Neighbors among the first on the scene

Riyadi Suparno and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

"We live here just like the refugees," head of the humanitarian task force for the Singaporean Armed Forces in Banda Aceh, Lt. Col. Tay Boon Khai quipped.

He was telling the truth. The young commandant sleeps in a tent on wet ground, in the Singaporean base camp at the Indonesian Military air base compound here.

Among the first foreign nationals to arrive in the capital Banda Aceh just two days after the earthquake and tidal waves that leveled many parts of Aceh, the Singaporean relief task force brought less publicity but crucial help to ease the ordeal faced by the victims and the relief organizations distributing aid to remote, affected areas.

It was Singapore's defense forces chief, who made a call to his Indonesian counterpart offering help and deployed six Chinooks and two Superpuma helicopters plus two vessels off Meulaboh, an emergency response operation manned by almost 1,000 personnel including medics, air ground crew and sailors operating in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh and Medan.

The task force was the first to lower the country's flag to half-mast in the base camp as a demonstration of solidarity and condolences, which was soon followed by other foreign military forces also camped in the air base compound.

The force was the first to get into Meulaboh to rehabilitate the airstrip, enabling helicopters to land, and also the one that brought in a mobile control tower for the Banda Aceh air base.

When a cargo plane skidded and blockaded the airstrip after hitting a buffalo, it was Singapore's heavy equipment -- airlifted directly from the country -- that cleared the air base and ended the over 12-hour stoppage of flights into and out of Banda Aceh.

"Singapore is a small country, but we're here to help in whatever way we can ... to make a difference. We will stay as long as the Indonesian government needs us," Tay told The Jakarta Post here.

Besides the military, Singapore also deployed its Civil Defense Force's rescue team.

Contingent commander Lt. Col. Yazid Abdullah said the team arrived on Dec. 28, two days after the calamity. They have managed to evacuate 96 people.

"Toward the end of our operation, we helped out at the relief centers in Mataie, working together with Singapore's medical team there, helping in the field hospitals ... We are going back home today," he told the Post on Wednesday.

Like Singapore, Malaysia didn't wait for a long-distance phone call before deploying its emergency assistance to Aceh.

Head of the team, Nadzri Siron, who coordinates the country's military, rescue team, civilian relief organizations and journalists entering Aceh, said they had focussed on clearing the town from the scattered rubble and flotsam.

"We helped the police to clean up their armistice buried in the mud brought by the tidal waves ... We have brought bulldozers to clear the area after the evacuation of the corpses," the director of the Emergency Task Force for Selangor state explained.

With their two helicopters, Malaysia previously handled the aid distribution to Meulaboh and established a medical clinic there until all coordination for air transportation was placed under the United Nations agencies represented there on Wednesday.

As Tay said, the neighboring countries might not bring much in terms of relief supplies, but the most important thing is "neighboring countries can help, and must help".