Feeble cries, shivering hands
Trapped, but still hanging on, body between debris. Little oxygen, licking dew and crying tears - of pain, hunger, cold, fear, despair. They fight for their life, or what's left of it.
Of the 200 000 buildings destroyed by the quake in China, 7000 were supposedly schools due to shoddy workmanship. People have pointed fingers and foreigners have started dialogues, which have brought us away from addressing the central question of why these calamities have happened.
Some of the friends around me have grown numb. They refuse to read the papers because it has become too "depressing". Some, like my friend's father, have blasphemed against God- "How could this god of yours let this happen?"
Others have brushed it off as just another one of those disasters that happen every year, and we're so far removed anyway. In Singapore, we read about it in the comfort of our living rooms, at afternoon tea or before work.
But I've come to realize that I've got to stop living like this over here. I wanna keep my heart open but not be unrealistically consumed over what is happening. Take action over my feelings. Not let myopia or a sheltered life prevent me from trying to dig deep in this tragedy. So I read the papers but I still feel quite helpless. Then I feel stupid because everyone around me doesn't seem to be as affected. I read blogs, talk to others. Only one of my Christian friends commented in all solemnity... "I wonder why the One upstairs allowed this..."
I chided one of my bright friends for not knowing where the epicentre of the China quake was just because she was too busy with work. Told her that sometimes reading newspapers was more important than reading schoolbooks.
But as I write, I'm comforted by the email from NUSSU NEWS that popped up, appealing for donations for the twin tragedy victims.
It's definitely not a crime to carry on enjoying and living life the way it was before news such as this hit. But it is offensive to me if one can casually brush this off as "just another one of those disasters that happen every year" or as "evidence of the end times". Expressing this is equivalent to saying that "all those lives which were lost don't matter to me". Well, wake up, I would say. Wake up to the fact that we share in a common humanity across the globe. How can we sit by and not help a fellow human in need? Especially humans in tremendous physical, emotional and possibly, spiritual need? The sheer magnitude of the situation cries out for our attention. I don't care if you think this is God's judgment, or that man had a part to play in this when they started destroying the earth. What we need to do is stay awake and in tune with some of the little we can do- this is divine love manifest- caring for a stranger in need.
I'm encouraged by the many who have contributed generously out of their own pockets, hearts touched with compassion over what has happened. But I weep also because there are so many hard hearts, already stony and cynical from the world, with no perception of sharing in a common humanity. These people have a diminished human experience with their hearts of stone. I think I cry harder for the greater tragedy I've experienced on these shores, the individuals that don't give a thought to the 150 000 have died in the past few weeks. That has made me sorrowful; that I live in a callous nation, or perhaps, not to generalize, a callous circle.
Maybe I've felt too much. Maybe I've judged too much. But I hope whoever's reading won't fault me on my strong opinions in this entry... Please, just help in any way you can- follow the link below.
Where/how to help-
http://www.redcross.org.sg/images/120508_ST_P8_Where%20to%20give%20help.pdf
(Prayers help too. (: )
Some heroism and strength for the journey...
"Premier Wen Jiabao swapped his normal dark suit for an all-weather jacket and bullhorn, arriving in Sichuan province just hours after it was rattled by the 7.9 magnitude temblor.
State media reported that he crouched amid the rubble of an elementary school and shouted to a trapped student: 'This is Grandpa Wen Jiabao, hang on child, we will rescue you!'
His apparently tireless efforts — supervising orange-jacketed rescue workers, visiting with bereaved parents and overwhelmed medics — have won wide praise from Chinese, who see him as the 'people's premier.'
'The central government hasn't forgotten about this place. We will rescue those who are injured. If the roads are blocked, we'll use airplanes to lift them out,' he announced to weary survivors in the epicenter of Wenchuan, his voice strained after days of similar visits broadcast continuously on state television." - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90551351