ID :
167891
Mon, 03/14/2011 - 06:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/167891
The shortlink copeid
M'SIANS VISITING JAPAN GLAD TO BE BACK
SEPANG (Malaysia), March 14 (Bernama) -- A number of Malaysians who were visiting Japan when the country was hit by twin earthquake and tsunami disasters on Friday, including Bernama editor-in-chief Yong Soo Heong, were glad that they have been able to return home.
Yong was among the first group of Malaysians to fly out of Japan since the disaster struck.
They arrived at the KL International Airport here at 4.15pm Sunday on board Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight MH71 from Narita Airport, Tokyo.
Besides Yong, who was in Tokyo on a Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) assignment, the group also included 13 engineering students from the Scudai campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and lecturer who had made a study trip.
Yong said he was glad to return home and expressed his amazement at the level of discipline shown by the Japanese in the face of the horrendous disasters.
"The people in Tokyo were very disciplined. They queed up for buses, for taxi and all that," he said.
One of the students, Syeb (repeat:Syeb) Dzulfakar Shukor said the group had gone to Japan to visit Meiji Universsity and experience winter in the country but were asked to cut short the trip in the wake of the twin disasters.
According to him, they were on the ninth floor laboratory of a building at the university when it suddenly started swaying while laboratory equipment fell to the floor.
"I panicked and thought we were all going to die, I could only think of my parents and other family members then," he said, adding that when the tremors subsided, he and his friends pooled some money to buy a pre-paid card to call home to let their families know that they were safe and followed-up by relating their experience on Facebook.
Another person in the group of returnees, N.Puvaneswari, a private sector employee, said she was at a hotel to meet some clients of her company when the ceiling and tables at the hotel lobby began to move.
All of them immediately ran out to the street for safety, she said.
Muhammad Izhar Ishak, 23, an engineeering student who had just completed his first degree studies at Tokai University in Tokyo and returning to Malaysia, said he hoped to be able to return to Tokyo soon to resume his studies to the Masters level.
Relating his experience, he said at first he thought it was just another earthquake but was shocked to learn of the degree of devastation and loss of lives.
He said the house he was staying only sustained minor cracks.
The 8.9 magnitude temblor that struck around noon Friday also unleashed deadly tsunami waves across northeast Japan.
The death toll has been reported to have exceeded 1,000 people so far.
Yong was among the first group of Malaysians to fly out of Japan since the disaster struck.
They arrived at the KL International Airport here at 4.15pm Sunday on board Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight MH71 from Narita Airport, Tokyo.
Besides Yong, who was in Tokyo on a Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) assignment, the group also included 13 engineering students from the Scudai campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and lecturer who had made a study trip.
Yong said he was glad to return home and expressed his amazement at the level of discipline shown by the Japanese in the face of the horrendous disasters.
"The people in Tokyo were very disciplined. They queed up for buses, for taxi and all that," he said.
One of the students, Syeb (repeat:Syeb) Dzulfakar Shukor said the group had gone to Japan to visit Meiji Universsity and experience winter in the country but were asked to cut short the trip in the wake of the twin disasters.
According to him, they were on the ninth floor laboratory of a building at the university when it suddenly started swaying while laboratory equipment fell to the floor.
"I panicked and thought we were all going to die, I could only think of my parents and other family members then," he said, adding that when the tremors subsided, he and his friends pooled some money to buy a pre-paid card to call home to let their families know that they were safe and followed-up by relating their experience on Facebook.
Another person in the group of returnees, N.Puvaneswari, a private sector employee, said she was at a hotel to meet some clients of her company when the ceiling and tables at the hotel lobby began to move.
All of them immediately ran out to the street for safety, she said.
Muhammad Izhar Ishak, 23, an engineeering student who had just completed his first degree studies at Tokai University in Tokyo and returning to Malaysia, said he hoped to be able to return to Tokyo soon to resume his studies to the Masters level.
Relating his experience, he said at first he thought it was just another earthquake but was shocked to learn of the degree of devastation and loss of lives.
He said the house he was staying only sustained minor cracks.
The 8.9 magnitude temblor that struck around noon Friday also unleashed deadly tsunami waves across northeast Japan.
The death toll has been reported to have exceeded 1,000 people so far.
