I`ve never been the type to appreciate nature... but I do admit that there has been moments that nature can be beautiful and mesmerizing... and unfortunately... in some cases destructive and devastating... The quake and tsunami that shook half of Asia is a grim reminder of such destructive power... 124,000 people estimated dead, many times more injured, millions homeless... Just in a few hours life for so many people changed in so many ways... whole villages gone, family members and relatives dead, government stuctures temporarily powerless, the post effect epidemics threaten more deaths... its unthinkable... truly unthinkable...
What makes this disaster special is that I truly now understand the meaning of empathy... or lack of it... This is not the first time nature displayed its wrath... dozens of disasters have happened before, some even more distructive then this one... Those times I shamefully admit that I felt more awe then sympathy... more engulfed in the startling realization of how powerful nature can be rather then the understanding of the suffering that the people felt during the disasters and years after... blame it on ignorance...
But now it hits Malaysia... Sure, the deaths of 74 Malaysians is not comparable to the ones in Acheh, India and Sri Lanka. But believe me, the impact as big... long have Malaysians been in the dillusion that it was a safe heaven from earths natural disasters... the recent hits in Kedah and Penang, and the shaking of tall buildings around KL is a frightening reminder that Gods hand can indeed reach far... For me, never has life seemed so fragile, so temporary... I can`t even start to imagine how the victim`s close family and friends are feeling right now...
We start the New Year in Malaysia this year not with fireworks and screams of joy, but silence and prayers... It brings a small sense of regret, that only through a disaster of this proportion will the people of the world unite... but it warms my heart to see how many hands are stretched to provide aid... and may you be one of them... find ways to donate... find ways to help... spread the word...
May this year bring less suffering to those who had......
Bloggging off...
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