Blast mayhem...

I can't even describe what I want to say in the midst of the explosion tragedy which rocked one of our newest shopping mall in Melaka yesterday. I attended at site immediately upon receipt of a friendly call and what I saw not only shocked me but kinda terrified me a bit. Seeing corn-like broken glass pieces, crumpled & twisted aluminium metal strips in a vast area is not a good safety sign. The first question that came to my mind was , " how could such an incident occurred?". Well, as usual, in the Malaysian context of dissecting theories whether fact or fiction, theories of the blast came fast and thick ranging from suspected bombing to carelessness to business rivalry and finally to gas piping leakage. In all fairness to the people around, it was a complete state of confusion for a while and the authorities were no help at all. There was plenty of jostling over who actually have the absolute control and powers over such matter and soon, it became a huge snowball of further confusion. No one actually dared owning up to responsibilities and it's like one minute he is in-charge while the next minute , it was another person. I guess, in such matters, the authorities really have to work together to ensure there is law and order. Lives are at stake and firstline of operation is to save lives. Thank God, there are still some conscious and sane people in such situations whereby many lives were saved while there were casualties - 19 of them to be exact. One guy lost his life while 3 others hanging on precariously to their lives as they were critically injured. The rest suffered light injuries and thanked their lucky starts for surviving the blast. By then scores of policemen, fire brigade officers, security personnel and reporters were jammed pack at the area. Bomb squad, police forensics, fire brigade forensics, DOE officers and officers from every imaginable departments were in attendance making this tragedy like a circus-like environment. What was missing was most probably the kacang putih seller, ice-cream seller, curry puff and goreng pisang stalls! This is said with a hint of chagrin distaste!
I was rather amused when the bomb squad came for their inspection. I guess, if you look at the explosion pattern , you would have known immediately that it was not an intentional or attempted malicious bombing or whatsoever. Malicious or intentional bombings would have caused the the main column or main structure to collapse but on this occasion, there was none to indicate this. Anyway, precautionary measures taken by the Police were indeed commendable. However, their extremely large volume of presence wasn't very impressive as far as I was concerned as the manpower could be put into better use like catching up on snatch thieves, robbers , rapist or even drug dealers! Seriously, there must be a conscientious effort to know the difference between a tragedy and getting oneself onto the cameras of the media hype.

As I looked at the scenario of the blast, the broken glass, scrapnels, aluminium hanging ceiling pieces, ceiling boards, ductings and pipes, I can imagine the horror one goes through while fighting to save their lives. With good contacts with the Police and the Fire Brigade officers, I was able to have a close view of the devastation from one point of the building. I can tell you safely that it wasn't a pretty sight. If the blast won't kill you, the glass scrapnels and remnants from flying debris would have easily wounded you. Then, after being around for a while, mingling with the officers, rescuers, building owners, building managers, contractors, workers, reporters, shoplot owners and curious onlookers, I saw the infamous blame game shift in full swing. To me, someone had screwed up big time and this does not involved only one person but an entire chain-link line of command - that's for sure! It's a matter of who pulls the trigger first bringing down the entire chain of lackadaisical practises. Well, like all good Malaysian tragedy, a cover up is definitely around the corner or in the making. Sometimes, I am resigned to the fact that the ugly truth may or may not prevail. We'll probably get the sugar-coated version of the cause of the tragedy. Afterall, "I scratch your back and you scratch mine" mentality, mah !