"8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead, at least 10,000 missing and seriously damaged a nuclear power plant."
When I first heard about this, I was plainly ignorant and shifted my focus back to the exam that I was going to sit on the next day. In addition to that, I was also frustrated that people are overreacting to the news.
Until I sat down happily eating dinner with a family. One said that the pokeman creator has died. I laughed at first. Then, I stunned. Seriously, he is dead?
Not that I am particularly sad because there will be no more new pokemons to watch. But pokemon was part of my childhood. I played their games, watched the series and was very fond of Charmander.
What about the creator of Digimon? Is he dead too? When I was younger, I preferred Digimon to Pokemon because Digimons looked more powerful.
Tanemon
Digitamamon
There were mixed reactions towards what was happening to the Japanese. News, comments and status updates flooded Twitter, main webpages and more famously, Facebook. Some expressed their sympathy to the Japanese, some expressed regrets towards their attitude in life, some offered prayers and wishes.
These people care.
Some also expressed their disappointment. Some were even worried whether these famous Japanese actresses are still alive.
Maria Ozawa
Sora Aoi
Silent struck me for awhile. If you have been following my blog, there was a particular post about me bringing Japanese students around KL.
Aki, Masaaki, Mahiru, Mai, Sara, Shunta, Sachiho, Kenta and Ayaka
Are they all alright?
Although I have only spent a day with them. They left a significant impact on me. As usual, I am not good with directions, fancy being a tourguide somemore. But they trusted me, followed me around as I asked people how to get to particular places.
These students were very different from Malaysian students. They obediently followed me around and never wandered off alone. They obeyed me. Although I could not speak the Japanese language and their English was not fairly good, I was touched by how we tried to make effort to communicate with each other.
Even if they were alright, they would probably feel the pain of losing the people they know in the affected area.
At first I was claiming that there is no need to pray for the Japanese because if God has the power to prevent further damage, He would have the power to prevent it. This is particularly very sensitive to strong believers. They can claim that the result of the earthquake is not God's will. But being an ordinary human being, I am just like anyone else. Helpless.
So if one is helpless, all one can do is just pray and spread the news around, express your sympathies and your sadness while watching the people of the country of which the world's third largest economy suffer. What one of my friends said was right. Facebook, twitter are powerful social networks that can reach out to people and create awareness with the constant updates.
Another friend of mine claimed that there was no need to worry. Japanese, being highly advanced should be able to recover soon. In comparison to Acheh, most buildings are still standing tall.
My criticism was not towards people who genuinely care about what is happening. Rather people who were exaggerating the issue. Warnings about food, acid rain and stuff like that. About how these are signs that the world is going to end. They add emotions in the news they helped to spread. Besides creating awareness, they have also created panic. It's good to be careful, but please do support your claim with evidence.
Take for an example, if news like not eating seafood or sushi from Japan continue to spread, what would happen to the industry? The people and companies will suffer loss. While the people are coping with the losses of love ones and properties, they faced another problem when people are unwilling to purchase their goods. Worse still, what if the news happen to be false?
How about the claims of acid rain which I have to say (please, no offence) is very ridiculuous. Even my mom nags me about it. I know she cares but to claim something and to convince someone you need a strong ground to support it. I don't have to post the links to the evidence of the false claimings. It's all over facebook.
Imagine if people have taken the news seriously about the acid rain, companies who organized events outdoor have to suffer loss. If they postponed the day, they will suffer other unnecessary costs and opportunity costs. If they decided to continue with the event, and if many people buy the acid rain story, they will not turn up, which also explains the loss.
Suffering loss because of untrue news. Is it worth it?
You can say that it's better to be safe than sorry.
What if you gain your security from the expense of others?
Where is your morale and values in that, after claiming that you care for the Japanese and the rest of us?
I have always said that don't follow the crowd.
Stand on your ground.
Think about why someone has said something, instead of either just following it or just defending yourself because it violates the general morale and values.
And for the prayers part, I understand that when you can't do much, all you can do left is to pray. But don't you think it's overrated?
"Pray For Japan."-event
"We need to achieve 5 000 000 of fans."-Fanpage
If I were the creator of the page, I would first acquire 5 million people.
I would go to a bank and open a current account using a self-registered company name,
Then create a fund-raising thing to ask people to donate at least RM1 to the victims,
Since it's a current account, the bank would not be so suspicious as it's common for multiple transactions for a business.
Not all 5 million people will donate, but some would be generous enough to donate more.
"Rm1, Rm2, RM5m what's my loss?" they would be thinking.
Of the RM5million i have successfully acquired, I would probably take some cut and become a millionaire in less than a month.
Will people bother about the fund after donating RM1? Less likely.
Because they have done their part and leave the rest up to the organizer.
And if they do, the organizer can claim that only 1million people donated.
Since it's for charity, it would be tax-free. ;)
Indonesia is one of the most corrupted country in the world.
They are also the country with very strong religious beliefs that they don't even let your favourite Maria Ozawa to film there.
So with strong beliefs and high values, why are they corrupted?
Media is indeed a powerful tool. Within minutes of the news being spread, the world stock market fell. The stock prices become jittery when investors pull out their funds from the Japanese assets. Spreading news is one thing. Exaggerating it will cause unnecessary problems.
It is said that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to Japan ever since the World War II. It is also said that all the prosperities and efforts that the Japanese built over the 65 years will be shattered because of the disaster.
Three possible reactions towards the above news:
The poor : Thank God we are still alive! Although we do not have much to eat or materials as much as compared to our counterparts, we are blessed to be alive and living in a much safer country.
The middle-class : I am terribly upset for what is happening. I've spent time fretting about my studies, work and relationships, while these people are struggling for their lives. I shall be thankful for what I have. I offered my sympathies, prayers and wishes to them. *update social network status*
The rich : Oh my god. Better pull out my investments in Japan. Who knows what's gonna happen next. Perhaps I can used some of the funds to contribute to the victims.
The reactions of the middle class and the rich can be seen today. With lots of news update and fall of stock prices.
With the news update, relevant people will be more alert and prepared for the disaster. Those who are in power can offer necessary help. Those who have friends and relatives in Japan will be greatly benefited.
But if these news are to be continue exaggerated, imagine what would happen to Japanese economy? The pull-out of funds in Japan will cause an impact in the economy which will always affect the worldwide economy. The dead will not come back to live. The ones alive who are struggling with their losses will face another problem when their country's economy goes down.
They say empty vessels make the most noise.
In this case, this is relatively true.
I am not pointing my words towards people who expressed their concerns, rather people who exaggerate it which will cause unnecessary panic.
There were rumours before this that the US has found dead bodies of aliens but the government strongly denied it.
Why?
To prevent panic.
As you can see, some events simply happen because of human overreacting.
In finance and economy terms, they call it the "Overreaction effect."
In conclusion, I think I have made my point pretty clear.
Creating unnecessary chaos will conflict with your desire to help out.
I don't intend to offend anyone.
And I apologized if it does,
Especially towards strong believers in faith,
It's not that I don't pray for this because I don't love God etc,
I do love God at the same time puzzled why such disasters are happening,
I admired greatly of those who still have faith.
I also do not intend to offend the ones that help to spread news around.
I'm just asking you to take one more step ahead of your concern,
Bring your concern to the next level and think of the big picture and the consequences.
Nevertheless, you have been very considerate.
And able to influence people with your strong values and morale.
I shall end this post now.
I apologize again and thank you for reading.
Last picture at the restaurant.
