The Boston Marathon Bombings

A woman kneels in front of a memorial to the Boston Marathon bombings victims, at the barricades surrounding the scene in Boston, Massachusetts, April 18, 2013. Reuters pic.

On Monday, two explosive devices were detonated near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing at least 3 people and leaving more than 180 others injured.

Going by the comments I read on Facebook, many Malaysians were appalled if not outraged by the bombing incident. 

I am not trying to take away the grief and the pain Americans and others feel about this heinous attack but on that same day itself, there were many other victims of mass violence elsewhere too. 

Take Iraq. At least 75 people were killed and 356 more were wounded in a series of attacks across the country. Only the far south and Iraqi Kurdistan were spared (Webpage http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2013/04/15/iraqs-bloody-monday-75-killed-356-wounded/, published April 15, 2013).

It is sad to note that the Iraqi casualty numbers have become just numbers, and worse still, they are almost meaningless because the public is numb to the reality of what the numbers mean. Death is too common in this country and many more will die today and even tomorrow.

I wonder. Do Malaysians mourn those who died in Iraq or Syria or Afghanistan or wherever people are dying because of the violence precipitated in the name of some cause or other? 

I am reminded of what George Bernard Shaw said in "Caesar and Cleopatra": “And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand”.

Last Thursday, we had our 24th meeting of the Sunway University Toastmasters Club. We were literally mobbed with guests, some of whom wanted to check us out and others who wanted to sign up! It was a meeting that saw an attendance of upwards of fifty people. The meeting room was filled to the brim. Even the food ran out and we had to replenish it. 

But even better, we had five quality speeches and the evaluations were just as good. I had to double up as the Table Topics Evaluator and an Evaluator for an Ice Breaker speech. 

Oh yes, Nurdina Kasim did a wonderful job as Toastmaster-of-the-Evening! All in all, this meeting deserves an 8 over 10!