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Death is a natural part of life. Death happens anytime and anywhere. But that doesn't make it easy to comprehend or accept.
There has been quite abit of media coverage lately about deaths resulting from freak accidents. This is not to say that deaths do not occur just because the media doesn't cover them. It's... just more in your face. Especially for those who are not directly affected. Read the papers and you end up feeling abit more sombre, abit more contemplative. It's like every minute of your life is taken up by minutes of silences. I guess theoretically that IS the case. We just tend not to dwell on it.
Such tragic ways to pass on. From what our human minds can comprehend, such deaths seem to be all the more painful. Of course none of us actually know how it feels to die. Even those who claim to have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and came back. We do not know if it was painful or not. We know physical pain as how we experienced it here on Earth. So we tend to equate such pain with tragic deaths.
On the other hand, there are those seemingly healthy ones who died in their sleep. We tend to think that such lives didn't end so painfully. But do we really know? We often hear people lamenting about how life is miserable/ difficult/ meaningless. How about the meaning of death? If we cannot 'withstand' life, can we 'withstand' death? Can we?
Nevertheless, family and friends of the deceased feel the emotional pain no matter what the cause of death.
Here is to the fallen SAF soldiers who died because of the crash in Taiwan. Here is to those who died because of the fallen trees. Here is to that girl who drowned in the drain. Here is to Wayne Thunder Seah. Here is to all those who has passed on and will pass on. May mankind believe and be taken care by Him.
- This is from the Online Straits Times Forum 26 May 2007 -
I REFER to the letter, 'Memorial to NSmen who die while on duty' by Mr Lim Chong Leong (ST, May 16), and the reply, 'NSmen who die on duty are not forgotten' (ST, May 23), by Colonel Benedict Lim of the Ministry of Defence.
Mr Lim made some pertinent points in according respect to NSmen who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. I understand and agree with the reasons for his requests, having been an NSman myself, and now the father of a son who will one day serve the nation himself.
I also appreciate the reply from Col Lim where he mentioned that the Singapore Armed Forces make significant monetary compensation to the family, and then remembers the fallen with a minute of silence during the annual SAF Day Parade. However, Col Lim did not address Mr Lim's key point of building a memorial to those who die while in service.
It is an extremely good suggestion to erect a memorial, in a prominent place, to remember our fallen brothers in arms. These men and women, who are sorely missed by their grieving family, deserve more than monetary contribution and a minute of silence. They deserve a memorial for their sacrifice.
A prominent memorial, with individual names engraved, will be much appreciated by the families. It will also be appreciated by future generations of servicemen and women who know they will not be forgotten by their country. If we do not remember them individually in this way, their memory will fade away.
Lieutenant (NS) Thusara Dharmapala
- This is from the Online Straits Times Forum 16 May 2007 -
THE sudden, horrific deaths of and serious injuries to our national servicemen in Taiwan came as a great shock. Young men in their prime about to embark on a promising career were stopped suddenly through no fault of their own. Their parents must have felt devastated to lose their sons in such circumstances.
All Singapore parents with sons in NS, or who are about to enlist, must have felt a strong sense of sadness and empathy for the parents of the dead and injured NSmen. However, we can comfort them only with words of condolence and support. Soon, the incident will be forgotten except by the affected parents and family members.
NS is now 40 years old and there are many families with members from three generations who have served the country. NS has become a rite of passage for all Singapore men and is well entrenched in all families. Unfortunately, as a conscripted force, NS is still viewed by parents as a high-risk activity and most feel anxious and concerned for NSmen's personal safety, notwithstanding training precautions taken.
The effort and sacrifices of NSmen are given recognition in various ways, for example, tax rebates, bonuses and club facilities. However, there appears to be a lack of recognition of unfortunate ones who fall while on duty in the defence of Singapore. They may have fallen but they should not be forgotten.
I suggest that, as part of the 40th anniversary of NS, the Government go one step further in recognising the sacrifices of our young men and at the same time, alleviate the emotional devastation and hardship of parents who may lose their sons in the defence of the country.
