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Monday, May 26, 2008

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China.

The earthquake shook the mountainous province of Sichuan. Some towns in the earthquake zone in south-western China will need to be relocated because the terrain is no longer safe. Rebuilding the towns and villages will take at least 3 years. Thank God that Malaysia doesn't experience earthquakes.
The death toll of this earthquake has already reached 60 000, but it is expected to be more, as debris from the flattened cities, towns and villages. They have been at least 7000 aftershocks.
Schools in China where the earthquake happened, has resumed in tents. In Mianyang, a ten-year old boy has resumed his schooling in a blue emergency tent flown in from Italy, but it has no affected his eagerness to learn. The tent school at the Jiuzhou sports stadium in south-west China's Mianyang city is the biggest of its kind in the quake region. It accepts children from the thousands of homeless families who sought shelter temporarily at the stadium. The school has more than 40 teachers, mostly mobilised by the Mianyang education bureau, and over 1000 students from primary school to junior high. New students arrive everyday. Visitors passing by a police guard at the entrance of the school immediately face two large tents capable of holding hundreds of students each time. Think of the uncomfortable atmosphere the students there have to suffer, and here are we, students in Malaysia enjoying the comforts of the classroom that we take for granted everyday. They study in tents! A cyclone happened in Myanmar three weeks ago, why aren't there news of action being taken like in China?
China will lauch a national lottery to raise money for earthquake relief and rescue work. All the money earned will be used in relief and reconstruction projects. Why don't I see Myanmar doing the same?

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