Why I became a vegan

I've been asked many times why I became a vegetarian, so I decide to make this post. I first went vegetarian on 26 November 2002. I actually wanted to become a vegetarian on the 25th (which was international meatless day), but I accidently ate some animal-based soup that day.

It was religion which first influenced me. I am a Buddhist, and believe in rebirth. I was reading a Buddhist book one day when it suddenly dawned on me that the meat I was eating could have been the flesh of parents in my previous lifetimes. From then onwards, I feel uncomfortable whenever I ate meat. I tried to order less meat in the dishes in school, but I did not order a completely vegetarian meal as I was afraid my classmates would jeer at me.

Every year on a certain week, my mum will go vegetarian. I decided to do what she did as well. It was a relieve when that time arrive, I could eat vegetarian meals at school and yet able to answer my friends the reason when questioned.

My cousin also influenced me to some extent. When she was studying in Australia, she became a vegan. Once, when paying us a visit, she talked about how the cows were treated and things like whether the cows feel pain. If you are not a vegetarian, I can understand if you find my cousin strange - it was also a completely new idea for me and it has not crossed my mind before to think that way, and of course, I found it a bit strange too :)

So eventually, under these circumstances, I decided to become a vegetarian. After around 1.5 or 2 years I gradually shifted to a vegan diet after further understanding of veganism.