Life For Rent

Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but the day I went down to SPH to do volunteer work, there was this truck load of rice coming in. But we couldn’t do any unloading. Why? Cause they said they wanted to take a picture of them with the rice before they unload. Fine. Wasting our time only holding up space..

They then decided to offload all the sacks, line them nicely ON THE ROAD so no vehicles or anything can go past, and then posed for a picture. Note that from the time they arrived till they got the pictures done and we could get the sacks to where they belong, it took around 90 minutes.

My OC was grumbling. We were grumbling. Wasting our time indeed. You wonder if they are doing it for charity or as a marketing gimmick.

I was just discussing this with Starlite yesterday. And you know what, today I saw the whole damm article in the new paper. Woah, couldn’t take it man. Free advertisement for them!

Check out the pose!

The fact that the whole lot of us had to wait for them. I mean we were trying to finish our work as soon as we can to clear up the supplies waiting to be loaded. And these people had to come. It is VERY frustrating I tell ya.

This is worse than a friend who buys you chocolates for your birthday, only to eat them all by himself. Wad da hell..

Check out the new paper, I think it is yesterday’s.

And yeh, not to be racist or anything. When I heard of the incident, I didn’t think it would be a chinese or malay donor. When I went out to see for myself, true enuff…

I don’t believe that they were ‘moved’ by what they saw on TV. What’s up with the picture and the smiling face? So they can put it on the papers and all over their offices?

Like an organisation trying to garner some publicity through acts of charity. Look we had people walking in with shorts who donated 20k cash! They didn’t want to be named and we didn’t care if they were bookies or they won lottery or whatsoever. If one was really sincere, they wouldn’t cause work to stop for all of us wasting our time while they took their ‘glam pictures’.

But I contend that their rice should help. Aceh seems to be an area where the rice will come in handy. Why can’t they be like everyone else. Come, let us do our work and then F.O..

Nuff said. Matter of fact I will take away the picture one of these days. Seeing it infuriates me..

Hmmm, I see a lot of negativity among people I know. Why do I say that? Just looking at my msn showed signs. One said ” think of me, think of me fondly when we said goodbye, remember me once in a while, promise me you’ll try”. It looks like a line off a song but I think that is what that’s going through the person’s mind. And heart perhaps. Another said “you’re the reason why tears filled my eyes, just looking at a photograph of you”. Yet another said “My first day of the new year and I cried.” Another close friend said ” this broken heart can never be healed by anyone else except you..tears flow uncontrollably.”

Nuff said. It seems people focus on their pain most of the time, and forget to count their blessings one by one. Is this human nature?

In my head I’m thinking. There are at least 150 thousand people who would want to fit into your shoes right now. Well, at least they would be alive. Are we forgetting something here? “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” How true. Perhaps that’s why many choose to end their lives ultimately. Don’t get me wrong here. I am NOT encouraging suicide k?

It is human nature that we remember the bad stuff and not the good ones. You perform your best in your 10 years at work. You make just one mistake and your boss remembers you for that mistake you made. Never the good stuff. Or perhaps, all the good things done are simply erased with one mistake you make.

On a lighter note. I watched Meet The Fockers on new year’s eve. I enjoyed the prequel Meet The Parents a whole lot so it doesn’t come as any surprised that I rated this show as an A. Like the prequel, I found myself saying “Oh shit oh shit!” many times. Kung Fu hustle was a lot of “woahs!”. Both shows are no brainers, the way I like it sometimes.

I went to SPH to volunteer my services today as part of my unit’s effort in helping the packaging and loading of stuff for the victims of the tsunami. It felt good, despite all the bruises I got (countless occasions when I got bumped in my feet), blood that I lost (just a few drops actually, from a cut) and aching muscles. We had tonnes of water and rice today. Mostly water. And this indicates how powerful the media can be. The moment they report the scene on people fighting over supplies dropped off from helicopters, people realised water is really what the victims need. Water is life in many ways. For those of you who are donating still, please try to bring in more :

1. Mineral water
2. Medicine (Painkillers like synflex, paracetamol, antibiotics like amoxycillin, medicine for flu, cough like piron etc)
3. Biscuits, instant noodles
4. Cash

We have enough rice I believe. What are the victims gonna do with rice anyway when they have nothing to cook with and no clean water to boil the rice grains. Food that can be eaten on the spot would be nice. As for money..hmm I am a little skeptical cuz somehow I feel the gov might take a portion of it, for reasons like “rebuild the country”. I think water food and medicine are what the victims need right now as an immediate priority.

