Asia's year of living tenuously

Asia's year of living tenuously

If the human spirit could be flattened as easily as a fishing
village, there would be only loss from events such as those we
have seen this past year.

But in Asia's year of living tenuously, what is amazing is the
extent to which lives, and livelihoods, have resumed, often under
the weight of bereavement.

And in at least two seemingly intractable conflicts -- between
Acehnese militants and the Indonesian government over
independence, and between India and Pakistan over Kashmir -- the
natural disasters that struck these regions have concentrated
minds and opened channels of dialog.

Indeed, the Acehnese separatist movement, GAM, has surrendered
its weapons in return for the promise of political legitimacy.
Nor has human ingenuity been thwarted by nature, with a new
tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean due to be commissioned
next year.

The lesson of the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake and the
flooding of New Orleans is that we, as human beings, can bounce
back from even the worst disasters -- provided we stick together.
-- The Australian, Canberra