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PHILLIP BOWRING
I never personally knew
any victims of the World Trade Centre, Canary Wharf or other politically
motivated bombings of innocent civilians from Colombo to Jerusalem and Gaza
to Bogota. Whether being personally Ltouched can help one think more clearly,
or simply more emotionally, about such things I have yet to learn. But I
think I can learn from Ed. He was someone who, had
he lived another two decades, probably would have earned a long obituary in
one newspaper or another. He also was a fine example of an internationally
minded young expatriate, a group sometimes criticised for boisterous
behaviour, who contributed to Hong Kong's economy as well as to its social
and sporting life. Part English, part Irish
and half Thai, Ed came to Hong Kong immediately after completing his
schooling in England, doing a pre-university ''gap year'' working for a
Malaysian Chinese metals trader friend of his father, an entrepreneurial
mining executive who had lived in Thailand and started a successful venture
in Malaysia. After studying history at
Trinity College, Dublin, Ed returned to Hong Kong and quickly found his feet.
He became a regional marketing executive for Lexis-Nexis, the database
company familiar to lawyers and journalists. He was elected captain of his
rugby team and was much in demand by boat owners - myself included - for his
skills on the foredeck as well as his relaxed and optimistic view of life. Ed worked hard and played
hard. Fluent in Thai and entirely comfortable with his own mixed ancestry, he
was always at the centre of events, always with a ready smile and helping
hand. He was one who led by an unusual combination of enthusiasm and being
nice to everyone. He was one of the most agreeable people I ever met, and one
who, to borrow a tribute from another friend, made people twice his age ''feel
part of his gang''. So, how does one respond
to such a benign and promising person being swept away by such a brutal act?
In one sense, the Bali attack was even worse than the World Trade Centre, a
symbol of US power and international capital. Bali was just somewhere people,
most young and unpowerful, went for fun. The first lesson Ed would
surely have advised: we should keep going to Bali, keep going to bars, keep
going on rugby tours. Surrender to fear is the first objective of terror. The
danger of terrorist attacks has greatly increased in recent times, but
travellers are still more likely to die in plane crashes than at the hands of
terror bombers. He would surely have
rejected the cries of the Australian and US governments which say their citizens
should leave Indonesia, or the growing list of other countries where
Americans are advised not to tread. Secondly, the nature of
the terror threat is that it is unpredictable. After all, Bali - with its
Hindu majority and large Chinese population - had been regarded as the safest
place in Indonesia. Furthermore, violence in Indonesia previously had been
aimed at other Indonesians rather than foreigners. Certainly, Indonesian
security was lax. Quite possibly locals were bribed into complicity. But
vague warnings of terror threats, such as those the US claims to have made to
Jakarta, do no more than cause worry, and disrupt travel and business. Only
specific information can prevent such bombings. President George W. Bush
has been berating Indonesia for its lack of attention to threats. But did
foreign governments berate Mr Bush when hundreds of foreigners died in lower
Manhattan? No, there was an outpouring of sympathy. Let us not in our grief
for those we knew forget that many - perhaps 40 per cent - of the Bali
victims were Indonesians, mostly Balinese. The next such incident
could as well be in the Louvre, Lan Kwai Fong or Phuket, as in Muslim Asia.
And, as the CIA has the sense to admit, the dangers of an attack on US soil
are as great now as before September 11. Ed would have understood,
too, that in the search for culprits and in the measures to be taken to
reduce the likelihood of repetition, precision not blanket measures which
created more communal or religious rifts are needed. He not only lived part
of his life in Ireland, scene of so many terror attacks and communal
tensions. His own family crossed the Irish divides. He was a Catholic via a
Polish grandmother while on his father's side were Protestant Anglo-Irish
gentry from Tipperary, still viewed as interlopers by a few Gaelic Catholic
extremists even though they have been there for centuries. So Ed was well aware that
there were plenty of Irish nationalists around with whom he sailed and played
rugby, but only a tiny minority of Irish people supported IRA terror. In the
same way, he would understand only a tiny number of Indonesian Muslims, even
fundamentalists, support terror. I have argued in these
pages on several occasions that aspects of the US response to the World Trade
Centre bombing played into the hands of the terrorists. The same applies now.
The response to Bali must be intense, but must also be kept focused. Iraq is
particularly irrelevant to fighting al-Qaeda. In this context let me quote
another columnist, the economist Paul LKrugman, from the International Herald
Tribune: ''Saturday's bombing was monstrously evil. It was also, I am sorry
to say, very clever. And it reinforces the sinking feeling that America's
leaders, who seem determined to have a conventional war, are playing right
into the terrorists' hands. It's like the man who looks for his keys on the
sidewalk, although he dropped them in a nearby alley, because he can see
better under the street light. These guys want to fight a conventional war.
Since al-Qaeda won't oblige, they'll attack someone else who will. Watching
from the alley, the terrorists are pleased.'' Whether on the rugby
pitch or the foredeck, Ed was never one for excuses or scapegoats when things
went wrong. He also had an innate faith in other humans. Let the punishment
fit the crime, but do not lash out blindly and in anger. Be true to Ed
Waller's optimistic, generous and fearless spirit. Philip Bowring is a
Hong Kong-based journalist and commentator. bowring@attglobal.net SCMP.com is the premier information resource on Greater China. With a click, you will be able to access information on Business, Markets, Technology and Property in the territory. Bookmark SCMP.com for more insightful and timely updates on Hong Kong, China, Asia and the World. Voted the Best Online newspaper outside the US and brought to you by the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's premier English language news source. Published in the South China
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