5.12

If my blog-posts were any indication; May 12th went on as regular a blog-day as any other day before that, a year ago today in 2008. I had blogged about Electric Monkey Men, posted sneaks of FatCap Series 2, Ron English's Bunnny Rabbit, a teaser of fellow-Singaporean's B09 resin toy, a blurry pic of Michael Lau's S.F.J.J., and cleaning up a series of "Cease-and-Desist" requests from Medicom Toy. And the day after that, and after that, and after that, didn't seem out of the ordinary, or rather, I had chosen to go on blogging as regularly as I had then.

One year ago today, May 12th 2008 - what is known as the "Great Sichuan Earthquake" - ripped and raged thru the Sichuan province of China; on an 8.0 Richter-scale - leaving behind destruction, devastation and death. At least 69,000 souls were lost. The world shed their collective tears. One year on, the rebuilding continues, and we have statistics and a wikipedia-entry to remind us of that faithful date.

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As folks across the globe rallied together for relief efforts, my attention to the matter was focused primarily thru the television. Understand this, the Heng-household is constantly tuned in to cable networks from China and Taiwan, with a direct influx of visuals and statistics that boggled my meager understanding (contrary to popular disbelief, I do understand Mandarin and can hold rudimentary conversations in SG-Mandarin *cough*) and as much as "Love" is a universal-language, so too was "Death". And the constant barrage of information was something I couldn't bear after a fashion. And there's only so much tears I can and have shed for strangers in a far away land - though Chinese we all may be - but strangers nevertheless.

This was one disaster you cannot blame another fellow human being for. We are but at the tender mercies of Mother Nature after all. And as much as I am encouraged by the cliched "humanity" and it's "spirit of survival", so too I find myself overwhelmed with sadness (when I allow myself to be). As much as tears were shed in private, and man-sniffles toned down in front of the family telly, I do consider myself an "apathetic" man. And by that, I mean the non-manifestation of doing anything physical about it. (It has not always been the case, but that is another matter for another time).

Tears were kept off-line. Online on the TRE-blog, business went on as usual, with an effort to post about charity drives or specific Sichuan Relief-related events (in relation to what the TRE-blog posts about on a regular basis). And I have not written specifically about this particular matter until now - because I had believed in a preconceived notion that "real-life" and the "toy-life" and/or pop-culture connectivity - which I blog about daily on TRE; should not mix.

"Right" or "Wrong", it is still a decision I had made, regardless of what others may think (even as you may be, reading thus far into this post - thanks for your patience and for indulging in me :p). But perhaps in a long-gestational thinly-conjured up epiphany, decisions made past, may just not be "life-altering" choices at all, and should not be treated as such, IMHO.

Compared to the current economy in deficit and in need of CPR, compared to my personal finances in tatters and ruins, what more dare I want but for savoring "life" and to relish the air that I breathe (and coffee that I gulp daily)? But for the lives lost and lives forever changed by the Sichuan Earthquake?

And the air we breathe every single day of our lives to come, may well be different from yesterday's. But breathe, we do. Aren't we lucky we do?

Strangely enough, and perhaps incredulous for you to read, but I feel a small part of me lay underneath the rumble, forever silent and unmoving.

This will be the only TRE blog-post published on May 12th - to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Sichuan Earthquake. For the rest of the 24 hours til the end of May 12th (Singapore-time GMT +8), I will attempt to not publish a single blog-post (beyond this), tweet a single sentence (beyond mentioning this blog-post) or update status , or do anything online to prove my cyber-existence, for this one single day. This is my own personal expression of a moment of "silence".

Call it a tribute. Call it a "gimmick" - whatever you may think or do, it is your prerogative and choice.

Me? I am an apathetic man - I've not always have been though, and I doubt it will be as easy a notion to revert ... but perhaps this is one small miniscule way I can do within my own "power" and choice, in the bigger scheme of the www, Universe, and Life.