Taking a Singapore Airlines flight to go home is a relief even on a good day, but last Friday night in Frankfurt, it felt like I was escaping to safety.

On a quick trip to see my mother in Germany, I noticed that the mood there was getting worse day by day because of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

My mother, born in 1939, still recalls bombing nights in the early 1940s, as she was bundled up in my grandmother's arms and carried across the fields to a bunker. Today, she can't even watch the news. "What if war comes to us?" she worries.

At 82, she signed up to volunteer at the local shelter where the first refugees from Ukraine, mostly women and children, started arriving late last week.

It was hard to leave her behind with her fears, but I had to get back to work in Singapore, my home of 20 years. And as I stepped on board the plane with mixed feelings of regret and relief, I could not help but wonder how my adopted home was reacting to the crisis.

I should not have worried. From a moving speech at the United Nations to sanctioning Russian firms ('Existential issue for tiny state': S'pore UN ambassador on sovereignty at UN meeting on Ukraine, March 1; and Singapore-listed firms affected by Russia sanctions should suspend trading: SGX, March 8), it was good to see that Singapore stands on the side of the attacked, in line with the majority of nations.

Taking a stand often comes at a price, but it is always the right thing to do.

Jorg Dietzel

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/letter-of-the-week-taking-a-stand-on-ukraine-war-is-right-even-if-it-comes-at-a-price