My letter to the press on the above matter gets publish
today, Friday 29th May 2015.
It is a sad state of affairs that few nations want to
give hope to the Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees, who will die of hunger and
disease at sea if help is not rendered quickly.
Over the years, many events have changed the lives of
people across the globe: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the Sept 11
attacks, the tsunami in Asia and other natural disasters such as Typhoon
Hagupit, which struck the Philippines last year.
The most recent tragedy was the Nepal earthquake, though
it was uplifting to the human spirit that several countries, including
Singapore, rallied around the Nepalese.
Now, another blow has hit the Philippines: A heatwave
that has killed two people as temperatures soared past 40°C.
With water rationing likely to come, I fear life is going
to get tougher for the Filipinos.
During my trip to the Philippines in March, three street
children — a girl around 10 years old and her two younger brothers — approached
me for food.
The girl said they had not eaten for days. I gave her
some money and hugged her. Teary-eyed, she asked me where I was from and for my
name.
The world needs kindness, and one man I take my hat off
to is Singaporean Thomas Wee, who set up a soup kitchen and built an orphanage
in a rural Philippine village.
Likewise, politicians must not only look after their
citizens’ welfare but also reach out to countries grappling with poverty and
natural disasters, as all of us live on one earth and share a common destiny.
It is heartening that the Singapore Government has
offered cash to countries in the region that have been aiding the Bangladeshi
and Rohingya refugees (“ASEAN urges Myanmar to end crisis quickly”; May 25).
To take it a step further, our leaders should urge rich
nations during international summits to do their part to make this a better
world.
RAYMOND
ANTHONY FERNANDO
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