Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
What a very sad way to mark the end of year 2007. There were two major events that shocked me to my core.
One that really stunned me was of the assassination of Mrs Benazair Bhutto who fought for freedom and democracy in her country, Pakistan.
It is such a sad and distressing time for all Pakistanis in Bahrain and around the world. I do hope that peace and stability will be sustained once again for the sake of all the children and youngsters in the country.
The other event that upset me was of the abrupt and unexpected death of a dear friend of mine.
My friend Salman, who was only 15 years of age, passed away during the last week of 2007 after years of fighting against a disease that has already taken away my mother and my grandfather.
Cancer continues to kill many people.
It was such a sad and difficult week for both me and my sister who was one of the first to hear the news via the telephone.
However, one must always remember that God has everything planned for everyone even before they are born. We must salute all cancer victims and survivors, young or old.
Unless you are a sufferer, no one can know how it feels to go through a diagnosis of cancer and the subsequent treatment such as chemotherapy.
However, what we can do is spread awareness of the disease.
Therefore, I follow in the saying of Dr Waleed Abdul-Wahab, who has been featured in GulfWeekly's one-in-four community campaign, that we must BE AWARE and spread the message that early detection is necessary and that by doing so we can save even more lives.
