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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A Nuclear Pariah

Little Boy was 5. His Little Friend had diarrheoa and could not hold it in. After all, Little Friend was little... and his stomach was sick. Trickles of brown liquid flowed down Little Friend's legs and of course, there must have been some smell. Amidst a chorus of disgusted noises, the Teachers swung into action. They cleaned him and dressed him. Yet, for the rest of the day, no other child would play with him, even though he was absolutely clean. No other child except my son, with his cool logic and his soft heart. Little Boy said "He was poor thing. No one wanted to play with him, and he was sad. So I played with him the whole day. Anyway, he was clean."

We've been bombarded with videos and photos of Japanese pain, and many of us have indulged in these images of horror from behind our laptops. And then, terrified, we boycott Japanese restaurants and cancel all our holidays to Japan. I know I was afraid. Very afraid. I looked at the black clouds blowing in from the North East and worried that they might be radioactive.

Happily enough, there are voices of calm and gentleness in all this fear. Janice Tay's Letter from Kyoto (entitled Toxic Misconceptions) published in today's Straits Times is one. And here is another, written in both English and French. I think I was moved when I read how one Japanese asked whether the world would abandon Japan... and another bowed deeply in thanks to the tourists who had arrived to enjoy their holiday.

I must be more brave, and not fear. Fear is not of God. Especially since The Husband went blue in the face to tell me that since Singapore is on the equator, it's natural levels of radiation are already higher than what is currently in Tokyo.

Alright... I shall trust in God, obey and NOT fear.

6 comments:

Blur Ting said...

I like Little Boy! He's such a sweetheart. And so logical too.

Petunia Lee said...

Ting - Thank you. :)

Malar said...

Your son is very kind hearted boy! I was suppose to go Japan for a meeting but unfortunately cancelled! We should follow his path to visit Japan!!

Petunia Lee said...

Malar - Gee... you're quite kind hearted too. I confess I am still a bit scared.

Open Kitchen Concept said...

He is a nice and brave boy, Little Boy..

Petunia Lee said...

OKC - Thank you very much!!