Monthly Archives: March 2011

by | March 26, 2011 · 10:39 pm

TinyCritterz.com

I am extremely glad and pleased to announce the launching of our very own online pet store – www.tinycritterz.com.

As all of you may know, I have been blogging for a while now and has been recommending quite a number of good rabbit products in the past. I felt that I can do better in terms of providing more services to my avid readers. This effort is also partly to get rid of all the “advertisements” on my blog so that I can just write better articles.

My wish for this new venture is to allow my readers to obtain all the rabbit products (and more) that I have featured in the past and also those that I will recommend in future.

If you are at TinyCriterz.com right now, you will see that it is pretty empty and lack products. I hope that you will check back often and enjoy seeing it grow to a “MEGA” online store. Do bear with us as we are still expanding (not that vigorously). I am sure it will slowly take shape but right now, all the essentials are available for purchase, so please do patronize. Thank you very much in advanced.

There are so many people I would like to thank for supporting me and encouraging me to take this little leap into business. As you all know, I do not do bunny business that much due to my policy. The idea of an online pet store came about mainly due to that same reason. I felt that I did not provide enough services to my readers. Many have expressed their interest in my rabbits but sad to say that many may have walked away empty handed mainly because I do not have enough to share. So here you have it, I am sharing in another form of service – the convenience to purchase what your bunny needs (at your fingertips) over the Internet.

TinyCritterz.com as you can see are 2 words made up of the acronym of my name Timothy Chan (TC). I believe it is the right time for an extension out of Tru-Luv Rabbitry to have a retail arm to support everyone in the hobby of raising pets. I hope that everyone will patronize and leverage on this service that I humbly provide.

It is our hope, both my wife and I that in the near future, we can channel some of the profit made by TinyCritterz.com to help in any independent/non-profitable animal welfare societies or bodies. Though it is still a long way to go but we shall always have this thought on mind.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my former boss Ms. Lew for giving me the encouragement to take this giant leap, you can never deny the words of a wise woman. Also (but not least), I would like to thank the artist/digital illustrator (a dear friend) whose works I have always admired and loved, Ms. Lauren Elizabeth of Ruffles Art Studio (also on facebook) for having flawlessly illustrated Tru-Luv Balian as featured in the logo of TinyCritterz.com. And I did requested her to give a little smug smile to Balian in her illustration.

The amazing work of Ms. Lauren Elizabeth - I love to call her the digital art prodigy.

Advertisement

5 Comments

Filed under Bunny Business

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 24, 2011 · 3:45 pm

Diversity

“To Each His Own”

Everything I express on this blog entry is solely my opinion and I do not represent any club or person in the contents that I am about to write.

I often see some people giving very brute opinions about someone else’ rabbits. Often times, these are comments that are uncalled for – opinions not asked, that is. Everything is so subjective in the rabbit world. We are obligated to comment if asked and if we have nothing good to say about a particular rabbit, it is best we keep our mouth shut unless we are asked to give our most honest opinion.

You see, whatever it is, each breeder have in any point of time paid his/her dues in the hobby. Most importantly, each breeder have his/her preferences and style in the herd that he/she is developing. Whatever the preferences and styles, as long as the Standard Of Perfection is adhere to, it is totally up to the breeder in question. Thus, TO EACH HIS OWN.

Let’s take a little moment just to imagine. Let us imagine that all judges in the rabbit world interprets the Standard Of Perfection the same way. This will never happen but let’s just say what if it happens. Well, not a good thing I must say. Just imagine a rabbit winning under all judges at different shows. How boring it can get right?

What I am trying to say is that, if everyone have the same preferences, opinions and styles, wouldn’t it be a very boring world? Cloning would be a hit among rabbit breeders because everyone is racing ahead to produce the same rabbit winning all the time.

So you see, life is never boring because of diversity. If you let winning get the best of you, the hobby will not be fun any more. Let us all remind ourselves, why do we keep rabbits in the first place. A favourite past time should remain as, a favourite past time – hobby. What’s with all the excitement and fuss when our little bunnies are just lying down on their sides enjoying a cool breezy day?

Sometimes like what the radio says, “We need to ask ourselves, who is the animal?”. How can we humans get nastier than our docile rabbits? It just doesn’t make sense. If we can’t control our emotions, let’s blame it on the hormones and if that’s the case, neutering is the best option.

As for the show, let it be a place where all rabbit lovers gather and if one of us wins, we binky together. There is so many variables that contributes to a rabbit winning and losing in a show i.e. molt, losing condition and etc.

Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. – Lombardi, Vince

As my momma loves to say, “At any given day, any given judge, any given rabbit and any given breeder…”

Leave a comment

Filed under Rabbit Show

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 19, 2011 · 9:52 pm

Fool

When did they say the world would end?

“Tim, don’t be a fool”, “Son, don’t be dumb and be taken advantage of”, “You need to smarten up”.

Fool, Stupid, Fool, Stupid is all that I was getting the entire day. It seemed that the devil is just whispering into my ears constantly how stupid I am. Well, that is to be expected since I am in the midst of 40 days of Lent. Trials, trials and more trials. But we do have a glimpse of hope, it will be victorious in the end.

While I was walking around in the mall this evening, I came to realization that we are indeed called to be of service to others. I spent an entire day on Thursday running errands for the club and half of today was spent on getting some materials to construct the Show Tables needed for the rabbit show in June. While doing that I risked my life and safety transporting huge materials with the car.

“Why Am I Doing This?” seemed to be the only question pounding on my mind. Is it all worth it? Am I being the only idiot doing so much while others just seem oblivious as to what is happening?

I sometime wish there is another me out there that I could pour out my soul and understands exactly what I am going through and how I am feeling. I guess there will never be one who would feel and think the same as me. Come to think about it, there is one other bunny person I know who may think 80% like me and the only thing he can tell me is, “Tim, change your spectacles”. How interesting…

I just can’t run away as I am surrounded by people who put $$$ above all else. Every single decision and move is strategically crafted to earn more $$$. If I place myself in the midst of their strategy, I will be “spinning” in a whirlpool of confusion and a huge FOOL would be written across my forehead. A big fool by the world’s standard.

We cannot deny the fact that we should try to have a self sustainable hobby. In actual fact, many breeders would agree with me that we hardly break even in this hobby. So if we are not profiting, then are we all fools? I am actually pretty glad to be one of the non-profitable fools in this profitable world.

When the world ends, what can I tell myself?

I do not know exactly what I will tell myself in the last moments of my life struggling to stay alive but I hope at the back of my mind, I can say the following:-

1. I have brought about a positive change in the rabbit world

2. I have poured out my soul and used every ounce of my energy to share with the community

3. I have been a fool in the eyes of this world who is so darn afraid of losing to a fellow earthling

4. I have been a fool by the world’s standard by elevating another fellow earthling in his/her venture

5. I have been a fool losing to a fellow earthling and allowing him/her to overtake me

6. I have been a fool for writing this blog post telling the world about how I truly feel (no regrets at all)

7. I have at one point obtained good results for my rabbits

8. I have at one point in my life obtained really good results for my own rabbits

Wait a minute! Isn’t point 7 and 8 the same? Yes and No. My rabbits can be home grown or obtained from fellow breeders. If you know any show breeders that has lasted in the hobby for more than 10 years, you will realize something very important that sustains their passion in the hobby.

Long term breeders take pride in developing their own lines of rabbits. At least a herd of rabbits with a pedigree filled 100% of their rabbitry prefix. Yes, that is what sustains the passion. Taking pride in developing own lines (that win constantly)  and not a seasonal breeder that only goes into a particular breed and hobby just because it is in trend at the moment.

The Year Of The Rabbit comes every 12 years, seasonal breeders will be active for a rabbit year and “hibernate” another 11 year before they “breed like rabbits” again just before rabbit year comes along.

Objectives are very important in this hobby. I truly hope that everyone will find the motivation to sustain in this hobby. The right motivation and objectives, that is.

I hope the MROC 1st & 2nd ARBA Sanctioned Double Open All Breed Rabbit Show 2011 will serve as a sustaining platform for all of us in keeping our passion for this hobby alive. Let there be more leaders coming forward to lead in organizing ARBA Sanctioned shows so that we will constantly have rabbit shows in Malaysia. It will be a shame if we only have an ARBA Sanctioned show every 12 years.

Let us all be fools for just a while…

Come to think about it, aren’t we all already FOOLS sacrificing so much for mere RABBITS?

That is something only true bunny people would understand, a common bunny language we call it!

“….just a fool, do you believe you can change the world?” – Carrie Underwood “Change”

Leave a comment

Filed under Ramblings, Random Topics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 17, 2011 · 11:53 pm

Let’s Not Talk Bunny For Once

Have you ever talk and think so much of something that at a particular moment felt that you are just done talking about it?

Today is one such moment. I just cannot talk rabbit anymore. I think I am through today. An entire day running around for bunnies and thinking about rabbit matters for more than 12 hours in a row really makes me feel a little sick.

At times like these, I seek to find inspiration in life. This one really brought tears to my eyes.

