I am Nafesa Ismail, a second year Masters student studying about Disaster

Prevention and Mitigation in Kansai University, Osaka, Japan. I will graduate in

March 2015 and will further my studies to post doctorate. I came to become
fascinated with natural disasters especially because when from I come from,
Malaysia, it is generally free from devastating natural disasters such as volcanoes
eruption, tsunami or even an earthquake. Besides, I was almost involved in the
2011 Tohoku Earthquake as I was supposed to return to Malaysia in March 2011 but
I rescheduled and went back in December 2010 instead. At that time, I was in Japan
for an exchange student program for a year under JASSO. My university was in Tokyo
and I lived around Yokohama area. I was glad that I was in Malaysia during the
disaster as my family would gone frantic if I were still there. On the other hand, I
was extremely sad and heartbroken as I was not being able to lend a hand or be
much of a help. I was worried for my friends and host families in Japan. That hit me
hard and had myself thinking about what had happened if I were there as I knew
nothing on disaster or even how to save myself. Therefore, I vowed to study about
disaster and help out my fellow Malaysian who lived in disaster prone areas to be
able to grasp and practice what need to be done in case of a disaster.
Below are the subjects that I had studied in the classroom in the first year as
a graduate student.
Year

Subjects
Social Safety Science Special Lecture I
& II
Social Safety Literature Reviews
Disaster Simulation
Risk Management
Risk Psychology
Safety Design Theory
Human Error
Mental Health
Disaster Psychology
City Disaster Response Theory
Disaster Prevention
Fieldwork
Thesis Meetings

The subjects were interesting as all were related to how disasters were first
known in Japan and its history of the disaster and the action taken at that point of
time. From the very first fire wheel-cart truck to the modern high-tech machine, I
was very impressed with the availability of the picture and the physical article itself
preserved nicely in the National Museum. This showed how Japanese took their
disaster lesson seriously. I learnt awfully a lot from my Japanese lecturers as Japan
being one of the most frequent disaster victim had faced many challenges and rose
up tall to prevent and make awareness for their community. Their ability to bounce
back and resiliency after facing those disaster are something to be respect and
admire at by us. I believed that developing countries such as Southeast Asia need

guidance and advices on disasters be it man-made or natural to be protected or at

least reducing the adverse risks since we can never know when disaster will strike.
What is impressive about my study was the insignificant factors human usually
ignore that can cause massive destruction to the country. A simple ignorance of
being aware of the nearest evacuation center can prove to be deadly when you are
in a panic situation.
Before entering the Master course, I was a research student in the same
university. In one semester, I did a research on Volunteers among Japanese
Undergraduate and went for a conference presentation in Jogyakarta for that. I was
intrigued by the number of Japanese undergraduate student who went to Tohoku to
help out the victims even though they do not have a stable income. The motivation
of volunteering of a Japanese student was influenced by the significant others,
especially their friends. Most of them had experienced disaster themselves and
wanted to offer as much help as they can to reciprocate the kindness they had
received before. I can see that the Japanese have high selflessness and they were
always thinking about others. This impressive gesture can be taught among our
young generation in school in order to produce better quality people.
I am in my second year currently writing a research paper on Disaster
Awareness and Preparedness among Teachers and Students in Penang. I went to
conduct the survey in March this year. Penang was hit by the Indian Tsunami
Disaster in 2004 which left Malaysia shocked with 68 deaths from the event. Of
those, 52 were solely from Penang. The causalities were among picnickers who
stayed back to watch the coming tsunami. Instead of evacuating to a safer high
area, they waited to watched the never before sight and some tried to catch it with
their mobile phone. This showed that Malaysians lacks awareness to read the signs
of tsunami as we never had exposure to tsunami disaster before. But if we were
educated to learn and watch the signs, the number might be smaller as people have
the knowledge of what to be done during the disaster event.
As for now, I am planning to further my studies post doctorate at either
Osaka University or Kyoto University. Both are top universities in Japan. Kyoto
University has an expert in disaster for schools which is very much related to my
interest and field while the one in Osaka University is good at volunteerism and
community disaster awareness. I am very much attracted in the field of disaster
awareness and prevention in schools and communities as I like to have contact with
people and share my knowledge with them. I am aiming to be a part of the disaster
education curriculum in Malaysia. I am also studying about the other countries who
had disaster education at schools and the kinds of activities they have to increase
the level of awareness among the student and simultaneously the community itself.
Results have proven that through education and action on disaster awareness,
community have more information of disasters and were able to save themselves
during disaster event.
When I finishes my post-graduate studies, I will want to involve myself in
either the policy-making, education curriculum or academic line to educate our
people on disasters. We cannot afford to lose lives as this century there are

abundant availability of technologies and facilities to save of lives, assets or at least

reducing the adverse risks of disasters. I plan to do research at the same time and
be part of any programs related to disaster as well as gaining experiences along the
way. I am very sure that Malaysia is in need of this field as nowadays disasters can
occur without warning and there is a need to prepare the people to face disasters.