Disasters, terrorism a bad year for 2009

Mother nature is still not kind to mankind. Floods, earthquakes, storms, diseases, cold weather and landslides devastated the lives of millions of people in 2009. The floods and storms in the Philippines, an earthquake in Padang and a tsunami in the Pacific killed hundreds of people.

A few mad people still kill thousands in the name of religion.

But these terrorists do not belong to any religion. Terrorism is still a major problem in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen despite a decade of the global war on terror.

Crises are not always made by nature. Man-made financial crises affected millions of people across the globe. The US pumped US$787 billion into the economy under its federal stimulus package. Yet, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. The US jobless rate touched a record high of 10 percent.

Palestinians watched helplessly the passage of another year without achieving anything in the direction of peace.

People across the globe welcomed the election of Barack Obama as President of the US. His election brought hope to the world. Since Obama spent a few years in Indonesia during his childhood, it is natural for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to look forward to Obama's visit to Indonesia next year. - JP