Tuesday 23 May 2017
Terrorist bomb attack in Manchester, 22/05/17
Hi, thanks to everyone who sent me messages to check if I was okay after the horrific terrorist attack in Manchester Arena last night at the Ariana Grande concert. I was some distance away in London and didn't hear of the news until the next morning. This is another sickening story, I've not quite had the chance to mentally process it yet - I've been busy at work all day and have only taken the time during my breaks to read about it online. I suppose the worst part of it all is the fact that so many children were killed and the terrorists picked a soft target like that rather than take their fight to the government. I know the UK has had an unpopular foreign policy that has made us many enemies over the years, but taking it out on innocent children? Sorry, I've yet to mentally process that. There's just a sense of disbelief at the moment as it has barely been two months since the last terrorist attack in London. I suppose this will sink in as we get more news over the next day or so, especially about the people behind this attack. But for now, thanks for your kind wishes. Sending you all my love from London, wishing you peace and positive vibes. Many thanks for reading.
Stay safe! I have some classmates who are going to UK on a clinical exchange program and pending further advisory the trip might yet be cancelled.
ReplyDeleteYou can't just avoid the UK just because something like that has happened. I had a few meetings today, had lunch with my colleagues and quite frankly, everyone was more preoccupied with the work that needs to be done urgently this week - no one even mentioned a word about the terrorist attack. I only posted this because quite a few people have asked if I am okay and I thought I'd just say, yeah I'm not in Manchester.
DeleteThe travel advisory comes from MFA not really something that can be decided by individuals. And schools playing safe would have to follow whatever advisory that is laid out by MFA.
DeleteGlad to hear you are OK but I figured you are since you are in London and unlikely to goto Manchester for an Ariana Grande concert.
ReplyDeleteVery sad to hear of these senseless acts of violence.
More to the point - who is Ariana Grande? Some singer that young people like I gather? I have no idea who she is and when I looked her up on Wikipedia, I realized I know one of her songs but only because one of my favourite comedians did a parody of it. But erm, you forget I am an old man. Like maybe 10, 15 years ago I still went to concerts but it's been an awfully long time since I went to a concert. The theatre, the opera maybe but concerts? I used to do that a lot in my student days but stopped after I turned 30.
DeleteBut after having had the chance to talk to people (both online and in person), I've collected my thoughts and will do a part 2 follow up to discuss what some people have said about what happened (ref: sneak peak in my comment to Hmong Bong below).
Yawn. We all know the standard protocol by now:
ReplyDelete1. This has nothing to do with Islam.
2. The perpetrator was a mentally-ill "lone wolf."
3. Anyone who disagrees with 1. and 2. is a racist bigot.
4. Liberals hope the perpetrator is white. Conservatives hope he's Muslim.
5. Change our Facebook profile pictures to honor the victims.
6. Hold a peace march, candlelight vigil, tributes, etc.
7. Wait for the next terror attack to happen.
8. Repeat ad nauseam.
I have had a few conversations on social media and with friends at last this evening - I guess at work, people were more focused on the task at hand but the gym tonight, friends were more relaxed. I will do a follow up and touch upon some points raised and you might be surprised what some people have said.
DeleteBut the key point was that there was a lot of anti-Islam comments and anti-immigrant comments followed by, "but none of that applies to you of course Alex, we love immigrants like you - you're completely assimilated, completely Anglicized, you're just like one of us". And I was like, go on you can say it - I'm practically white, right?
It's like going back to Apartheid Africa when some Asian groups (Taiwanese and Japanese) were conferred honorary white status. So yeah, I'm spared all the anti-Islam and anti-immigrant because of my honorary white status.
Its a pretty 'orrible tragic incident. That said terrorism isn't anything new. Its always one group or the other. A bit silly to blame any one ethnic group!
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