Hazy days

Yesterday was awfully hazy. No idea why it was. Probably some major forest fire in a land nearby. Usual suspect; Indonesia. A fire in KL wouldn’t cause such haze. Besides, it engulfed the whole KL. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole Malaysia had the same problem.


I could see some people wear respiratory masks, the ones usually worn by doctors and carpenters. It's a good thing I drove. It was approaching late evening but if it got much darker than it was supposed to, that would really be something.



















Creepy thoughts crawled my mind.

Warning! Movie spoilers follow.

Having watched War of the Worlds, I know I won’t survive if a series of freak lightning ensued. Heck, skip the agonizing fear and zap me right now, pants down and all. Unless I was born Tom Cruise’ character. How’z abbout that guy huh? Was he invincible or what. He AND his mama in-law.

“Oh, and don’t forget to spare the whole clan too, okay, aliens”

The story build up was incredible. Helplessness and frustration quickly cloaked everyone in the cinema. I do agree with what some reviewers think of the aliens there; TOP CLASS. They scared the jiga-nuts out of me. Forget about 3D, I swear I was there, almost zapped by the bastards. I could smell my hair burning. And what’s with the spraying of blood to create a creepy crawly forest man…













The climax, well, I couldn’t tell. Was there even a climax? I mean, there was the fall of the invaders. It was definitely ass-kicked. But none of that is caused by human. They just finished up what the tiny organisms did. Yeaaaap, our beloved bacteria and viruses.

Here’s what I got. Since the aliens just came in, they have not managed to evolve to counter react with the effects of our tiny friends, living in air and water. So, little bacty and virie beat the crap out of the newbies. And we human, got on with the show. Maybe Spielberg should have portrayed the aliens contract diseases and suffer painful deaths caused by bacty and virie. Now that would make for a swell climax.

The climax wouldn’t be human though. Contrary to popular flavor. How’s that for a taste of hopelessness, eh mate! Uhuh. We, somehow, are not very fond of being out of control. People we care and love are dying and there’s nothing we can do about it. The idea of a remarkable happy ending, brought about by things so tiny, hurts our ego.

Why didn’t I think of that? Why couldn’t I do that? How did it managed that? I’m better than them tiny guys. What’s wrong with my solution?

Well, doesn’t that ring a bell?

What bell?

Try Afghanistan. Try Iraq.

New York. Madrid. London.
No, we are not talking about fashion capitals.

The bell of war. The war against terrorism. That same terror, killing everything that breathes. Men, women, children. Senseless. They’ve done everything in their power to stop the slaughter. Air and ground infantries. Guns and grenades. Rockets and missiles. Invasions and embargos.

But the bloody violence keep on blasting. Fresh new recruits ambushed and slayed. Erroneous hunt-down ending in tragedy. Like horrific deja vous. They all swear it happened somewhere, sometime before, but nothing they did to stop it, helped. And so it repeats when it’s least expected. I guess they just can’t figure out its weakness.

Where are our tiny little friends? In what form shall they appear, assisting us in ending this war?

Is this wishful thinking? Will we ever win?

Unlike the movie, this, our war, is raging on. So much damage has been done and yet, here we are, fumbling as we desperately look for answers. Sheer frustration racing from every side and every corner. Those who bear the burden, they march forward. Those affected, they seek shelter and solace.

Those hearing the news, we pray;
for the victims, a better day,
for ourselves, none alike comes our way.

And just as I watched in the theater, helplessly, I now watch the news unfold in the comfort of my living room. I can only empathize with the victims and their grieving families. Tragedies that strike away from home remind me time and again, not to take peace in this land, for granted. On the disturbing flip side, it saddens me that people die so we can wake up. I wish the deaths and suffering remain as nightmares, disappearing as soon as we’re awake. Then we would all thank God it was just a bad dream. But alas, it does not work that way. In this real world, nothing is fair.

So now, with my gratitude huge and afloat, I truly thank God I’m blessed with a peaceful and secure setting. Born into this safe land I call home. Yes, there came hard times, but I am glad I read it in history texts instead of living through them. All thanks to heroes, fallen and alive.

Happy Independence Malaysia. Peace and harmony fill this world, eventually. God willing.