Friday 30 May 2008

Sichuan Earthquake

To the shock of the world, an earthquake measured 7.9 hit Sichuan province on 12th May 2008.

I myself have received quite a number of emails on the earthquake. Below shows one of them about the great love of a mother:



" When rescuers found her, she was already dead, crushed by the collapsed house. Through gaps in the rubbles, they could see her posture.

Kneeling on both knees, her entire upper body bent forward, held up by her two hands pressed against the ground, as if performing the ceremonial bow in an ancient ritual. Except, her body had been compressed out of shape and looked somewhat eerie.

A rescuer extended his hand through a gap and confirmed her death. He called out to her, and tapped on the bricks with his shaft, but received no response.

As the team walked toward next building, the squad leader suddenly turned back, yelling as he ran, 'Come quick!' He came to her remain, labored to maneuver his hand under her body, searching.

He called out following some rummaging, 'There's someone, a child, still alive.'

With some effort, rescuers carefully removed the debris burying her, found her child lying beneath her, bundled in a little red blanket decorated with yellow flower prints. He was about 3-4 months old.

Shielded by his mother's body , he was totally unharmed, sleeping peacefully as he was brought out. His soundly asleep face warmed the hearts of all rescuers on the scene.

As the rescue team's doctor unbundled the blanket to examine the baby, he discovered a mobile phone tucked into the blanket. He subconsciously looked at the display, found there was a SMS message.

My Dear Baby, If you were to stay alive, you must remember that I love you.' No stranger to the pain and sorrow brought by death, the doctor nonetheless wept at this moment. The cell phone was passed around, every person who read the message wept. "




The world is reaching out to the earthquake survivors. In Malaysia for example, there has been a lot of fund raising activities going on. From this disaster, we see the warmth and sympathy in the people. There is this chinese slogan in Malaysia: "di(4) zhen(4) wu(2) qing(2), da(4) ma(3) you(3) ai(4). Translated into English, it means "Earthquake shows no mercy, but Malaysia contains love."

I would like to dedicate what follows to the earthquake survivors:

Yes, earthquake had taken your loved ones. Seemingly, it devastated your life. But then, look at those who sacrificed their lives to save yours. The mother in the email above had sacrificed herself to shield her baby. And many teachers also did the same to their students. Their sacrifices were indeed great.

So, the survivors should all the more walk out of the darkness in lives. See hope in your future. The tragedy has already occurred. There's no use looking back and being haunted by the traumatic experience. Those killed by the earthquakes do not wish to see you spiritless. So, get up and go on with life.

The damage done to your heart and soul may not be understood by us, the third parties. But we do feel sad. We cried too. And please, bear in mind that we are here to support you not only financially, but also morally. We pray for you. We pray that you are blessed with the strength, courage and resilience to recover from the experience. Yes, this will be over soon. You will rebuild your life. You will see a bright future awaiting you ahead. This is going to come true as long as you do not give up. I have mentioned this in my previous posts: There is always rainbows after rains, and spring after every winter.

Again, the world is praying for you. You have survived through the toughest time during the earthquake. Whatever hardships that come in your way is not going to deter you. It takes some time to mend a broken heart. All the best!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's really touching