http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/258152/1/.html
The article's main issue is to highlight that the number of people that are suffering from dengue fever is on the rise. The Indonesian capital of Jakarta has been hit by the worst floods in the last 5 years. Thus, it brought the whole city to a standstill. Although the flood waters have receded, the people of Jakarta are still picking up the pieces slowly and painfully. Many have lost their houses and personal belongings from the flood. As the hygine standards are not up to par, many are suffering from various water-related diseases such as dengue fever and cholera. Medical help is also not properly equipped yet to handle the large number of patients seeking medical attention. The people who have been worst hit by the flood are those suffering from poverty. They have no choice but to live in substandard housing by the riverside. As they do not have proper waste disposal systems, they just dump their rubbish into the rivers, blocking the flow of water. This issue is the main cause of the flood as excess water is not able to drain away fast enough. To build a better water system by the means of enlarging the river, these people have no choice but to move elsewhere. This is a huge problem to them as they have no proper permanent shelter to live in.
After reading the article, I feel lucky to not have gone through such a traumatic experience. Those victims affected will have a changed life forever. Although we are not directly affected, we should symapthize the victims and try to help in whatever means possible. Singapore may be prone to natural disasters but that is not something that we should take for granted. Instead, we should take the chance of not dealing with such situations to better prepare ourselves for a national emergency, be it from terrorism etc. A disaster does not choose its victims, so everyone anywhere must always be prepared.
This disaster also highlights the importance of a proper planning for the people. The government should also do more to help those people, especially the poor and the needy. THis is an essential guide to make any country prosper as a whole. This is especially important to advance.
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1 comment:
it's true that we are really fortunate that we're staying in a country without such disasters. perhaps could talk about how we can help the victims specifically, and why the writer chooses to focus on dengue--is it to point out the inadequacy of the planning of the indonesian govt?
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