Nature and Man's Rage

japan

indonesia

'Hang in there Japan. You can overcome the disaster!'

I couldn't think of what to place as a title for this article. All I could think about was that my own city is near the sea. And if anything like this happen I would see my father's Estrada on the street toppled over. I close my eyes and try to go to my happy place. I couldn't think of that, I was relieved when someone said that we had low tide around the time the tsunamis hit. I would know later once I read more news about what happened. As of press time, I have read one article about the thing that happened in Japan. It was bullet points compared to the images my mother probably saw. Being herself, she would have worried extensively about where we are at the moment. The odd thing was when this was all happening, I was hanging out with my officemates in a restaurant. One of my officemates mom kept asking if we were okay since we worked on the 33rd floor. We told her that we were fine and that there is no need to worry that the tsunami can affect us. But like a survivor of many disasters she asked, "What if it reaches us?"

The thing is that the Japanese already brush earthquakes off. They already know what to do and what to expect. But things can still turn for the worse even if you are well-prepared. The added fear of nuclear meltdowns didn't exactly help. It's the bodies of old and young people that breaks the hearts of those in their homes.

Ico asked my why they would show images of the disaster so vividly. He said that it shouldn't be the case since it spreads panic.

I explained to him that it spread nothing but information. I know how local newsmen are. They tend to go for the gut when they report news like this. The Filipinos are easily touched by images of impending doom. But it helps to be a little paranoid. Maybe if we are we would prepare more. And that would ultimately save more lives.

I wasn't as afraid for the Japanese as I was afraid for my ex and my friend who were in Jeddah and Riyadh/Bahrain respectively.

My friend said that there might be a media black out, protests, and all that stuff so they are packing water and food. I still haven't asked my friend how things are. But my ex has already said that he was okay. I hope they are still okay up until now.

http://www.theworld.org/2011/03/saudi-arabia-day-of-rage/
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110311-713231.html
Bahrain
Libya
Yemen 
Riyadh

I didn't know that it was going to be so widespread. The things that have been happening in that part of the world makes me worry about H as well. She is in Bahrain, M is in Jeddah amongst other friends who I met because of PEBA, two of my aunts are in Dubai, while Ico's dad is in Qatar. The domino effect of the Egypt situation is actually causing so much unrest in that part of the world. (Come to think of it this might have been even the after effect of the thing that happened in Thailand). As much as some students of mine are worried about nature recking havoc to the islands around the Pacific, I am worried about man causing another person harm because of the difference in opinion, disposition and level of understanding.

But there was not a lot of news about what happened or what is happening since those information are blocked. Ico's dad said that they are actually more scared because the information in the newspaper are not accurate. Of course the internet is highly filtered in that part of the world, so it's hard to get accurate updates. It's the fear of the unknown that keeps people in the dark. It keeps them on their toes and creates a charged atmosphere. I can only imagine how scary it is for their wives, families and children to imagine them not being together and being in such an environment. As if it wasn't enough to be a foreigner in a land where people seemingly live in luxury but are actually oppressed by their own government. At the very least here we can still scream in protest without the fear that we would be massacred on the street. But then again, we have GMA to thank in increasing the number of political killings during her "reign".

I feel bad for the victims of the earthquake and the tsunamis. But I feel worse for those who continue to live in fear of people who are supposed to be protecting them. Japan and the other countries push hope and love into our hearts. As for the Middle Eastern countries, I can only wonder if talking would actually help them or are protests just suicide.

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Check out before and after shots of the tsunami hit areas