All I want for 'doomsday' is a safer world

Late on Dec 20 afternoon, less than 24 hours from the "Mayan Apocalypse" according to Beijing time, I sat at my computer in the office feeling increasingly restless and apprehensive.

There were e-mails from close friends who half-jokingly thanked me for being part of their lives, and wished me a happy "next life" if the "prophecy" came true. And the sullen, yellowish sky outside seemed to be foreboding much more than just another spell of snow.

But what disturbed me more at that moment was the surveillance video footage of a knife-wielding man that went viral on the Web. Allegedly under the influence of doomsday rumors, Min Yongjun, 36, chased a group of children through a primary school's gate in Henan province and slashed a little girl with a knife, causing her to fall to the ground. Before he was overpowered, Min had stabbed 23 students at the school and an elderly woman who lived nearby.