GRRRRR. Arrrgh. And sometimes a travel log.
April 10 2005
"You got out of your commitment to the Army by becoming a POW."
To whom it may concern,
I'm TRYING to file my father's income tax for him via e-filing, but your website seems to insist that my ALL THREE of my web browsers (IE 5.2, Safari 1.3 AND Firefox 1.0) do not have Java enabled. Which is strange because I have several windows open at this time which happen to be RUNNING Java quite fine.
Your FAQs do NOT help, especially in this case. And having a helpline that only works DURING office hours certainly does not help - especially since it's ALWAYS busy during office hours. Or it could be that your customer service officers always hang up on me, because I do get disconnected from time to time.
So, I WOULD APPRECIATE it if someone could get back to me before the end of this week. Otherwise, if the IRAS chooses to prosecute my father for missing the filing deadline, I will point whichever authority to this email that I have sent tonight.
Thank you.
This is an automated reply :
We have received your email. For emails on matters relating to e-Services Authorisation System (EASY) or myTax Portal, we will respond to you within 3 working days.
Thank you.
is the webpage I'm getting the most viewings of...
OK, didn't talk about the last episode, because I hadn't watched it until today...
But I'm really enjoying The Contender...
Since the missus and her brother are doing it... A Google map...
Home. For three of four years. I can't, for the life of me, remember my first Vancouver address in Burnaby. Age, it seems, is catching up to me.
09 April 2005
Nias #28
Originally uploaded by Terz.
We get to the airport at 1000 hours. H and W are going out the same time and we catch the first of the Chinooks landing for the day. Only to be told that she's not headed to Medan. We settle down to wait.
For six hours. At some point in time, we consider paying for a commercial flight out to Medan on Merpati Air.
But at 1700 hours, two hours after the last Merpati flight left Gunungsitoli, we finally get a place on the last Chinook of the day. 
Nias #29
Originally uploaded by Terz.
We share it with two patients who are being evacuated to the hospital in Medan. The trip outbound seemed a lot faster than when we came in. Or maybe it was just a load's lifted off my back.
Nias #30
Originally uploaded by Terz.
***
We arrive in Medan a little after 1900 hours and we get whisked to the spanking new shopping mall (Sun Plaza) where the appearance of the three of us (W in his 'stolen' hospital OR bajus, and I, tracking dust from every pore and thread on my body) caused quite a stir. Only H looked the most normal until someone got to within three meters of him.
I am again reminded of what F's patient said to him. And I cannot but agree. Here in Medan, but one hour by commercial flight away, people carry on with their lives as if nothing had happened 500 km away. They look well-to-do, shopping in the most fashionable of boutiques and buying all the latest electronics, where a concert in the atrium has has-beens and never-weres belting out 60s and 70s Chinese hits at the top of their lungs.
In Gunungsitoli, it's foreign NGOs and militaries and charity workers - the YMCA and Muhammiyah groups - from other parts of Indonesia (some from as far away as Sulawesi) who's been doing all the sweating and moving.
Perplexing.
Was back in the late afternoon, but because we were throwing a party for Joe who's enlisting at the end of the week (and because I didn't have a massage in BKK and thus slept the rest of the day away...), I've not had the opportunity to log in.
Everything's on hold at the moment while I'm in sunny Bangkok. Decided to give myself a break from work for the moment.
08 April 2005
The promised beer party the previous night didn't happen but I didn't need the additional help sleeping anyway. I was knackered after the day's labours. And now that there's electricity again, the fan could be left on all night to cool the interior of the tent. It's the first good sleep I've had in a while.
There was a second aftershock the previous night (about an hour after the first one), and like the Donnie Wahlberg character from Band of Brothers (Carwood Lipton, "The Breaking Point"), it wasn't funny anymore the second time around. It lasted only 2 seconds, but it was enough for me to start feeling some concern for the team who would be staying for another four days in Nias.
There is a very real fear that there might be a meningitis outbreak in Nias. One of the patients we saw yesterday had all the signs and symptoms (inlcuding photophobia already), and W insisted that the nurses who tended to the man take a prophylaxis to counter the effects. J was reminded to bring along a dose for Tommy, our interpreter, today. As I write this, Tommy's looking freaked as J explains the reason for the dosing to him. He doesn't come back in the afternoon; the nurses hope he's all right.
