Lo Hwei Yen's death has brought Singaporeans the closest they've ever been to the reality of terrorism. Even the Yishun videos and Mas Selamat's escape were events that somehow did not shake us to our core, not like this. It wasn't a plane crash, it wasn't an accident on the PIE, it wasn't cancer. The senselessness, madness and viciousness of this incident is what we are grappling with. She was 28, just got married, and maybe one of the faces I passed by in Raffles Place. One of the people I did not know. But still one of us, a Singaporean.
Since the 60s, we've been very lucky to have escaped any kind of violence that we read about in the papers and see on our television screens. An entire generation only knows of this form of carnage from the spectator point of view. In other countries, kids grow up with bullets whizzing by every other day. They grow up stronger mentally because survival is a thing to be thankful for on a daily basis. We need to be thankful that our lives and destinies are the way they are, that all we have to complain about is the ERP, slow service and the price of chicken rice.
There will never be enough tears to bring you back. There will be the right words to fully express how we feel. But we will always remember.
Rest in peace Hwei Yen.
4 comments:
i'm actually quite affected by the news, probably because i've a wife who travels frequently for work too. i do not know what i'll do if i ever lose my wife this way. i would not know, and i hope i will never know, how mr. puhaindran is feeling. such a sudden loss would devastate even the strongest man. my deepest condolences to hwei yen's family and husband...
i'm just thinking, it'll be really nice if someone can set up an anti-terrorism foundation in the name of hwei yen, to give out rewards to anyone who gives reliable information about any potential terrorist acts in SG to prevent them (maybe S$50k), or who assist in the arrest of terrorists targetting SG (maybe S$80k). if everyone in SG can contribute a mere $1, we'll have a good $4.5m fund. if this is successful, such a foundation can be perpetuated outside SG... isn't this more sensible than the senseless bombing of afghanistan? anyone wants to join me in setting up such this foundation fund? get my contact from gurms. i'm serious.
Yeah we've been all quite affected in one way or another. But wow, Alex. A fund. Not sure if money is the answer versus education. I am sure some pple in Mumbai knew what was going to happen. If they came forward to give information and that all information was not taken lightly, this tragedy may have been prevented. It's important to keep an eye out for things, and not assume that all is ok. Once I left my gym bag at Newton MRT and when I came back to retrieve it (switching trains at Novena) it was still there on the bench. I expected to retrieve it from Station Control but no one reported it although there were pple around. No one cared. It's stuff like that this that is scary. That no one cares and thinks it's someone else's business. It's not, it's everyone's business and there's nothing wrong with being careful.
the reward will complement education. education still must go on, but having a reward system will encourage people to give information. i think it'll work especially well if a potential accomplice needs money.
a couple of fishermen at the mumbai shore area actually saw the terrorists get off their boat with their bags of weapons. the fishermen could've been more encouraged to blow the whistle and therefore prevent a disaster if they know that a good reward system is in place.
Alex, your intentions are good.
Most are not aware that the information were available - CIA talked about it a month ago, but nobody took notice as everyone was/is grappling with the 'financial crisis' - but like Gurmit illustrated, it's what we do with the information that matters. And we're not talking about knee-jerk reactions.
Step back a little, look at the big picture. Many things that are happening in the world today are linked - though at first (and even second) glance it may not appear so. The root of the 'problem' lies elsewhere, beyond $.
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