3 Statues I'd be interested to visit...

WARNING & REMINDER to self: If 1 day I do visit any of these statues, make sure I only visit them with the same attitude/mindset just like how I visited the Merlion Statue in Singapore's Sentosa Island or even the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA (though I've yet been to the Statue of Liberty)... They're all merely tourist attractions, I should never ever pray to any of these statues or I'll be breaching Commandment Number 2...

Commandment Number 2:

"You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Exodus 20:4-6

1. Christ the Redeemer (statue)

The statue is 39.6 metres (130 ft) tall, including its 9.5 meter (31 feet) pedestal, and 30 metres (98 ft) wide. It weighs 635 tonnes (700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. It is one of the tallest of its kind in the world (The statue of Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia, is slightly taller). A symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931.

World Famous "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2. Cristo de la Concordia

The statue is 34.20 metres (112.2 ft) tall, on a pedestal of 6.24 metres (20.5 ft), bringing its total height to 40.44 metres (132.7 ft). The statue is slightly larger than Christ the King in Świebodzin (if the 2 metres (6.6 ft) high crown of Christ the King is not counted) and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, making it the largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world. It is also the largest statue of any kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Construction of the statue began on 12 July 1987, and was completed 20 November 1994.

"Cristo de la Concordia" statue on San Pedro Hill, Cochabamba, Bolivia

3. Christ the King (statue)

Latest attraction, completed on 6 November 2010. The statue is 33 metres (108 ft) tall, the crown is 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall. It weighs 440 tonnes. It was built on a 16 metre embankment of stones and rubble. Christ the King has a height of 33 metres, symbolising a traditional belief that Jesus' age at his death was 33. The Crown of the temple is 3.5 metres in diameter and 2 m in height, and the whole is gilded. The head is 4.5 m tall and weighs 15 tons. Each hand is 6 m in length and the distance between the ends of the fingers is 24 metres. It is composed of plaster and fibreglass.

"Christ the King" statue in Świebodzin, Poland

Anyway, the "Christ the Redeemer (statue)" was proposed by Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss and the "Christ the King (statue)" project was conceived and led by Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki, a retired Polish Roman Catholic priest... (I couldn't help but wonder what's Rev. Pedro Maria Boss's & Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki's understanding from Exodus 20:4-6, I'd be really interested to hear their definition for these 3 verses...)

The Spirit of Australia...

Destroyed: One of the engine of the Qantas A380 appeared to have exploded. The pilot, who was flying the plane to Sydney, was forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore

4Nov2010 Australian Qantas Airbus 380 heading from London to Sydney, carrying 466 passengers made an emergency landing at Singapore Changi Airport due to an explosion of 1 of its Rolls-Royce Engine... Debris from the engine fell all over Indonesian Batam Island, ripping walls...

Hole in the wall: The 6ft gash the wall of a family home caused by debris from the Qantas A380

5Nov2010 Australian Qantas Boeing 747-400 heading from Singapore to Sydney, carrying 412 passengers, 3 pilots and 16 cabin crew made an emergency u-turn back to Singapore Changi Airport because 1 of its Rolls-Royce Engine went into flames...

Engineers inspect the port engine of a Qantas Boeing 747, flight QF6, at Singapore's Changi airport

"A third Qantas aircraft make a priority landing at London’s Heathrow airport on Nov 5. The pilot had received a warning that there may be a problem with the hydraulic fuel system, Simon Rushton, a spokesman for Sydney-based Qantas, said by phone today. After landing, it was discovered the system was working normally, he said."

Quoted from a Bloomberg Report

Qantas 747 Jet Suffers Engine Flameout a Day After A380 Blowout

By Sarah McDonald - Nov 7, 2010 9:20 AM GMT+0800

A380 is a very new aircraft model and B747 is a relatively much older aircraft model. These 2 incidences doesn't seem to be the fault of Airbus nor Boeing, and it's hard to believe they're just sheer coincidental incidences... Both involves Qantas(Destination: Sydney) & Rolls-Royce Engine, and both happened just a day apart... What is it telling us?

