Remembering 9-11

The 3rd anniversary of the Sept 11 tragedy is coming up. Here’s an experiment that my colleagues are trying out – using blogs to promote library services and resources.

Inevitably, working on that blog made me think about the attack. I was in Japan when the tragedy happened (part of the Singapore contingent for the 28th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme -- SSEAYP). I was with my friends and we noticed many people huddled around TV sets. The mood was subdued. On TV, I saw two buildings on fire. The commentary was in Japanese (in a bland sort of way) and so were the captions. I didn't understand a word. Was it some kind of movie? I didn’t recognise the World Trade Center. Only later did someone tell us "some terrorists crashed a plane into a building in the US". And I remember my subsequent thought was that "the world has changed".

Perhaps in another 2 years and beyond, I'd like to be able to tell myself that, "Yes, the world has changed since 9-11, and it's for the better."

[Tag: the September project 2005]