Last Sunday

Last Sunday, I woke up cheerful in anticipation of the final Harry Potter movie that I was going to watch later in the afternoon.  The morning papers dampened my spirits quite a fair bit with a couple of press reports, two of which I am still grappling to understand.

Apparently, the blast in Oslo on 22 July 2011 was the work of a far-rightwinger Anders Behring Breivik who went on a shooting spree at a youth camp site, killing more than 60 youths attending a summer camp.  Shockingly, Breivik professed no remorse for his actions, believing that he had to do something spectacular to forward his anti-immigrant/anti-moslem agenda. 

I wonder, if Norway, which seems to me a really tolerant country towards multiculturism, could have some citizens resenting the change in their lifestyles as a result of the influx of immigrants, what about countries which have much smaller land areas but much higher population density with relentless migration of workers and students?  Already, despite being part of one country, Hong Kong people have raised their concerns about pregnant women from mainland China who flock to Hong Kong to give birth, ensuring better care for themselves and resident rights for their offsprings born in Hong Kong, but crowding out Hong Kong women of much needed hospital beds.

Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home, aged 27.  I am neither a fan of Winehouse, neither do I condone her lifestyle of booze and drugs.  However, I do feel a sense of pity for a young life lost.  It just seems so inexplicable that bright sparks fizzle out so quickly.

At least 39 people died in a railway crash near Wenzhou city in China's Zhejiang province.  An on-coming train apparently failed to detect a stalled train hit by lighting and rammed into it. Six carriages derailed and four fell about 20 to 30 metres from a viaduct. Officials were later accused of trying to cover up but hastily burying the locomotive of the derailed train. 

I am begining to wonder, if the relentless pursuit of profits, one-manship over other technologically advanced nations had caused the Chinese to forget about safety.  It scares me to read about Chinese train drivers being put on the job after a mere 10 days of training despite their German trainers recommendation of 3 months of training.  Is it worth the bragging rights that Chinese train drivers are able to master driving high speed trains in one-ninth the time it takes for a German train driver, with little regards for the safety of the passengers and the train drivers themselves?