Eight years ago, when local Chinese newspapers began emerging in the city, it was hard for them to attract writing contributions from their readers.

Over time, however, things have changed, albeit only a little.

"When I set up a page publishing writing from children and youths, I had to ask my own grandchild to write something just to fill the page," said Bambang Suryono, the chief editor of Yin Ni Guo Ji Ri Bao (Indonesian International Daily News).

The 20-page Guo Ji Ri Bao, first published in 2001, started a page the next year dedicated to contributions from young readers.

Natural disasters transcend state boundaries and nationalities and remind us, quite brutally, that we mere humans are not ultimately in charge, that our capacity to control our fate is not unlimited, and that it is the forces of nature (which we barely understand) that ultimately call the shots of our destinies.

At the same time -- leaving differing ideologies, politics and religions aside -- disasters also serve to remind us that there's no time quite like the present for the appearance and application of competent government.

Not every election has significant international repercussions, to be sure. Some are scarcely noteworthy even in the places where they occur. But last March there was a monster-piece of an election in East Asia, and earlier this week the landslide winner was celebrated in happy parties all over the globe.