Investigations are going on, and hopefully the results of the investigations will be made known to the world when they're concluded... But for now, I can't help but be skeptical over whether if it was Rolls-Royce Engine's flaws to be blamed? Or was it that Qantas engineers/technicians hadn't been diligent & thorough with their aircraft service checks & maintenance? Or could it have been an act of sabotage? Whatever it was, nobody would have expected a 2nd "Qantas Engine Problem Scare" to happen again in just a day's difference. No doubt nobody was hurt in these 2 incidences, but it is still plunging faiths in their flight safety, and I'd say no Qantas flying for me for a long time...

Upset Passengers from Qantas flight QF6 on a Boeing 747-400 passenger plane make their way out of Changi International Airport's terminal after their aircraft returned to Singapore's airport shortly after take off

"THREE mid-air emergencies in as many days have left more than 1200 Qantas passengers stranded, thousands more affected by flight delays and cancellations, and the airline's boss defending its increasingly shaky safety record.

The pilots union has accused all airlines of lowering safety, maintenance and training standards and said safety incidents were occurring more frequently, placing additional pressure on staff.

But Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce yesterday defended the company's safety record and maintenance practices and ruled out sabotage as the cause of two of the emergencies, both of which involved engine failures just minutes after flights carrying a total of more than 800 passengers left Singapore."

Quoted from a The Sydney Morning Herald Report

Qantas party crashed

Ruth Williams and Rachel Brown

November 7, 2010

After a horrendous 48 hours for Qantas with two engine failures, the national carrier celebrated its 90th anniversary on Saturday 6Nov2010 with the help of brand ambassador John Travolta

P.S. I miss you, Grandma...

我最亲爱的张锦桃婆婆：

这两天虽然没做很多事，但却觉得非常的累，也没能睡好。每天睡醒的心情都沉重得很。洗脸之后，第一件事就是想看看您睡得好不好。今天，我特别的想您，我有好多话想跟您说，我见到每个人都说声早安，但见到您静静地躺在那里，我却什么也说不出，只顾回忆童年时您是何等的爱我和照顾我，不自觉的双眼就开始朦胧了起来，脸颊也都湿了，鼻孔也因突然涌出的鼻水被堵塞着而呼吸困难。婆婆，我好想您，我真的真的好想您。我很想跟您说说话，就只闲聊而已，但也许这个要求对安息着的您来说是太过份了吧？ 

真不好意思，我边写边哭，所以花了很长的时间来写这封信给您，让您久等了。不过就算写完了信，也不知道应该寄到哪里去，因为没有人能够告诉我您的新住址，所以我想我只能把信放在您身边好了。

您知道吗？来临的星期五是屠妖节，这一区的印度家户一到晚上就会放烟花提早庆祝，而且他们喜欢放一些像“响天雷”那一类巨响无比的烟炮，就在您开始安息的第一个晚上，我因实在忍受不了隔几间的印度家户放那些巨响的烟炮放个不停而去跟他们理论，请他们不要太吵闹，免得打扰您安息。他们虽然有点不高兴，但还好也始终停了下来，并改换放一些比较安静的烟花，那样可好多了。

大舅的家人说，门外这几天前来了两头野狗，可恶的是，它们在您安息的这两天里一直不停地跑来我们在屋外搭起的铁篷下胡乱大小便和交配，再惹得邻居的狗吠个不停，真气人。还好，对面的回教堂似乎也忍受不了而叫捉野狗的人今天早上来把它们给捉走了。

这两天来了很多亲戚和远亲来看您，我也很久没见他们了，和他们叙旧时，很多时候都会提到您是多么好的一个人，心肠很好，很为别人着想，在医院临终前还不时在懵懂中要四姨记得多奖赏10块钱给照顾您的佣人，Sil，您真伟大。婆婆，我会永远记得我小的时候您是如何的爱我和照顾我，我会记得您要拉我去冲凉我却任性得要拿石头打您，我会记得您在雅达屋的水井旁如何细心地帮我洗澡，我会记得您叫我要珍惜碗碟里的每一颗米饭，我会记得您教我要多做善事，要乐于助人，我会记得许许多多和您一起的点点滴滴。我会永远想念您煮的饭菜，尤其想念您特别为我煮的多汁咕咾肉。您永远是我最棒的婆婆。

 非常爱您的乖孙，

勤仔字

2010年11月1日