Lee Melissa: General Debate 
Lee Melissa: General Debate 
[Volume:670;Page:17279] 
MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 The first I heard about the Japanese earthquake was when I was sitting with a group of young professional Koreans at our monthly gathering in Auckland. As people do when we get together we were talking about everyday life and on that particular occasion we were discussing the experiences of some of the young people who had travelled to Christchurch and seen the devastation there. 
It was via the social network of Twitter that I heard there was an earthquake in Japan. I did not take much notice as I know that Japan has regular tremors. Then my son rang me to say that there was a disaster in Japan. He said he was recording it and there was slight panic in his voice. I had no idea of the enormity of the disaster. When I got home I sat in front of the television my eyes glued to the screen and mouth wide open in utter disbelief at the sheer force and speed of the magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that had struck Japan. The imagery of cars stuck on roofs and boats on top of houses and factories will remain with me for a long long time. My heart goes out to the people of Japan. I take this opportunity to pay my respects to the people the victims and the families in Japanese: Konkai no oujishin ya outsunami de kaimetsuteki na higai ni awareta nihon no katagata ni kokoro yori okuyami o moushiagetai tou omoimasu. Ka tangi ahau. 
The Japanese disaster does not in any way diminish the effects of our own earthquake in Christchurch. We have all been affected. Most of us have family or friends who have lost loved ones in Christchurch. I personally have friends on the missing list from the CTV site. I have a girlfriend who ran a Japanese restaurant in the middle of the Christchurch central business district who was trapped and had to be rescued. I also have friends whose house was as they said completely munted. It was days before we could get hold of them. It was frustrating not being able to call them. We did not know whether they were alive or dead whether they were hurt. That kind of grief and that kind of anxiety we all have felt. It is a devastating time for all but particularly for the people in Christchurch and the wider Canterbury area who have lived through the disaster and the rescue efforts and now are living through the recovery the clean-up and the rebuild of the Garden City. 
I was in Christchurch a week after the earthquake as our senior whip was cleaning up. I was very very impressed that he had driven his ute down to Christchurch to put his muscles to work. I too headed out to lend a hand in New Brighton and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Christchurch Korean community headed by the president of its society Kevin Park for their hard work. On the day I was in New Brighton at least 50 to 60 Korean young men and women had rolled up their sleeves to go and help in the areas most affected. Their own homes were cracked were affected by the earthquake yet they were out there cleaning up the silt. Korean churches were providing lunches for these volunteers. I found out today that as Chris said in the area where he was working other Korean young men and women were volunteering their time and their energy to help people. It did not matter whether they were Koreans; they were out there helping others. 
One of the things I will most remember about this earthquake is that on the day I was using my very limited muscle strength to shovel silt I was going to help a Korean father who had lost two children a 24-year-old and a 21-year-old who had been studying at the CTV building. As I was walking out to the car park I saw an elderly gentleman probably in his 80s who was devastated and frustrated that someone had driven past his house at more than 5 kilometres an hour. He had made up a sign saying 5 kilometres; it was the only thing he could control in his life. All I could do was ask “Can I please give you a hug?” and he cried. I felt I had done something good. 
To all the workers who have done the job in Christchurch I pay my respects. I thank the Prime Minister for the leadership that he has shown throughout this disaster which has been one of the biggest this country has faced.