I am going to be honest. I had a very difficult time writing this column. At this point, the piece has gone through four entirely different drafts in the same number of days. Previous drafts have been long-winded, digressive, and incoherent, with sentiments that fluctuated between the overly emotive and the calmly academic. This version is probably no different.
The difficulties I have had writing about the tragedy in Southeast Asia reflect my own difficulties in coming to terms with the circumstances and scale of the calamity. How do I do justice to something so massively tragic? What should I talk about?
Perhaps I should lament: 156,000 dead. By the time you read this that number will almost certainly be higher. The tsunamis have killed more people than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and six times the casualties of the last catastrophic earthquake in Iran a little over a year ago. It has been estimated that perhaps a third of the 156,000 are children. Of those fortunate enough to survive the initial waves, 1.8 million are now in need of food assistance — food that only now is starting to trickle in.
But those are just numbers: cold, impersonal figures that hardly capture the enormity of this tragedy.
What if we focus on the individuals?
Perhaps I should write about Ronaldo from Sri Lanka, who told CNN about the 10-foot waves that crashed into his house, threw his cousins into the air and drowned his aunt in her own bathtub.
Or maybe I should mention Abhishek from Chennai, India, who told the same cable news agency about fishing villages that have been completely wiped out and "bodies of children no older than seven . . . lying on the beach."
But these stories lose their poignancy when there are hundreds of thousands of them. What about writing on the unprecedented international response that this disaster has inspired? More than $2 billion has been pledged in aid; this is more than the total amount pledged for all other humanitarian emergencies in 2004. But that total is still less than the $3.3 billion given to the state of Florida by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency after four hurricanes hit the state last year.
In light of all these figures and facts, I am most moved by the thoughts and images that this tragedy has provoked in me. I have traveled to some of these places in Southeast Asia. When I think of this tragedy, it is my personal memories that surface.
I remember that old Thai grandmother who sold me two pairs of fisherman's pants that I would never wear again at Ao Nang Beach in Krabi, Thailand. I think of those cute Australian girls that I flirted with while snorkeling off the beaches of Phi Phi Don Island in southern Thailand. I recall the relief workers who dedicate their lives to helping the civil war-ridden natives of Banda Aceh in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. And I think of dreamers, like me, who escape regularly to this region in search of some of the world's most beautiful places.
When all else fails, these images help me grapple with this tragedy, giving me a sense of its magnitude and the feeling of personal connection with its victims.
As we trickle back onto campus in the coming days, I hope that the New Year brings a renewed sense of compassion to those less fortunate than ourselves. Despite those papers and exams, we should not lose perspective on things that truly matter. We might be thousands of miles away from the Indian Ocean, and perhaps feel even more distant from its victims, but there is not a single person whom this tragedy has not struck close to heart.
In the days and weeks to come, there will be a large-scale fundraiser on campus. The money raised will be donated to relief organizations who are working tirelessly to resuscitate the region and its people. You will see donation boxes in academic buildings, Frist, the dining halls and the eating clubs. I hope that you too will be able to come to terms with this tragedy and contribute to the global effort aimed to temper its devastation. Kyle Meng is a civil and environmental engineering major from Chappaqua, N.Y. He can be reached at kmeng@princeton.edu.
Read More
Charlie Kirk is not the martyr conservatives want him to be
Christofer RoblesIn his piece, Editorial Board Chair Christofer Robles ’26 argues that as members of the campus right misrepresent the status of free speech on campus and Charlie Kirk’s legacy, they legitimize the federal government’s punishment of left-wing students for their political expression.
In his piece, Editorial Board Chair Christofer Robles ’26 argues that as members of the campus right misrepresent the status of free speech on campus and Charlie Kirk’s legacy, they legitimize the federal government’s punishment of left-wing students for their political expression.
BP is out. Here’s what’s next for the climate movement at Princeton
Charlie Yale and Isaac BarsoumFossil fuel companies have abandoned their deceptive climate pledges, and the Trump administration is cracking down on climate research. As governments and corporations abandon climate action, Princeton must step up as a leader on the issue.
Fossil fuel companies have abandoned their deceptive climate pledges, and the Trump administration is cracking down on climate research. As governments and corporations abandon climate action, Princeton must step up as a leader on the issue.
Public service still serves the public
Guest ContributorsIt is sometimes difficult to see the value of service in times of instability, disinvestment in public services, eroding public trust in government, and an uncertain job market. But even in times of massive turmoil, public service is still able to drive initiatives that aren’t sufficiently politicized to make newspaper headlines.
As academia and the federal workforce have adapted to rapid policy changes, the SINSI program and the students it supports have had to adapt. We are the first generation of SINSI Scholars, the SINSI program’s graduate fellows, to contend with this new era of uncertainty.