Published on: Saturday, January 22, 2005 |
Kota Kinabalu: Two Sabahans who volunteered for post tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka recalled how the utter power and destruction of the waves made them shed tears.
"A big TV tower 100ft high was turned into a ball with bodies inside!" said businessman Lee Yun Ming. Lee and Auw Yang, both members of the Tzu-Chi Merit Society of Kota Kinabalu, joined other Society members from Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan to carry out medical services to victims in Hambantota, about 250km from Colombo in southwest Sri Lanka, between 6-18 January.
Hambantota was the second worst hit area outside Goa, India.
"You see concrete houses all broken and flattened - everything, the whole house, bricks, roof washed away," added Lee.
"A lot of people died not because they drowned but because they were hurt by planks and other hard objects which hit them," he said.
Contrary to the general impression that the waves were just big, Lee testified on their incredible scale: "We saw a boat on a hill where the waves reached 30m (98ft)!" he exclaimed.
"Hambantota is actually a resort area with beautiful beaches, a lot of tourists go there but all totally destroyed," Lee related.
"You see wives who lost their husbands, children who lost their parents, no house, no food, nothing to wear. It's very bad. I cried.
"Just the way they relayed their message made me cry," said Lee, with tears welling even as he spoke to Daily Express.
As his plane approached Kota Kinabalu for landing, an intact capital city provoked him think how lucky Sabah is and appealed to Sabahans to come out and help, big or small.
"They have lost everything but we have everything in Sabah and whatever problems we have here are nothing compared to the mass tsunami deaths," Lee said.
"The only solution now is love. We can't think of other ways. Not only should we bring love but leave our love there," Lee said
Taiwan based Tsu-Chi Merit Society with 8 million members in 39 countries will draw on volunteers from its vast membership to stay at least one year in Hambantota to provide continuous support.
Between Dec. 31 till today, its teams of doctors , nurses and pharmacists have treated 11,000 patients. "Ours is long term, " he said.
"Besides the medical services, we are building 300 tents that are 12'x16', very special tents from Shanghai with 24 items such as chairs, inside," he said.
"It also has a foundation of bricks with a very solid surface while the kitchen and toilet are outside catering for 15 persons per toilet," he said.
So far, 200 of these tents are being built inside a mosque compound while the other 100 will be built on a football field.
In the meantime, a new village with 1000 permanent houses will be built on a tsunami-free 50-acre site provided by the Lankan Government.
"We are also going to build a big clinic, a mini-size hospital , a community hall and a school as long term projects in addition to distribution of 2500 tons of rice."
There are also substantial First Aid boxes.
Lee said Tzu-Chi Merit Society insists on carrying out these projects directly by its own volunteers to ensure all the donations reach the victims who need them most.
"The Sri Lankan Government knows we are serious and sincere as we even paid our own ways to do all these ," he said.
Citing the "Butterfly Effect" from the Theory of Chaos, Auw Yang said the flapping of butterfly wings in China is said capable of whipping up tornadoes in the US.
"The small things that we do can make a lot of difference," he said.
"We can all care more to make the world better," Auw Yang added. Lee can be contacted at 0168300369 while Auw at 381779.
