The Diary of Anne Ku

19 August 2000 Saturday

CONCORDE VS SUBMARINE

Just as the true cause of the Air France disaster is being revealed, the world faces another disaster. The irony of it is that we could have prevented it. More than one hundred people trapped in a coffin deep beneath the sea - a slow death painful for everyone else to watch. The Concorde, on the other hand, was unpreventable - and happened in seconds. High in the sky, unreachable - a quick death.

Often after a flight, I like to balance the altitude of my experience by diving into a swimming pool. I once said to a friend,"If my love for you is as high as the highest mountain and as deep as the deepest sea, then how much do I love you?" The correct answer is "sea level."

Do the two events thus negate each other? Or do they reflect the paradox of a world that we live in? Helpless in technology and helpless as humans. What happened to conviction? Do we always have to be diplomatic?

I do not know the answer. Life is unfair. I boarded a trans-atlantic plane the night after the Concorde had crashed. My friends reassured me that all planes were safer after a crash. I had nothing to worry about. I doubt anyone would want to ride in a nuclear submarine again....

yesterday

tomorrow

The curse of the Kursk