Return from Myanmar

I got home last night from Yangon - Many friends has been asking about me and I like to thanks everyone for their kind concern and friendship. It has been an eventful week for me. My colleagues in Yangon has help me very much in mobilising some support for the affected people in the Irrawaddy delta due to cyclone Nargis - still much need to be done and there are many people out there trying to help as best they could.

Hopefully in the next few coming days, we see much more professional involvement by the many NGOs who has in the meantime send in much needed material to help the local efforts. We hope there will be meaningful and fruitful discussion between the Myanmar government and the international NGOs as well as the UN etc resulting in as much help as possible being extended to the delta people.

This is not the time to bash the regime which everyone loves to hate. I think we have to be smarter and more sensitive to the local culture if we really want to help in an effective way. We are neither pro or anti the regime as far as this event is our concern in our own small way. We just help with the resources we can muster.

Finally - thanks to my colleague Capt Lee who has updated you in this Monsoon blog and also in helping mobilise from this end for donations etc. I am very proud of our Monsoon people both in Yangon and in Singapore, both shore and sea staff who has gone beyond their call of duty to help out as we should.

Thanks also to the many friends who has pledge donations big and small for which we extend our heartfelt appreciation. Every dollars will go towards alleviating the difficulties now being faced by the delta people.