I Think... Catastrophic versus Terrorism: Nargis Cyclone/Sichuan Earthquake versus Jaipur Bomb Blast
 

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Catastrophic versus Terrorism: Nargis Cyclone/Sichuan Earthquake versus Jaipur Bomb Blast
Written by Shirley T   
Friday, 16 May 2008 19:47
In less than two weeks as we begins new chapter in May 2008, two catastrophic hit Asia of one after another.


A basin called Sichuan in central China was struck by an earthquake of 7.9 Magnitude scale on May 12 Monday afternoon at local time. The death toll from this Sichuan massive earthquake has risen to almost 15,000 (when this article is written) and several thousands remain cut-off.

This tragedy can relate to me vividly as I was in Sichuan twice in the last five years. In year 2005, I visited Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou. Sichuan is a valley with several mountainous ranges surrounding it. When I was on the roads from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou, it was only a narrow single winding lane of one way traffic by the cliff. I still recalled the incident whereby there was a misunderstanding of traffic direction in a tunnel about 1 km ahead of us. There was no way out, no overtaking was possible and no reversing as the vehicles queue was picking up in just a few minutes. It was a busy road then. While waiting in our coach, I just realized that the right side of our bus was ravine that went straight to the roaring strong current river.

 

Last year autumn, I was in Chongqing; the famous port city along Chang Jiang (Yang Tze river). Out of the major cities that I visited in China (and those I have seen on TVs), Chongqing is the first city I encountered with the least bicycles on the roads. People there prefer to walk. Know why? It is even more tiring to ride a bicycle than to walk as the geographical contour is sloppy with extensive gradient.

Imagine what happened the moment a basin that holds million of homes suddenly decided to crack and shake. The consequences of gigantic land movement activity gave these places a horribly and messy scenes mixed with rocks, soils, water and more than what we could ever imagine. Roads damaged, bridges collapsed and communication is cut-off, Beijing is working more than doubly hard to save the survivors due to geographical reason. Equipped with aids and food supplies, thousands of army could only march into the disastrous areas to rescue the survivors. They are fighting against time (golden hours) to save them.

While a week before, on May 2 Cyclone Nargis ripped Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon and claimed lives exceeding 43,000 people and more than 27,000 people remain missing. It was reported that winds was exceeding 190 km/hr when this powerful storm swept Irrawady deltas (once a well-known soil for the rice production) for more than ten hours. Houses were flattened, trees uprooted and power lines were down. This disaster was reported as the most devastating cyclone in Asia since 1993. Several thousands folks lost their home and their loved ones.

Millions thanks to the disaster relief and rescue teams for extending assistance when times are bad. Helping in these disastrous areas is not simple and my utmost salutation to all the kind souls out there whom has contributed generously. May God bless all with great health and an abundance of happiness in life.

Sadly, on the contrary in the same weeks of May, I was terribly shocked to hear about a serial of bomb blast in Jaipur, India that possibly claimed 60 lives and injured 150. It was an ugly experience!

Folks… deep in my heart, I was saddened by these incidents. At one end, people are fighting hard to survive against the natural disaster. Of another extreme, human were killing their own kind. I may be too naive to understand the objective of the man that killed another man but denying another person chance of living does not give him (her) any right as well? I pray that the terrorists will consider using other means to discuss or bring up matters to the relevant parties in order to demand for attention. And I have faith that God will answer my prayers.

If we have a chance to live, why aren't we making it peaceful for everyone? Love thy neighbor as thyself. I do hope we make this world a better place to live for you, for me and for our future generations!

 

P.S. If you wish to contribute to Cyclone Nargis or Sichuan Earthquake relief funds, check out:
1. http://donate.ifrc.org/
2. http://www.theirc.org/special-report/myanmar-disaster.html


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