....Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without shelter and drinking water in military-ruled Myanmar after the devastating cyclone tore through the Irrawaddy delta, a United Nations official said on Monday.
'We know that it's several hundred thousand needing shelter and clean drinking water, but how many hundred thousand we just don't know,' Mr Richard Horsey, of the United Nations disaster response office in Bangkok, said.

'Where are all those uniformed people who are always ready to beat civilians?' a trishaw driver, who refused to be identified for fear of retribution, said on Sunday. 'They should come out in full force and help clean up the areas and restore electricity.'
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticised for human rights abuses and suppression of pro-democracy parties.
Last September, at least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.
The Forum for Democracy in Burma and other dissident groups outside of Myanmar urged the military junta Sunday to allow aid groups to operate freely in the wake of the cyclone - something it has been reluctant to do in the past.
It would be difficult for other countries to help unless they received a request from Myanmar's military rulers.
'International expertise in dealing with natural disasters is urgently required. The military regime is ill-prepared to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone,' said Mr Naing Aung, secretary general of the Thailand-based forum.
The storm's 120 mph winds blew the roofs off hospitals and cut electricity to the country's largest city.
Ms Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Yangon, said the storm's whipping winds and torrential downpour had caused 'major devastation throughout the city.'...

after reading the news of cyclone hit in Myanmar, I come to realised how gracious and merciful God had been with Singapore. Wikipedia explained the complexity of how cyclones are formed. After reading it, I cannot NOT relate this catastrophic occurrence to God. What are the chances of having the right temperature and pressure supplied to those random water particles to form a whirlwind so strong and destructive, unless God had allowed it? I wonder, why myanmar, then a friend asked me why not? Its like why tsunami hit achay and not singapore? If the earthquake hit slightly off the exact location where it had occurred, Singapore would have submerged, considering she is so small, wouldnt she? Can we just attribute it to our auspicious geographical location or it was really by the grace of God that Singapore was exclusively sheltered?

Was that a warning from God about the sinfulness of man? First was Thailand and now Burma..Buddhism dominated countries... idolatry..could it be? i wonder where will the next place be..would it be soon..? This is disturbing...

I was appalled too, at they way the junta treats their own people. They basically abuse their civilians. If I were a resident there, I'll probably hope for death too with such a corrupted and violent government.

The junta refused international humanitarian aids and impedes the rescue work in its own country..how dumb and irresponsible is that! But I think the Junta is allowing it now.. On the other hand, another article reports how this devastation can be a source of economic revival as it may boosts rice harvest(Straits Times). How ironic to have these 2 pieces of news appearing on the same page! How ironic is it to have food harvest and economical revival matched up to the death of thousands and counting...Some may argue.. there's nothing you can do about the disaster neither can you do anything about those dead people so we should be looking at how the living can survive because of that cyclone! And they call it blessings in disguise.. Are you that desensitized too? Have you got any heart or compassion for people in general?

Some food for thoughts..

I guessed we should really be very grateful that God had been merciful to keep our lives in this small little country. Lets be watchful of our own lives and contd to share the good news to those around and even across the borders, and pray for them before a potential 'cyclone' hits them..

*disclaimer : all articles and references are taken from 'The Straits Times'