今天我们都是四川人

Why am I not there? Like I was when the WTC collapsed back in 2001, to do what little bit I could for the victims, or the rescue dogs, and to witness the outpouring of compassion as well as a show of unity and kindred spirit in a country so massive and so diverse in ethnicity like China.

An SMS that pledges "今天我们都是四川人" (today, we're all Sichuanese) has been circulating among the Chinese, calling for donations in cash, in kind or in manpower. Indeed, I think most Chinese at home and abroad must feel like this, wanting to do something for the quake victims, myself included.

What is even more touching - it made me tear - was the 100,000 won donation from a pair of South Korean sisters, which was equivalent to USD100, which was equivalent to an entire year's allowance money that they had saved.

In a message to the Chinese Consulate General in Busan, they said:

"Please deliver the money to the children in Sichuan's earthquake-hit areas and express our blessings. I saw the damage by the massive earthquakes in Sichuan on the TV news. So many people died and so many houses collapsed. I am so worried about you. Cheer up, my young friends in China."

And Peru, so far away, declares 19 May a national mourning day for the quake victims.

Not forgetting that in spite of their own suffering, quake survivors are taking care of the foreign media on-location, as described by NZ journalist, Jon Johnson:

"A few boys came up to us and offered us boiled eggs. They didn't want us to go hungry."

There really is hope in this world.