with kindness, let’s all make a difference.”
If you would like to know why electric shock collars should never be used on a dog, or any animal for that matter, Dr Gan Theng Wei’s post from 2020 offers an excellent primer.
In an experiment, Dr Gan and Jennifer tried wearing shock collars and choke collars.
What’s the big deal anyway right? We just wanted to get to the truth. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to have it captured on a video because the shock was applied without warning. I expected it to be uncomfortable but I had no idea how painful it would really be. I had to remove the shock collar immediately for fear of being shocked again. It’s not just the physical pain that’s scary. The anticipation and not knowing when you will be shocked again is actually worse than the physical pain.
The prong felt slightly less painful. I ‘checked’ myself a few times and could feel the discomfort. Imagine someone doing this on you every now and then without any warning? I removed the collar and was shocked to see red marks around my neck. And these marks were created by just very low controlled forces.
Dr Gan argued that any trainer who justifies the use of such aversive tools should be sacked, as “there is no correct way to hurt a dog”.
Project ADORE for Dogs in HDBs
In his latest TikTok video, the Minister touched on Project ADORE (ADOption and REhoming of dogs).
Through Project ADORE, people living in HDBs can now legally adopt Singapore Specials, provided certain requirements, such as the ones listed below, are met:-
The dog has to:
Be a local medium-sized mixed-breed or “Singapore Special”
Be at least 6 months old and sterilised
Have shoulder height up to 55cm
Undergo compulsory basic obedience training by AVA-accredited trainers
In the comments section of the video, at least 2 TikTok users asked that Project ADORE be expanded to allow HDB dwellers to adopt other breeds of dogs or adopt more than 1 dog through the project.
Reactions
Within just 6 hours of publication, the Minister’s video has been viewed more than 40,000 times and received almost 2,000 likes.
Many people expressed their respect for the Minister’s views and thanked him for adopting rescued dogs.
You may watch the Minister’s TikTok video in full at this link:-
@k_shanmugam I do lots of dialogues with students. And occasionally, I get a great question like this one about dog adoption.
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