Tsunami disaster

Had breakfast at McDonald’s with the kids, then bought a newspaper. Generally, I get a chance to read the newspapers only during the weekends. But just had to read about the tsunami which hit Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka). Have seen snippets of the video on TV and it was terrible. There were a lot of tragic stories in the newspaper, and it was heartbreaking to read.

There was one story about how a woman was swept away by the waves, holding on to her two children. She had to let go of one of her children, a 5-year old, in order to stay afloat and survive. Good thing that there was a happy ending to their story. After hours of frantic searching, the family found their son.

Just thinking of all those people affected by the tsunami and the floods is heartbreaking. Imagine, the death toll has reached an ‘estimated’ 80,000 already. So like the recent typhoons and floods which hit the Philippines recently, numerous lives and homes were lost. Imagine losing loved ones so near the holidays… And it is difficult to imagine how the survivors of these tragedies will be able to celebrate the holidays, and more so, to move on and live their lives.

Makes me appreciate more the small pleasures that our family gets to enjoy… enjoying a quiet breakfast together, and now, looking forward to spending the new year with family and friends. This calls for a more somber celebration to greet the New year. Instead of fireworks, let’s greet the new year with prayers for all the victims, and survivors, of these tragedies. Peace, and GOD BLESS us all!