Uncle Khoe.
“Till I can no longer walk, I will feed as many as I can, help as many as i can, one at a time… “ ~ Uncle Khoe
65 years old is the golden age where most people would be happily retired, enjoying their golden years, playing a leisure game of chess with their friends during their free time, going for yum cha with friends, spending time with their families and children.
Uncle Khoe is 73 years old this year and instead of enjoying a similar lifestyle like most of his counterparts, he could not and would not retire because he still has many mouths to feed , many lives depend on him. Uncle Khoe is a stray feeder. Instead of spending his free time playing chess with friends or spending time with his family, he spends all the spare time he has to go around eastern and western part of Singapore to feed the strays that he cared for and look after for so many years.
With a simple mantra, to help and rescue as many beloved strays as he can one at a time till he can’t walk anymore, Uncle Khoe has been feeding stray dogs for more than 20 years. True to his words, rain or shine, he will never fail to go around Singapore to feed his strays every single day. Uncle Khoe suffered a mild stroke a few months ago and was hospitalised. Even when he was in hospital, he insisted on going to feed the strays much to the displeasure of his family. That was his level of dedication and love for the strays.
During one of Uncle Khoe’s feeding rounds, a factory security guard called him to help with a dog that was in their compound. The management wanted the dog out and the security guard had no place to put the dog. Uncle Khoe felt really helpless because at that time, the only shelter that Uncle Khoe knew was in Malaysia and it was not feasible to send the dog there. The security guard had no choice but to call SPCA. When the SPCA van came and took the dog away, the security guard cried. Uncle Khoe said in a helpess and despondent voice, “She was a very good dog”. Being a stray feeder for so many years, Uncle Khoe went through the heartbreaks of losing so many dogs that he had cared for and loved all these years. Despite all the hardships and heartbreaks, he had never once thought of giving up helping the misfortunate dogs to the best of his abilities. Subsequently, Uncle Khoe learned that there are shelters for rent in Singapore and has been renting a kennel for rescued dogs funding all expenses from his own pockets ever since. In September 2012, together with a group of like-minded volunteers sharing the same love and passion for helping dogs, Uncle Khoe’s K9 shelter was officially set up with the primary objective to continue helping as many dogs as we can, one at a time, till there are none.
