WHO EXACTLY IS RAFFLES?

We adopted Raffles, a West Highland Terrier…I think. He may be a mixie but he is mostly Westie in look and attitude.

I first met him in Singapore at the Singapore Westie of the Year contest. He should have won that contest, but Bobby Fong Jr. had given me a “competitive edge” by having Raffles injected with steroids “on the sly” and “unfortunately” was disqualified after a blood test to ensure the top 5 Westies were “clean”. As runner up I won the title.

I met him subsequently a few times at the luxury hotel Raffles Singapore where he was “employed” as a greeter and a rat and rodent hunter of the kitchens of Raffles Singapore. I had the pleasure of ratting with him twice and we struck gold once by hitting up a couple of big fat Norway rats behind a bag of Durians! Those peppercorns on your hotel steak my not be peppercorns if you know what I mean.

Raffles was an “employee” of Raffles Singapore obviously exploited as he received no wages. Bangladeshi guest workers were paid so why not Raffles? A Singaporean slave?

He slept in a room off the kitchen.

He had a boss, whoever the doorman on duty was.

As far as scant collective hotel management memory is concerned, Raffles was found “several years ago” in a back alley of the hotel dazed and bleeding. A dishwasher at the hotel, a former opium addict and veterinarian took Raffles under his wing and nursed him back to health. The poor kitchen worker was gunned down outside the hotel in a huge gum smuggling deal gone sour and poor Raffles, thought to be 4 years old or so was adopted “by the hotel” and put to work as a greeter and later a rat and rodent hunter.

As a greeter Raffles would bound up to arriving guests, wag his tail and give a gentle welcoming bark. Occasionally his welcoming antics were not appreciated so he learnt well how to “read” guests to detect fear and apprehension as not all loved dogs. Occasionally a naughty sprog would yank his tail but Raffles would never bite.

You may recall the Sultan of Palumbia arriving at Raffles Singapore in great self-inflicted pomp and circumstance kicked and insulted poor Raffles who retaliated with a “warning nip” on the Sultan’s ankle who retaliated by threatening to execute him unless he was permanently removed from the hotel and so Bob and Fay with a bark of assent on my part adopted Raffles on the spot.

Our “friends” in the Singaporean government provided us in short order with “proper travelling” documentation that would permit him to travel both to China and Canada.

So here is in Toronto, Canada now with us.

He is a big brother for me but I must be in charge to acclimatize him to Canada. A pleasure.

As the expression goes, we are “partners in crime” without being criminals.