it might not be taken as a coincidence that his nomination happened to come at a time in which legislation proposing a republic-wide ban on pets was being argued before the senate ( the bill itself had been proposed by a senator j.r. levinson of sentosa , who had strong ties to the silver thread nomination process , and who , incidentally , had a severe allergy to animal fur , in spite of the fact that his wife was a mammal-lover that kept a seeming menagerie of fur-bearing critters in their domicile ) .