Japan

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Residents evacuated to a shelter in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture - a slideshow of the impact of the tsunami can be found at http://tinyurl.com/4q3uet2

Is there really anything that has not already been said about the tsunami. About the strength of the Japanese people, the condolences offered in sympathy of their tragic plight, a stark reminder that in the end, Mother Nature triumphs all.

And the full impact of the crisis is only starting to play out. Entire towns submerged, an impending nuclear disaster, and sustained economic damage to an economy already mired in an unending recession since the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble all the way back in 1991. Yes, it has been almost 20 years strong that Japan has been in recession. Put that way, it seems that the Japanese could not know more hardship.

And this is a nation that climbed back from the ashes of WWII, dubbed the post-war economic miracle, a nation that eschewed the traditions of the old, putting its faith into manufacturing to restart a dying economy, and reaping handsome benefits off that when the Korean War erupted, earning a fortune from American procurements for the war effort. This is the only country in the world that has suffered a nuclear attack not of its own choosing. Despite that, Japan has now built a name for itself for constant reinvention, staying ahead of the chasing pack not by brute manufacturing capability, but by innovation.

And then disaster strikes, yet again.

It would seem that the Japanese have been dealt a bad hand right from the start. With the entire eastern front of the island positioned precariously along the ring of fire, natural disasters for the island are not a matter of if, but when. Japan is susceptible to tsunamis, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions.

But one forgets that the Japanese are a tremendously resilient people. Even in the jungles of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of WWII, the American soldiers fighting in that hellish vaudeville could not help but notice how the Japanese survived on rations of maggoty rice, and still fought with an unmatched zeal.

Or how they have been the victims of what are probably the largest single acts of genocide, the atomic bombings of two civilian cities, which may have killed some 200,000 people, and yet climbed back from that with tremendous spirit of character. Not only did they not blame their American oppressors, they even accepted American help to rebuild their nation, and are today amongst their most solid allies.

There is no doubt that Japan will recover from this, because resilience and adaptation are the bywords to the survival of the human race. Humanity has always known disasters and wars, but it has come back stronger every time. Something I've also noticed is, it takes the greatest of tragedies to bring out the best in people. The willingness to help total strangers, the willingness to put one's own life at risk for another, the willingness to share even when one has little for oneself.

What do you do when all that you know has been destroyed. The home you lived in, the family you had? Your neighbours, your friends, the whole way of life you experienced as a person living in a town that is now unrecognisable amidst mountains of debris? For those who think they know what the citizens of Japan are going through right now, picture what you would feel if the same happened to Singapore. And to you.

And then remember that it is people who have experienced that kind of loss who are helping each other rebuild the lives they have, because the ones they had are no more.

It is in poverty of condition that is forged the strongest of characters. It is in disaster that we remember what makes us human.