As
I learn of the death of 20 children between the age of five and ten early on a
morning of another school day in America, my first thought was on my own
daughter Terrina and her daughters Isabel and Sofie. After this how can any mother
take their children to school and leave them there without fearing for their
safety? How can you even let them out of your sight?
And
then in China 22 children attacked by a man with a knife!
And
I ask myself…is there really a God?
Has
the world gone mad to take the lives of children who as Obama said, “had
their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of
their own,”
In the cryptic language of the Police we are also told that the gunman is deceased and that his mother who was a teacher there was amongst the dead!
And in moments like this I realized how blessed we are to have
our family safe and secure in our own homes ….and nothing else really matters
for now. Not the civil war in Syria where the Syrian government are
indiscriminately killing their own people to stay in power, not the charging or
a former Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva
with murder and certainly least of all the trials and tribulations of Deepak
and Musa.
It is in moments like this that makes us draw a deep deep breath
and take cognizance of our own situation, of our lives so far away from the US
and yet so close because of what has happened this morning – 20 children and 6
adults murdered on a school morning with Christmas looming…and all this
happening in a perfect world that we live in.
A perfect world that started well for me this morning having
awoken from a restful sleep, showered and with a cup of Nescafe, I was just
about to start work on my blog.
I powered on my iBook and the first item that leapt at me was
the murder of children and adults in the US and the attack on children in China!
Does that make it no longer a perfect world for me?
It does and it does not. A perfect world for all of us consists
of good times and bad times. It consists of the good that people do and the
evil that others do too…and through it all we must learn and become better.
Stronger and more compassionate of our fellow human beings…at least I try.
I try but I do not always succeed.
I have no answers as to why these things happen…only a heartfelt
sigh that knows that these things happen in life and that there will be more
killing of children to come in the future for the
Americans. Much more unless today is the day when they start gun
control…meaningful gun control and once and for all accept that the right to
bear arms is no longer a cherish right of each and every citizen of that
country. Then maybe we will not have to read about children being asked to
close their eyes as they walk past the corpse of their classmates killed
because Americans cherish the right to bear arms!
For Malaysians may I suggest that the best is yet to come. There
should be more compassion for those less fortunate and less privilege than us.
There has to be meaningful celebration of our diversity and an acceptance that
in diversity we need to seek harmony. That we are our brother and sister’s
keeper. That if there are some amongst us who are hungry and homeless than we
too should feel their hunger and their suffering. An impossible ask’s I know
but nevertheless we must try.
The alternative is too grim a possibility for any of us to contemplate. Salam
The alternative is too grim a possibility for any of us to contemplate. Salam
Whenever I hear of such massacres, Port Arthur springs to mind. And I thank John Howard for his swift action in making Australia a safer country.
ReplyDeleteBut the gun lobby is just too strong in USA. Obama shedding tears will not bring the dead back but similar action like JH shall prevent more innocent lives from being lost wantonly. But sad to say, he lacks the political will.