“Revolution—Now”

This chapter could not be more dramatic. Suddenly Stephen was confronted by the reality of mobs coming to kill the Chinese in his own barangay or suburb, fires in the shops on the corner of his street with locals taking the looted proceeds back to their village just behind Stephen’s house, and his own security staff having changed into street clothes, jumping over the fence to escape! Not reassuring. After making sure that the UN safety communication system they had set up was working and his own people were safe, Stephen, with his wife, had to escape their house. This chapter tells the story of ‘what next?. Immediately, he needed to evacuate all UN families under his responsibility, then international staff and send local staff back to their villages, but stay to report to the UN Security Council and UNESCO Headquarters, liaise with the incoming transition government, and monitor local staff safety. As observed in this chapter, handling civil revolution was somewhat different to Stephen’s previous responsibilities as a University Professor in Australia.