Fancy a monkey or a song-and-dance for your Mother's Day gift?

May 7, 2007 16:31

Mother's Day is just around the corner and it's another excuse for indulging and splurging on your dear old mom.
So what would she like for this special day? Another bottle of Chanel perfume, the latest gadget or a relaxing spa retreat from Banyan Tree?

These days, it's easy to shop online for a last-minute present for your love ones. One click of a button and you will be able to find what you are searching for. Singapore online malls offer plenty of selections of unique handcrafted accessories, branded items, electronics and even household items (maybe mom would like another blender). Just click, select, add to cart, checkout, pay and you have your present gift-wrapped and delivered within one to three working days, right to your doorstep.

But what if mommy prefers some companionship this Mother's Day since she is always home and alone? While you're getting your mind out of the gutter, I'm referring to getting your mother a cute little household pet, not some hotblooded company.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprising, was that while surfing around for unique gifts, I stumbled upon some foreign sites that sell exotic animals. Over at http://www.go-bazaar.com/, an online marketplace that allows its users to post their wares for sale, I found a cute little Baby Capuchin Monkey for sale from Cameroon. AND FOR US$1,000! It also states that the little fellow makes a wonderful house pet as it has been house and toilet trained. Hmm... Although we all know that it will be illegal for anyone to import any exotic animals into Singapore, I wasn’t intending to get into any monkey business by purchasing any live animals online.

But as curiosity got to the better of me, I decided to check out how many other online malls offer such exotic live "products" for sale.

As I mentioned, it's no surprise that the World Wide Web is now a haven for finding anything weird and unusual. From llamas to monkeys, from boa constrictors to flying squirrels, these are animals you can see only at the Singapore Zoo. Getting your hands on these exotic pets doesn't come cheap, either, not to mention illegal. Fees can range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, and that's not including shipping and tax.

There's also the torture that the poor animal has to sit through a long and stuffy journey if anyone were to really buy a pet online and get it shipped across the Pacific Ocean. Unlike your latest purchase of lingerie from Victoria Secrets, these are living, breathing creatures. They will definitely not survive the trying journey.

Now back to the little monkey which I found online from a Cameroon seller. Further checks online came up with several forums warning that such sales were fraud. It seems the sale of such a monkey (or, for that matter, anything else from Cameroon) is fake, and that several people have fallen into this trap and been taken for a ride by this monkey business.

Check out these complaints and warnings in some forums I came across.

1. Urgent Monkey Warning
   
2. Monkey For Sale
   
3. Warnings on Monkey from Cameroon
   

Anyway, that put paid to the whole monkey business and live animals on sale online.

So back to getting mommy a unique present. If flowers are what your mother fancies (since the dad pretty much stinged on it during their courtship days), you should check out this unique flower and gift site at The Olive 3 which not only delivers pretty flowers, will even arrange a surprise delivery with live band that will serenade her with her favorite song.