Natural Disaster as a Part of Life

Natural disasters occurred very often in Indonesia causing the death of so many people and many others missing, beside destroying homes, offices, factories, et cetera.

First there was the flood in Wasior, West Papua that killed many people and destroyed the town. Then came the Tsunami in Mentawai, West Sumatra, last Monday that has killed more than 400 people and almost 500 others missing. This was followed by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogjakarta last Tuesday, that killed  at least 33  people, including the Keeper of the Mountain Mbah Marijan (80) and a TV Reporter.

I should also mention the heavy rainfall that caused floods and inundated several parts of Jakarta, the capital city, almost every year.

Beside natural disasters, there is also disaster allegedly caused by human error in oil drilling operation i.e the Lapindo Hot Mud Flow Tragedy in Sidoarjo, East Java, that has inundated large area of homes, factories, farmlands etc. since 2005.

People in Indonesia gave various comments on the said disasters. Some people, including the Minister of Information and Communication Tifatul Sembiring, said that they are signs of God's punishment to sinful people living in the disastrous region.

Considering that Indonesia has lots of active volcanic mountains, and its geographical location is vulnerable to earthquakes, many Indonesians have regarded natural disasters as part of life, therefore we should be ready to face them. 

In this regards, I would like to share with you an article written by Peter Gelling on Globe Post (below).  Happy reading.

Indonesia : It's Not Disasterland                                 
Analysis: Natural disasters are all the media tells us about Indonesia. But there's so much more.      Published: October 28, 2010 13:27 ET in Asia 
 

BOSTON — In Jakarta, Indonesia’s sprawling mega-capital, when the ground rumbles in that all too familiar way, everyone runs.

There is no order to it. There are no clearly marked emergency exits and people do not form lines as they calmly file out of the city’s ubiquitous office towers and malls. No, no matter where you are, you get out fast — women and children be damned.

There is no telling how many movie theaters I’ve torn out of, a full fight of stairs ahead of my Javanese girlfriend.
But when the tectonics settle, usually only a few minutes later, shoulders are shrugged and everyone meanders back inside.

For Indonesians, disasters are a part of their everyday life — a reality made starkly apparent this week when three of them struck simultaneously in highly populated regions of the country. So when news organizations around the world stumble to cover them ad nauseum, it often seems incongruous to those living there.

To many messages of concern sent from home during the time I lived there, I replied, “Why? What happened?”   Read More ..