China Enters Three Days of Mourning
It’s official: China will enter into three days of mourning beginning Monday, May 19, 2008 through to Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Recreational facilities will be suspended as citizens from around the nation remember their compatriots hit by this recent tragic earthquake.
At 14:28 on Monday, sirens and horns will sound for three full minutes to remember the victims of this terrible tragedy. The Olympic Torch Relay has also been halted for three days, this, too, to remember the recent disaster. On Twitter, we also hear news that CRI (China Radio International) may be planning something of a very different nature — instead of their regular music and lively chat. Things will, indeed, look somber, even over the airwaves.
Yours truly will be observing the nationwide period of mourning, too. All Twitter accounts (@DavidFeng in particular) will have their icons changed to a black square to indicate the period of mourning, and the davidfeng.com website will also change so that a message of mourning and grief takes the place of the normal web site. New projects which are slated to start this time will be pushed back for at least three days, and reduced updates will be the norm as everyone around us remembers those who lost their lives in this recent tragedy.
Recently, the earthquake has been virtually the sole topic all around town, in particular in one of yours truly’s gigs (the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall), but also, more significantly, around Twitter. Of somewhat of an odder note is the fact that the quake has somewhat disappeared from the general Twitterstream and is (in essence — and also, somewhat unfortunately) a topic only with the Chinese Twitterati (in English and Chinese). I’m not exactly enraged every time I see a tweet from the other parts of the planet talking about non-quake issues, but in this day and age of being wired up, we could — you know — ask around more, to the tune of “What’s happening outside my bit of the planet?”.
The next few days will be noteworthy to David Feng for two things: one for the nationwide order of all flags being on half-mast, and two for the sounding of the sirens, two things that he has never experienced for all of his 26 years on this planet.
In the meantime, yours truly has prepared a second round of donations for those affected, and he encourages those with the cash and the will to give and give unconditionally. This is not a case of “is it good for your karma” (which it is, by the way); it’s about saving lives. Saving every live is crucial. Or, as today’s Beijing Evening News put it, every person saved is a dear and near person. (On a personal note, “just being able to donate cash” does not feel like “enough” to yours truly; there’s got to be more that can be done!)
There is this invisible yet always present air of sadness and grief over the capital, and all over the nation (at least) as well. 82 days before the Games, and yet with this kind of tragedy that has befallen, in essence, all of us, it appears that those Games are still far, far away. Even the opening of the new Subway lines appear that more remote as the clouds of grief still hang over Beijing. Oddly enough, the weather, too, has expressed itself: Heaven appears to be crying in the form of showers. Rain is predicted for next week as well, and a glance at my car shows that there has been little chance to wash the wheels as the city shifts from shower to shower.
Meanwhile, let us pray that more and more lives are saved, that more and more miracles happen, and that those affected get their home back as soon as possible. Life will not be the same for those hit, and this is truly heartbreaking. This is the kind of stuff that does not go away — pre-Games, during the Games, post-Games. Ever.
My prayers to those affected in the affected areas.
3 Responses to “China Enters Three Days of Mourning”
There are a lot of other things that can be done with regards to the Sichuan quake other than the donation of money (which is a social phenomenon incredibly interesting to investigate as it is) and you’re doing one of them: simply getting the word out. Mobilization of awareness is one of the key things our current technology enables us to do in ways unprecedented in times past. To have so many people know of this tragedy in so little a time is a testament to how close we all are becoming. Aside from donating money, we can also donate blood, a resource that I personally think is far less bountiful than the torrent of financial donations most every has been keen to provide.
While continued grief is appropriate, I think we’re entering the phase where its time to make sure there is accountability and coordination in the provision of donated aid and relief efforts. There should also be supervision and monitoring of both financial and material reconstruction and support for the area and those most profoundly affected by it. I heard the government has waived tuition fees for all the orphaned children for the quake. I’ve yet to verify this but that would certainly be a nice gesture, even the smallest gesture of long-term support from the government to the most vulnerable.
There is something ultimately romantic and moving about rescue efforts but as time passes and the adrenaline rush fades, China needs some upstanding members with the heart and dedication to make sure the on-going resolution of this event is carried out in the best interests of those who need benevolence the most. As poignant as the past week has been, people move on quickly and people are forgotten quickly. What we can do is make sure programs are in place to ensure that those liable to be forgotten will indeed be taken care of.
Kai, good points.
Just to add a quick note about blood donation: 3 days after the earthquake on May 15, Shanghai blood donation center has recieved blood from over 10,000 Shanghai citizens, the “blood warehouse” is full of stock. Source in Chinese here