I am a novice vegetarian.

I became a vegetarian almost overnight. When one day, my baby niece asked a simple and innocent question, "are you an animal lover or a cat lover?" I love cats. I have 5 at home & they are my babies. But I DO love animals.

That question got me thinking. Here I am, telling everyone who cares to listen to me about how bad battery farming is, that we should stamp out animal cruelty, save the planet etc etc & I am about the stuff a siew mai into my face. Hypocrite? Yes, I think. Suddenly I find myself in the statistics of those "not practising what they preach".

Being a vegetarian is more than just not eating meat. It is a lifestyle choice. I believe that animals have as much rights we do. They have emotions like we do. That's why the Buddhists call them sentient beings. Just because they can't talk our 'lingo', it doesn't make them inferior to mankind.

The environment is our source of survival. Abuse it and the future generations suffer. It is that simple. We should be conscious of how we utilise her resources. Be prudent and our children and their children will continue to enjoy mothernature.

From the point of view of a Buddhist, by going vegetarian, I am also practicing mercy and compassion to all sentient beings.

The aim of this blog is not just to discuss vegetarian issues or swop recipes. When I decided to become one, I realised there is hardly Singaporean vegetarian blogs. I'm keen to start one where we can:

1) Swop local & other vegetarian & vegan recipes of course.

2) Hope to provide a vegan guide on shopping, recipes (of course), restaurant guides etc. Let's start small shall we? Let's start with Singapore.

So if you like what I have in mind, then write , contribute, exchange, give me your point of view! We are all here to help & learn from each other.