Asians are generally quick to blast Western media for what they perceive as biased reporting. But the last few hours I have been glued to the TV, shuffling between BBC and CNN, watching their brilliant non-stop coverage of the Mumbai explosions. 

 

Going beyond sensitive reporting and quizzing, they stood apart by offering various perspectives to heighten the impact of the tragedy. Bringing in a diverse array of people, including correspondents from leading Indian newspapers, security experts and even officials from Jane's Defence Weekly, the two Western TV stations rose to the occasion and beamed global spotlight on the terrorist attacks reminiscent of the London rail explosions of July7, 2005.

 

At 10.30pm Singapore time, my daughter switched the channel to Sun TV for the 30-minute news bulletin, hoping to get an even clearer, live and a more involved picture of the blasts. But two minutes were all that the Sun TV news clip devoted to the Mumbai development. Isn't this simply atrocious? To say the least...! So, it was a quick return to BBC for me.

 

I was back at Sun at 11pm, hoping that they would do away with the usual Sun Music crap to offer live coverage of the breaking news. But instead we had the irritating Singapore import Anandakannan and Sandhya come on air to annoy us with their usual trashy stuff.

 

That said, will the world be ever rid of religion-based killings? Not as long as the religious heads who spread venom and hatred are allowed to get away with it. Civilised behaviour in dealing with uncivilized elements will not help put an end to this kind of violence.