A minute of silence

It saddened me when I read about the deaths of five young Singaporeans who drowned in Phnom Penh, Cambodia when their boat capsized during last Friday’s Tonle Sap dragon boat race.

This is especially when the tragedy happened came on the heels of me writing about the fragility of life. It filled me with profound poignancy when one of the victim’s fathers commented in a media interview that he regretted not having been able to say anything to his son before he departed for his ill-fated trip to Cambodia. Now, he would never have the chance again, ever.

Therefore, I reiterate again to each and every one of you reading this: A life full of regrets is one that diminishes and devalues.

Finally, I hope with all earnest that the media frenzy cease even while the bodies of the victims return to Singapore. Yes, there is a need to analyze what went wrong and prevent similar tragedies from happening again. What there is not any need to, is to point angry, accusatory fingers at who or what may have been causal contributors to the tragedy and there is certainly no necessity to allow this terrible event to spiral into a media circus. Allow the bereaved families to grieve silently, bring a closure for them as quickly as possible and afford them the space to move on with their lives.
Meanwhile, do find it in your heart to say a prayer for the five young men who, no matter who could be done or said, could never be brought back to life again. We can only hope that they have departed to a better place and achieved eternal peace.