Devastation in Asia

Posted 2004-12-31 (金) 午後12:38 by terra

What a terrible week to end the year for the regions in Asia as the devastating forces of the tsunamis (Japanese: 津波), triggered by a 9.0 earthquake in the west of Indonesia’s Sumatra, ravaged coastal regions, decimating villages, towns and tourist resorts in Sumatra, Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka.We in Singapore, just 500 miles away from the epicentre are so lucky to have been shielded by the peninsular of Malaysia and the island of Sumatra. I first heard about the news of the tsunamis driving into India on Sunday afternoon, as I turned on a TV news channel. Then, the known casualty rate was about 150. Who was to have known that by today, the death toll would approximate 120,000.

On Tuesday night, I met up with a good friend of mine for dinner and later drinks. She had just come back from an overseas working stint in Shanghai. While the evening and conversation was great, when I got home, I started to feel guilty for spending so much money on food and beverage while people in remote, near-inaccessible regions of Indonesia were dying of starvation and disease, their food sources destroyed by the tsunamis and water supplies contaminated by sea water and decomposition. On Monday I had donated a certain amount money to the Red Cross for the relief aid, but what I spent on Tuesday was more than half the amount of money I had pledged. The feeling of regret is awful.

Come today, New Year’s Eve, when we are supposed to be celebrating the turn of the year, it has instead become a time for mourning. Personally, I feel that the festivities of the night in Singapore should be cut down, just as Malaysia is planning to do, as it feels somewhat inappropriate otherwise. There are two schools of thought I guess, and we must find some middle ground in accomodating both schools. What is a relief though is that here in Singapore, the festivities will be used also as an opportunity to raise more funds for the victims of the diasaster. The money which was spent in planning the celebrations is something that is past; what we can do at present is to seriously consider our expenditures in the next month or so, and reconsider the unnecessary things we buy each day, in which the money used could be instead pledged to help make a difference to the lives of others.