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#2051 | Wednesday, September 11th 2002
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i was preparing for a biology exam when my mom said that something happened and i couldn't believe it and i started crying because it all seemed like some surrealist nightmare from the deepest recesses of hell.
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rosemary | 16 | Singapore
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#1662 | Wednesday, September 4th 2002
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As I recall the exact time the chaos started, I had that eerie feeling about it. It is ironic that I was watching the ending of the show "AI" at that moment, which shows a submerged New York City in a make-believe distant future. Two towers stands out from the waters -- WTC.
I only knew what happened through breaking news on TV, and in my country, as the events unfolded, there was only breaking news and normal programmes resume. Little did one really know the full extent of destruction. When I saw the first tower in flames, I called my girlfriend. We were there before, standing atop one of them, and in my heart, I knew that the tower was not going to collapse, since we heard that WTC is built to withstand such damage. At first, I was thinking that it was only a small plane and though damage was done, life will be back to the usual by the next day. I was wrong. The horror was magnified further by the second plane that went into the next tower. By the time I reached home and was on BBC World, the full extent of damage was only coming into light. Pentagon was hit and there is still a hijacked plane in the sky. Then the unthinkable happened as footage shows the collapse of one of the tower and no more than 15 minutes later, the other one came down. It was almost surreal. What happened? I broke down in my heart, because life will never be the same again. Partially for me, since WTC was one of my favourite memories while we were in New York, and mostly for the rest of the people who were affected by the attacks. I fell asleep but woke up intermittenly to watch 'live' footage of the crash sites. By morning, two more towers in the WTC area collapse and New Yorkers were bracing for more, due to structual damage caused by the collapse of WTC.
The next day, everyone was talking about it, but somehow it affected me quite a bit. Partially because I was there before. I checked out the tenants of WTC and how many fine men and women perished in the buildings, and wondered how the owners, the Port Authority of New York, only insured only one tower, since the collapse of both towers only belong to fiction. As expected the NYSE closed and Manhatten came to a standstill. It is unreal because New York never sleeps. It never sleep as well that day, because everyone is busy either getting out or helping others while the uniformed men moved in.
For the whole week, I was keeping myself abreast of the news that kept coming through, but my thoughts were not on these. To me, my thoughts were on how America had took a beating and how it will recover. Courageous stories flooded through, near miracles happens, and you begin to wonder if all these are meant to happen. It was not, and through the acts of humans, it did and the damage it caused was collatorial.
To this day, I still cling onto the fact that we did not buy any WTC-related memorial souvenirs because I knew that one day I will be back. Now, sadness fills me because it is not possible now and blamed myself for not wanting to get one then. Alas.
In a personal tribute of the excellent city that it once was and hopefully will be one day, I now have the New York skyline (complete with WTC) that adorns my desktop.
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Sandro | 26 | Singapore
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#249 | Monday, November 12th 2001
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I had just finished a sumptuous dinner on board a luxurious cruise ship when I returned to my cabin, turned on the TV, and saw CNN broadcasting the news.. it took me a while to register what was happening, but when it finally sank in, (no pun intended) I ran out of my room to tell my dad, who was in the casino, and on my way there I passed the bar and everyone had their eyes glued onto the tv set and the once celebratory mood had suddenly turned very very somber.
I felt so helpless, I wanted to return home as soon as possible to be with the rest of my family, but it was still two days before we reached port.
Made me ponder - One moment, I'm celebrating, the next, I'm mourning the lives of thousands lost.
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Cheryl | 24 | Singapore
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#248 | Monday, November 12th 2001
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i was watching some sports on tv. i could hardly believe my eyes when there was a newsflash across the screen about the news. turned to cnn and bbc and watched all the rest of the night. it changed the world forever, our perspectives and our general complacency about life. the bright spot to emerge has been the increased spotlight and publicity on the suffering citizens of the country which harboured and supported the terrorism act, especially women who have not been allowed to live normally, to work, to be educated and even to doll themselves up.
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terence | 24 | Singapore
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