At the tender age of 11 years old, this little girl really touched my heart with her angelic voice. Amazing little girl. She is extremely inspiring for me and I felt that it is worth sharing. She shot to stardom in the 5th season of America’s Got Talent.

She’s no other than Jackie Evancho!

Leave a comment

Filed under Random Topics

Tagged as , ,

by | March 9, 2011 · 5:45 pm

A Little Love Package

A little package was waiting for me when I reached home today. When I opened it, I was totally dumbfounded. Not too long ago, Momma Cheri commissioned Karen Bailey to make a plate for me with Carmel on it.

Sadly, somewhere last year, I accidentally dropped that plate with Carmel on it and it broke into pieces. I was devastated! My heart shattered along with all the broken pieces. I was able to glue the plate back into one piece but it is never gonna be the same again. 😦

But guess what I got in the little love package today?

Balian rocks!

The resemblance is very intriguing!

Thank you very much Momma and Karen for this wonderful gift! Thank you from the bottom of my heart….

3 Comments

Filed under Friends Of Tru-Luv

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 8, 2011 · 5:57 pm

MROC = MROC

For the past few days/weeks, there has been some confusion with the formation of rabbit clubs. I just wanted to take this opportunity to clear the air by letting everyone know that MROC is short for Malaysian Rabbit Owners’ Club. It is in fact a club for anyone who owns rabbit(s) be it pet owners, hobbyist breeders or even people who wants to own rabbits.

As it stands, we are still awaiting for the approval from Registrar of Societies (ROS) before we are able to recruit members. The application is now being processed and we will be getting the approval soon.

My hardworking committee and I would like to urge fellow rabbit owners to give us some time to get this sorted out and we promise that it will be worth the wait. Many events and activities has been planned in the pipeline and as all of you can see, the ARBA Sanctioned Rabbit Shows is one of those events that is currently taking shape. And on top of that, it is organized by MROC committee members and some faithful volunteers at the moment as we have yet to recruit any members.

Again, please know that the 1st & 2nd MROC ARBA Sanctioned Open All Breed shows that is to take place on 4th of June 2011 is solely organized by MROC and supported by a number of sponsors namely American Pet Diner and Pet World Malaysia 2011.

MROC does not have another name other than MROC.

I hope this will dispel all the confusions among rabbit owners.

Thank you for your time reading.

Leave a comment

Filed under MROC

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 6, 2011 · 10:28 pm

What Winning Means To Me?

I suddenly felt the urge to write a long post today. I hope this post would serve as a reminder for all of us what it means to have a hobby.

Let’s begin with a few questions:

1. What is the price to pay for winning?

2. What are the reasons for winning?

3. Why is winning so important?

As you all may know, I am currently taking the lead to get the ARBA Sanctioned Rabbit Shows up and running come 4th June 2011. It is not an easy task but I am really looking forward to it.

Also on the other hand, many people approached me and said to me, “Now with so much hype and publicity surrounding you, how would you feel or what will you do if you do not win?”. My answer is pretty simple, the hype and publicity is not about me, but my rabbits. All the newspaper articles was really featuring my rabbits, not me! I am but an instrument to bring forth the realization of the general public of this hobby and the Holland Lop breed.

Do allow me to answer the above questions one at a time:

1. What is the price to pay for winning?

I believe the 3 questions above are very much related. We have to first ask ourselves, why do we want to win so badly?

There are many rabbit breeders in this world with different intentions. My main intention is to build a community of rabbit lovers (I repeat, rabbit lovers) that emphasize on the well being of the rabbits regardless of breeds. For breeders, I hope it is a platform to build a community of ethical and responsible breeders working hard towards improving the breeds of their interest.

With that said, I really do not mind who takes home the largest trophy of the day because we all should be proud that we have really good rabbits that will be given due recognition for their close adherence to the Standard Of Perfection.

But I must say that most of the time, winning is a pride thing.

Some want it for all the wrong reasons. Winnings can bring a windfall to rabbit sales, that we cannot deny because everyone wants a piece of the winning cake. But this reason for winning may get the best of us. There are many things one can do for the sake of getting to the top.

Honestly, if I really want to win the following are some of the things that I might have done or will do and I do not mean to question the integrity of the judges:

1. Engage someone who have sold me some rabbits to judge and make sure I win. With the win, I can boast to the world and mark up the prices of my rabbits.

2. Import all the Grand Champions of the world to stay a Grand Champion in the circuit.

But hell no, the first thing that came to my mind when we decided to organize a show is to do some homework and find out which judge/judges has not send anything over here. We want everyone to compete on the same level. And to be very honest, I really hope that a Malaysian homegrown rabbit would win BIS.  Which means a rabbit that has been bred from imported lines and possesses/retained the good traits fit to compete with the imports. That is utmost important. Of course that would be ideal but not realistic at this juncture as many has only just started importing.

