How Asean’s humanitarian centre played a vital role after Myanmar earthquake

FILE PHOTO:This frame grab from UGC video footage taken and posted by Ashin Tikkhanyarna Linkara on Facebook on March 28, 2025 shows a survivor walking past a destroyed clock tower near the Ma Soe Yein monastery in Mandalay, following an earthquake. The March 28 earthquake – one of the deadliest in Myanmar’s history – killed more than 3,600 people and injured some 5,000. - AFP

SINGAPORE: With the critical 72-hour window to rescue earthquake victims closing quickly, Lee Yam Ming and his team wasted no time when they touched down in Myanmar in late March.

But the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) executive director and his people did not rush to lift rubble or search for survivors of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck near Mandalay on March 28.