Which leads me to think, how many of us do good deeds with a hidden agenda. All the time. ie, do good deeds so one day we will get something back in return. How many will really work for free without really expecting nothing in return at all.

And somehow that led me to ponder, can we ever be creative in this society. A society filled with penalties and punishments, so much so we forget the real morals. We should not litter. Why? How many of you had your parents tell you, cuz if you do so the police man will catch you and throw you in jail. We don’t do things, cuz we are afraid of punishments.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting we should not have any punishments. We can’t do without them. The whole world will go haywire. Eg, people doing gang rape in the middle of a tragedy. Taking advantage of the lack of social security. What kind of human does these things?

How many of us have littered. Or get punished. But we don’t learn from it. We don’t say, “Yes I deserve it cuz I did something wrong.” We will go like “how unlucky! ” Or, “so sway kena caught!”.

I don’t think punishment has anything to do with it. Somehow I feel right from the start we were taught the wrong morals. And we will continue to teach our children what we were taught and the cycle goes on. We focus on the penalties that we forget the actual reason or morals behind the things we should not do. How can a country progress this way?

As what one of my friends always proclaim “It’s not your fault! It’s not my fault! It is society’s fault!”. Is there any truth to that?

By the way, as an additional food for thought. Have you ever wondered, why do females tend to volunteer their services more often than males? Like the packing and stuff today. Ok minus the chores that require brute strength. How many males will actually initiate their frens and themselves to go down and assist. Would you also apply annual leave to help in volunteer work? Taking into account we are young working/schooling professionals, not retirees.

Right here right now, I would like to thank the many organisations who opened their doors as point of collection for items meant for the victims of the tsunami. The sacrifices and all. Without them I don’t think we will be able to deliver as much to the poor victims.

Last but not least, shame on you if you took things meant for the victims for your own personal use.

And thank you God, for the many splendid blessings that You have given me and the people around me..Though I have yet to fully master counting my blessings one by one, do not forsake me yet.

Just a thought about the tsunami tragedy. An event that happened so close to home. An event that happened unexpectedly in the midst of christmas and new year celebrations when people go on holidays with their families to get away from it all. Little did they expect the great tragedy that awaited them.

Some say Sri Lanka would not have been so badly hit if it weren’t for the folks who rushed to the beach to witness the waves coming in as they have never seen it happen before. They stood there, and when they realised the danger that was approaching, it was too late. The inevitable happened.

Some asked, why did mother nature choose to take away people who lived simply. Who had nothing other than the roof over their heads and their family members. But could you imagine what would happen if such an event hit singapore, where the main resources are the people here itself. Buildings would be damaged. Stock markets would be affected. The economic situation would certainly reach way beyond our shores.

We can’t comprehend why a lot of things happen. Why do God take away all the seemingly good people early. The bad ones live for the longest time ever. How unfair it seems. It has been said that the good die young. Is this really true? That being alive is a burden, a sort of suffering, and that death is a form of release.

We can never comprehend how God thinks. How mother nature works. There is little we can do if a comet comes towards us. Regardless of the comet hitting land or sea, the outcome will still be devestating. It would be an ELE. Extinction level event.

It is natural that we feel sad and sorry for those who died. But I feel we should quickly recover from that, and instead reflect and be thankful for being here, alive and safe. For the suicidal ones, think of the hundreds of thousands who died who would love to take your place. Killing oneself, would be letting not just the people around you down, but those who perished in the waves as well. Take sometime to reflect on yourself. Be thankful for one’s existence, and that we didn’t go through what the others went through.

They need our help. It isn’t about race, or religion or anything. It doesn’t matter if a country isn’t on good terms with another. If Mother Nature’s out there watching, I think she’ll feel that there’s hope after all, that there is humanity. That the fortunate countries help the unfortunate. This could be a wake up call. A grim reminder that what we took for granted, could be taken away from us in a flash.

Life is that fragile. A lot of events have happened in the past few years that seem to remind us that we ought to appreciate life as it is. We will never know, someday we may end up being a statistic as well.

My inner thoughts haven’t changed. I want to live life as it is. To spend each day as if it’s my last, generally. I do not fear death, or the uncertainly beyond death. I do not want to regret, in my last few moments being alive, that there are so many things that I haven’t done.

There are always things that we can’t finish. But what matters to us, and what’s close to our hearts ought to be taken seriously, and not for granted. I don’t ask that people agree or disagree with how I feel.

All I ask is, as people mourn the deaths of their friends and family members, let’s be greatful for being alive. And cherish that gift. That second chance that we have, to make a difference, before the forces out there decides to take us all out once and for all..