The Earthquake, The Tsunami, and The Daruma Doll

When I wrote The Eventful Month Called February in the beginning of this month, little did I know that March would be an even more eventful month for the world.  The world witnessed how last week, the Asian Tiger Japan was hit by a massive earthquake which triggered the country’s worst series of tsunami, making the expected death toll to reach 10,000 or perhaps far beyond.  The earthquake (and possibly worsened by the hundreds of strong aftershocks that followed shortly after) also caused instability (and later on explosions) of Japan’s biggest nuclear reactor in Fukushima.  Not only has this brought about a huge electricity supply crisis but also fear of possible radiation leak to the region.  All of this happened during a time when the country is suffering from an economic and political crisis.  The scale of this calamity is simply incomparable with anything else it has encountered in the recorded history and has sent the country to what might be its biggest ever crisis since WW II.

The news itself was broken to me when I was preparing myself for one of those delightful Friday brunches.  A good friend rang to tell me that a massive earthquake just hit some place in Japan and tsunami warnings have been sent all around South East Asia.  The first thing that immediately struck my mind was not the earthquake itself, but Indonesia, my home country, facing yet another catastrophic tsunami.  Not because I did not care about the Japanese people but because I know they are experts of managing earthquakes and I thought this was just another one of them.  It was only when I reached home a few hours later that I had a better picture of the disaster and spent the evening practically looking at the TV screen with utter disbelief and somehow a feeling of guilty for thinking “it was just another one of them”. 

*****

A few days after the earthquake, the world is still talking about the disaster but this time with a somewhat different tone.  The spotlight is now less on the terrible aftermath of the tremor but has switched to praising the Japanese government and their people for having successfully managed to come to terms with the disaster within just a matter of days.  For instance, even when countries around the world quickly offered some forms of international aids, the Japanese government choose not to rely on them and instead concentrate all their existing resources in an effective and efficient manner without any delay. 

Media around the world also praise the Japanese people, who even in a situation where basic necessities like water and food are scarce - not to forget the freezing winter temperature – remain calm and extremely organized.  An Indonesian expat living in Japan reported that when a few shops are open after two days, providing access to food and water to the hungry victims, everyone stood in an organized queue like usual with neither a fight nor brawl in sight.  Nowhere did breaking into shops and malls like you would expect elsewhere happen either. 

Even media in China (a country which recently had a couple of major political rows with Japan) showed pictures depicting crowds of Japanese refugees in makeshift shelters, all of which were calm and again, extremely organized.  Another Indonesian expat in Japan said she was surprised never to see any dark and somber post-disaster TV programme broadcasting the aftermath she expected running 24/7 like in Indonesia.  Instead, she found continuous announcements from the government to remain calm and alert and apologizing for the (planned) blackouts in some areas around the country, including the capital Tokyo.  Further, they also encourage everyone to work hand-in-hand and overcome the situation, a similar message conveyed by the Emperor of Japan when he publicly addressed his nation yesterday.

 (refugees queuing for water supply in Sendai, from msn.com)

Flashback to nearly twenty years ago, the elementary schoolchild me was reading a Japanese comic book called Doraemon where the main protagonist was digging up a fond memory of his late grandma.  He recalled that once, when he fell down and started crying, his grandma came to him carrying a Daruma doll (a Japanese roly-poly doll) and showed how it would immediately stand back upright on its feet everytime it gets knocked down or tilted over.  This spirit is best described by a famous Japanese idiom, “Nana korobi ya oki (Tumbling down seven times, rising eight times)” and is one of the key secrets of the nation’s success, especially in dire situations like this.  Had this catastrophe happened elsewhere in the world, it could and most probably would be hundred times worse than this.

A death toll of 10,000 and rising is definitely not something we can take lightly; neither is any risk of nuclear explosions and hundreds of strong aftershocks.  But the Japanese waste no time in grievance of their loss and quickly stand back upright for a better future, on their own feet.  I hope all other nations learn from them.

(The Daruma picture was taken from clipart.myds.jp)