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Reflect: 2001
Jason Quek
1 Jan 2002
What a year it has been.
We witnessed the falter of the world's economies, the collapse of dot.coms, the deaths of music icons, cloning, space-tourism, scandals, heroes, manhunts, bombs, mines, women, war-children...
And for many of us, the scene of two flaming towers disappearing into a nightmare of death and rubble will be etched in our minds for a long long time.
One would have thought the prophecies of doom for the millennium came 2 years too early.
And even as I write this now in the quiet comfort of my room, floods, snows and fires continue their vengeance-missions in other parts of the world.
Wizards now rule the silver screens, boy-bands still top the charts, and trash continue to plague the TV and radio waves. Everything is cheap commercial crap. Sex. Greed. Stupidity.
Some of us can't help but feel that for all that has happened, we've been short-changed. What have we gained for all that we've lost in this past year? Prices are still rising, people are still losing their jobs. Where is the cure for Aids and cancer? Why are people still dying of hunger while others feast on turkeys and wine?
What a year it has been...
Two questions ring in my mind:
Where did we go wrong?
And just what the bloody hell is in store for us?
I was down at the coast tonight. A familiar medley played on my six-string.
And I witnessed one of the most beautiful scenes in my life.
At the stroke of midnight, lonely foghorns chorused one after another from the distant vessels, welcoming in the new year. Like ghostly wails echoing across the dark waters, the noise built to a siren-song crescendo for several minutes. Then they dimmed and expired.
In the silence that followed, the ships let loose their flares. Faint streaks and cracks shot into the night sky, blooming soundlessly into blazing red and pink globules of lights... like ethereal Will-o'-the Wisps that hung in the air for an eternity, only to fall slowly to their watery graves.
From where I stood and watched, it was as if the world was being played back in slow-motion.
And for the first time in a long, long while, I smiled.
Directly above me, the pale yellow moon glowed with a certain clarity. And in between the moon and me, the clouds looked like frozen cigarette smoke.
Yet, through the confused sky, the stars shone through, seemingly with a purpose, as if to reassure us that through the gloom, there might still be hope for us.
With a cold wind blowing into my face, I closed my eyes, whispered a silent prayer, and went home.
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