Commentaries
A Look At The Tsunami From Singapore: The First Week
December 30, 2004
The good news is that Singapore was not directly affected by the disaster, but the key word here is “directly.” Geography has been kind and spared us direct damage from the earthquake or resultant tsunami. However there are many Singapore casualties from among those who were on holiday, and there are a still unknown number of casualties from among the 20,000 Americans who live here and had the misfortune of taking their vacation in an area affected by the disaster. We in Singapore are a small part of a large story, with most of the devastation in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India. But Singapore is only an hour away from the Thai island of Phuket, one of the world’s great resort areas, and as a result Phuket is in some ways Singapore’s Ft. Lauderdale -- the place to go if you want a beach holiday.
The exact number of deaths will only slowly firm up because of the horrific and sudden nature of the tsunami, combined with the frequently casual way people take vacations. Many people do not tell friends or relatives their travel plans. Younger travelers, in particular, can decide on the spur to change plans and stay with friends at a beach resort. (After the terrorist bombing in Bali in November 2002, I sent my FBI agents to Indonesia and they had to visit every hotel room to which no one had returned after the blast, searching for identifying material. In several cases, they had to scrape the toothbrushes in the room for DNA material in an attempt to match the material with that from burnt corpses. This time, there are not necessarily any hotel rooms to visit.)
So an enormous part of our disaster-related work in the embassy is dealing with the surge in “welfare and whereabouts” inquiries after these disasters. Your son was taking his family to a beach resort, but you are not sure which one? Your brother was going back packing in Thailand, but you are not sure where? Your daughter is joining some college friends in Phuket, but you don’t know exactly when or which hotel they are staying at? There can be a lot of anxiety and emotion in these inquiries, and it ripples through the embassy. Slowly, fragmentary information comes in. Your son is O.K. He’s in temporary shelter. Your daughter never made it to Phuket because she found some other college friends in Bangkok. But the unfinished stories continue to gnaw. We still have no information about your brother. We’ll keep searching. I’m sorry.
Starting December 26, when reports first came in, we had to scramble just to make sure all embassy staff was accounted for. Then I contacted State Dept Operations Center and offered to send medical officers and consular officers to Phuket. They said better to hold here.
It is worth noting that the "official" aid statistics capture only a fraction of U.S. activity. Starting Sunday, when we first got word: We had a consular officer on vacation in Thailand, so I cancelled his leave and ordered him to assist in Phuket. He is working with the team sent from our embassy in Bangkok, and U.S. staff brought in from about 5 other countries to help Americans with everything from destroyed clothes and missing passports to the more serious cases of injuries and death. The most wrenching aspect of this, to my mind, is providing documentation for the transportation or disposal of remains and notification of next of kin. None of this shows up in official statistics.
Simultaneously on Sunday we had 2 USN P-3's through here to conduct search and rescue off of Thailand and Indonesia. The Royal Thai Navy seems to have their part of things under control. But Indonesia was closer to the epicenter and took a much more punishing blow.
Monday, (still Christmas weekend in the U.S.) PACOM dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln to Phuket. The boat is steaming on station without a normal port stop in Singapore, but we are running the COD (Carrier On-Board Delivery) flights out of Singapore on their C-2 “Greyhound” for medical supplies and provisions. The Lincoln has heavy equipment and Seabees (construction battalions) embarked so they can get through, open roads, etc. It also has a medical team, desalinization equipment, and substantial stores of provisions to help the survivors. This doesn't show up in statistics either.
People aren’t talking about it but the boat will likely have additional work in moving corpses because it has the body bags and refrigerated spaces to handle that. But right now the focus is on saving lives.
The Thai government is responding in a competent fashion, with the military, the civilian agencies, and the various charities all on the scene. But when the U.S. non-profits show up, and their role is vital, they are unlikely to find any survivors who have not been already helped by either the Thai or the U.S. military.
It’s terrific that charities will arrive in a few weeks to re-roof the school, but if the victims are not reached within 48 hours, they might be dead.
As a side note, the critical economic role the U.S. will play in rebuilding these damaged areas will be undertaken largely by the private sector. My guess is if we look over the next few years, we will see substantial investment, job creation, and job training done by Hilton, Marriot, and others, perhaps more than by the aid agencies.
Many, many other things are going on. Whatever we do, let's not fall into the trap of asking "who is writing the biggest check?"
Also, I saw a reference in a CNN story that an American transiting Bangkok was billed for a new passport, perhaps not unreasonable - except in a crisis situation such as this. For the record, Singapore, Bangkok, and I assume our embassies in other affected areas are not billing Americans for “documentary services” if it is related to crises. I have directed my staff to waive all fees if the matter is disaster related. I reviewed with my deputy staffing requirements and duty officers for New Year’s weekend, because we are bound to have more evacuees arrive and we need to ensure that is all handled effectively and with some TLC besides.
One of the Americans evacuated to Singapore is a little girl who lost both her parents and both her siblings in Phuket. U.S. regulations state, for the protection of the minor, that a child can only be issued a passport if both parents sign for it. This is to protect a child against kidnapping in a custody case. What to do in this case - a waiver is possible, of course; one just needs to produce the parents’ death certificates. But there are no certificates yet, because the deaths just took place and this was an emergency evacuation. But the consular officer on duty has a good head as well as a kind heart. She took it on herself to issue a travel document, nonetheless. We know that bureaucracies can be, well, bureaucratic. But she has earned my respect.
Our consular officers are terrific. Our troops are terrific. As Americans (heck, as taxpayers) you would be very proud of what our people do, both in and out of uniform.
It is humbling for me, because my job is largely just “desk work” and the real work is being done in the field. But to the extent we are able to support those in the field and provide some solace for those evacuated through Singapore, perhaps were doing our duty as well.
Parts of Southeast Asia will be a mess for some time to come. My guess is deaths will cross 100,000, and there could be another 100,000 deaths because of disease, lack of clean water, and economic devastation. But amidst the reminder of nature’s power and man’s fragility are the occasional stories of stoicism, even heroism, charity, and kindness.
What was Faulkner’s comment? Mankind will not just endure, but will prevail. You might have doubted that observation on last Sunday morning when hell was unleashed. But if you had spent time with our people over the past few days, you’d think just maybe that old fellow was right after all.
Frank Lavin
U.S. Ambassador
NOTE: This commentary can be reproduced.