Dear Jiwoo and fellow fans,

It is a very disheartening and despairing period of time for us all today, with war raging in the Middle East and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) spreading throughout Asia and to the rest of the world.

Here in Singapore, we are all fearful that we will be infected by the potentially fatal virus.  Yesterday, I felt very sad when I heard from the news on television that 74 people here were already ill with SARS and two people had just died from it.  These two people had come into close contact with any one of the 3 women who visited Hong Kong and brought the virus to our shores.  One of them was the father of one of the three women who is recovering.  I can imagine the pain the woman must now be suffering to carry the burden of that knowledge that her illness brought about the death of her own father.  The other was a pastor who came to pray and comfort another of the three infected women at the request of her aunt.  His kindness unwittingly brought about his own demise.  These news have made me feel that life can be so cruel and unfair.  The anxiety and fear we are all feeling have led to the Education ministry closing all schools, from kindergarten to Junior College for 11 days.  So, I can well understand the panic and pain that people in all the affected countries, especially Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, are suffering right at this moment.

This epidemic has come right at the heels of the war in Iraq.  At an age when technology has made life comfortable and the affluence of many nations in the world has ensured prosperity and the promise of a good future, these same tools