The inner strength of a nation

The inner strength of a nation is reflected in how the people react to a devastating event. I have been deeply impressed by the way Japanese come to terms with the effects of earthquake and Tsunami. I admire their courage, the emotional depth and the controlled and dignified way responding to the disaster. One colleague in Japan wrote in her email to me, “there are a lot of disruptions in the public transportation in Tokyo due to power cut, but nobody in the office complained about it…” I think this is the very Japanese way. They don’t complain and blame, they just take it in stride.
There is a little Japanese restaurant Suzu around corner from our office. Today they are doing a donation to the relief efforts in Japan. Maki, the owner of the restaurant has lost friends and godson in the earthquake and Tsunami. I went there at lunch time, there was a long queue of people getting their sushi boxes. Apparently the news has gone out pretty quickly, the office workers around came out. All the proceeds today will go to British red cross. I got in the queue feeling sad and happy at the same time. It is a warm sunny day, the flowers have come back to London. There is a guy name Masa playing a pop violin in the restaurant. The tunes were enchanting with a touch of sadness. Gazing into the blue sky, looking at the busy staff preparing for the sushi boxes and the crowd around me, I felt very moved.

A risky strategy from the west in Libya

It sounds all terribly familiar, the force from the free world wanted to help the people suppressed by dictators. It sounds good on paper, although with no clear exit strategy or any milestone as targets for the plan, it is a very risky approach as we have learned in Afhganistan and Iraq.

I think we all agree Gadaffi should go as he is mad and brutal, but Libya's future has to be decided by their own people. The opposition is ill equipped and badly organized and so far has demonstrated very littel leadership to rally the country behind them. It is a very difficult situation compared with Egypt where the protestors had managed to convert the army.

It seems to me that the air strikes can only keep Gaddaffi's troops from advancing rebel's stronghold, but as soon as air strike stops, rebel's stronghold areas will fall into Gaddaffi's hands. This friendly support offered by the Allies provides no clear winning formula for the rebels. It is a half cooked formula that does not really help Libya people.

My honest opionion is the west came too late when the situation had turned into a civil war. Now the only way to protect libya people is to get rid of Gaddaffi, but that is not a task west has committed to. The danger of this half way strategy is that they will be trapped there for a long time and libya people will suffer from prolonged civil war and air strikes. The reality is that the west should have a more determined approach, either do not come at all or go all the way to get rid of Gaddaffi.

I think the justification of the west air strikes offer little comfort, as they don't seem to mind other injustice and civilian casualties elswhere around the world, for one, they seem to think civilian casualities in palistine is not a big deal and ongoing brutality toward protestors Bahrain, Yeman, etc are ok. Why help people from all countries that suffer from injustice and cruelty. The seletive favourism does not go down well.

The truth is that the world is a complex jigsaw, with countries in different development phase in terms of democracy and economy. Ther is no one size fit all. The road to freedom and democracy is bound to be a bumpy one, with huge sacrifice by the pioneers. However slow and hopeless it might seem at times, I do believe we will get there eventually, maybe in our different ways.

It is a beautiful sunny day here in London, and cherry bloosoms and daffidils are in full swing. I can't help to appreciate the peace and simple pleasures in life and at the same time feel deeply sorry for the people who are struggling in our big world.

2011 - we will remember

It seems that 2011 has kicked off in a quite memerable way, it started with the unrest in the Middle East, now the huge earthquake and Tsunami. We don't know what will be in the store for us yet for the rest of the year, but 2011 is certainly a year that will be remembered.

Be careful of what you wish for

It is Friday, and like the "day of departure" announced by Egytian revolutionists three days, Libyans are geared up for a day of victory or death to topple Gaddafi. Interestingly, from the definte tone of refusing foreign aid, they now are asking for foreign help to set up no fly zone.

Foreign interference in a country in an open civil war is not a good idea. This tool, is a double edged sword, both west and east have learned this in a hard way. We should not be naive here, there have been a lot of countries in Africa in a civil war and west have not shown much of interest to "help to speed up the democratic process". There is no free lunch in this world. If Libyans get foreign help to overturn Gaddaffi, in my opinion there will be a permanent scar to this revolution. Yes, without foreign help, they are under immense pressure from much more well equipped Gaddafi troops, but if they don't succeed today, they will succeed in the near future, because justice is on their side and justic will prevail in the long run. The complications arising from foreign involvement is not something easy to manage, and could trigger discontent from certain part of the population.