Daily Lessons from Life 11 April 2012 - Two 'Earthquakes'?

"AsiaOne Wednesday, Apr 11, 2012 - The Fall of Bo Xilai

BEIJING - Chinese politician Bo Xilai, once a rising star, has been stripped of his elite Communist Party post and his wife is being investigated for the murder of a British national, state media said.

The shock announcements shed some light on a mysterious political scandal involving Bo and a reported attempt by his former righthand man to defect to the United States.

Analysts say the rare, public scandal has exposed deep rifts within the ruling party ahead of a key, once-in-a-decade leadership transition due to take place later this year."

AND

"Workers from Beach Rd, Shaw Tower evacuated after tremors - AsiaOne Apr 11, 2012

Workers from Beach Road and Shaw Tower were evacuated after tremors from the Aceh earthquake were felt on Wednesday afternoon, according to tips sent to AsiaOne.

A worker, who declines to be named, told AsiaOne that she saw the hanging lights and beams in her office moving.

Tremors from the aftershocks of a 8.6-magnitude earthquake which hit Indonesia were also felt in other parts of Singapore.

The Straits Times reported that people in Changi, Eunos, Marine Parade and Bedok felt the ground shake for about three minutes around 5pm.

Tremors were also reported in areas such as Whampoa, Woodlands, and Bras Basah.

Workers in the Central Business District also felt slight tremors.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force said on Wednesday night that they received a total of 38 calls from the public reporting of tremors.

The Building & Construction Authority (BCA) and the Housing & Development Board (HDB) have also completed their inspections of the 30 buildings in the affected areas and are found to be structurally safe."

Two earthquakes of a very different nature to contemplate with!!

Lessons for me are:

1. man-made earthquake of the Bo Xilai's type sometimes is quite predictable - just not if it will happen but when it will happen! If all the allegations are true about Bo and his wife and his 'cronies', then he and they deserved whatever is coming their way. Some of these allegations are clear betrayal of trust by the people who vested the authorities in them to govern the people!;

2. natural earthquake of the Sumatra type is anticipated as the fault lines are there, just that mankind has not mastered how to predict when the actual 'collision' will occur. The occurrence cannot be controlled by human being unlike that of Bo's case where, if you like, he brought whatever come his way himself!;

3. the natural earthquake of the Sumatra type ALSO reminded Singaporeans that, while our location has been and is a blessing, the aftershock can still be powerful enough to shake buildings here. I shudder to think what would happened if a really powerful one happened nearer us and with a force that may topple some of our high rise buildings. I hope this will NEVER happen. We can be vulnerable. It is important to be prepared and I hope that the authorities will study WHAT is the probability of such a scenario may happen! 'Creator' bless dare I say from a non-religious man?