The past few days have been quite a rollercoaster ride--although that which does not destroy us can only make us stronger, as the old adage goes, and I have certainly learnt something about myself, the way people work as individuals, the way society works, and perhaps even more strikingly, how things in Singapore (and around the world) work.
The most striking thing that this episode of global travel scares has shown me has been, for the most part, how the mass media can and does affect people (and works so well as a tool of propoganda), and for the lesser part, how authorities can and do (even if only subtly, yet continuously) nudge the media into generating the kind of impact it wants to have.
The media machine in Singapore has been on overdrive (or perhaps it was imagined on my part) on the whole foiled British terror plots, or so the names bandied about have screamed, with page after page dedicated to the news in the main local daily for the two, three days after the news got out, with the coverage no less extensive than on the online edition of BBC, where, understandably, the massive delays and almost-shut-down air travel system made it much more than just headline news, given the central place air travel has in the functioning of the modern global society today.
Op/Ed sections on UK publications from the mainstream BBC, to The Register, an almost renegade online technology news site, to even our main daily, have been screaming about how air travel will be changed forever, how these temporary security measures (of carry-on baggage being banned) will become the norm in future, about how we are engulfed by terrorists and their plots and about how these sinister plans are almost all around us constantly and what-not.
The climate of fear has no doubt been created, especially in those who read (not-too-)closely, and with great exuberance, who lap up every bit of information with relish, as they wallow (or, perhaps, more appropriately, celebrate, albeit in a dark, almost-helpless way) in how dangerous and deadly a world we live in and how everyone is confirming their worst fears as all sorts of doomsday scenarios form in their heads.
And in this climate of fear, only the incumbents win, for the people are apt to believe that they need a strong government, untainted by opposition, to deliver the bitter medicine they need to rid the world of all this evil, as people readily cede their freedoms to governments that lap it all up with relish--somewhat starkly portrayed in the film V for Vendetta, even if in a rather extreme way (and that is fiction after all).
I say this not to claim that the terrorist attacks that we have seen thus far--from Sept 11 to the Bali and Madrid bombings to the most recent July 7th London attacks--are conspiracy plots by right-wing ultra-conservative elements (as in V for Vendetta), nor to make light these tragedies--rather, such nuanced reports are apt to induce fear and cloud over a more balanced viewpoint that puts this all in perspective--that these times are really not that extraordinary.
After all, the world has seen worse--from the World Wars when there was actual fighting, and death and destruction going on, to the Cold War when a nuclear meltdown of the world was imminent on more than one occasion, to localised conflicts where there were frequent, actual bombings and loss of life, from the IRA bombings in UK to the Hamas/suicide bomber attacks in Israel to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, to even the Vietnam War in which some SEA governments accused the Vietnamese of attempting to overwhelm them with boat people, or even the Indonesian Confrontation, in which Singapore was actually bombed (MacDonald House, 1969).
More stark, on the other hand, was my own reaction to the whole incident I guess, as I went into overdrive and started to imagine all types of scenarios that I might have to deal with--checked-in laptop, cameras, lenses, etc. While it's good to be prepared for all (or at least most) eventualities, the accompanying anxiety was absolutely unnecessary, as my better judgement was, admittedly, rather much clouded over by all the media furore.
Even worse, I must say, (and I doubt you'll read this before you hear from me, but I implore you to read on, haha), was how I projected this anxiety outwards from myself, allowing it to spread to the people around me. While you do not like people apologising because you really don't mind, I think I really got a tad carried away this time and I really should apologise, and I hope you were nothing more than slightly amused (or perhaps, laughing you head off! haha) at my (rather foolish?) worrying.
I really should learn how to keep calm, evaluate things in a more level-headed manner, and to really, sincerely, laugh things off.
At any rate, it's been interesting reading other takes on the issue--the rather quiet, factual, non-sensational reporting of the issue by the Bangkok Post, and it was only then that I realised that, perhaps, the War on Terror this part of the world needs a little more boost. After all, air travel contributes to a significant amount of our national output, but, really, perhaps I should read less of our local dailies, our add salt to taste.