::the "discovery" blues::

i am feeling blue now (noo... not because of the fact that i am lazy to get out of bed and thus, decided not to go to an empty office today).

it was because of a documentary that was shown just now on discovery channel.

it has brought back some-not-so-pleasant memories which i clearly recalled to this day.

on 8 july 2003, i remembered the followings:
- checking the internet every 30 minutes for any updates on that day.
- the excuses to go to raffles hospital for lunch at their banquet cafe every now and then.
- the care and concern that my customers-turned-friends had when i was with them in the project (that i loved).
- the flatness of the office atmosphere upon hearing the news.
- the visit to raffles hospital after work, to bid my last farewell.
- the long email (pre-blog days) that i've sent to my closed ones, it was meant as a closure for me.

i was talking about the death of Ladan and Laleh Bijani, the Iranian conjoined twin sisters who always wanted to be separated but met with a tragic end.

from discovery channel:

Iranian conjoined twin sisters – joined at the head – with unique personalities and individual dreams, Ladan and Laleh Bijani had wanted to be separated since they were youngsters. Having studied law for four years at Tehran University – a career path chosen by Ladan – they travelled to Germany in 1996, trying to get doctors there to separate them.

However, the German doctors declined to operate, due to the extremely high risk of separation surgery. But in 2002, at the age of 28, after meeting Dr. Keith Goh – a Singaporean neurosurgeon who successfully separated sisters who had also been joined at the head – the Bijani sisters traveled to Singapore to undergo the controversial operation. Even though they were warned that the surgery would be very risky, the sisters were determined.

Their decision to go ahead with the operation caused a worldwide media blitz. DYING TO BE APART, the documentary that tells their touching story, airs January 23 at 2100 hrs (9 pm SIN / HK).

::in memorium, may they rest in peace::

watch the documentary, if you have the chance.

read this, to recap the final journey of the iranians.