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Monday, September 11, 2006
It's strange what the date above this line does to us.
It's also strange to think that 5 whole years, 65 months, 261 weeks, 1825 days, 43800 hours, 2628000 minutes have passed since the only septmber 11 that will have the full impact on our lives.
Somehow the sentimentility of this day is lost among the charred remains of the north and south towers that were downed five years ago. You cannot recapture the shock and sorrow even by the videos of the crashing planes, or the pictures of the towers, crumbling and achingly rumbling to the ground.You cannot recapture the strength or courage of the NYC fireman in a coloured photograph that hangs on a mantelpiece, sorry, 300+ mantelpieces, tables, walls, doors -- in a still life protected by a clear piece of glass. You cannot capture the impact of the attacks simply by replaying in your head what happened.
No, sorry, let me rephrase, we can't. Not us, who didn't witness four planes crashing to their ends, nor glimsped through the thick glass windows the helpless faces of everyday, normal people like you and me trapped and following, hopelessly, the towers to their slow grind towards death, nor the crunching sound of bones as some tried heaving themselves off the builidings.
But maybe New Yorkers will remember it forever, smell forever in the air the burning fumes of billowing smoke, scorching remains of buildings, and the ashes of grief stank in the air.
But even in far away small red dot on the map, we were impacted. Though this is not about Singaporeans, this is not the time for Singaporeans to, as always, print the name of this country in every national event. But this is to show how large, how significant it was.
And also how life goes on.
In other countries I cannot comment, but here, we sure moved on pretty quick, didn't we? You know, the next day we just concentrated on school work and exams. And then for another five years, we did the same, oblivious to what can be termed 'real sorrow', in a way. Our 'real sorrow' is the failure of exams.
And today? I know I don't listen to announcements, but I sure noticed that while they seemed so eager to prep us on our attires, keeping our image immaculate and impressive, there wasn't a word about 9/11. Not a minute's silence like they held in New York at 9.30 am. No, it was mostly about the image. Because it's always about the image.
But I don't feel like complaining again, like I always do.
Today is, after all, september 11.
And it should get the mourning it deserves.
[ T-ray* ] blogged @ 7:30 AM
