Be thankful for small measures. Locals having a leisurely time under the shade of coastal trees on Pangkor island. The calm blue waters betray the havoc that has wreaked the islands on the Pacific Ring of Fire the past week.

On Sept 27, Tropical Storm Ketsana dumped over metropolitan Manila more than a month's payload of rain in a space of 12 hours. It was the country's worst flooding in 40 years. Close to 300 people died in its path. From there Ketsana strengthened and swept over central Vietnam and Laos and caused immense hardship on its people.

Just as Ketsana faded inland, another picked up on the very path. Typhoon Parma is currently rolling away from the northern Philippines leaving behind 23 dead and thousand more homeless. It missed Manila but may loop back in the South China Sea and return to the capital. Meanwhile, Typhoon Melor is gathering steam.

Samoa and American Samoa were devastated by tsunami on Tuesday last week.

West of the Malaysian peninsula, the island of Sumatra was hit twice in two days in the locale of Padang, heart of the Minangkabau culture. The people of the city will mark Sept 30 as a dark spot in their calender. A magnitude 7.6 earthquake was followed by another, at 6.6 magnitude. It has claimed more than 1,000 lives with at least another 3,000 missing.

Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia prays for the well-being of all those affected. May they find new strength in their bid to recover. May we also never take for granted the calm waters of our land and its topography.

Note:

For compelling pictures of the devastation of earthquakes in Padang, see this.

Picture / myi.geester