Billions of animals are suffering on factory farms. They need you to make the kind choice

Meet Kim, a passionate vegan who has been advocating for animal rights for the past 13 years. Born and raised in Singapore, Kim made the decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle after being a vegetarian for 6 years. Her awakening to the emotional capacity of animals led her to a life that is free from animal exploitation.

She takes great pride in living a vegan lifestyle, and her commitment to animal rights runs deep. Kim is deeply troubled by the fact that countless animals suffer in factory farms, testing labs, breeding mills, circuses, and other businesses that exploit animals. Her goal is to raise awareness and inspire others to make more conscious choices to help make the world a better place for all living beings.

Meatless Movement recently had a chat with her.

Please tell us more about yourself

Being vegan is the most beautiful way a person can choose to live
pixie vegan

Hi, I’m Kim. I was born and raised in Singapore. I’ve been a vegan for 13 years. I was vegetarian for 6 years before that. I decided to stop eating meat when I realized that all animals are sentient beings, and like humans, experience emotions like happiness, fear and sadness.

If you love nature, protect her by being vegan
pixie vegan

I take great pride in being a vegan, as it’s important to me to live a life that doesn’t exploit innocent and helpless animals. It troubles me deeply to know that billions of animals are suffering on factory farms, testing labs, breeding mills, circuses… the list of businesses that exploit animals just seems so endless.

It’s a lot easier to find vegan food in Singapore now than it was 10 years ago. Today there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants serving a wide range of cuisines including Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Western. My favourite vegan dessert cafe is Kind Kones.

I have a huge sweet tooth and I can finish a pint-sized of ice-cream in one go. I also love the local Singapore desserts, like Burbur Cha Cha, Chendol, Honeydew Sago. These are all coconut-milk based and vegan-friendly.

One challenge in being vegan is having to attend social functions like weddings and Christmas parties. I feel obligated to smile and act sociable but it’s really difficult being surrounded by people eating meat as all I can think about is how much the animals are suffering.

True kindness does not eat animals, nor wear their skins as bags and shoes, nor consume or use anything that causes animal suffering
pixie vegan

A few years ago someone I worked with told me that I was being too extreme for abstaining from not just meat but also milk and eggs. I was really upset by her remark, but I didn’t argue with her as I hadn’t wanted to offend anybody. Today I’ve decided it’s more important to speak up for the animals than to try to avoid an uncomfortable situation.

My advice for someone who’s starting on their vegan journey would be to never lose heart. It may seem daunting trying to overhaul your lifestyle completely, and you might slip up sometimes, but the longer you keep at it, the easier it gets.

Our planet needs each and every one of us to start caring.
pixie vegan

On a stroll through the park, watching the otters play in the river and listening to the orioles sing is such a blissful pleasure. I’ve always loved animals. I’ve been volunteering with an animal shelter for ten years. I spend about twenty hours every week walking the shelter dogs – it’s really good exercise. I also volunteered for a while with a wildlife rescue group in Singapore.

Once we had to relocate a huge python who had wandered into a home. Things got scary for a moment when the python began wrapping itself around one of our wildlife rescuers! I grabbed the python’s body – it was my first time handling a snake and I was amazed to feel the powerful contractions of its muscles. Fortunately, we managed to uncoil him and we successfully relocated him to a forest the same day.

Here in Singapore we don’t have farm animal sanctuaries, so my dream is to move somewhere in the future where I can help animals rescued from factory farms.