Extraordinary

Monday, 12 January 2009.

I awoke to an unpleasant start when my aunt next door rushed into my house and began calling for my mother. She was so noisy. I reached for my phone and saw that the time was only 5.45 am. I noticed that the sky outside was a bright, glowing shade of orange.


Being a little groggy from my sleep, I assumed it was probably sunrise or something. Had the earth tripped on its own axis while spinning? Maybe that was what the whole commotion was about. The bright orange thing in the middle was probably the sun, and the whitish stuff was the clouds. But as I listened carefully, I detected notes of panic from both my aunt and mom in the hall outside. And then I was awake enough to remember that clouds don't look as ferocious as this.

FIRE.

The fire started in one of the factories across my apartment, and it was spreading so wildly that soon, the entire factory was erupting in flames. I could hear explosions even in the safety of my bedroom.

And well, I told my mom that I wanted to go there so I could take pictures. She gaped at me as though I was crazy, but being a typical Malaysian, curiosity got the best of her and she said, "Okay. Five minutes. Go get dressed."

The site was only about five to ten minutes away, but she drove anyway. Who feels enthusiastic to walk all the way at 6 in the morning? There were quite a number of people already gathered there, some taking photos of the scene. The air was filled with excitement, fear and anticipation. I just couldn't wait to take some pictures of the scene. All I cared about were the pictures, and a good story.


From where we stood, I could smell the unpleasant smell of the smoke and feel the intense heat.
The fire brigades arrived not too long after that, followed by several police cars. It was like watching a movie - except this was real. You know what we were missing? Popcorn.

Some curious youngsters ran forward, closer to the burning inferno to have a better look. They got chased away by the police. Some of the bystanders got chased back by the firemen. I got chased back into the car by my mom.

As she drove me home, she said, "Why are you so interested in taking pictures of that?"

I instinctively replied, "It doesn't happen everyday."

When I went back to bed, it was almost 7 am. Before drifting off to sleep, I heard the muffled sounds of the sirens blaring and the amplified voices of policemen shouting orders through their loudspeakers. Realization began to dawn upon me, and I knew what I'm passionate about.
Photography and writing. It was all I actually thought about as I picked up my camera.

So, I'm pretty convinced that I'll go into journalism. I hope that's the right choice.

I woke up late today, and as a result, I was late for my morning class. Lol. On the way home, I stopped by the site just to see the remnants of what was left of that factory. The poor building was scorched and damaged.



Oh well. At least that part of it still remained.