The wheel of suffering turns...

"The earthquake was a natural disaster, but nearly all the deaths were man-made."

So said one of the thousands of grieving parents following the earthquakes in Sichuan recently. Yvonne, my ward partner and I were reading about it in the Aussie newspapers over coffee. Felt like crying in the middle of the hospital cafeteria already (but didn't la. that would have been unprofessional). The number of children that died was.... shocking. Mostly preventable, but did the authorities care? Perhaps they cared more about their bulging wallets than anything else. I couldn't imagine how selfishness, ignorance and apathy could beget so much grief and despair. Why didn't the authorities respond quicker to this disaster? Why wasn't the infrastructure improved? Why were school children put in buildings which were deemed unsafe, which literally caved in before the students could leave their desks? And why were soldiers standing watch with their tanks and gleaming shovels while civilians tore through the wreckage with buckets and their bare hands? Because the order to help wasn't issued yet? Seriously when you have people crushed under slabs of concrete screaming in pain, you don't need someone to order you to help them, do you?

Somemore this happened just after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma. *Sigh*...

There are too many questions. And I have no answers. I am but an ignorant, selfish human being myself. Most of us can never truly understand the plight of these people as we have been blessed with happy, carefree lives. I guess we can only extend our hands and heart, though it will never bring the children back.