I propose that the Government provide insurance coverage for all NSmen during their full-time service and allow them to carry on the policies at their own expense after their operationally ready date (ORD). I believe the premium for group insurance is within the budget of the Government. This is in addition to any payment currently made to families of affected NSmen.
Another proposal is to build a memorial to NSmen who lose their lives while on duty. This could be in a prominent location where the public could visit at any time. Their names could be inscribed on the memorial. On National Day, a simple ceremony could be held there to remember them.
Lim Chong Leong
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And to think my mom was vehemently arguing for the need to have some form of condolences or apology to the parents of the NS men who died last Friday. I agree with what the above writer suggested. There doesn't seem to be much recognition given to those who have died while on national service. Especially in such a freak accident like the one last Friday.
The magnitude of such a loss of life cannot be fully described in words. Please not let their deaths be in vain.
Literally, an unfulfilled wish/intention.
Last Friday, 11 May 2007, two SAF soldiers were killed in Taiwan when a Taiwanese jet crashed into a storeroom. One of them was 3rd Sergeant Isz Sazli Sapari.
I do not know him or his family. But reading the article in Berita Minggu yesterday, I felt sorrow for his family and friends and just the fact a young promising life is lost. More specifically, the lost life of a young promising Malay man.
Call me elitist. But the fact he was offered a place to read in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in NUS after his national service just made it all the more poignant. There are not many of us who can and are willing to pursue a higher education, hopefully for the better of our families and communities.
It was such a pity.
Once again, it drives home the point that life is transient. Feelings of guilt for being such a bad person enter the conscience. *sigh* Fleeting, random thoughts of death. Of unfulfillment. Of never complete honesty. Of so many faults that make us human.
Inna lillah wa inna ilaihi rajiun.
May Allahyarham Isz be well taken care of whereever he is now. And may Allah take care of his family still here on Earth.
- This is from the Straits Time Online Forum 14 May 2007 -
I REFER to the recent letters on the illegal occupation of Iraq by American and British troops.
Readers have referred to the Sept 11, 2001, tragedy as justification for the war, and congratulated America for protecting the rest of the world from 'terrorist-infested nations'.
But al-Qaeda had little or no presence in Iraq prior to the occupation, while now they flourish
there checked only by violence by other factions.
The Bush administration fabricated links between religious extremists al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's fiercely secular regime when no less than bin Laden described Saddam as a 'bad Muslim'.
What about claims of intervention on humanitarian grounds?
With 600,000 civilians dead and counting, the destruction of the infrastructure of much of the country and the widespread flight of medical personnel, this adventure was not a great success.
The consequent suffering and the horror of Abu Ghraib have recruited more terrorists to the cause than any extremist propanda video ever could.
And this does not result from unexpected events after the fact - the Bush administration must have known, unless colossaly incompetent, that Iraq would be unmanageable without substantially more planning and spending than it undertook.
Former president George H.W. Bush wrote as recently as 1998: 'To occupy Iraq would instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us and make a broken tyrant into a latter-day hero... assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an un-winnable urban guerilla war. It could only plunge that part of the world into even greater instability.'
The Bush administration hinged its case for war on the existence of weapons of mass destruction. This was false, as UN inspectors closer to the situation in Iraq repeatedly warned.
Since, the Lincoln Group has been paid by the American military to circulate US-friendly news stories in ostensibly independent Iraqi newspapers.
America tortures Guantanamo Bay detainees with stress positions and prolonged isolation, driving many to mental illness and several to suicide.
The American media invents fantasies about heroics by US soliders that those soliders, such as Jessica Lynch, themselves repudiate.
Having orchestrated this circus, the US government readies itself to leave Iraq only after passing Bills requiring the opening of the country's oil fields to foreign exploitation.
In the face of this transparently dishonest grab for wealth, it beggars belief that anyone can write of America defending the 'free world'.
