Concern for the 'Boat People'

I realise that in recent weeks our thoughts and efforts have been largely directed towards the education fightback campaign and I do agree that it is something pressing and important that we all should be fighting for. But amongst all this din and commotion we seem to have forgotten a far more pressing problem, in fact, a matter of life and death, and that is for the Vietnamese refugees or 'boat people' to be refilled in developed countries and be given the chance to live, be it decent or not.

I do not like to repeat how distressful and pitiful a plight the 'boat people' are in - it is well described in newspaper, TV and magazines and I suppose most of us even know the details. But I do indeed feel the pain and hurt that these people are feeling now, for I too am a Chinese is are the majority of them. I do feel frustrated about my own inability to do something more constructive to help them at I am an overeas student and so I appeal to you all to give t hand in saving those people.

The refugees do seem very remote from our student world (where we are totally immersed in our studies and activities) and yet we receive daily reports of the drowning, raping, sickness, hunger and deaths of the refugees. How long can we afford to sit back and do nothing about [unclear: t], hoping it will all go away soon? How much longer can we stare at this modern day holocaust and yet make feeble excuses about our own inactivity? Is human life really that cheap as to be better ignored?

New Zealand has recently announced that it would take in 1800 refugees per year, and yet an estimated 1000 refugees drown per day. The monthly outflow of refugees number 65,000 from Vietnam alone. I understand the economic situation New Zealand is in, with all its unemployment etc., and also the difficulty the local people face in adapting to these refugees (due to their racial and cultural differences— but still, the refugees are fellow humans, they are our brothers and sisters, and they too deserve our love and compassion. We can afford to save them, even if not on the religious ground of loving our neighbours as ourselves, but at least on the humanitarian ground of allowing another human being to have the chance to live and to share with them the joy and beauty of just being alive.

The present situation for the refugees is grave indeed, and their 'future', especially those still in the boats, looks horrifying. But if we students can lend a helping hand, we can at least let a few more lives continue living.

V. Wong