Apparently, some people think the five fuwa, the mascots of the Beijing Olympics, have jinxed China. Jingjing, the panda, is native to Sichuan, site of the current disaster. Huanhuan, the red one with 'flame hair', has seen trouble with the Olympic torch. Yingying, the antelope (the yellow one) is native to Tibet, site of, well, Tibet. And Nini, with a kite (the green one), represents the 'kite city' Weifang which recently saw a disastrous train derailment. So now, it seems Beibei (the blue one) portends some disaster at the Yangzi River because Beibei is a sturgeon fish, found only in the Yangzi River.
Interesting...
And we have Yingying and Nini right here in our living room...
It is also interesting that in the olden days in both China and Myanmar, disasters of such magnitude were interpreted as unequivocal signs of disapproval (of the ruler) from the heavens. I wonder what is running through the minds of the leaders in both countries now. Well, at least Hu and Wen have been on the ground and there has been massive deployment of resources to the disaster areas.
As for Myanmar, I really don't know what is going on in the minds of the leaders. This article in today's ST, 'Massive manhunt for a journalist while one million are stranded in the delta' is just another of the surreal stories coming out of Myanmar now. This journalist, Paul Danahar, had reported about the cyclone and the government was after him for doing so. They spared no effort tracking him down while a million or so people languished in the disaster area. I don't know if they are planning to do anything about the million people there.
Danahar quoted this man saying, 'When we had demonstrations last year, the soliders were everywhere. Where are they now?'
Incredible.
Well, we have to pray to heaven that they get help. Very soon.
Picture and updates here.
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