Grim

The first 22 pages of our main papers today are filled with nothing but grim news. Anyone who hasn't read about the devastating earthquake in Sichuan must be living under a rock.

For the past few days, we were exposed to heart wrenching scenes of children buried under the rubble and parents wailing over badly crushed bodies. The pain of losing their only child in a disaster is simply too undescribable. How will the survivors even find the strength to carry on with their lives from now on? I have no answer.

Turning to another area that had bore the brunt of yet another nature's fury - the aftermath of Nargis which left the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar in a desperate state of despair.

In both areas, critical supplies and help are trickling in slowly largely because of human intervention and inaccessibility. While we sit here in cool comfort, the victims are struggling to come to terms with their loss and the need to stay alive.

In many ways, their lives now lie in the hands of the ruler and what help they can dispense to the victims who have nobody to turn to. They have nothing to built their new life on now. They will have to start from scratch.

The heartbreaking scenes of hysterical mothers cradling their dead children, tears pouring over the lifeless bodies have filled my head for days. I symphatise but I can't relieve their pain.