Wednesday March 16, 2011
Tearful Japanese envoy paints a bleak picture
By ISABELLE LAI
isabellelai@thestar.com.my
Photo gallery
KUALA LUMPUR: Japanese Ambassador Masahiko Horie is known for his gregarious ways. Not yesterday.
This time, he fought hard to keep his emotions in check as he addressed the local media about the situation in his country.
“I am so happy to see you all this afternoon,” the grim-faced envoy told a packed press conference at his Jalan Langgak Golf residence which was also attended by the Japanese media.
Emotional time: Horie speaking about the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami which hit his country last week. — AZMAN GHANI / The Star
Still visibly shaken by Friday’s twin disasters which hit his homeland, the 65-year-old Horie spoke about the shattering events as a result of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which followed.
“Entire towns, cities and villages have been wiped out. We still don’t know how many are missing.
“Every day we are counting dead bodies,” he said.
He then turned to the dire situation in Japan – large-scale blackouts and communication in Tohoku and extensive disruption of road transportation.
“Over 400,000 have been evacuated and are in facilities such as city halls and schools. There is no electricity in many places... I understand it is going to snow tonight (today),” he said in a hushed tone.
Horie assured that the Japanese Government was taking all the necessary measures to contain further radioactive leakage and incidents related to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Horie, who is from the Okayama Prefecture located in the Chugoku region on Honshu island, said he was deeply touched by the many messages of sympathy, condolences and encouragement that he and members of his mission had received from Malaysians.
“I am without words to express how the people, Japanese Government and myself have been touched and encouraged by those messages,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and his fellow heads of mission were among those who had sent messages of comfort.
“We are conveying all these wholehearted messages to Japan so that the Japanese people can understand how much Malaysians are supporting them,” he said.
Horie said it was unfortunate that Japan was not yet in a position to receive many volunteers.
“The situation is so bad that all our ministries are engaged in sorting out the problems. Therefore, we have not established a proper system to receive volunteers,” he explained.
On his country’s precarious position on the Ring of Fire, he paused briefly and said: “Japan is really a country of natural calamities. But we have overcome past calamities and we have to overcome this one.”
Those wishing to contribute to Japan’s earthquake victims should contact the Malaysian Red Crescent at 03-4257 8122 or visit http://redcrescent.org.my/drupal/.
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