Can they find their way home? Back to the loving arms of society?
Today our hearts go to the loved ones of those murdered at Virginia Tech. Their lives and promises cut short - by an act of thoughtlessness. But wait? The killer did think about it first! We saw the video he sent to NBC, he said "I could have fled..." It kills me inside. Guns are no roses. Why is it still so easy to buy them in America?
The faces of the victims continue to haunt us.
We know that some of them were accomplished sportsmen/women, one was an aspiring dancer, and...
Our hearts go to the victims' mommies and daddies, brothers and sisters, gramps, nanas, cousins, uncles and aunts...and their friends who love them so much. Their loss is not ordinary and neccessary. Another lesson to be learned? Do we ahve to still learn the hard way? Why can't we learn the easier way? There's no escaping the bullet when it is shot at you, is there?
My heart sank when I learned that the killer was an Asian man, a young, educated, Americanized Korean man to be exact. I am afraid even as Malaysian-American. Being Asian-American, I am afraid to be blamed for what he did. Or, to be judged for what he did. He was clearly a very broken man. The rest of us, not. We are God-fearing and peace-loving people.
And, there is no need to blame the Korean movie, Oldboy either -- that they said must have inspired Cho Hseung-Hui to kill. He was clearly very determined to kill and be killed. But yet smart enough to shoot himself and escaped the long arms of the law. He is gone. But we don't care about him and the family he left behind, do we? Where are they now? I cannot imagine their pains and their anger. It is easy to say we are sorry to the families of those who died after they were shot by a mentally disturbed man with a gun. Not that is it much easier to accept if Cho had only used a knife or a parang! But it kills us knowing ... that it was so unfair and unnecessary.
Today our hearts go to the loved ones of those murdered at Virginia Tech. Their lives and promises cut short - by an act of thoughtlessness. But wait? The killer did think about it first! We saw the video he sent to NBC, he said "I could have fled..." It kills me inside. Guns are no roses. Why is it still so easy to buy them in America?
The faces of the victims continue to haunt us.
We know that some of them were accomplished sportsmen/women, one was an aspiring dancer, and...
Our hearts go to the victims' mommies and daddies, brothers and sisters, gramps, nanas, cousins, uncles and aunts...and their friends who love them so much. Their loss is not ordinary and neccessary. Another lesson to be learned? Do we ahve to still learn the hard way? Why can't we learn the easier way? There's no escaping the bullet when it is shot at you, is there?
My heart sank when I learned that the killer was an Asian man, a young, educated, Americanized Korean man to be exact. I am afraid even as Malaysian-American. Being Asian-American, I am afraid to be blamed for what he did. Or, to be judged for what he did. He was clearly a very broken man. The rest of us, not. We are God-fearing and peace-loving people.
And, there is no need to blame the Korean movie, Oldboy either -- that they said must have inspired Cho Hseung-Hui to kill. He was clearly very determined to kill and be killed. But yet smart enough to shoot himself and escaped the long arms of the law. He is gone. But we don't care about him and the family he left behind, do we? Where are they now? I cannot imagine their pains and their anger. It is easy to say we are sorry to the families of those who died after they were shot by a mentally disturbed man with a gun. Not that is it much easier to accept if Cho had only used a knife or a parang! But it kills us knowing ... that it was so unfair and unnecessary.