BANANACUE
REPUBLIC
Vol I, No. 17
Dec 29, 2004
attitudes by H. A. de Veyra
Giving Death
by Numbers
As of last count, the death toll for
the Asian tsunamis, has reached 55,000 in CNN, and over 66,000 in Channel
News Asia (a Singaporean News Channel). Both channels report fears of the
number going beyond 100,000. More bodies being discovered and the missing
confirmed dead, and deaths from epidemics and water-borne diseases are
adding to these numbers. Every two hours, the number of confirmed dead
rises by 3,000. Indonesia has the leading number of deaths at 27,000 and
India coming in second with 21,000. We’re not counting in hundreds
anymore, but in thousands.
Many organizations like the Red Cross, the UN and UNICEF, JICA and ReliefAid responded quickly to the tragedy. Japan quickly sent doctors and medicines to Thailand, other Asian and European countries promised millions of dollars and manpower, and Bush gave his usual promises of "appropriate assistance". Later the US promised $30M of relief aid AND military troops, which always confirm our suspicions about the double talk involved. Coming from a country that suffers from natural disasters all the time, we are no stranger to the US government negotiating to give aid to a helpless country with price tags attached. "We give you food and medicine, only if you agree to this list of stuff we’ll want in the future: open trade and our military troops in. Otherwise, no aid."
I was going to write about the spirit of giving this Christmas. Giving gifts to your loved ones, giving and spreading love to everyone, giving food to the less fortunate, giving toys to kids. Spreading happiness and hope. But this seems ridiculous now. When I look at the news, I see newscasters reporting the recent death toll like they would an election count, or the scores of a sports event. Who’s winning, who’s ahead. Who has the most dead, who’s coming in second? We need more horrifying videos however amateurish they are, we need to be in the top of the news. While us viewers who have families in these areas, friends, memories even, we need information, not entertainment, not drama.
We do know about the spirit of giving. Even now, thousands of miles away from the stricken countries, we want to give. We want to share what we have. How can we throw away food when we know that thousands of children in Sri Lanka have not eaten and are still in shock? How can we waste drinking water when we know thousands will be dying from dehydration? How can we be happy and merry this New Year knowing that thousands have forgotten what day it is? We do need numbers to shake us from our own little worlds. Big numbers. And nature has given it to us.
We’re stricken from the numbers that have died. That idea alone is unimaginable for us. Sure we’re used to natural calamities. 5,000 dead in a flooding here. Another 11,000 from an earthquake there. 3,000 from a sunken ship somewhere, 2,000 from a landslide, and hundreds from a typhoon and floods in some remote province. But never before have we seen all these added up to a staggering number, never before have we seen Southern Asian countries being hit at the same moment from one single, surprising event in the middle of a sunny and clear-skied afternoon.
I feel helpless. Not only because one of those dead in Thailand could have been me, not only because Phuket and the locals I met in Phiphi Island hold good memories for me, but also because I’m too far to help. Sure I could send a few pesos that could buy a few bottles of drinking water for someone. But where is the assurance there that what I did mattered? In moments like this when we’re too far to do anything, who are we really helping? The victims or our conscience?
But this is the Christmas holidays. And for us Filipinos, the New Year holds as much significance for us as Christmas day. It is the time for being with our families, and admit it, gorging ourselves with food. Lots of food. But around the corner, are 4 or 5 hungry families who can’t even afford a decent meal, much more a New Year’s feast. Children roaming the streets begging for coins and offering their service to watch your car, to wipe it, in exchange for some few coins, for food.
Where is the difference really in giving to the victims in Sri Lanka or Indonesia, to giving a packed meal to the hungry child standing right in front of you? Where is the difference in giving medicine for the tsunami-hit victims to the ones who are in need in our own provincial hospitals? Why do we need to look far to think of helping, why do we need large numbers to be wakened to give? Why do we judge who deserves our assistance, when the need is the same?
I am a giving person, but it seems I haven’t been giving much. As long as I feel a guilt inside me, I have not done enough. Instead of making a new year’s resolution list, maybe I should just remember to be more giving. Not in return for something, not because someone deserves better, not because I’ll be known for being giving, but because others have less and deserve as much as I do.
As of last count, the death toll has risen again with CNN at 56,000 and Channel News Asia at 68,000. And the numbers are still rising. Nature has given us a lesson, the dead has given us their numbers. It’s now up to us what to do after this. For we, ourselves, can’t know where death will strike us next. At the beach on a sunny afternoon maybe?
The numbers really, are shocking me into stunned silence.
Posted 12/29/04. Send your comment to bananacue_republic@yahoo.com
"...the
numbers are still rising. Nature has given us a lesson, the dead has given
us their numbers. It’s now up to us what to do after this. For we,
ourselves, can’t know where death will strike us next. "