China After The Earthquake
The official death toll is now over 41 000 and rising. (See this BBC news report) Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
Monday was the first of three days of official mourning to honour the dead and their families. This is the first time that China has remembered ordinary people this way.
Flags were lowered at half mast and three minutes of silence were observed from 14:28, a week after the earthquake’s epicentre devastated Wenchuan County.
It was really moving to observe three minutes of silence with my students in Shanghai. There were sirens and horns in the background. This is China’s biggest disaster in the age of modern communications. Wang Jian Shuo has noted that many Chinese websites are in black and white during the three days of official mourning.
I feel like I am looking at the events through a frosted window. I don’t watch television very much. Much of my knowledge is coming from website feeds and podcasts. It is impossible to imagine the scale of the disaster. Watching survivors being pulled out of rubble looks the same whether the number of casualties is 100 or tens of thousands.
China has been through its fair share of civil wars, invasions, famines and natural disasters. There is an old Chinese saying about eating bitterness, which means that the culture encourages its people to be patient and stoic in the face of suffering. China’s people will grieve, but they will also bounce back. The people of Sichuan will rebuild their collapsed homes and towns. China will enjoy its Olympics. Already, I am seeing preparations for the Shanghai leg of the torch relay.
Let’s hope that the victims and their families can take some comfort from the willingness of Chinese people and the international community to give help, good will and donations. Our school raised more than 23 000 RMB over two days at the end of next week and many shops and restaurants around Shanghai are collecting money for earthquake relief.
As I listen to podcasts on the BBC and NPR, there is a consensus that the Chinese ad international media have been given freedom to be open in their reporting of this disaster. The Chinese government has come out of this tragedy looking very compassionate as you hear stories of senior leaders like Wen Jiabao, Hu Jintao and Li Keqiang visiting the scene of the disaster to give moral support and oversee the rescue and relief efforts. Contrast this with the secretive junta in Burma who have shunned outside help from relief agencies after they suffered devastating storms.
A colleague told me about the earthquake drills she used to go through when she lived in Istanbul. They are anticipating a big quake in Turkey and have learnt that it is safer not to run out of shaking buildings. Let’s hope that building regulations and education programmes make the good people of Sichuan more prepared for future earthquakes.