the need for a cause.

it's been awhile since something arrested my thoughts, and jolted me to truly want to understand the state of the world we live in.

more than my thoughts on social media, corporate values and even introspective catharsis.. in my world, they pale in comparison to what's really going on in the world today.

as the business world continues to revolve on its own axis, and the gears of our economy start to slow down, the recent terror attacks in mumbai, india have gripped me with a sort of "what is going on in the world?"

9/11 happened when i was sailing on a ship in the middle of the south china sea. to a certain extent, it never happened, although the ripples of such an act affected my way of life.

today, the death of a singaporean, Lo Hwei Yen, as a direct result of terrorist activity bursts the bubble, that singapore is safe.

even if singapore were safe, does that mean we put our heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn't affect us? i think i voice a rather singaporean condition of "minding my own business".

i'd like to offer a second opinion, that it is my business. when you hurt one of my countrymen, it could well have been one of my own family members, because they might have been the victim when a terrorist decides to attack.

the need for a cause, the terrorists have theirs, albeit misaligned. as dk intelligently mentions, neither should our cause.

what is this cause? that we should never forget, that we will rise above, that we can change the world around us. and why should we speak out against the evils of the world? because we all share the same planet, because we all co-exist, whether terrorist or not. no one is better than the other, no one should be oppressed or be trapped in fear like that.

we need a cause, to rouse us up from our slumber of "minding our own business". we need to care, we need to know, we need to get involved if we're ever going to make this world a better place, a place we would bring our children into, a place where we can love each other.

Lo Hwei Yen is perhaps the first of more Singaporean terror victims. things might get tougher, so will our fight, to live a life worth living, and a death without regrets.

you can leave message at Lo Hwei Yen's memorial here. LINK