CNN did a special report on the Beslan tragedy this morning – around 6am, to be exact (for those who have yet to realize, these days, I am up by 6:15am and out by 7am in order to beat the traffic) and later on throughout the day as I surf the Internet, I’m bombarded with reports regarding stampedes and bombers. All this not to mention the fact that September 11 was just around the corner (I remember it today for a different reason but that’s not the topic for today).

The stampede in Baghdad was caused by pure primal instincts to survive…by a rumour…by fear. All of which turned out to be for nothing and ended up causing the deaths of hundreds. Looks like terrorists these days don’t even need to be next to their victims physically. Fear is next best thing to a bomb when it comes to creating chaos, and mayhem. If you can’t hit your enemy, you scare the living daylights out of them. Quite an old-fashioned trick but a useful one at that.

Is it okay to fear?
Are we justified in our reasons to fear the unknown? Are we justified in our reasons for handing over our lives, and even our sanity to these people who strike terror in the hearts of even the bravest of men? What exactly makes them so powerful?

The man who wields terror as a weapon

Main Entry: ter·ror

1 : a state of intense fear
2 a : one that inspires fear : SCOURGE b : a frightening aspect c : a cause of anxiety : WORRY d : an appalling person or thing; especially : BRAT
3 : REIGN OF TERROR
4 : violence (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands

A terrorist should never be just categorized as someone who uses weapons to inflict pain and suffering upon the innocent (or not so innocent at times) but one who inflicts fear and doubt into people so much so that it stops individuals from being truly productive and optimistic. Terrorists have the upper hand when the people they are trying to scare start living lives in fear of the unknown, when they start thinking twice about stepping into a popular tourist spot or even into a government building to get things done…heck even to go to work. When they become so frightened that they lose sight of rationality and logic.

We have been lucky so far…
I went through a bomb scare once in Sydney when I was working at the local shopping center. A waterpipe had burst (of course we didn’t find out until the following day) – but the eruption sounded like a bomb going off and it sent many people in panic mode. I was on a bus passing by the shopping mall, on my way back. It was mayham. Traffic was being diverted and some people were crying hysterically. I was worried – my then ex had class that day and would often go to the shopping mall to take away lunch/dinner. He didn’t get back on time and I went into panic mode.

The next day, my colleagues ran me through what had happened. Shops had to be closed but some shoppers were so panicky that they tried to bust into shops as well. Whether it was for safety or looting, we’ll never know. Throughout my 1.5 years in Sydney – and I had to go there only a few months before the Bali bombings – the people were drilled on safety and security. Warnings were sometimes issued during holiday seasons like New Years’ and Christmas…pamphlets were distributed telling people how to protect their communities and homes from terrorist attacks…it was crazy.

Before I left for Australia, my parents were in Hat Yai on a holiday. One night, CNN flashes on the TV screen reporting that the train station had just been bombed. It was a long night for me and my brother because my parents didn’t take their phone with them and we couldn’t reach them at the hotel. So we had to just sit and wait it out. Later we got a mail stating that they were safe and far away from the train station. But still, it was worriesome.

For a good many of us here back at home, we felt (and still feel) safe (or at least safe from terrorist attacks). Our government probably never saw the need to issue pamphlets or put up notices (about bags without owners, etc) and have ramdom spot-checks at MRT stations like our neighbour in the South (Nil got pretty pissed at them for being so paranoid about his bagpack while we were on the way to the airport – it didn’t help that he had a beard. LOL!). We didn’t have to worry about some joker create havoc during our most recent birthday celebration and neither did we have to worry about our PM getting bombed to bits. We didn’t have to go nuts about whether the flight would go down the next time we fly somewhere…neither did we have to worry about our favourite shopping spots ending up in rubble.

We have it good…

Not everyone does.

Now that Merdeka has just swept passed us, lets look ahead and remember what lies around the corner. In two weeks, we’ll see the anniversary to one of the biggest starts to this century of terror – suicide bombers and IMHO, the worst of their kind. Lets remember the real victims of these terror attacks – the survivors and the remaining families of those who have died at the hands of sadistic extreme individuals. It is not easy picking up the pieces again, trying to get on with life as normally as possible…with the memories, the visions and the emotions of those attacks.

But you know what?

Life was never meant to be lived in fear, especially when it is for one such brutal as a suicide bomber – because when you do so, somewhere out there, a terrorist wins.