A month before we left, Canada and the US warned its citizens to postpone trips to India indefinitely due to their ongoing and escalating problems with Pakistan. We were warned against travelling in Nepal because of bloody attacks by Maoist rebels in the countryside. Heavily-touristed Thailand is an easy target for terrorist attacks, especially around the beach resorts and a red flag has been raised on travel there. We were warned against going to Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia because “extremist groups present in Southeast Asia have transnational capabilities to carry out attacks against locations where Westerners congregate.” It was announced sometime last week that a travel alert has been issued for Australia because it is seen as a target for terrorism.
So I can’t say that we were that surprised when the Canadian and Australian embassies closed in Manila yesterday due to “credible” bomb threats. Furthermore, we have been warned that “Canadians should not travel to the Philippines until further notice. Threats against Canadians and Canadian interests in the Philippines have heightened and there has been an upsurge in bombings.”
It’s easy to feel vulnerable when you are an obvious foreigner so I’ve become a little wary of being in public. Moreover, if you’re like me and have an active imagination, then things like going to the mall or eating dinner out involve imagined bomb attacks. Last night I registered with the consulate here in order not to be left out of an evacuation plan.
I am definitely suffering from an ounce of “Mean World Syndrome”. It’s a cultural phenomenon whereby people subjected to a heavy dose of media adopt the overly-violent television world in place of the real world and misjudge the amount of violence in society. I would argue that in today’s world, a “heavy dose” of television is not even necessary. With CNN and BBC almost constantly talking about terrorism, it’s difficult to remember that these incidents are few and far between, however devastating. I know that life goes on pretty much as normal here despite the threats and deep down I know that there is only a very slight chance that anything remotely terrorist will happen, and an even lower chance that it will affect me personally. I’ll just knock on wood anyway though.
We’re here and we plan on spending the holidays here. So we’ll just lay low and continue to do what we have been doing; swimming laps, eating mangoes, reading books, and watching bootlegged DVDs that we buy for a hundred pesos a pop.
tothesea,
k~*