The World is Changing ...

Reading the papers nowadays usually leaves me feeling disturbed and unsettled. There's so much grief and hatred in the world. People dying unexpectedly, wars, fighting, pollution, selfishness ... I sometimes think that if God were to send another flood to wipe out the human race, now would be a pretty appropriate time to do so.

This is going to be a rather serious, even morbid post ...

1) All the recent reports of people dying suddenly, young men dying in their sleep, people killed by falling trees, people drowning .... just reminds me how easily and unexpectedly death can come. I think about death quite a bit. Not sure why, perhaps I'm just very aware of my own mortality. I have found myself looking around at people I see on the streets in the past couple of weeks and realising that in 75 years, almost everyone will be dead; people who are now young, strong, full of life and vitality will be gone by then, replaced by a whole new generation of people ... and life goes on in this way ....

2) Abdul Basheer, the "self-radicalised" muslim who was detained under the Internal Security Act, was a schoolmate of mine from National Junior College. I never really knew him well, although it was easy to see that he was one of the popular, cool people in school and smart too(from the Humanities class). I'm sure those who know him well are shocked by the news of his detention but in some strange warped way, he probably thought that he was doing his part to make the world a better place. And so it is with many who use violence to advance their cause, I believe they genuinely believe that violence is the only way to make things better for a group of people who are suffering, even if it is at the expense of another group of people. Until the day comes when we can all look at those around us and not judge one another based on race, religion, sexual orientation and social status can the human race have any hope of attaining real harmony and happiness.

3) The world is dying. We take earth's marvellous ability to rejuvenate itself for granted. Our world cannot keep up with the harm we are doing to it. The number of movies made nowadays depicting end of the world scenarios is a clear reflection of mankind's anxiety regarding the state of our environment now. Yet, we still go on killing our planet. Perhaps we don't feel we are doing any damage of consequence as individuals. Maybe most people just can't be bothered because it doesn't affect them personally. Apathy. We only bother with something when if affects our lives personally. Otherwise, why care?

4) I went for my student visa interview at the US Embassy yesterday. Terrorism has really changed the world. Security measures designed to keep us safe can also make us feel like the threat we are being protected from. The interview process itself went pretty smoothly. The advisory I got from the school was to indicate that I had no intention of staying on in the US after my studies in order for my visa application to not be denied. I had to leave my handphone, glue and stapler at the guardhouse. The old lady in front of me had her visa request denied because her friend who was supposed to be her translator, told her what to say instead of allowing her to answer in her own words and then translating her words. I was thinking how strict and inflexible that interviewing officer was. Earlier this year when I was in the US, KL and I were both sent for extra screening procedures at one of the airports we were at. We walked into booths where puffs of air where shot at us. Each item in our carry on luggage was also individually inspected and cleaned. It appeared that those being singled out for the extra screening were non caucasians. Perhaps it was my imagination. But one can easily see how all these security measures can make you feel like you are the danger that they are supposed to be protecting you from. With each new measure introduced, I wonder when all of it will end. I guess it will never end. Each side feeds the other. New forms of threats will breed new prevention methods. And each side will keep evolving. Just like how viruses evolve over time, developing new strains.

This has been a rather pessimistic post hasn't it? I'm not always like that. I also believe that there are many beautiful things in this world. I just think about things sometimes ....