Being one of the nearest neighbors to the tsunami-hit countries and a nation that was not directly affected by the recent disaster, Singapore has been able to render prompt help as part of the global relief efforts.

A relentless earthquake and the following tsunami slashed several countries in the Indian Ocean region on Dec. 26 last year,claiming more than 168,000 lives and leaving even more people in devastation.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on the same daythat the island state, which has a population of around 4 million,was ready to render relief and rescue efforts and its sympathies went out to all the victims and their families.

At the initial stage, the Singapore government pledged 2 million Singapore dollars (about 1.2 million US dollars) and dispatched the first batch of relief supplies including tents, groundsheets, blankets as well as food and medicine to Indonesia'sMedan by a C-130 military transport aircraft on Dec. 28.

Since then on, four C-130 loads of supplies have been ferried to Medan and Banda Aceh of Indonesia, the worst-affected country in the disaster, and a consular team was sent to Thailand's Phuketto help find those missing and uncontactable Singaporeans there.

On Dec. 30, Prime Minister Lee called for an urgent summit meeting of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate relief efforts under the United Nations (UN), and the Singapore government raised its contribution to 5 million Singapore dollars (about 3 million US dollars).

During the summit, which was held on Jan. 6 in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta with the participation of leaders from 20 countries and six international organizations, Lee also announced that the Singapore government would pledge another 10 million US dollars to a UN reconstruction fund for those disaster-stricken countries.

After assessing the situation in tsunami-hit areas in Indonesiaand consulting with the Indonesian authorities, Singapore decided to focus its relief efforts on Meulaboh, where one third of the population was wiped off and ports and roads totally destroyed by the killing waves.

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have deployed six Chinooks, two Super Pumas, three helicopter landing ships and one mobile airtraffic control tower, the only one in the city state, together with more than 900 personnel, to Banda Aceh and Meulaboh since Dec.29 to help the rescue operations there.

The first two helicopter landing ships, which arrived off the coast of Meulaboh on Jan. 3 and 6 of this year respectively, have been playing a critical role in sending relief supplies and heavy construction equipment into the miserable area when access to the area was very difficult.

Thanks to the ships and helicopters, a field hospital with the capability of surgical operations and a water purification plant were established in Meulaboh about two weeks after the calamity had happened.

The SAF soldiers succeeded in securing and expanding beach landing site to Meulaboh last Monday and helped the Indonesia armyand other agencies to reopen the land access from Medan to Meulaboh one day after.

The third ship, with 60 non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel and volunteers and 200 pallets of relief supplies including food, water, tents, generators and vehicles onboard, arrived in Meulaboh in the evening of Jan. 16 to help improve people's living conditions there.

In addition to its dedication of relief efforts to Meulaboh, Singapore also delivered relief aid and medical supplies includingwater bags, water generator and desalination units to Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. About 200 Singaporeans are working in the three countries.

In Singapore, the government offered its air and naval bases asa staging area for international relief efforts, and a UN coordination center is under construction in the island state.

The Civil and Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) have been waiving handling charges for flights and ships sending relief goods.

Many organizations in Singapore have been raising funds, among which, the Red Cross Society had raised nearly 40 million Singapore dollars (about 24 million US dollars) for humanitarian assistance to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

On Jan. 9, Singaporeans once again showed their sympathies for the tsunami victims by flying the national flags at half-mast in anational memorial service, which was attended by more than 5,000 Singaporeans, including President S. R. Nathan, Prime Minister LeeHsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and other senior government officials.

As the relief efforts moves from the emergency rescue phase to the recovery and reconstruction phase in Indonesia and Thailand, the Singapore Civil Defense Force have scaled down its operations in the two countries by retreating the majority of its personnel during the past week.

The SAF also began to shift the relief coordination work to theIndonesia authority and the UN. Most of the SAF soldiers will be back to Singapore in the next few weeks, leaving just 70 of them in Aceh to operate three Chinook helicopters to transport supplies.

Meanwhile, thousands of Singaporeans including doctors and nurses are on standby as volunteers to render helping hands to people in the tsunami-stricken areas, while civil engineers are expected to assist the reconstruction of buildings and facilities there.