In Memoriam: 7/7 One Year On...

Technorati tags: In Memoriam, London, July 7, Terrorism

It's been exactly one year today - the day Walski got the teary overseas phone call from the Mrs. who was in the UK at the time - had Walski heard from her nephew and niece, who were living in London? No, Walski had not - what's up? It was then that Walski found out about the tragic event that had occurred in London a few hours earlier.

26 of the 52 innocent victims that died in London one year ago today

It turns out they both were unharmed and safe, thank God, but incommunicado due to the sheer communications overload on the British cellular network. The nephew had gone to the clinic that day, and the neice went into work extra early. It was only 3 hours later that our niece replied to Walski's SMS, conveying the good news that both she and her brother were okay.

That, in a nutshell, was Walski's personal experience of that dreadful day: July 7, 2005. In a very small and (fortunately) non-tragic way, that event had effected Walski personally.

And did that brutal act of terrorism achieve anything good or positive, in retrospect? Did it liberate Iraq from the occupiers? Has the situation in Palestine gotten any better? Have the lives of downtrodden Muslims the world over gotten any better as a result? Has the image of Islam, in whose name the bombings were carried out, become more positive?

Walski thinks that the answers to all of the above is crystal. So clear, that Walski does not even need to mention it.

But how many other Malaysians weren't so lucky? Walski knows of at least one person whose friend (a Malaysian) was on the one of very trains that was bombed, one carriage behind where the explosion occurred. To date, the trauma that person suffered still lingers on - he still dares not use the London Underground.

And so today, at 7pm Malaysia time (1200 hrs British Standard Time), do observe a short 2-minute period of silence. Walski will. Say a prayer - to God, whatever name you happen to address Him - that He guides us through these troubled times, and that He guides those that may want to repeat similar acts of madness and futility to reconsider.

But most of all, say a prayer for Peace (even if you don't happen to believe in anything). It's something that the world can do with in abundance, but it is also something we don't have nearly enough of.