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Life – Peaceful Waters

Posted by kairospix (Singapore, Singapore) on 6 August 2007 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

Yesterday I watched a 2 hour documentary on Discovery channel on the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima. Today would be the 62th year since that fateful day which decimated close to 140,000 people in one go and many more that died of radiation sickness after that.

When I did a web search for more on the horrendous destruction created by the A-bomb, I came across diverse views. Some have argued that Japan had it coming for the war atrocities committed and stubbornness to surrender unconditionally when given the chance. Others wondered if it was really necessary to drop the A-bomb to end the war.

I will not go into these arguments as all I can think about at the end of the documentary is the devastating destruction to human life that war creates and those who suffer the most are the common people trying to live a normal peaceful life.

While watching the documentary I can’t help thinking because of selfish vengefulness of some human beings we end up killing more of each other, many of whom do not even want to be part of such acts of vengeance. Suffer the innocent.

But you know what is really scary? This selfish vengefulness is actually lurking quietly in all of us. Richard Dawkins calls it the “selfish gene”. Haven’t we all at some point in our lives wanted to get back at those who “stepped on our toes” and “defend our rights”?

Do not get me wrong that we should just keep quiet when wrongful injustices are done to us and that we should just passively condone such acts. But we also ought to remember the wisdom of what Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye and the world goes blind.” And when we are blinded by our own bloodthirsty fury quest for justice, we may just end up destroying peaceful justice in the process, ourselves and drag innocent others into the ugliness even though they do not want to have any part of it. I know for I have been “dragged” in and even quoted by others to support a point of view even without my prior approval or knowledge. We all ought to be careful what we say and do lest our words and actions do more harm than is intended to be good – just like how the militaristic government of Japan during the war years did which ended in the destruction of many innocent.

So this shot of sunrise over the peaceful waters of the MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore reminds me of the need to learn to be calm and be at peace even when facing injustices. For during such moments of peaceful calm we are less likely to speak too quickly and act too blindly that may lead to unpleasant repercussions on others and even ourselves. And hopefully also prevent another catastrophic nuclear destruction which this world and her inhabitants can ill afford.

For those who can stomach it here are some website links where you can see and read about the effects of the A-bomb. Be warned some pictures in some of the sites are very graphic and can be disturbing.

Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
Site 4
Site 5
Site 6

I dedicate my shot for today in memory of all the innocent victims and their families who suffered the destructive wrath of both A-Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Would you spare a minute of silence to remember them and to pray for peace?

May peace and goodwill reign on earth one day...

Camera - Canon Powershot G6
Lens - Canon 7.2 - 28.8mm (approx. 35 - 140mm)
Capture date - 24 Jul 2007
Aperture - f 8.0
Shutter speed - 1/10 sec
Shooting mode - aperture priority
Exposure bias - 0EV
Metering mode - Pattern
ISO - 50
Focal length - 7.2mm (approx. 35 mm)
Stabilization - Tripod
Lighting? - Outdoor Natural Light
Flash - Not fired
Post-processing? - PS LRoom processed
Cropped? - No
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