TSUNAMI: AN EXPERIENCE STILL TRAUMATIC FOR MANY

From Mohd Faizal Hassan

SENDAI, April 2 (Bernama) -- Gatecrashing aside, how often does a restaurant operator get to watch, not one but two ships, plough into the premises during a devastating tsunami, and live to tell the story?

Nanako is one such fortunate restaurateur based at a village in Itchinomaki near here.

Not so lucky were five other business operators near her restaurant who have been reported missing and are beleived to have perished in the disaster.

Nanako, 41, was preparing food for a customer when she heard the tsunami siren triggered. Within 10 minutes, the woman, staff and customers rushed towards higher ground to seek shelter.

"From where I was standing, I watched two ships tossed about by huge waves before the vessels crashed into my restaurant.

"While several of my employees managed to rescue themselves from the disaster, the tsunami nevertheless, wiped out my restaurant and several cars belonging to my customers,” she said.

Nanako was relating her first-person account of Japan's worst natural disaster in an interview with Bernama Saturday.

She was one of those who escaped by a hair's breadth, from the wrath of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake which struck Japan on March 11, triggering a tsunami which decimated over 10,000 people and left a nuclear plant crippled.

For teenager Matsumura Hayami, 17, the joy of attending school is no more.She lost three of her best friends in the catastrophe.

Schoolmates related the tragedy leading to the loss of her friends and it is an experience which will haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Maybe, there is a reason for all this, but whatever it is, we need to pick ourselves up and get the strength to move on.

“Although it will take time to recover, it is not impossible,” she said.

Meanwhile, two Japanese non-governmental organisations (NGO) Saturday commended Malaysia's efforts via Putera 1Malaysia Club, over extending humanitarian aid to the tsunami and earthquake victims.

Fifty volunteers from the Nippon Foundation and Japanese International Food for the Hungry (JIFH) joined the club in presenting food and essential items to towns located near the Pacific Ocean.

Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki are four of the areas badly affected by the disaster, which left over 10,000 residents killed and 20,000 missing.

JIFH Information Communication officer Timoki Yoshida said Malaysia's noble efforts should be continued, regardless of cultural differences and communication barriers.

A Nippon Foundation volunteer, Yoshiko Nagao, said the international community should take note of Malaysia's efforts and emulate the humanitarian missions of other countries.

Meanwhile, Putera 1Malaysia Club president Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the challenges faced by club members in communication and culture would make them more matured for future missions.