Mishandling a mishap

The world we live in is not perfect.

When misfortunes hit us and an accident occurs, experience shows that a calm mind and timely action are needed to deal with the situation.

However, Australian responses to the grounding of a Chinese coal ship that occurred off Queensland shores on April 3 may prove that "common knowledge" can be naive. In less than two weeks after the accident, we have been exposed to a whole spectrum of Australian sentiments including worry, exaggeration, anger and blame over the incident.