MH17

On July 17th, 2014, Malaysia and the rest of the world is shocked again by tragic news of MH17 being shot down in the airspace of Ukraine.
This occurring just 4 months after the disapperance of MH370 which has yet to be discovered, one of the greatest mysteries in modern aviation history.
Once again, hundreds of innocent lives were lost. Once again, families, relatives and friends of all those on board the ill fated plane mourn and weep for their loved ones. Once again, the whole world, especially in the countries affected, turn to social media to express their outrage at such a tragedy and what can be regarded as a heinous act of crime. Once again, words of comfort and condolences and prayers go out to the loved ones of those who perished in the flight. Again, fingers are being pointed and the blame game begins. Was it Malaysia Airlines’ fault for flying over the war zone to save fuel? And who fired the missile? Ukraine or Russia? Or was the plane just at the wrong place at the wrong time?
Once again, Malaysia, a peace loving country which has always been free from war, international conflict, famine or natural disasters, is in the international headlines, again for the wrong reasons.
Again, we are reminded of how fragile life actually is. It is human nature to think that this kind of tragedy will never happen to us- but we just never know when our lives will actually end and how. Our lives can just be taken away from us in an instant, be it in a plane crash, a road traffic accident, a crime, a terminal illness. It is only when a tragedy of such large proportion occurs do we pause and take a moment from our busy lives to really reflect on what is actually important in life- love, our loved ones.
But as the saying goes, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, a rainbow at the end of a storm and a silver lightning above the clouds. News like this will unite Malaysia as a nation. Malaysia, a nation who has always prided itself in being a multiracial country where people of various races and religions live together in harmony has lately seen an increase in racial squabbles and tension in the country. This hopefully will unite us as a nation in praying for those affected….regardless of race and religion. And hopefully this will unite the whole world too…in praying for the loved ones…..regardless of nationality, race, religion. Maybe this will unite the world in speaking up against war.
Because as we speak- wars are still raging on between Israel and Palestine in Gaza and Russia and Ukraine..and also other parts of the world. We now wonder what exactly has humanity become. Humans have become greedy, greedy for power, greedy for money, status and fame. People get raped, murdered, prosecuted daily, we have become numb to emotions.
So even if we are helpless against what is going around us in the world daily, just do me a favour please. Hug your loved ones today. Because life in this world is indeed very short, just temporary.
As Carrie Underwood says, this is our temporary home, before eternity.

Love : Ai Ling