Dear Editor of The Straits Times,
In accordance to the recent Japan earthquake and the tsunami, I feel that Japan has done a very good job in response to the earthquake and tsunami. The authorities were acting very fast to rescue the vistims after the situation was calm, the earthquake was gone and the waves have stopped crashing in.
From the fact that Japan was shocked by the happening of the magnitude 9 earthquake, as they never expected it to be as strong as 9 magnitudes. We as Singaporeans can learn that a disaster may strike any time, even if there have never been a natural disaster in Singapore, that does not mean there would not be one happening soon or in the far future.
However hard we deny, we still have no way to cover up the fact that we are a very small country. So if we may encounter the same situation, handling it would not be easy. Firstly, our citizens if struck by a earthquake would have very little or no space to escape it. We are surrounded by water, so if a tsunami strikes, it would be almost impossible to escape.
Singaporeans should never become complacent of the fact that we are protected by the shores our neighbouring countries as anything might happen when we least expected it.
Thank You.
Yours Sincerely,
Yeo Eng Chow
Yes Eng Chow, I totally agree with you! Although it is really unfortunate for Japan, having such a terrifying earthquake, we are still able to learn from the Japanese. We can learn from their values that they have even during such a bad crisis. One good moral value is their integrity. Even though many people were stuck without food, with all their properties and houses gone, they still had integrity and did not steal a single thing from shops, so that they had food to eat. Instead, they waited quietly and calmly, which helped much for the whole rescuing process to be smooth. From this, we can learn their values, and also acknowledge that we can have a disaster anytime. Hence, from this, Singapore can learn to be prepared, so that such a thing will not happen here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that the authorities dealed with the issue of the earthquake in a proper manner. However I feel that maybe you could have elaborated more on the Japanese people's action, like them not panicking etc., also the same can be done for the paragraph on the government, as it is slightly lacking in details. However this is still an excellent letter in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about whether Singaporeans are complacent about such matters. Although Singapore is a small island, it has surrounding neighbors as a shield. Earthquakes are not able to hit Singapore as Singapore is not located along the fault lines. Tsunamis are not able to strike as there are no earthquakes which can happen near the water of Singapore. Singaporeans may be complacent due to these facts. However, we may not know if someday the plate shift abruptly and Singapore lies on the fault line all of a sudden. Singaporeans must learn from the Japanese on how they handle such situations. Even though their house has been destroyed, they got together in unison and tried to rebuilt their homes and remove the rubble. If Singaporeans continue to maintain this level of complacency towards such matters, if someday something goes wrong, Singapore may become lame and people will not have the will to recover from the losses.
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