Sunday, February 04, 2007

Responsibility and Regrets....

Our lives are so fragile that one could probably term it: "now you see it, now you don't", in a split second we may just bid this world a final farewell.

We thought after the operation, we'd be hearing good news from Sydney, but alas, it was not meant to be. A few weeks later, we received another piece of sad news from SG.

Life's very unpredictable. So cherish every opportunity that we have with each other. Do not wait and postpone. You may not be so lucky as to be given another opportunity.

On another note, Drivers, please be responsible. One irresponsible act causes a lot of heartaches and regrets that may / could never be healed, even with the passing of time.

A few years ago, my dad had a close encounter himself. An irresponsible driver suddenly decided to make a U-turn, crossing my dad's path leaving him no time to react. In a head-on collision with the side of the van, my dad's old proton was damaged beyond repair. Half of the bonnet and car engine were smashed right in. Dad was hurt, had a fractured sternum, abrasions on his hands and legs, cuts on his face and eye. Fortunately (thank God!), my dad recovered and is now very well.

But the same cannot be said for Taiwanese artist, Hsu Wei Lun, and a lot of countless others. Lives cut short due to irresponsible acts of drivers.


28 years old, musically talented, Hsu Wei Lun has now become a statistic of road casualties.

Why is it that an artist is always more famous and more appreciated after death?








Much left to be said about the current world's population in leaving a better world for the future. Riding on the back of rapid economic development, the continuance burning of fossil fuel to propel us further into materialistic wealth has driving the vast majority (including country leaders, head of states and the most powerful mand on earth) to blind themselves to the effect of our selfish acts.

The documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, is truly a scary movie. Its past studies, findings and predictions of the future is very unsettling. Global warming will bring the downfall of man. And yet, the s-11 pushes man to be "ignorant" (read ignore) about the signs and warnings that mother nature has given us.

Changes are evident.
1) The number of Category 4 and 5 has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
2) Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
3) The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.
4) At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.

If global warming continues....
1) Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year
2) Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
3) Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
4) Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
5) The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
6) More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

The above are extracts from the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

Cliche as it may be, I strongly believe that if each of us do our part, we would be able to prolong the life of this earth and leave something worthwhile for our future generation.

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