It Was An AccidentLook at today's Straits Times, Home section, front page. An untimely death is always a sad and unfortunate event. What made me really think when i read this article was how the victim's family members blame everything else except themselves. They claim that their 55 year old sister, who fell down a flight of stairs in the Esplanade theatre, met with that unfortunate accident due to the poor lighting at that moment. This immediately brought back memories about the article where a child was cut while running around in a hawker center. The child's mother questioned if there was a need for sharp corners in the hawker center and asked why nothing had been done about the sharp corners. We all know that its the mother's fault. You can't blame it on that sharp corner. Are you going to ban hot soup if her child has instead ran into a man carrying soup and got scalded? Or if her child got cut by knives is she going to ask why knives in hawker centers don't come standard with plastic sheaths? This is nonsense. Pardon my seemingly lack of sensitivity to the affected family members, i just simply can't accept the fact that they are blaming the Esplanade for this accident. The stairs were lighted up sufficiently, and it was carpeted, thus it was difficult to slip. Hundreds of people throng the theatres each week, how often do we hear of someone slipping? Her eldest sister, Mdm Wong Mui Ling, "...questioned whether the lights on the stairs - although complying with regulations - provided enough light for a person of Miss Wong's age". Wait a minute, why are you blaming the lights? Are we going to brighten up the stairs enough such that even a 99 year old with cataracts can see the steps? Well in this case we should, you'll never know when a 99 year old will watch a performance won;t you? If the family members want to use her age as an excuse, I don't see why they don't blame themselves. IF your sister is 55 years old AND you feel that she is too old to see the lights that the majority of people CAN see, WHY DIDN"T you accompany her when she left her seat? You obviously felt that there was NO NEED. Why, i can now say, we should ban the family members from going to esplanade, as they have shown irresposibility towards their own. Stop blaming other people, or the places. Ask yourself, where were YOU when she fell. This article is really trying to say what I'm spelling out here. But it obviously can't write it the way i have written it. If I were to fall down my lecture hall's carpeted steps while carrying my schoolbag, i pray they won't ban carpets, school bags, books, steps and turn the light up to the maximum. There are other students to consider.... Savant at 3/27/2007 02:30:00 pm ;
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