According to AsiaOne News:
I HAVE never really felt the nearness of senseless danger, until now.
When my mum told me that the Singaporean hostage caught in the Mumbai terrorist attacks had been killed, I was stunned.
No Singaporean had ever been killed in an overseas terrorist attack before.
I realised the next day that I had met the brother-in-law of the victim, Ms Lo Hwei Yen, several times before.
My mum broke her arm in a fall in July, and he was the doctor who treated her with such consummate care and expertise that we looked forward to seeing him in the hospital each time.
We saw him with his team of nurses. He was so busy, yet so helpful. I imagine him now in sudden, inexplicable grief.
I can’t put the picture away.
I can’t put the picture of a city under attack away.
Things have changed irrevocably.
Things I’ve seen on TV and heard from friends have suddenly been converging upon me – as if to emphasise that this scourge of terror is an issue for every Singaporean, no matter who or where they are.
About two months ago, I met a visitor from India – a Ferrari fan – on the chartered bus to the pit grandstand of the Formula One race.
He told me proudly about his city Mumbai, formerly Bombay, and invited me to go there. It’s an exciting place, he said.
I saw it being pummelled, the scene of abject carnage now. At about the same time, my friend Geoff Malone, architect and founder of the Singapore International Film Festival, was describing to me the splendour of the Taj Mahal Hotel.
He had stayed there previously during a film festival, and was impressed by its arch windows and iconic red domes. The past few days, I have seen the building, engulfed by flames and black smoke, on TV.
I never really understood how close and random violence can be – until now.
- My personal feelings for the whole carnage by the “random violence” is neutral. I felt life is always on the edge and should always live it to the fullest possible.
The sadness is a Singaporean got caught in a this chaotic times, no doubt it’s really really bad luck to be caught inside such situation where the terrorist had no intention of negotiation and murdered so many.
The shock is similar to those of 9/11 of United States where people of all race/nationality were in the state of shock and overwhelmed with emotions such as rage, sadness, fear and many more…and totally incapcitated any possibility of rational thinking.
The results of the 9/11 is for all to see, it resulted in more violence and death….and it does not really bring peace or prosperity to the world.
The true culprit of the terrorist in 9/11 was not dealt with properly but someone else like IRAQ was punished for being too harsh to their own people but totally irrelevent to 9/11.
The fear I had is that people uses such terrorist act of terror for their own political advantage and make irrational & dangerous decisions such as going to war to whoever that is considered “enemy” of the state.
For India, that is Parkistan…another nuclear powered country that can easily wipe India out with tactical nuclear warhead and vice versa.
What this dangerous act of terror may spark the most dangerous conflict since the Iraq war invasion by America due to 9/11.
We much be reminded that more and more people died neednessly regardless of their race, languages or religions when the bombs starts falling, when soldiers fight…we can throw all the politics out of the window.
It’s about time we start to think rationally and not emotionally, DO NOT be fooled by these tradgedy and goes into violent decisions or support any pollitical decisions that brings more violence to others.
The ancient Chinese saying is “Yuen yuen xiang bao he shi liao?” which means “When will the revenge ends?”
When someone was killed or murdered, their family members starts to plot their revenge and kill the other person who directly involved in the murder or simply have similar actions…and when the revenge was done…their family starts to plot the revenge back.
The question is WHEN WILL IT END?
The sorrow of the people who had their family killed in the acts of terror should let go and let their death be peaceful and not the reasons for more misery for others in the near future.
I implore all humans living in this world to stop revenge killings regardless of race, languange, religions or nationalities.
There are not a world that had ever achieve total peace or equality but happiness is not about revenge or conquring others…it’s about peace and living to their fullest.
Whatever reasons was given for the most recent terrorist attack should NEVER be used as a reasons for WAR.
Now, I can only give my most sincered condolence to the family who lost their love ones in this terrorist attack but justice will come naturally without WAR or violence but within the inner minds of those who kill or behind this terrorist attack.
Time will tell if the world falls into this trap of vicious cycle of violence….pass this on to remind others that violence will never solve violence.
