Shocking relevations of Tsunami Aid mishandling

It was shocking to say the least that 10 months after the devastating Asian tsunami that killed more than 250,000 people on Dec 26 last year, nothing much has changed for the victims of this tragedy.

It was reported in The Sunday Mail today that despite more than RM33.5 billion worth of donation collected worldwide, rebuilding work has hardly begun for the hard-hit residents of Aceh in Indonesia where more than 60,000 people are still living in tents while another 60,000 are housed in barracks or temporary housing. A report commissioned by the Red Cross further revealed that the United Nations had failed miserably in co-ordinating the rescue operation effectively. Various problems involving competing charities, red tape, rivalries between aid agencies, disputes over land rights and shortage of labour and materials have all contributed to the chronic delays in the rebuilding programme, causing further suffering to the poor victims.

Were you one of those kind samaritans who gave some of your hard-earned money to one of those Tsunami-aid fund collectors? Do you know what happened to it? Would you be upset to read the news that so much money has been given and yet it seems so little has reached the intended receipients and that these people whose sufferings had tugged at your heartstrings are still suffering as much?

In Malaysia alone, more than RM1 million was collected from the public through the various newspapers and other agencies. As far as I know, only The SUN newspaper had made public their accounts from the Tsunami aid collection fund for those who are interested to know where all the money had gone to. What about the rest? Isn't anyone interested to know what happened to all the money? Does charity ends after the money has left our hands and we felt good at having done a good deed and maybe scored a few brownie points with our maker? Do we wash our hands off the whole thing by being satisfied that we have done our small part? We Malaysians are a generous and trusting lot, both with our money and our belief in the inherent goodness and honesty of mankind.