A Tribute to Life and Death

It was certainly an emotionally draining two days at work. The started off as usual on Tuesday with the daily routine of sourcing for news. Was just about to alight from my car after going on a wild goose chase for a fire that did not exist in Pantai Kundor area. It was then that I recieved a call about a student apparently found dead in a toilet at a primary school in Bandar Hilir.

I rushed to the scene with two other colleagues and was far from prepard for the raw emotions that followed. We reached the school at about 2pm and noticed two police cars in the compound and instinctively knew as a journalist that something had gone terribly wrong

There were several people and students milling about at the front entrance of the school building and the scene looked casual enough. However, it was when we were about 20 steps away from the centre of the small crowd that we were confronted with the most surreal scene.

I am not sure about my two other colleagues but I was stunt to see the figure of a child wrapped in white cloth lying motionless on a makeshift 'bed' made up of two small classroom tables joined together. There was a teary eye and sorrowful lady half kneeling and half bending forward at the foot of the table gently stroking the child's forehead. There was no sound of wailing or crying coming from the woman as she kept on stroking the child's head and seemed to be whispering something into her ear.

I was a mere eight feet away from the woman and the child and it took several second for my mind to comprehend the scene. It was a griefing mother weeping quitely over her daughter whose life ceased to be. The child looked as though she was merely alseep as her mother gently stroked her neartly braided hair.

In an instant a wave of emotions swept through me, that of an intense sense of loss and pain. As a father with a five-year-old daughter, I could could only imagine the woman's sorrow at losing her child.

I wouldn't say that I have truly experienced deep sorrow. There are three occasions in my life where I dare say sorrow was not merely an abstract descriptive word but a real tangible emotion that carried with it a physical sense of loss and pain. It was when I almost lost my family through my own indiscretion, when I saw my entire life played out before me as I underwent two MRIs in succession in a coffin like chamber to see if I had a tumor and the loss of twins when my wife miscarried.

It is such events that knocks some perspective in my life as to what truly matters most. It is through the experience of pain and sorrow that one truly appreciates life. Though life is precious, it can also be frail. It is for this reason that I remind myself to stop and smell the roses and to count the blessings for the simple joys in my life. This is why I try to live life with less hatred but more love and to live it to its fullest with as little regrets.

I can only offer my prayers that God, in His infinte wisdom and love, sent His spirit of peace and comfort to the grieving parents of 8-year-old Yap Li Xuen. I pray that Li Xuen's soul find peace in her rest and that the Light and Love of God envelopes her till His coming.

To None I Wish Ill But To All I Wish Peace and Love.