Diary Of Someone In Transition – Anniversary of 5/12 Sichuan Earthquake

May 12th  marks  the first anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake on 12 May last year. I thanked Straits Times for putting up a insightful account of the earthquake in today’s edition “True grit on the road to recovery”. The story brought tears to my eyes as I reflected on the incident which has touched me personally.
I remembered I was teaching in Hubei, a province several thousand kilometres away from Beichuan, Siichaun when the earthquake struck.

I felt a stlight tremor but there was nothing that suggested something seriously devastating had happened. I continued on my teaching oblivious to the fact that a huge earthquake has destroyed a beautiful town in beautiful scenic Sichuan. Many lives were also destroyed.

As news flooded in towards evening time, I sensed that the earthquake was major and that many people have perished in the disaster. News stations broadcasted the event 24/7 and many Chinese people stayed up all night to watch the live telecast of a disaster that gripped the nation. It was also the only period that I remembered shedding a large amount of tears watching actual events unfolding on television. It was reality TV at its worse.

I could not bear to watch the raw live telecast of the rescue missions that went on through the night in many parts of the quake-stricken area. It was also my first experience of a major disaster that happened so close to where I was situated. I was most touched by how the Chinese people rallied together and donations poured in by the millions when appeal was made back.

When school holidays came in June, I made a personal trip alone to Sichuan wanting to volunteer as an English teacher. Vacancies were however filled up and I decided to journeyed alone to Dujiangyan city – a city that saw well over 20,000 people killed by the earthquake. When we reached the town by bus, the devastation was so immense that tears rolled down my face automatically.

I saw ten-storey buildings hanging precariously on one side, left eerily empty by it’s owners. Huge shopping malls were stripped naked by the force of the earthquake. Roads were also destroyed and lines of cracks crept up by the hundreds of kilometres. Debris of school buildings that destroyed thousands of school going children were removed by now. However, you could smell the air of death that hovered around such area.

I tracked around the town aimlessly viewing the destruction by nature – both in awe and sadness. Many people slept by the tents that lined the town side as 90% of most houses were terned unsafe for inhabitation. People walked by quietly in the streets – hands in pocket their minds pre occupied with the suddent events that robbed away their once-tranquil lifestyle. I also saw some with legs amputated walking around in crutches – with a smile on their face as they knew that many have perished in the disaster. It was better to be alive without a leg than totally dead. Life is never the same for many who stayed there. Each family will know of someone who is either perished in the earthquake or are injured. It is a living nightmare for many to say the least

I could not sleep that night when I returned to Chengdu back to the comfort of my hotel room after visiting the quake site. The devastation kept playing up in my mind and there were times that I trembled in fear and shock in my bed. That very night, a mild aftershock came and I rushed out of my hotel room as I felt my bed trembled. Was I reacting to the day visit psychologically that my mind played tricks on me? I wouldn’t know for sure as I did felt that my bed trembled. I later checked with some residents and they confirmed that indeed there was an aftershock that night. I must be very unfortunate to experience an aftershock as I heard that such occurrences were rare one month after the major earthquake.

Devastation at its worse in Daijunyan City (taken during trip)

I wanted to visit Beichuan – the worse hit area of the Sichuan earthquake that killed almost 40,000 people but heard that it was barred for visitation due to the threat of contimnation to visitors.

I learned a few precious lessons from the Sichuan earthquake:

1. Never take your loved ones for granted – many parents living in Sichuan sent their children away for school on that fateful day not knowing that would be the last time they would see their loved ones. People had to later dig out lifeless bodies of their children under the school debris. Some could not even find their children bodies as rumours surfaced that the earth actually opened and swallowed up large portions of the surface before reforming to it’s original shape again. So always treasure each day you have with your loved ones. You never know what will happen to them the next day.

A Shop That Catered To Students Affected By The Earthquake

2. Finding fresh new reasons to live on despite adverse setbacks – many survivors actually wished that they were dead as sometimes their whole family perished in the disaster and they were the only survivors. It is painful to find out that you are the only survivor when all your family members were dead. They have to find fresh new reasons to live on. Those who survived without certain parts of their bodies also need to fight on and find resilence in their difficult situation. So always stay resilent and learn from setbacks to live on purposefully

With some volunteers at Daijunyan City (I am third from left)

3. Live each day as if it is your last – this perhaps is the most impactful lesson that I have learned here. Many of us live each day as if we have many more days and months to go. The earthquake has taught me that we may never have another day to live. Disaster suddenly stricks and sometimes we have no way of preventing them. Mother nature does not give us ample early warning and when we are caught let us be prepared that we have live our life with purpose and meaning.

Beautiful Scenary At Sichuan

I will be remembering the 5/12 earthquake with a one minute observance at 2.28pm. Do join me if you can.

Gilbert Goh

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