Looking Back - 2004

The seconds are ticking, the hours are changing and the days are turning. It will soon be a new year a few hours from now. Looking back on this year would have been easy but a look at the incident on Boxing Day in Asia snapped us all back into the reality and fragility of life in itself.

Our country has been particularly blessed due to the geographical location, being "hidden" by Indonesia's many islands. But never in my years in Penang have there been anything as surreal yet devastating as this. Though our death toll will never amount to those suffered at the epicentre of the earthquake and tidal waves, the news hit hard when Penang Island was listed as the state with the most number of casualties throughout Malaysia.

The video clips and photos that keep pouring in depict horror, helplessness, hopelessness, destruction and utter desolation in many parts of the Asian region. One cannot even begin to imagine what it's like, being in a country damaged by the effects, haunted by the loss and scarred by the images engraved in their memories.

The hardest pill to swallow is the fact that the hardest hit countries are one of the poorest in the world. It's heartening to see that countries and citizens of the human world are pulling all resources available to assist in the aftermath. But why does it need a tragedy to have people come together? Do racial lines and ethnic backgrounds dictate our every move among the multitudes? It is absolutely great news to read the reports that people are willing to reach out to Islamic countries at this time of grief. But if racial lines and ethnic backgrounds do not matter now, it should not matter at all under normal circumstances. It doesn't take much to hate a person, but it doesn't take much to care for someone as well, if only we realize it.

It doesn't make things any better to start pointing fingers at 'What Ifs' at this point in time. It is truly disheartening to read reports of rich countries being "stingy". Isn't it good enough that they are contributing, rather than not? A lot of money will truly be a blessing, but the little amounts DO matter as well. It is time to wake up and realize that the world does not revolve around one country or one person. We have to do our parts as well. How many more 9/11s or Boxing Day Tsunamis do we need before we get the point that life is too short to be worried about the little things?

Let's usher in the New Year with a little more gratitude and with little less grudges, shall we?