As the humankind stands on the brink of another world-wide panic and potential disaster, brought on by the incredible penchant of wild-game food enthusiasts and their suppliers, exemplified by incredulous narrative of the 2019 nCoV epicentre, what are we to make of it?
An interesting observation is humanity’s appetite and preoccupation with a compelling narrative to goad us into action. Consider however the strength our reaction and the relative burden in areas where death, suffering or disabilities are a steady occurrence, a creeping normalcy of events of equal or greater magnitude and significance neglected.
Commentators have pointed out that as many as 56,000 people die from the flu or flu-like illness each year. Why stop at flu-like illnesses? Perhaps one could consider other forms of high fatalities events the world over that could enjoy our focus and attention, like road-traffic accidents or violent crimes. The US CDC estimates that each year, 1.35 million people are killed on roadways around the world. Every day, almost 3,700 people are killed globally in road traffic crashes involving cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, or pedestrians. More than half of those killed are pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists.
Taken into context, the relativity of what we succeed or fail to do each day to prevent death and illnesses, while being attracted to the light of an ember burning brighter in a dark sky is an assessment to be dealt in cognitive balance.
We are particularly moved by the passion and agony of the widening web of contagion lock-down, as the human drama plays itself out in a 21st century epic where the legacy of a hunter-gatherer’s early epoch has transcended into the crush of the teeming metropolis of the present with devastating consequences.
It is perhaps the uncertainty of that exponential evolution of a horror in evolution, the modern-day equivalent of the nuclear fallout in slow-motion and its aftermath, that captures our imagination.
In the meantime, we may, as Pilate did, ask, “Truth? What is that?” and discern by responding ” Where is your Faith?”.
From https://www.nparks.gov.sg/mygreenspace/issue-32-vol-1-2017/facts/garlic-vine The Garlic Vine (Mansoa hymenaea) gets its name from the distinct garlic smells produced when the leaves are crushed, although this woody climber is not related to the common edible garlic at all! It produces spectacular clusters of purplish, funnel-shaped blooms that emit a garlic smell too. These flowers turn from dark lavender to light lavender and white as they mature. The plant is said to treat fevers, colds, throat and respiratory ailments.
Dec 2019. Lumix G85; M Zuiko 75-300 mm lens