This is terrible and sad news. I was in a training session in the afternoon when I received a Whatsapp message from my sister about this: A man has mowed down several people in Melbourne CBD (Bourke Street Mall), leaving a number killed and many others injured (some with serious injuries). I have read about horrific incidents like these in the news in other cities such as Nice and Berlin but this one hits closer to home. My wife, sister and I have studied, worked and lived in Melbourne for a number of years. We have friends & colleagues there and we walked that area down Bourke Street almost every other day. It’s a city that holds many happy memories for us – I met my wife there and it was our first home away from Singapore. A place we love dearly and a sanctuary we try to visit even after moving back to Singapore.
It’s big news at my wife’s place of employment, the Singapore office of an Australian bank. She has colleagues whom are either from Melbourne or with close personal/family ties to Melbourne. For such a violent act to happen on a Friday afternoon when it’s so busy with people has made this even more shocking. Is this what the world is coming to? It may not have been an act of terrorism but to think one man can have such disregard for human life. It’s unthinkable.
The only thing we can do is to check that our friends and colleagues in Melbourne are safe and send our well wishes to the people there. In time, the city will recover from the damage of this horrific madness. For now, let’s take a moment of silence for those affected by this incident and the rest of the people in Melbourne. You have our support in this tragic time.
