Two Years After, Tsunami Still Haunts
By Santi Soekanto and Dzikrullah W Pramudya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Millions of people in the world will remember today the tsunami that ripped through the region on December 26, 2004, leaving in its wake a massive trail of destruction in infrastructure and people's lives.

For some the memory is still painful, but for some others the memory has become a living nightmare because of a repeat disaster facing them these days.

In Indonesia's Aceh - areas that were hardest hit by the tsunami the worst flash floods in decades have over the weekend killed' at least 80 people and driven approximately 140,000 people from their homes.

"We need help. We need food, clothing, medicines, medical teams and volunteers before these people die of cold and hunger," Bayu Gautama, an Indonesian volunteer for a humanitarian NGO, ACT, to The Brunei Times yesterday describing the flash floods.

Then on Sunday, an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale struck south of Indonesia's Java Island, evoking painful reminder of the previous disasters. Death and near-death experience change lives. Two years ago, when the earthquake hit and the Indian Ocean lashed its waves against the shorelines in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, 250,000 people were killed.

It even affected the lives of people in coastal villages of Somalia, some 4,500 km away from the epicentre of the quake, which were swept away by huge waves and 300 people died and went missing.

Two years after, the media are reporting how people are still struggling to cope and also how, for some other people, lives are being rebuilt. From Port Blair in India, memory of the thousands listed as missing since the 2004 tsunami hit the Indian Ocean archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar is haunting residents still hoping that their relatives may return.

Two years ago in Khao Lak, Thailand, there wasn't a need for an orphanage in the fishing village of Bang Muang as children without parents were taken in by other families. Now, orphanages are a necessity.

Rotjana Phraesrithong, who runs an orphanage for 27 children who lost relatives to the tsunami, said: "The least we can do is offer them a safe home and schooling for their future life". -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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