Asia has been dealt the most devastating blow with the Dec 26 tsunami and the reconstruction of buildings and the rehabilatation of lives may take years.

Although Malaysia has suffered too, our damage can be considered minor in comparison to the Armageddon that has hit Aceh and Sri Lanka. Perhaps that is the reason for the slow process of disbursing aid with the usual bureaucratic red tape of three weeks after carefully assessing the claims.

Malaysians have been dealt a double blow - first the tsunami as government bodies were ill-prepared and now the usual business-as-usual attitude of filling forms while aid is overflowing in storage areas.

It is just too much work for the authorities and now they want to end all collections. The public has a generous heart and they don't want the generosity tap to run dry for other causes, it seems.

I think that is a mistake - even those who escaped the tsunami have been traumatised by this event as the places hit were those many of us have visited like Penang, Langkawi and Phuket, and donating to help the stricken can ease the burden.

Besides, many tens of thousand are now without food, shelter and health facilities and we should encourage people to donate to relief organisations like Mercy Malaysia and the Malaysian Red Crescent, Unicef and others.

But it is also important for all welfare organisations to have proper accounts and be audited regularly, especially for such ad-hoc donations. Perhaps the collecting agencies should also disclose who the auditors are and also display on their webpage a monthly collection and disbursements statement.