Titanic

wow.

I love the feeling of being able to slack and feel lazy. It's as if time has slowed for you. This morning, for the first time since a long long time, i woke up at around noon. But it seems that the more you sleep, the lazier and less energetic you feel. And there's something strange about my sleeping habits. I've not had a dream in a long long time. The reason might be that my brain is too lazy to operate after sleep commences. Maybe I should listen more to zhuang singing than I will get some nightmares. Afterall, nightmares are a category of dreams too right?

Anyway, the title of this post is called titanic. I am in a mood for some history now. There are some periods when I dun really feel like talking about history, like after a CT paper. I always tell others not to discuss CT questions with me cos I hate the feeling of feeling demoralised after realising that you're losing precious marks. I always say,"discuss for what? What is over is over... Look to the future (i.e. preparing for the next paper)"

But now feel I like discussing history, or rather, sharing history. Last night I was reading one of my favourite books again- 'Events that changed the World' by Rodney Castleden. The reason why i was reading instead of doing other activities was because I was too lay to put the DVD into the DVD player. Actually I was thinking of doing a movie marathon. And for your information, Mr Castleden is not American, which is precisely why his book presents facts whihc are largely accurate.

Anyway, the book had this chapter on the sinking of titanic. The reason why it was considered an event that changed the world was because, according to the writer, it "marked the end if a period of Victorian and Edwardian complacency, the beginning of a period of a century of doubt and scepticism." True. And it also revolutionalised the way of maritime safety procedures. Emergency lifeboat drills are now mandatory before a ship can set sail, so that passengers can familiarise themselves with steps that can save their lives in case of emergency. This is why before you can set sail in the superstar virgo, you have to do the drill thingy.

Back to my main point. After watching the movie titanic with the jack and rose (yawn) story, I thought that the titanic affair was just a story about one man who made a wrong decision. well, actually, that is not the case. The tragic sinking of titanic was a story of 3 skippers - one wise but selfish, one arrogant but foolish, and another brave and heroic.

On 15 April 1912, the skipper of the titanic , Captain Smith commited a grave mistake, a foolish act beyond my comprehension as to why an experienced seaman like him would ever commit. Capt smith was propelling the ship forward at 22 knots -far too fast- through seas notoriously strewn with icebergs. After titanic hit the iceberg, it's watertight bulkheads gave it a few hours before it sank. During this time, Capt Smith sent out distress signals.

One distress signal was white rockets. Obviously, rockets come in different colours. My grandfather, who was one a sailor with a cargo vessel, told me that. White represents HELP! Just 5-10 miles away from the scene of sinking, the Californian was anchored for the night. The man at the helm on board this ship was the wise but selfish Capt Lord. Lord was a great sailor who had the basic intelligence to stop his ship for the night, knowing that the route in front of him was a hazardous one. Only with the help of the sun can one navigate a ship through such a sea. Capt Lord knew about the white rockets, but was selfish. He did not steer his ship over to the titanic. Acedemics now speculate that should the California have went over to pick up the passengers of titanic, it would had saved all the lives. Instead, Lord decided that the sightings of white rockets should not disturb his slumber.

Another disress signal was the wireless. The titanic sent out a wireless for help, which wa spicked out by another vessel, Carpathia, skippered by the heroic Capt. Rostron. After picking up the message, Capt Rostron acted exactly as we would all expect a ship's captain to act; he dropped everything, changed course and without regard for anything else at all he raced to the scene of disaster to offer help. He was the opposite of Capt. lord, who had ample evidence that a ship nearby was in deep trouble and did nothing whatever to help - and he was close enough to have saved everyone.

Now of course the man of the hour was Capt Rostron. But the main fault lies with Capt Smith. He was a very experienced skipper, and due to retire after this prestigious final vovage on the titanic. With his vast experience and fatherly figure, he looked like a safe pair of hands. He wasn't. He was a dangerous driver, a captain who liked to sail in style, make a big entrance or a swaggering exit. He sailed in and out of harbours far too fast. On the night in question, he was as usual going too fast in relations to the conditions. Whatever we say about capt Lord, the seflish one, he had the capacity beneath his cranium to heave to when there was so much ice about. capt smith went full steam ahead - into the icebergs.

Men (and women if I were to add, I am not to be accused of being a male chauvinist here) of great power have a heavy burden -responsibility. The 3 skippers were men of great power- they had the power over the lives of people. And in this case, Capt. Smith failed in his primary responsibility.