Saigon, Jan 1, 2012, 02:05 AM.

The loud music dances with the blinding lights. On one end, a company of glamourous stage stars were singing westernized Vietnamese pop tunes. The passionate crowd dances to the music and the lights guide the night.

As I stand amidst thousands of strangers who were celebrating the coming new days of 2012, I witnessed a different kind of celebration inside. As the noise builds up, serenity dawns upon me as I walk around the streets of Saigon in these festive night; a different kind of serenity where the world is cheering with beers in plastic cups, where couples kissed and the lonesome wanderers smile as they walk passed them, and when strangers where simply friends of the celebration.

The world seemed to have stopped when the countdown were closing in, … 3, 2, … and 1. The smirking strangers became laughing buddies as one extends a muted celebratory greets, no words needed, just simple handshakes, hugs, even head nods would do. The stars were bright, the lights were blinding and the music was loud, but nothing can seem to match the simple sensation of selfless joy.

Mankind, like any other kind in the universe is a species of joy. We are made to celebrate. We are celebration. It does not matter who, when, where, what or why, let’s just celebrate life, with all of its quirkiness and shame that makes it wonderful.