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4 / Insights / 5
My Story never came through subconscious- a nation that had already been en-
ly. You see those stuffs on televi- gulfed in injustice and civil war and
When I found out about the sion, the feeling of helplessness. when they happen in the place you
earthquake in my hometown, I call home, your mind is invaded by
couldn’t reach my parents for more Even when things were relative- fear and sadness. Every day after
than 6 hours. Coincidentally, we ly safe 4 or 5 years ago, going out- the earthquake, I come to expect
had a Burmese gathering with side in Mandalay past 10 was never bad news. People were panicking
graduating students that day. I was an option. We used to hear stories and the smaller batches of frequent
the only one there from Mandalay; about people being beheaded for earthquakes were never-ending.
and I was asked the same questions their jewellery or had their hands Logically, it would not be hard to
repeatedly: “Is your family fine?” chopped off for their refusal to give think that there might be another
It was probably the first time that their mobile phones. How are they huge one lurking in the corner. My
I was genuinely scared that I was going to survive out in the open? I uncle and aunt took my brother
going to become an orphan. Previ- had been acquainted with a fire vol- and grandmother to take shelter
ously, I had always had the notion unteer, who would recall the many at a nearby mountain town to take
that my family was in danger, but I occasions of opportunists, throw- shelter for a fortnight. My parents
had always calmed myself with the ing themselves into burning build- slept outside for a week and luckily,
fact that it was a big city; their situ- ings to steal. I could not find a way there was minimal damage done to
ation was not imminently precari- to put my mind at ease. people I knew. Over time, I came to
ous. be grateful, and I could convince
The photos and stories that I myself to be relieved.
After hours which felt like an witnessed later on the event was
eternity, when I spoke with my par- a living nightmare for me. Every Not everyone had experienced
ents, what I heard that day would al- weekday, when we go to and from the same luck as me. I would see
ways haunt me. I was told that there school, we pass through the “Great many obituaries and announce-
were two threatening earthquakes Wall Hotel.” I could bring up the ments of death on social media. Eve-
in quick succession, separated by many times that I had told oth- ry new information brings a feeling
six minutes. My brother had barely ers how ridiculous the name was. of a bleaker future. Although it is
managed to escape when the place But the place stood out. It was not a bit unfair to claim this, I actu-
Voice of a Young to the ground. The buildings I used always felt that it was imperious. someone my actual age having lost
ally feel more pain when I hear of
he was studying at had pummelled
a brand-new building, but I had
their lives. There was someone who
Now, and when it happened, it be-
to glance across on the way to and
from home had all been gone. I felt
came a graveyard for many people.
I attended the same high school
as if I had lost my home. I can re-
the earthquake and unfortunately,
quake. Personally, the news broke
call when I learnt about the Richter The building was obliterated by class who died during the earth-
lives were lost in the earthquake
scale back at school; it all seemed
me as he was someone who once sat
Burmese like a distant memory of numbers, and under the rubble of damage. on the same class, same table in dif-
inconsequential they all seem! In
The information coming out of the
ferent weeks or even maybe we had
building was less than ideal. Rescue
struck up a conversation. And just
the aftermath of the earthquake,
logging into social media was a
limited transparency from the ho-
nightmare, a heart attack waiting efforts were thwarted; there was like that, he was gone.
to happen. Every hour, there was a tel management. I could only imag- I felt that maybe I had lost a
new earthquake that struck. Small- ine what the families of the victims friend, even though I barely knew
er in number compared to others, had to go through. him. In the back of my mind, I could
not fight off the feeling of “If it had
but I knew that even a 5 on a Rich-
By Myo Min Htin ter scale could be like a dagger to a collapse and lives are regularly lost been me.” I came to the realisation
Earthquakes happen; buildings
of how fortunate I was for things
wild animal that had been shot. My
mom told me that they were camp-
were thousands of people who had
ing out in the open “for the time to nature. These are the claims our to pan out the way they did. There
brains come up to comprehend the
being.” I thought to myself, “until complexity of the delicate situa- lost their lives that day: many who
when?”. Words of encouragement tions. However, when it happens to still had a lot to live for and from
