A reflection on life – by leesan
The endless tragedies befalling Lebanon and her people.
THE Middle East crisis is escalating, with Israel fighting with Palestine, Syria, Iran, Yemen and now, Lebanon.
Seeing how the crossfire between Israel and Lebanon has intensified while I was still in Xian, China, I quickly sent a message to Muhammad, an English- speaking driver and guide I met while travelling solo in Beirut in February 2020. I asked him, “Bro, are you OK now? Anything I can help with?”
Muhammad replied, “Our family of four lives in the southern suburb of Beirut. Two rocket bombs hit the residential area 2km from my house several days ago, damaging all the houses and roads there, killing and injuring many!”
For fear of a second wave of attacks, residents in Muhammad’s neighbourhood were forced to relocate. They chose to set up camp in any open spaces they could find, including on road sides.
Soon afterwards, Israeli bombs rained down on Lebanon to hit their ground targets with extreme exactness. Israel claimed that it only targeted military facilities and structures, but there are reports of hospitals and residential areas getting hit, too.
Byblos is one of the oldest cities in the world, and has been a part of numerous cultures, including Egyptian, Phoenician, assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Genoese, Mamluk, and Ottoman.
The beauty of Beirut has been overshadowed by the endless conflict Lebanon faces. The missle sirens have turned life here into a nightmare.
My friendship with Muhammad has been a memorable part of my travelling life in recent years. In the spring of 2020, at a time when much of Asia was grappling with the initial onslaught of the coronavirus, I met Muhammad in Beirut, Lebanon. After we walked past buildings that were destroyed during conflicts, we rested our feet at an alfresco coffee shop, the irresistible aroma of Arabica coffee wafting in the air.
In that quiet afternoon, Muhammad told me why he gave up his job in Britain to return to Beirut – it was in response to the call by the new Lebanese government to “build a new Lebanon”.
He subsequently married and raised a family in his home country.
Unfortunately, the government reneged on its promises. Muhammad not only lost a good future, he also lost his job. He became a taxi driver in order to feed his family.
And that’s not all. His country has since been plagued by endless political turmoil, rampant corruption, embezzlement of public funds by civil servants, a dramatic 90% devaluation of the local currency, runaway inflation, a near-bankrupt government, frequent power outages, severe shortage of utilities, essentials, medicines and even education, sending many Lebanese in utter despair.
Muhammad said that Lebanon prides itself with having a rich cultural legacy and history. It has been called, among others, the most Westernised, liberal and affluent country in West Asia, and is once said to be the West Asian “backyard” for wealthy Swiss, Arabians, Italians and French.
Baalbek, a Roman fortress in Lebanon, was built 3,000 years ago and is now at risk of destruction due to ongoing conflict. The car behind the columnist is muhammad’s taxi.
Muhammad, his wife and their beautiful children in their home in beirut. The columnist last saw this man in early 2020. — Photos: Leesan
Unfortunately, today, Lebanon is reduced to a living hell by the conflicts and other human follies. During my trip, Muhammad took me to the Hezbollah base camp, which has now been reduced reduced to rubble.
We also went to the vantage point on the Israel-Lebanese border to catch a glimpse of Israel. Back then I felt that everything was serene and peaceful, with people on both sides of the border living their lives.
I could hardly imagine that merely four years later, the two countries are at war with one another.
Apart from worrying about the safety of Muhammad, his family, and other Lebanese, I am also concerned about the fate of Lebanon’s many historical relics, as well as its natural and cultural heritage sites.
Lebanon has five Unesco World Heritage Site-listed landmarks, including the 5,000-year city of Byblos – named one of the world’s 10 ancient cities – and the first overseas Roman fortress located in the ancient city of Baalbek (it was said to be constructed during the heyday of the Roman Empire 3,000 years ago).
On Oct 30, the Israeli army launched more than 20 air strikes near Baalbek, causing one of the pillars in a Roman temple complex to break.
I do feel like the whole country is in ruins now, and worse still, the people are unable to defend themselves.
The wealthy and capable are said to have left the country, leaving behind 6.5 million helpless people like Muhammad and his family, along with some 800,000 Syrian and a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
After exchanging text messages with Muhammad, I proceeded to a Western Union remittance counter with a heavy heart, with the hope my little token will help ameliorate the hardship that he and his family are forced to go through. May the Almighty have mercy on the innocent lives on this beleaguered land.
I also remembered that on that afternoon four years ago, while chatting with Muhammad, I received an urgent call from a friend from back in Kuala Lumpur, informing me of the sudden death of my travel buddy Alan. He had just celebrated his 50th birthday days earlier. I couldn’t hold back my tears, and after knowing what had hap- pened, Muhammad gave me a big hug, saying, “Life is unpre- dictable, and no matter what happens, we must live in the present.”
Today, this same sentence seems to linger between the two of us. Stay strong, Muhammad, no matter what!
Life is short, so why must we keep fighting among ourselves?
Published in The Star, 9 Nov 2024
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