We continue to see a lot of cases of injuries that have become septic. I wonder about the medical help that these people have received since the earthquake and rage at the ineptitude of the people who have fucked up these patients more than the earthquake had. The smell, coming from the next table where a young boy, barely four, sits whimpering as doctors drain the pus from his infected wound, is unbearable. There is nothing I can do here except to give the boy looks of comfort as he undergoes his ordeal.
Nias #24
Originally uploaded by Terz.
I've just gotten used to the weather and living conditions, and it's already my last, real full day in Gunungsitoli. With the completion of most of my duties as logistician (almost everything is in place now, so there's very little else for me to do), I'm getting a little more alone time, which gives me time to think about my experience in this place. 
Nias #19
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Nias #20
Originally uploaded by Terz.
I take a final walk through town, accompanying W and H, whose flight has been postponed as well (they would leave Gunungsitoli the same time I would), who are briefing a Dr M of the Red Cross on the SOPs of all the NGOs operating in the area. The people in Nias are more prepared to go back to their old lives more readily than the people in Meulaboh. Even while under the constant and still-present threat of further tremors, locals have begin rebuilding their homes and their lives. I take a final trip up to the IDP and bid the refugees there a final farewell; they have taken down one of the tents and many are also preparing to return to their homes in the town. 
Nias #21
Originally uploaded by Terz.
I guess everyone is ready to go back home. 
Nias #22
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Nias #23
Originally uploaded by Terz.
F was asked by a patient this morning: why is the world caring so much and doing so much for us, but not Indonesians?
The house received a tsunami-/aftershock warning notice from the authorities today. In it, it tells residents that it is normal to have several aftershocks a day of 4 to 6.8 magnitude up to two weeks after a big quake. It also says that because of the geographical location of Gunungsitoli, there is no risk of a tsunami hitting the town. However, it adds, if residents are paranoid, all those who live within 1 km of the shore are advised to run inland for 2 km or seek the nearest area of elevation. That is scant comfort for us since we live only 50m from the shore (which would have been awesome if we were there on a beach vacation) - we'd have to make up the remaining 950 m before running the prescribed 2 km to get to safety.
If only the IPPT had this kind of motivation. 
Nias #26
Originally uploaded by Terz.
The Sister continues to drug the dog. We hope it doesn't become addicted to Xanax by the time we leave. As I go to bed that night, I notice the dog fast asleep on the doorstop of our neighbour's house.
Nias #25
Originally uploaded by Terz.
07 April 2005
There are familiar (almost) sights and smells. Familiar, yet different in so many ways. It's more than one week since the earthquake, and there are still many earthquake-related cases coming in to our little clinic (which incidentally, is for the moment, run by the MR team of 4): spinal injuries, stitching, internal injuries...
More disconcerting though are the many patients who come to the clinic because the injuries that have been treated earlier by other doctors, have become infected and, in some cases, septic. Many also come because they have been turned away by the only hospital in town for reasons beyond my understanding.
Nias #15
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Nias #16
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Nias #17
Originally uploaded by Terz.
We make another run for supplies at the airport, where the Chinooks have been banished since they took out the roofs of the houses near the Lapangan Pelita. Our supplies had come in in the morning, and by the time we got to the airport, the cardboard cartons of fresh water, canned food and biscuits, left on the landing field, are soaked and muddied. There ensues a long series of the comedies of errors. A lorry, sent to pick up our supplies, as well as the supplies of the Indonesian YMCA and Red Cross, gets stuck in the soft mud of the field. It takes two hours of arsing-around before someone decides to use the UN heavy 'copter to pull the vehicle out. In the meantime, I stay with the supplies we'd moved earlier, left dangerously by the taxiway used by all the aircraft flying to and from the airport.
Later, while moving the supplies into the storeroom, we are surprised by a stranger in our home: a man who came out of one of the bedrooms and who looked completely at ease in the place. H talks to him, and before we know it, the man, Pak Hamid, is staying with us and cooking our dinner over the kerosene stove. It turns out to be a blessing, Pak Hamid is an expert scrounger and he manages to, among other things, hook us up to our neighbour's water tanks to bring in clean water from said tanks, filled up by the public utilities department every day.
Exhausted by the heat and activity of the afternoon and cooled by the early evening air, I take a short nap on the porch. And miss another slight tremor at 1800 hours local time. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get to feel an aftershock while I'm in Nias.