Jolene Tan Siyu (Ms)
London, United Kingdom
emo against an emo-less backdrop.
being emo is nothing to be proud of i guess. it's just that i readily admit that i wear my heart on my sleeve. whatever it is, it has nothing to do with the emocore or screamo scenes currently in the rage now.
i am emo. i like black eyeliner. i like black stuffs. since young. and i resent any association with those long fringes covering faces cum thick black eyeliner cum tight black tshirt peeps out there.
sheesh. i reckon there are those who think i'm a poseur of sorts. cos i do wear the standard black thingies but i dont have those piercings (i.e lips. eyebrows. etc) and do self harm or something. bleeeeargh.
just for the record, i believe there truly are depressed people out there. as in clinically depressed. i feel sorry for them. i can understand how damn hard it is for anything to alleviate the pain. that said, it doesnt mean anything that depresses you makes you a depressive. so wake up and deal. dont give real depressives a bad name.
urgh. enough ramblings for tonight.
apropos to the Sept 11 06 post, i've mentioned that The Diary of Jane will be the ONLY song i like from Breaking Benjamin. man. i am so wrong la. i totally dig the vocals. i've ended up liking a few songs, particularly the one below, from their previous album - We Are Not Alone.
Breaking Benjamin - So Cold
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright...
bloody haunting. i dig benjamin burnley's voice. go figure.
however. i must add something. call me a woman with that condescending tone. call me whatever you want. i gotta admit i get affected somehow if i read somewhere that band line-ups are always changing or there is some fall out within the band, yadda yadda. i know it's completely baseless but it sometimes make me like the band a little less. dunno why. i guess i have some deeply ingrained imagery of perfection and harmony and what not. and the ridiculous thing is, my inner feelings get selective. i reserve the little less like to a few bands. gee.
Incubus - Light Grenades
woohoo! fluffy stuffs. oklah. not really. this album just has this kinda other worldly feel to it. or maybe anything which isn't heavy rock or metal seems other worldly... hmmm. anyway. i must admit i dont have the album prior to this record. i think i've tried listening to it but i dont quite dig it. but this album. yeah yeah yeah. i liiiiike. there is a mix of heavy and laid back stuffs. heavy in the sense of guitar riffs thingy majig. laid back cos it just is. i guess those who know their music and actually play instruments will say their chords are bloody simple or something. but hey, i like their build-up. simple or intricate - fine by me as long as the music just pierces my heart. once again, i gotta say i love brandon boyd's voice! he rocks! rooooocks i tell you! too bloody bad i didnt get to watch them perform in kl some years back. go to their myspace site to check out what brandon has to say about each of the songs!
hahahah. yeah. i have a weakness for nice voices. female and male for singing. almost a prerequisite when checking out new songs/bands/singers. male when not singing. i.e. that hottie deep creamy voice to hear over the phone or right beside your ear. yum! i can just melt...
i am exasperated!! i have no idea why IE and Firefox are acting up on me. i can't use the blogger site as how i used to. the display for creating new posts is totally off kilter. there's some error with widget pop up thingy - i can't even add any page elements.
i can gather there must be something missing or out of order. but seriously, how am i supposed to figure that one out? what IS wrong???
can someone pleeeeeease help me? !!
ok ok. i know i havent updated my blog. i'll put in a tag board and some other thangs in soon enough. i hope.
anyway. i am sick. flu! cough! throat infection! was surrounded by people who were ill last week. now is my down time. freak-0! my nose is red. da skin is peeeeling. gosh. runny noses suck. it's been on and off. on and off. on and off. on and off...
bleeeeeargh.
i need to look like i'm doing work. like reeeally doing work. now, i know how difficult it is to get rough price estimates for collaterals. i ended up waiting for weeks for one i was looking out for before. "can you please drop me an email? i'm busy now./ it's easier for me to give you a reply./ i'm driving now./ blah blah." and when i actually did. almost none of those people actually replied. sigh. maybe i have too high expectations. maybe.
alright. there are quite a few things that i guess i'd like to put up on this online realm soon. (my definition of 'soon' varies greatly. so yeah.) possibly trying to get a load off my chest. i think some people have been giving me weird looks when i go off muttering to myself. i like to talk to myself. mainly because i don't really have anyone to talk to. God doesn't count cos He already knows what's on my mind and in my heart.
so many thoughts. so many emotions. roller coaster ride indeed. especially in light of that tragedy in Japan over the 5 May weekend.
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