In Phuket, a wrecked car stood as testimony to the damage caused by
the Tsunami.
t
was just a day after the Christmas reverie that news of towering Tsunamis
that pounded South Asian shores hit on 26 December 2004.
Lands were ravaged, and the presumed death toll was said to be almost 280,000. Millions were left homeless.
The region's greatest crisis in recent times left survivors grappling with the searing losses as they tried to rebuild their lives.
MCYS was roped in to support the relief efforts. Its key tasks were to assist in terms of CARE Officer deployment and leadership at the Singapore Contact Centre and the memorial service; lead the Tsunami Disaster Memorial Service Organising Committee; and last but not least, facilitate the collective efforts of community organisations viz Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that responded to the Tsunami-affected areas.
Singapore Contact Centre Set Up
The Singapore Contact Centre (SCC) was set up at the Immigration and Checkpoint
Authority for relatives of those affected by the Tsunami disaster. It was
coordinated by five government ministries, namely MCYS, MHA (Ministry of
Home Affairs), MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), MICA (Ministry of Information,
Communication and the Arts) and MOH (Ministry of Health).
A key objective of the contact centre was to further improve
the search process for those still missing or unaccounted for. MCYS’ CARE-Officers
as well as psychologists from the Psychological Services Unit
were on hand to assist the affected people in whatever way possible.
The contact centre functioned for 24 hours a day. This was eventually scaled
down to office hours when the walk-in rate of next-of-kin declined. A contact
centre was also set up in Phuket. Two psychologists from MCYS, Ms Vivienne
Ng and Ms Michelle Ho were sent to the Phuket Contact Centre as part of the
national contingent under the National CARE Management System or NCMS. The
Singapore Contact Centre was closed on Jan 14 when there were no more new cases.
However, police officers and counselors continued to maintain contact with
next-of-kin to keep them updated on new developments. MCYS also provided Incident
Site Team (IST) Leaders for deployment at the SCC throughout its operations.
Staff from the Emergency Preparedness Unit were coordinating the MCYS CARE-Officer resources at the SCC as well as manning the MCYS Operations Centre, which was set up at MCYS building. The latter functioned as an information centre, and the team submitted regular reports to related agencies and management. »continue next page