At 1925 hours local, electricity is restored. Throughout the neighbourhood, ragged cheers are heard. At the porch, W is quizzing F on the SOP for taking over the clinic. It's gruelling and unrelenting. We all feel sorry for F, but all accept that it's necessary. With W and H slated to leave on the afternoon Chinook the next day, it will be left to F to control the entire clinic and make all the decisions on the evacuation of patients.
Then at 2230 hours local, I finally feel an aftershock. It lasted about 5 secs, and we ran into the open. It started as a low rumbling and vibration. It's a little different from the aftershocks I'd felt in Meulaboh, which were more of a swaying motion. These were more higher-frequency shivers, or in the words of one of the team: like being a grain of rice on the speakers of an Ah Beng's bassed-up sound system.
We spend more time that evening talking about our lives, our jobs and our families. The senior nurse prepares another dose of Xanax for the dog next door. He'd kept us awake the first night, but three tabs the previous night solved that problem. Since the nurses weren't keen on the combat rations given to us by the SAF, they served a different purpose. We sleep like babies after that.
06 April 2005
We send the medical team to the clinic while the doctors, H and I get dropped off at the Baupati's office for a meeting of the NGOs. I do not need to attend the meeting and instead take a walk through the part of town near the office where it's most heavily damaged. I engage in a little Marlboro diplomacy, sharing a pack with the policemen guarding the areas where the heavy equipment have begun removing debris from the collapsed buildings. We stand at the street corner a moment, taking in the sight. Eventually I ask if I could get closer to take photographs of the clearing up operations. 
Nias #9
Originally uploaded by Terz.
He accedes. 
Nias #6
Originally uploaded by Terz.
I learnt the previous night that Nias is 70% Christian, 20% Catholic and only 10% Muslim.
I am eating a lot of the dust from the rotorblast of the helos landing in the next field. The Chinooks, especially, send clouds of choking, stinging dust through the clinic - a boon and bane to our efforts in the town; I wonder how the medical supplies stay sterile in such conditions.
Watching the helicopters land has become the new spectator sport for the people of this town of dust and debris. I am reminded of my time in Meulaboh, but not of its emotional resonance.
We are told by the SAF ground commander that they'll be leaving Nias by the weekend, which means that MR will have to take over the running of the clinic. The problem is that the SAF have been running the clinic as a 24-hour A&E: some or all of us will be expected to spend the night at the clinic to receive emergency cases. Clearly beyond the capabilities of our little band of 4. 
Nias #7
Originally uploaded by Terz.
***
Nias #12
Originally uploaded by Terz.
In the afternoon, I visit the IDP camp in the hills for the first time and I'm treated to the most beautiful rendition of "Give Thanks" (in English and Bahasa Indonesia) by the refugees there. They'd fled their homes after the initial earthquake and have only been back once or twice to gather up their belongings. The rest of the time, however, I'm mired in the duties of being the logistician, checking on the stores and going on the water run.
Nias #11
Originally uploaded by Terz.
It's becoming obvious that my role here would be different from when I was in Meulaboh.
Nias #13
Originally uploaded by Terz.
05 April 2005
I'm sitting on a bench in the middle of the airfield in Medan the RSAF is operating out of, waiting for the Chinook to take us to Gunungsitoli. It's been two hours since we'd left Singapore and that old, familiar feeling is beginning to come back: the rush of adrenaline and the nervous anticipation of what to expect. 
Nias #1
Originally uploaded by Terz.
This much was clear from the briefing of the night before: although the destruction is localised to some areas of the town, 70% of the town is believed to be destroyed; roads, not all, are usable, but unreliable; Mercy Relief has secured a house as the team's base camp while in Nias, but the building suffered damage during the initial earthquake and is structurally unsound; there are aftershocks almost every night, the latest one being the 6.8 recorded on Monday night; there is no electricity (which meant I had to fly in with only my film camera - I decide later to bring along the digital camera anyway to shoot for as long as the batteries last); it's going to 1-star accommodations compared to Meulaboh, but the ground itself wouldn't be as bad as it had been in Meulaboh; the team is made up of a doctor and three nurses and we're short of a logistician, which means I might have to double up.
We are treated to a bird's eye view of the town as the Chinook circles it in preparation to land. The destruction, seen from afar, doesn't awe me as much as seeing Meulaboh for the first time does. 
Nias #2
Originally uploaded by Terz.
