Explosion in ... kills ... Fill in the blanks and you have a headline for at least one column in most newspapers for the last 12 months. There have been so many bombings in Iraq, Saudi, south Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India -- the list seems endless -- that it has, forgive me for saying this, become about as interesting as the weather forecast in a foreign newspaper. Most people are perhaps unaffected by the violence on television and in the movies, desensitised by its use for entertainment. The reports of real bombings, assassinations and kidnappings now has such a high frequency in the press, I wonder how many people pause for though and pay them the real attention they deserve.
There was a huge explosion in Kuala Lumpur this morning. It went off at 11.34 in Pasar Seni, a busy shopping area not far away from the main railway station and law courts, an area popular with tourists and locals alike.
I heard the explosion clearly from my hotel, not 300m away from the blast. The windows rattled and there was a gasp of shock in the Heritage Station dining room. I wasn’t surprised, perhaps because bombings have become part of modern life, or perhaps because I live in Saudi Arabia -- although in truth, I have never heard an explosion there. I continued with my coffee and waited for the sound of ambulances and police cars, vaguely wondering if I should go and get my camera from my room.
The main blast was followed a few minutes later by three smaller blasts, somewhat further away.
I went out side to take a look at what was going on and was surprised to find it raining heavily.
What sort of a world do we live in when George W Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ has made a bomb something to be expected, to be glossed over in the newspapers, but a thunderstorm causes genuine surprise?
There was a huge explosion in Kuala Lumpur this morning. It went off at 11.34 in Pasar Seni, a busy shopping area not far away from the main railway station and law courts, an area popular with tourists and locals alike.
I heard the explosion clearly from my hotel, not 300m away from the blast. The windows rattled and there was a gasp of shock in the Heritage Station dining room. I wasn’t surprised, perhaps because bombings have become part of modern life, or perhaps because I live in Saudi Arabia -- although in truth, I have never heard an explosion there. I continued with my coffee and waited for the sound of ambulances and police cars, vaguely wondering if I should go and get my camera from my room.
The main blast was followed a few minutes later by three smaller blasts, somewhat further away.
I went out side to take a look at what was going on and was surprised to find it raining heavily.
What sort of a world do we live in when George W Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ has made a bomb something to be expected, to be glossed over in the newspapers, but a thunderstorm causes genuine surprise?
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