勇敢地向前！

As the death toll of the Sichuan Quake rises, another earthquake erupts in Columbia. This has been the third earthquake within this month, added to the Indonesian quake lately. What is happening to Mother Nature? What did God think when he allowed something like this to happen?

I don't believe we can ever fully understand the inner works and intents of God. But we can be sure of His promises. That He wills things for our ultimate good and not for our harm. In times of such tragedy, there are so many lessons that we can learn.

In the midst of the tears and blood, we see the warmth of human kindness. So many countries are despatching the aid teams needed for Burma and for China. So much money has been donated. The Chinese Embassy in Singapore has a queue longer than any other place with the Great Singapore Sale on because we the people want to do our part, be it so minuscule, to help those that cruelly have to survive the quake.

In all of these, I ask myself, "am I too desensitised to all these?" I shivered when I first saw the photographs of devastation; of people standing on heaps of unrecognisable rubble. Day by day, more and more of such photographs came flooding in through the tube, the papers, the internet. I begin to realise that we hold such great power in our hands now. Never has there been such a great movement to relieve a disaster of this magnitude. Not even for the Asian Tsunami. We have such power because of the Internet and the interconnectivity of the world we live in.

There have been so many times where we have blamed globalisation for our woes these past years. Terrorism has spread and become real because of globalisation. The bird flu has become a pandemic threat because of globalisation. Yet consider this. Consider the quake. Could we have been able to help China; could we have been able to help Burma had it not been for globalisation? Would we have even cared if our government didn't have vested interest in China?

I believe the quake has also opened such a wonderful platform for the world to know the China in the new millenium. The China that is not the stereotypical Communist country, nor the patriarchal nation we always perceived it to be. In the past weeks we have seen the deeds of the Chinese people and we have realised that they too are human. They are not aliens that we cannot relate to. They are not merely "foreign talent" brought here to replace us to extinction. What a wonderful opportunity for us to work together as Common People (tong bao)!

Surely, no one wanted such a thing to happen. But since it has, we need to learn how to move on. I pray for all those who have died in the quake and those who are injured or displaced. May God's peace be with them even as they go through such a difficult time. Yet may they one day find the courage to stride confidently into the future without a fear of the past.