Imagine the tremendous relief and joy felt by 9 year-old Jeremy Tio's mother when he was finally found last Thursday morning by Orang asli trackers after being lost in the dense forests of Frasier's Hill, along with his three Malaysian cousins, for four days.
When interviewed by the press from the confines of the hospital bed where he was recuperating from his ordeal, Jeremy claimed (with wide-eyed innocence) that he had gotten his courage "from his mother". Yes -- Singaporeans needed this heartwarming tale of triumph over, erm, adversity (??). At any rate, we're getting so little good news from the media nowadays, and thus, a little overblown coverage on the ordeals of your average-joe Singaporean family wouldn't hurt right?
Nevermind if it was a little strange that the boys got lost on a 1.5km trail which they were supposed to complete easily in 15 minutes. Nevermind that they were equipped with two maps and amongst them were two trained scouts who had prior experience trekking in the same area. Nevermind that they were allowed into the forest to trek at all, seeing how Frasier's Hill had been the hotspot for trekkers to get lost in, regardless of age and experience. These little peculiarities do not matter now, anyhow...
Trust Berita Harian to have a side column speculating the involvement of supernatural interferences in this affair and a few interviews with local residents who suspected as much. I wonder -- why didn't any of the English media I've come across cover this aspect of the story??? But of course, when something is too strange, blaming it on the occult is just very convenient.
I remember a recent news story concerning the disappearance of a fifteen-year-old Singaporean boy, Mohamed Zakaria, but this time, in Bangalore, India. He went missing on the 8th of May after a ten-minute stroll to the mosque to perform his routine morning prayers but thankfully, returned to the loving arms of his family early this month after turning up in a New Delhi mosque. However, up until now, the mystery of his disappearance hasn't been resolved. How did he end up in New Delhi, a good 1,740 kilometres from his hometown?? Who abducted him (if he had been abducted which was highly likely) so blatantly in public without leaving any witnesses or any clues or even a ransom note, for that matter?? How was he able to send email, regularly during the period of his disappearance, to his friend in Singapore??
Here's another peculiarity (perhaps I'm the only one who finds it so); despite being as baffling as the Jeremy Tio case, I don't recall seeing much of Zakaria's story in the news. Moreover, the latter was missing for much longer, wasn't he? hmmmmmmm...
