Photo/Illutration Bystanders look on as search-and-rescue operations continue in the aftermath of a strong earthquake, in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 29. (REUTERS)

One video shows people fleeing as a high-rise building under construction collapses. Another captures a torrent of water cascading from a rooftop pool of a tall building.

These and other dramatic scenes from Bangkok, Thailand, following the powerful earthquake that struck on March 28, have been rapidly surfacing on social media.

The epicenter was located in central Myanmar, roughly 1,000 kilometers away. The death toll and number of missing, as reported by the Myanmar military, continue to climb.

Myanmar has been under military rule since the coup four years ago. The seismic catastrophe in the Southeast Asian nation evokes disturbing memories of a similarly harrowing event 17 years ago, when the country was ravaged by a destructive cyclone.

The nation was under military control then as well. Distrustful of foreign scrutiny, the regime refused international humanitarian aid for about three weeks.

A colleague who attempted to enter the disaster zone at the time recalled bitterly, “At a checkpoint, soldiers from the national military asked me, ‘Why are you here? Did you take any pictures?’—then sent me away.”

The number of dead and missing eventually rose to around 140,000, drawing widespread international condemnation of the military junta.

This time, the regime called for international assistance soon after the disaster struck—perhaps recognizing it could not cope with the aftermath on its own.

Meanwhile, civil war continues to drag on, fueled by resistance from pro-democracy forces and armed ethnic groups. On the global stage, Myanmar remains largely isolated under ongoing economic sanctions.

I recently read “Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring,” a powerful collection of poems and essays written by those resisting military rule in Myanmar. In one poem, "For My Martyred Son" by A Phaw Khaing, he writes:

My son, please rest in peace./ Let us record this blood-soaked democracy./... Look there are fallen flowerets like you/ all red on the asphalt road singing the song of peace.

Now, a natural disaster has brought yet another layer of suffering to a people already silenced by oppression. I want to believe that the regime’s call for aid reflects a genuine intent to put human lives above all else.

—The Asahi Shimbun, March 30

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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