Assalamualaikum and Greetings all,
The above "poster" has been making a round on the net for the past few days. Two distinct photos portraying huge differences on how temporary shelter is being prepared in Japan as compared to the one in Malaysia. Temporary shelter in Japan looks very organized, comfortable and offer some degree of privacy too. But the one in Malaysia is over crowded, disorganized, and uncomfortable (I dare not say anything about privacy level... duhh).
When I first saw it... I would have to say that I'm not surprised at all. Considering that Japan is very well know for being "the most advanced societies, with almost obsessively meticulous safety backstops". They have been very well prepared for practically any disaster mother earth can throw at them (but... the Fukushima Earthquake in 2011 have proved otherwise). The Japanese government have invested billions of Yens for disaster prevention and recovery. While every Japanese as young as a kindergarten kids knows what to do, where to go and how to react in the event of emergency.
While some would love to put all the blame on the government and its agencies, considering all the above... I would have to give some slack to our fellow Malaysians. Hey... we have to admit that we are not as ready as those Japanese. In fact we are not as responsive as them either.
We have a lot to learn from Japan on the topics of disaster awareness, disaster prevention and disaster recovery.We may need to spend billions of Ringgits if we want to make Malaysia as well prepared as Japan (in terms of building the infrastructures and facilities), and I bet if the government need to spend such a massive amount of money it may take years of never ending debate in the Parliament.
But there is something that the Japanese has that we can learn and adopt without the need to burn our hard earn money... which is the way they BEHAVE and THINK. It is the culture of caring and respect that we should inculcate into our society.
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| Japanese queuing for ration in Fukushima |
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| Japanese kids are trained for emergency response from an early age |
So should we wait more... or shall we start NOW?
I would like to end this entry with short story of a Japanese boy during the aftermath of the Fukushima earthquake which I found from SandraC Blog:
Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.
It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came, there wouldn’t be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school.
The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father’s car away.
I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn’t make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives.
The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him.
That’s when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. “When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food.
So here’s my portion. I already ate. Why don’t you eat it?” The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn’t. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line started and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed.
I was shocked. I asked him why he didn’t eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: “Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally.”
I'm praying to Allah to give our fellow Malaysians, currently affected by the flood, strength and courage to braved through the disaster. May Allah ease their suffering and speed up the recovery. Amen.
Your BCM Mentor,
SHARIMAN AZEZE OTOH
(aka CYBERAZEZE)
