There has been so much acrimony and bitterness spilling out from recent events relating to the Tibet incident, the Olympics torch relay, journalism ethics, east-west relationship etc. that people, especially Chinese people, whether they are at home or abroad, cannot but feel deeply upset.

Then, all of a sudden, two big disasters struck. Hundreds of thousands of people perished and many more subjected to the ill-fate of being seriously hurt and/or losing all belongings. When catastrophes of such scale happen, it naturally forces one to think more deeply about the meaning of life, both at the personal and social level. It also serves as a reminder of how fragile a human life can be and how one twist of fate can turn everything upside down. Such tragic events not only render farcical our petty feelings/words/actions of hatred, jealousy, anger, vainglory and vindictiveness, they also tend to shake up our snug conscience about the way we treat our family, friends, neighbors, fellow citizens, fellow countrymen and fellow humans in ordinary times.

None of us would want to live in an empathy-devoid world. The world certainly needs more love and less hatred. Let’s use this opportunity to mend our tattered social and inter-human relationships, both at the community and global level, and show our compassion by extending a helping hand to the unfortunate, both in China and in Myanmar.

As a Chinese, my heart goes out to the Sichuan earthquake victims and their families. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Here are links to sites that show how one can help the Sichuan earthquake victims:-

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/05/13/red_cross_society_earthquake_sichuan.php

http://www.thehumanaught.com/blog/

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080513/national/earthquake_cda_community

Time for Compassion

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