One can learn a lot about compassion and wisdom through crisis.

Saw this on the news the other day. Some tourists from mainland China were asked what they thought about the ferry collision tragedy off the Lamma waters. They thought that the whole incident, whether the people who helped, the attitude of the government all showed a very human touch.

I consider it a very fortunate thing living in Hong Kong. When disaster happens, rescue is available within a very short time. The government is quick to react and provide relief to those injured or families of victims. People are generally kind and helpful to one another.

I remember it was May 2008 when I heard from the news about a cyclone in Myanmar. But since there was not much transparency, I could only imagine the impact. I later got calls from my local colleagues who heard by word of mouth that the delta area was almost like living hell. In a few days, it was clear that almost 130,000 people had died overnight and tens of thousands of corpses were floating along rivers.

By the time I arrived in Myanmar a few weeks later,  I was shocked by the extent of damage done by the cyclone, but strangely I couldn't feel as much grief in the people. There were probably many reasons explaining this. In a developed city, if there is a major natural disaster, the rescue efforts would stir up people's compassion and emotions. In the delta, huts were built with the most primitive branches and leaves. A cyclone with a magnitude higher than a typhoon no. 10 would mean that people were literally blown away and disappear. No drama with rescue efforts then, not to mention that the government didn't even care about rescue or collecting the dead bodies in the rivers. There were many monks who tried to collect the dead bodies were arrested and put in jail. So basically no rescue, no grief, no drama, but mostly fear.

But from interacting with local people, I was able to share their grief. However, the grief was only minor, I learnt so much from their compassion and wisdom. There were days when I couldn't find a guest house to accept me. The disaster zone was a restricted area and foreigners were not supposed to be there. Military and police check points were everywhere and people were generally terrified. Whenever I showed my passport at a guesthouse, I was fearfully and politely turned down. A Catholic church kindly took me on, as they were generally off the radar. I was talking to a Catholic sister who was the only survivor in her convent. She saw everyone blown away that night but she was able to hold onto the power generator and saved her life. I could feel a lot of sadness but I was very touched to see that she had devoted all her energy to restoring the convent and the orphanage.

Another day I took a long 5 hour boat ride to one of the islands. We helped this village to rebuild houses and fishing boats. The island was beautiful, peaceful and quiet. But it was also probably because 900 were swept away by the cyclone and died. I met a young man about 18 years old. He was one of the carpenters who helped us to build fishing boats so that villagers could return to normal life. He told me that he was the only survivor in a family of 8. Even though he felt very sad, he channeled his energy to building fishing boats to help fellow villagers to make a living. His family used to own a piece of land which was a few thousand square feet but he felt he didn't need it anymore. He donated it to a family of 6 which had survived the cyclone and he was contented to living in a small wooden house. He said life and death was only part of karma and he was able to find peace.

I will always remember the time when I was working there. In a place where there is literally no electricity, running water, life comes down to the very basics. Enjoy working when the sun comes out, take a shower when there is rain, and families just sit around a burning candle every night for an hour sharing love and happiness and that's the only entertainment one can have. That was my major lesson on contentment.