oh no, NOT another 9/11 blog!

i was watching tv when my friend called to declare that world war III has begun, & directed me to CNN to witness the carnage unfolding at the WTC. as i switched channel, smoke was seen billowing from north tower. i thought it caught fire until a 2nd plane crashed the adjacent tower. i've read about, & seen on tv, catastrophies caused by natural forces & human negligience, but never before a witness to an inhumane plunder of this magnitude. not since iraqi forces overran kuwait, & the subsequent operative desert storm, a decade earlier. watching "pearl harbour" on vcd isn't quite the same genre.

for many weeks after that, al qaeda permeated our lives & we suddenly become acutely aware that hamas & IRA aren't the terrorist flavours of the month anymore. i was due to fly to goteborg, sweden in 2 weeks & it didn't occur to me the ramifications of 9/11 till the organiser called me 2 days later to enquire if i felt comfortable or secure enough making the trip. i hesitated for less than a second before agreeing to go ahead - hey, it's not often i get invited to test-drive volvos at its motherland. the outward journey, via amsterdam, was uneventful despite the obvious heightened security checks but on the return trip, i came undone at goteborg airport, at the final check before boarding, when i was told in no uncertain terms that i could not keep my swiss army knife in my pocket, as it could pose a threat to passengers & crew alike. yeah, right!

"err, excuse me, miss, give another pack of peanuts or i'll plunge this deadly blade into your heart!!"

it had to be transferred to the baggage compartment but how, when i've already checked in my bag? trust the innovative swedes (read: ikea) to think ahead - i was given, without charge i must stress, a little cardboard box the size of a pencil-case, into which the "offending weapon" was placed, then sealed in front of me, retained by security & a receipt issued. how's that for efficiency??

back at KLIA half a day later, i discovered to my horror that the little box did not arrive with the rest of the luggage. nah, it can't be, not after i've raved about how the swedes seemed to be so-very-on-top-of-things. but it's true, my beloved swiss knife is missing. i made a report at the lost luggage counter. as expected, the clerk said he'll look into it & i thought that's the last i'd hear from him. but true to the malaysia boleh battle cry, i received a pleasant surprise a few days later when someone from the airport actually personally delivered the box to my workplace as he lived in the same town. sorry encik, i can't recall your name now but that doesn't make your act any less kind.

"and when he finds it, he calls his friends & neighbours together & says, rejoice with me, for i have found what i what i had lost" luke 15:5,6 (paraphrased)

may the heroes & the fallen of 9/11 find peace, wherever they are. amen.