We land in the Padang Pelita where they have been conducting helo operations since 29 March 2005. The initial team, sent to assess the ground was waiting at the pavilion for their exfil. I spot Tahar and we exchange pleasantries. In him, I see the state I'll be in after five days in-country - apparently I'm not to count on a shower every night and I'm told that the smell of decomposition is present here as well and it comes up whenever it gets hot enough. Because it has been drizzling when we were coming in, the smell hasn't been that strong initially.
Nias #3
Originally uploaded by Terz.
As we arrive, the SCDF personnel prepare to leave. Local kids swarm some of them. Deep down, I hope we'll create as much of an impact as they did. 
Nias #4
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Nias #5
Originally uploaded by Terz.
I'm glad I changed my mind and bought three packs of Marlboros while we were waiting at the Medan airfield.
I am told there is a possibility that I'll be leaving on the Friday Chinook flight out of Gunungsitoli. I'm hoping that it'll be Saturday instead. Three days in-country doesn't seem like a lot of time to do what I need to do.
The first day passes uneventfully. I take a few prep pictures of the place and try to plot a shooting schedule for the next five days, interspersed with my duties as the logistician for this trip. I meet the people from the initial MR team who are staying for a while longer: H and W. H is the Manager for International Relief Missions at MR. W is a doctor, as far as I was told, on the first day - he conducted the first briefing. My team comprised, Dr F (a young, earnest-looking guy whose voice is a mirror of the missus's friend, Casey), the senior nurse, Ang (whom, by the end of the first night, we were calling 'mommy'), the nurses, J and D.
We didn't say much to each other throughout the transit to Nias. Well. I didn't say much to the others; they, on the other hand, appear to know each other from before (or from being in the same field) and were talking most of the way to Gunungsitoli. I remain in my cocoon for most of the journey, lost in my own thoughts and trying to compose myself for the tasks ahead.
Unlike Meulaboh mission when I had two days in-transit to think about what I'll shoot, the day's journey took only 3.5 hours. It wasn't enough to psyche myself up for what is to come.
At 2300 hours, we are done for the day. It is almost civilised: we have electricity for four hours every night, provided by a petrol-run generator the inital team managed to procure; we have a tent to sleep in, and mattresses and pillows from the house to use; we would need to make water runs from a mountain spring nearby, but if we do that, we'll get to bathe every night. 
Nias Addendum #1
Originally uploaded by Terz.
After more briefings from W 'to manage our expectations', we settle in for the night (and I've taken the first of my 3-minute baths for this trip, in a bathroom shored up at strategic points by pillars of wood, in a house cracked and crumbling around me) amid the mozzies and other flying denizens of the night and I prepare for the day ahead.
1. Why do we bother with 'consultation' when you know the final answer will always be what makes economic sense? Forget social sense.
New phone to be.
How is that when I accidentally leave an SLR on a park bench in Japan, people will wait there with the camera until I come back looking for it in a panic? Or when I'm in Nias, my scarf fell from my harness when I exited the vehicle and the Indonesian who saw it ran after me to return it to me?
Well, I'm back from Nias and writing at the Medan Secretariat of Mercy Relief. More updates on that trip (with images) at a later date. It's another 3 hours before my flight out and I'm taking this opportunity to relax for a bit before boarding.
So Glimpses of Light came down on Friday night, no fanfare, no media, just [most of] the people involved in the process from start to sad, unexciting end when the lights got turned off for the last time. There were some people who came by and walked through the suddenly empty exhibition space; two hours too late, we wanted to tell them. It was here for two weeks; it got extended for a couple more days. Where were you then?
Got a blister on my shooting thumb from trying to peel the double-sided tape off the backs of the prints. Not good.
Then spent the rest of the evening where the wait staff are wearing what looks like "NJC PE t-shirts". Think I fell sick from that night... same achy, fluey, phlegmy pain from two weeks ago when I didn't have enough sleep and the cough was muy bad.
Again, not good.
Not when I'm 60% 100% confirmed heading off with the second medical team sent from Singapore to Nias. Probably won't be updating the blog from tonight onwards since I'll be preparing to go away, will be away and will be recovering from being away. 
The End #2
Originally uploaded by Terz.
Um, so, see ya soon.
Former ad executive, teacher, now photographer (and sometime screenwriter). Wearer of many hats in my life; husband, brother, son, friend. Still hoping to save the world. Not earning as much, but infinitely happier with life in general. Which doesn't explain the angry blog.
