Like everyone else I am excited about the new year! According to the Asian calendar, it is the year of rabbit! When I think of rabbit, the image of long ears, white fur, fluffy wool-like tail appears in my head. Not forgetting the twitching nose! Last year, the year of tiger (2010) was a tough year for almost everyone around the world I believe.
In mid January, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti causing the death of 230,000 or more lives. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake also occurred in Chile in late February, triggering a tsunami over the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake was reported to be one of the largest in recorded history.
Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano which had been relative quiet for over past 400 years finally erupted on April 12th in southern Iceland impairing world's air traffic. According to experts, we should expect more frequent voluminous eruptions in the future because of the ice reductions that cause the active generation of magma.
6 days later, the oil platform located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, polluting the sea, thus injuring the innocent underwater creatures, and prompting international debate and doubts about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling. Strangely, this incident had gained lots of nicknames such as 'Macondo Blowout', 'The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill', 'BP Oil Spill', and 'Louisiana Oil Spill'. It is useless to give so many nicknames to this oil platform incident without having a solution to it.
Then came the soccer fever all the footballers enthusiasts had been waiting for! World Cup in South Africa for a month beginning from June 11 to July 11. Japan did not make it to the semifinals due to penalty loses to Paraguay with the score of 3-5. I thought Brazil was going to win it but Spain won the World Cup.Was World Cup in South Africa a success or failure? From my point of view, it was a success (due to reasons I won't discuss here)
Malaria subsequently flood. Mosquitoes are lethal. Much more malicious than weapons come to think of it. Welcome to Pakistan, a country that lacks of resources at the national level to combat malaria. The outbreak started in the early 1970s. Like many Asian countries, Pakistan also has heavy monsoon rains much to the pleasure of the mosquitoes of course. More than one million are displaced by the floods and they battle malaria like a worn-out soldier.
On a brighter note,in Myanmar, the junta freed Aung San Suu Kyi who had experienced house arrest for 21years. Internationally, her release has been described as a "Mandela moment", comparing to the day in 1990 when Nelson Mandela walked free from South Africa's prison. However, she argues that Myanmar is in a tougher situation than South Africa. South Africa had already made some movement towards democracy when Mandela was released. Here, they are nowhere near that. There are still 1000s who share the same belief as her in prison.
10days later, November 23rd, North Korea army decided to throw some bombs to South Korea. The incident caused an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and without doubt prompted widespread international condemnation towards North Korea.
Although the world economy will technically be out of recession, many countries will still be in debt and subjected high taxation to citizens like you and me!!! International co-operation between each and every country is a must. Citizens like us need to stay strong and positive. I hope the recap of 2010 will remind us that history always repeat itself because we humans do not learn from it. If only we learn and mend our errs.
