Twin Disasters

The Sichuan quake.. it shook China, shook the world in the extent of human tragedy caused by nature. Good to see quick large scale response from the government and army, outpouring of aid and charity from the world at large, the openness of China, the heroic rescues, and the stories of survival by trapped victims. And the government showed some real sympathy and concern. Thank God for the dams holding up well after the quake.

The Myanmar Cyclone relief is only now showing small signs of hope for survivors. It felt very hopeless a week ago when all the well intended help gets stopped at the border. Even now when we see the military leaders inspecting the relief campsites, it looks so staged.. army generals questioning formally, and a row of Cyclone refugee family standing seemingly at attention, afraid of violating any protocol or of offending the Powers that be. What a sad sight. I'm glad they followed suit after China declared three days of morning. Singapore did well to negotiate for the terms of foreign help.