2. What are the reasons for winning?

When we seek to improve, competition gives us the platform to do just that. Firstly, we will not know what we are lacking without an examination. A conformation show is nothing but an examination of our rabbits against the standards laid down. Winning will only tell us how far or near we are to being perfect. Nothing is perfect of course.

At the end of the day and as I have mentioned countless times, this is but a hobby for me. But to some, hobby may be turned into business. The main reason for winning sometimes may be the recognition needed to boost business. Making it a business while still holding steadfast to the major principle for breeding (improvement of breed) would be acceptable (I guess). The problem arise when we abandon the quality for quantity that can be translated in to riches.

3. Why is winning so important?

Perhaps this question is related to the preceding one. But really, we must ask ourselves why is it so important to win. Winning is a prideful thing. It gives us affirmation that we are the best. Now you should have noticed that I use – WE and I. Who are WE and I? Yes, we humans desires the win. Do you really think that the rabbit knows? Perhaps some would know as some pets are known to yearn of affirmation and praises.

The hobby turns ugly when winning becomes important. The attention shifts from the rabbits to their owners instead. “My rabbit wins BIS”, “I am the best breeder in Malaysia” and the I continues to be amplified.

Lastly, I would like to use the 3 words my dear Momma Cheri uses all the time:

Fellowship

Without the fellowship, Frodo can’t get to his destination. Whether you are the organizers or not, let’s look out for each other, laugh and cry with each other, enjoy the moments with each other and surround ourselves with people who understand our craziness over the rabbits. This is the place where we all speak the same bunny language (there will be a lot of humans doing binkies when winners are announced).

Friendship

Let’s ask ourselves this question, “What is the average lifespan of a rabbit against the average lifespan of a human being?”

Yes, we must build this community of PEOPLE with the SAME HOBBY. Rabbits come and go whether or not they are Best In Show winners. Even reputation last longer than rabbits. Without the human, there will not be a rabbit hobby. It is the hobby that sustains the friendship.

Fun

Not forgetting to take things less seriously and have fun. Congratulate a winner, laugh hard at all the shortcomings (not without landing a hand of course) and savor the joyful moments.

In competition there will always be winners and losers. And as Momma Cheri always say….

At any given day, any given judge and given rabbits…

A show that everyone enjoys to the fullest and to crown (as winners) the most beautiful rabbit among all the beautiful rabbits present is WHAT WINNING MEANS TO ME…

P.S.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA CHERI! We love you tons and millions. One of my biggest pillars of strength in this hobby. This post is also inspired by Rev. Fr. S L. Inspiring sermon today. Yes, we are called to be gatherers!

3 Comments

Filed under Rabbit Show, Random Topics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 5, 2011 · 1:23 pm

Ruffles Art Studio, San Francisco

I am sure most of you know Lauren Nicholas (LILBun Designs), the artist who created all the cute illustrations of rabbits and animals that graces many wonderful weblogs and websites all around the world.

One of my personal favorites from her collection - taken from LILBun Designs

Lauren just started a new venture in portraits and photography called Ruffles Art Studio. Since I appreciate beautiful artworks, I must say that Lauren is one of the most creative person that is walking on the face of the earth (it shows in her works). Part of the proceeds from her works will also be channeled to animal rescue efforts. I feel that is a really noble cause and should be supported.

If you like art and creative stuff, please feel free to go through what Ruffles Art Studio has got to offer.

Leave a comment

Filed under Friends Of Tru-Luv

Tagged as , , , ,

by | March 2, 2011 · 9:39 pm

Rabbit Conference

MROC will be organizing a rabbit talk by Mr. Randy Shumaker and Mr. Allen Mesick. We are trying to gather enough headcount to book a conference room in Cititel Hotel, Mid Valley. Please respond if you are interested so that we can get this moving as well.

Tentatively, here are the details:

Venue: Cititel Hotel

Date: 5th June 2011

Proposed Time: 10 am to 1 pm or 10 am to 5 pm

Proposed Fee: Between RM 25 (half day) and RM 45 (full day)

Topics: Anything and everything about rabbits (to be confirmed)

Please leave a comment here or email Mr. Valjean at valjeanlee@gmail.com to express your interest.

This is a good opportunity for rabbit lovers to learn more about rabbits especially those who are interested in breeding show rabbits.

3 Comments

Filed under Announcement, Bunny Business

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,