Sunday 9 March 2014

Let them be safe, God.

When Titanic was screened nearly two decades ago, I recall one of the Chinese papers ran a small column by a journalist whose name I can't remember, but it asked a question that I totally could relate to:

Have you been feeling melancholic for no reason? Yes, it is the 'Titanic depression'.

The missing MH370 has affected me in the same way.

I don't have anybody I know on the plane, but I feel melancholic when I think or read about it. I follow the news about it very closely, hoping to get the latest news at any point in time.

It happened so close to home.

We took a Malaysia Airlines flight when we went to Shanghai and Beijing two years ago.

I was looking at Malaysia Airlines these two weeks with interest for cheap air tickets to Tokyo.

Suddenly, the incident reminds me of how frightful I was about taking a plane not too long ago. I always said in defense of my lack of travelling experience,"When you are up there in the sky, when something happens, you don't have a chance of survival. Sure die."

When I first took an SQ flight to Bali at 27 or 28, I had pre-flight jitters, and had the runs just before boarding the plane. We were so late for the flight that an announcement was made in honour of us.

I can't help but keep replaying the scene of my parents, Coco and I on the MA flight. I imagine how it's like if we were on a flight like MH370 in June this year. It sends shivers down my spine. What would be my last thought - Shucks! Why didn't I spend a little bit more and get a safer flight? What have I done to my parents?

It really could have happened to anyone. The fact that two passengers were using stolen passports is a good reason for us to believe in the presence of a foul play, even more so when no mayday signal was sent by the pilot.

As of now, 34 aircrafts and 40 ships have been dispatched from different countries to comb for the plane and nothing has been found.

It's always easy to believe that your friend could be alive when an accident like that happens, but when it happens to your family, it's difficult to confess positively, no matter how many miracle movies we have watched. We know those are just movies.

In times like this, you just don't know what to pray for. I pray for the survival and safety of the passengers, yet it's so hard to believe my own prayer. But who else could say a prayer like this and believe it wholeheartedly if it's not us, strangers who have nothing to do with those onboard MH370?

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