The Unexpected Tragedy

My boss came back from his week-long holiday in Thailand today and the first thing he said was, "I could have been part of the tsunami (tidal wave) death toll!"

Tat, a friend of mine who's holidaying in Bali is also unaffected by the chaos that rocked southern Asia on Sunday.

So I was totally unaware of the natural disaster that never before in history happened in Malaysia. My family and I slept through it all that morning and felt nary a tremor. However, there were a few people I know in Port Klang who saw their books moving about in the bookshelves, the hanging potted plant rattling above wooden beam and the fish behaving strangely by huddling only at one side of the aquarium. And they came to the conclusion that an earthquake has come to our shores.

I wonder what I would have thought if I saw these strange happenings. But I doubt that I would so easily thought of the possibility of an earthquake. The victims of this tidal wave probably didn't know what hit them either. It was such a shock to see such a high death toll in Penang and the other countries that were affected. Something that we never expected had finally happened and it just drives the point that we never know when or how death may knock on our doors.

The holiday-makers who perished and their families would never have thought that it would be the last time they say goodbye to each other. Pray for the surviving victims and families as they are suffering from anguish and lost in this tragedy.