SEPTEMBER 30 — I was in Megah Rise mall (at Taman Megah) over the weekend and it got me thinking: Do the people who brought their pets to the mall look happier than those who did not? (And no this isn’t a promo for Heart of the Beast; somehow I have no interest in seeing Brad Pitt do death-defying stuff in the company of an Alsatian.)

I’ve heard of the term “pet parenting” before but my mind ends up being blown when I see how some folks treat and love their Toy Poodles and Maltese dogs. 

The first time I saw puppies in baby prams, I was like, “Whoah, now that’s both cute and disorienting at the same time.” 

It’s one thing to see folks treat their pet dogs like human children; it’s quite another to see the animals behave better than kids (!).

Really makes you think if in future society will have to cater more to pets than to children. 

Because there are so many reasons why more and more couples are opting to own Golden Retrievers instead of having kids. 

Your Shih-Tzu isn’t going to demand much more from you other than food and the occasional walk. 

It won’t need to enter Sunway University, fight with you about allowance, inherit your anxieties about the world and, worst of all, willfully abandon you after a fight or two. 

Best of all, your in-laws aren’t going to hover over you about how you raise Daisy and you’ll get minimal (and only fun) questions about Buddy during Chinese New Year.

Even the language many people use already suggests that the Corgi is less a pet and more of a family member. 

I thought only people in the West refer to themselves as Mummy and Daddy when talking to their pets but I was 200 per cent wrong on this score.

Day in, day out a Maltese simply cannot resist greeting you with enthusiasm practically every time it sees you. 

I also know a few people for whom the death of a pet can be very crushing. 

I still recall the movie Notes on a Scandal where Judi Dench’s character lost it after her cat died and Cate Blanchett didn’t seem to care, triggering the chaos in the narrative which followed. 

With falling fertility, increasing number of condominiums, greater focus on careers and, sadly, rising domestic problems, it is entirely possible that pets will take the place of children in a more and more literal sense. 

The next time I see a Pomeranian in a pram at Megah Rise, I won’t just think “cute.” 

I’ll wonder if that’s the future arriving on four legs.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.