'Cute' cops rescue cat, steal netizens' hearts

One way to appeal to women is to have a cute pet. Two officers from the Woodlands East Neighbourhood Police Centre went one better.

They helped to rescue a cat that was stuck on a six-storey-tall pine tree. For them, it's all part of a day's work.

But when the rescue, together with a picture of the two cops with the cat, was posted on the Singapore Police Force Facebook page on Tuesday, it set female netizens swooning, not just over their good deed but also over their good looks.

The post has gone viral, garnering about 9,000 likes, 1,000 shares and 500 comments by last night.

On Nov 24 last year, Staff Sergeant Benjamin Cheah and Corporal Mohammad Faidzul Muslim responded to a call for assistance at Woodlands Avenue 9.

A cat had been stuck on the top of the tree without food for two days.

As the branches at the top are thin and would break easily, it was not possible for anyone to climb up to rescue the cat, the post said.

Staff Sgt Cheah said in the post: "We couldn't bring ourselves to simply walk away from the situation as my partner and I are animal lovers."

After a discussion with the residents who had gathered to help, they came up with a rescue plan.

First, they tied a gardening hose around the tree and pulled it, hoping the cat would loosen its grip when the tree started swaying.

Ten residents spread out bed sheets and curtains to catch the cat when it fell.

When the cat would not release its grip after 20 minutes, the officers asked a resident on the sixth storey to spray water out of his window at the cat.

The cat immediately let go and fell from the tree. Unhurt, the feline was then reunited with its owners, who wrote in to thank the officers.

BEYOND CALL

"Your two officers did what others couldn't. They went beyond their call of duty to help us save our cat and wouldn't stop until our cat got down from the tree," they said on the Facebook post.

Some netizens commended the officers for the rescue while others gushed about their looks.

A Facebook comment from Catherine Chong read: "Salute to our policemen doing extra to help the cat and community. Feeling proud."

NurAin Salleh said: "Good looking and kind-hearted officers. Good!"

Rovin Wudamu added: "Well done. Two handsome cops!"

But sorry girls, at least one of them is taken, based on his social media profile.

According to his Instagram pictures, Staff Sgt Cheah got married at the Registry of Marriages last September.

He is also a fitness buff, who uploads videos of himself singing covers on his Facebook account.

For one netizen at least, looks are secondary to deeds. Miss Suruthi Joy, 20, a National University of Singapore student, said: "The officers are cute, but the act of rescuing the cat is definitely cuter.

"It doesn't matter how police officers look as long as they carry out their duties well."

choomf@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 15, 2015.
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