Letter: Japan's Tsunami

Dearest sister:

Thank god! I manage to survive the destructive tsunami and horrendous earthquake, but others who did not were swept and struck by the sheer force of the white waters, and some simply gone missing...should I be grateful and elated for surviving now or weeping and crying over the loss of the innocents?

How very fortunate that you were not in Japan, in Tokyo! The mere sights of the wreckage in Japan cause me heartbroken. The grand and huge mansion that I built over years, spending so much time and effort in the structure and building of it. And money! All that I saved over the hard and tough years had all disappeared with the retreating tide of the tsunami! However, here I am, safe and healthy, therefore, I should not crying over spilled milk cause there are so many victims who are suffering out there under the harsh conditions! Furthermore, so many people had lost their families and friends! This was what that happened…

Hanging on the precarious pole of the crooked lamppost, clinging on the last strand of hope, my hands felt weary and worn out, almost wanting to let go and let myself float in the murky strong waters, looking at the cars and houses being destroyed under my very own eyes, I felt like giving out. But those kind and helpful neighbours of mine, with pale faces and trembling lips with thin and weak hands, trying to catch hold to something around them... We gave support and encouragement to one another, but we did not cry, because we knew that if we do so, we most probably would be disheartened and the heart-breaking atmosphere would spread around, and people's willpower being weakened by every second, and give up sooner or later.

I had been driving on the expressway that is smoothly streaming with speeding cars. With the radio rambling on and on in the car, the tsunami came when we were not even prepared. We did not even expect it to come so fast...

The radio informed nervously to all Japan folks just yesterday that tsunami was reaching the shores of Japan. Hearing the news, my neighbours and I decided to leave this place in tomorrow’s daybreak. Oh, we had no sense of urgency. Next day, I hastily packed up some food, valuables and clothes, driving down the expressway away from the dangerous sea with my neighbours in the car with me. We were not far away from my house when suddenly, from the hind mirror of the car, I saw towering waters flooding swiftly toward my direction. I was totally stunned. I quickly swerved my car away from the huge force and drove on. However, the whole wave of water was faster than I expected. I was engulfing our car soon! We got off the car and ran to the nearest tall building, and there we ended up hanging from a lamppost, seeing unfortunate cars being assaulted with the merciless force like paper boats...

After days in hunger and semi-consciousness, a group of relief workers came to our rescue. I felt a strong tug at my shoulders and feeling reassured, I fainted.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a hospital, with warm rice in my mouth that were donated by other countries. Though tasteless, it was delicious. A warm sensation flooded my heart. But there was more to come. Then, I saw the television in the hospital. Radiation leaked from nuclear plants!

Food supply was cut short and we lived a life of great hunger again. People around me cried, screamed, shouted, prayed but all to no avail. Then children started fall sick and parents were devastated. They actually gave up their limited portion of food to their children; because they could not bear to see their children shed a tear. How noble the parents’ love is! From the television, I learnt that the effect and aftermath of the leakage of radiation was very severe. Not only we did not have sufficient nutrition, people outside were also greatly susceptible to the radiation, which might be fatal. Other countries were also affected.

However, good news was announced not long after. The leakage of radiation was cured and food restored, doctors came to help out with the patients and the sick. However, the ruins and wastes were still yet to be cleared. It definitely would cause a great economic depreciation for Japan. Therefore, I hope that you could help Japan out by donating some money and help the Japanese. Helping others is a virtue, so please spread the message!

Here, I hope that you could cherish the people around you and do not take them for granted. After this incident, I would definitely treat everyone better and be grateful to them, Be thankful in Singapore!

Love,

Yi Wei

Comments

Hi Nicholas,

I would love going to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with you next time because I loved going there too, though I most probably saunter along the side trails because I would prefer a quieter environment to enjoy myself. Also, I would look out for insects, birds and other animals because there is a huge variety of rare creatures in that area. Once, I even saw a flying lima resting among the shady branches between the trees, and when I went back home, I actually did a little research on them and found out that they are actually nocturnal mammals.

However, regarding the point on monkeys, I do not really agree with you. Monkeys could be seen almost every time I went there, because they would just be sitting along the sidewalks or just aside the main roads. If you do not provoke them or bare your teeth at them, they would most probably not assault you. However, there were also some cases where people were chased by monkeys because monkeys would think that the plastic bags, which is the person's property, contained food, as they were too used to people feeding them and they gradually became more and more overdependent and reliable on human.

Well, it also seemed to you that you like quarries! I love the scenery of quarries, due to the deep and placid blue waters, reflecting the gently swaying trees above. There is also a quarry in Pulau Ubin too, and if you had the time, I would recommend you to go there, because it is more serene and secluded there, so you could really feel the touch of Nature.

Hey Weiran!

I would actually like to say a few things and express my own opinion on this topic too! To me, the effect of discrimination is straightforward and fast. However, the result of being prejudiced against is slow and gradual, and rather of mentally hurt than physically hurt, and more severe consequence of being prejudiced against could be being depressed about oneself.

Remember that day when Mr. Lum showed us on a video youtube, when the fat lady Susan Boyle in her mid-50s wearing very simple clothes took part and contested in the Britain's Got Talent competition. At first, I thought that she would be lousy, just like what the judges expressed through their facial expression. The woman seemed very discouraged, but she still summoned the courage to sing her song. Once she opened her mouth, I noticed that she had a very powerful and touching voice, and she could reach a wide range of keys.

From this, I learnt that we should not judge a book by its appearance and I also realised that the one who mocked at others is the stupidest person. Therefore, I hope that we could stop discriminating and being prejudiced against others.

Weiran, I like your way of describing quite a few scenes, for example the sentence on a flying vehicle going toward Michael. I liked the description because of the specific details you gave such as the vehicle travelling at 570 kilometers per hour, though I am a little bit doubtful if Michael could really deduce the speed of the vehicle. However, this showed your style in writing because you managed to describe the speed of the vehicle in an exaggerated manner.

It also seemed that you loved writing dialogues and thoughts. The dialogues between Michael and Jacques are very smooth-flowing and does not seem fake and you also managed to practice the different methods that Mr. Lum taught about bringing alive the dialogues and characters. Great job! The part where I like particularly is when the flying vehicle almost crashed into Michael, "missing it by a few inches", because there is also a sound effect of Michael exclaiming in shock, making the story realistic. Normally, I would forget the exclamations of the characters in a story when something frightening happened, reducing the effect of the tense atmosphere.

However, I would like to give you some advice on improving the story. I feel that you could add on more vivid descriptions to the scenery and focus more on the mood and atmosphere of the story. Also, I think that the story plot could be improved though I like your ending.

Wish that you could post more interesting stories!

Hello Kevin,

I really envy you for having a library that has such a conducive learning environment near your house and that it is easily accessible. For me, sometimes I faced problems of not being able to concentrate on homework or revision when I am at home, because there are lots and lots of distractions. For instance, the "evil" computer.

Since many of our homeworks should be done online and many resources could be researched online, therefore, every time I surfed the net, I would see the huge variety of game websites, and I would be tempted to click on the website and once I do that, I would be stuck to the game for quite a long time.

Therefore, I really desire to have a library near my home. If there is a library situated near my home, every time I feel like working hard for tests or revising, I could concentrate there. Though there are a few libraries around my home, for example the Queenstown Library which you have mentioned, I would take nearly half an hour to reach there and calculating the overall time spent on travelling, it would be one hour.

Before ending my comment, I would like to say that you are seriously very fortunate to have a quiet and serene library to study in near your house!