Hurricane Watch

A friend of mine once said, in a play he wrote, “The problem with Singapore is that there are no natural disasters.” He was talking about Singaporeans being complacent and whiny. There's nothing like a regular dose of Mother Earth's fury to correct any human arrogance and instill humility. Character-building, that's what we call this in school. I'm not sure how long human memory retains such lessons learnt. All I know is that the absence of such phenomena breeds a morbid obsession with disasters of all sorts, natural or otherwise. 9-11, Bali bombing, Boxing Day tsunami, London bombings, Hurricane Katrina - you name it, we watched it, on CNN, BBC, CNBC, Channelnewsasia.

I was no exception. One of my minor fantasies in life was to experience a hurricane, not an earthquake, because that would be completely unexpected and sudden. A hurricane - I could anticipate and savour the impending doom. I could relish the gradual build-up of power. I imagined myself going down to the beach, in the early days of the hurricane watch, to observe the storm surge, to gaze in awe at the unnaturally huge waves crashing onto and over the breakwaters, to be buffeted by the force of the swirling winds. I imagined myself sitting it out as the hurricane beared down, barricaded in my home, refusing to evacuate, shaking my puny fist and daring Mother Nature to do her worst. Man against Nature. It would have been an exhilarating experience - I had no doubt of that.

Well, what do you know? I've gone off hurricanes. No need to ask why; 'nuff said. What I am left with is the realization that hurricanes come and go as they please. They are acts of nature, oblivious to the world, impervious to human plea. They chart their own path, their will be done. You rave, you rant, you wait to be acknowledged, but you are insignificant against the implacable force of Nature.