Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: [Part Three] Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Original post HERE: 18 Mar 2011
Discrepancy due to failure to export/import blog

Since the earthquake and tsunami mega-combo that brought Japan down to its knees, there have been many people who emerged with different reactions, some genuinely sympathetic, some pure Samaritans  some insincere ones who pretend to be charitable, some insensitive hypocrites, some who rain oil over fire, some drop a boulder down the well [direct translation from an Chinese proverb], and even people who make use of the current situation or affairs for personal or monetary gains. There's this good old saying that I used to always hear and make sense of , and it goes something [loosely translated] like "In times of perilous crisis, it would be definitive to see the true facets of humans." In this final section, Part Three, I will cover some of these good and some not-so-good deeds of people.

Just before that, a short recap of what happened and some updates; On Friday, March 11, 2011, a record braking 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, and shortly following, a massive tsunami literally devoured a big portion of Japan's east coast, leaving all but extreme devastation in this wake. A nuclear facility in Fukushima failed due to extensive damage, led to 2 explosions so far and threatens to meltdown. Despite the situation looking gloomy, it is fortunate that the nuclear plant is somehow brought back to stability and 50 workers, now deemed as heroic figures in tragedy, were allowed back into the facility to remove its threat. For the full report by Yahoo! News, please click here.

To start things, let's talk about some HUGE donations, not by celebrities but by people with status. As you see the photo [by Mugilan Rajasegeran] on your left, Ms Elaine Low, presented a cheque for $1 million to Japanese Ambassador Yoichi Suzuki for tsunami victims. Yes my friend, a whopping one million dollars! 1,000,000. That's six zeros! It is by far the largest donation by an individual that the embassy has ever received. The young 24 year old Singaporean lady is the daughter of Datuk Low Tuck Kwong, 63, founder of Bayan Resources, an Indonesia-based coal mining company and she handles the business development in the company. She says "My family and I feel that it's an unfortunate disaster and wanted to offer our help." But of course, it seems like that $1 million is just a very small deal for someone with her inheritance and status. Her family usually keeps a low profile, but in times of crisis, they would stand up to contribute to society. That million dollars that the modest young lady donated is actually from her own  pocket, and she has also discreetly donated to China and Indonesia before in the past. For full reports, click here or here. However, some a**holes are still making sarcastic remarks in the reports. Some sounded jealous, others sounded like they needed a life. Some even sounded sour because the biggest donation since the Japan incident, is not by someone from their country to be proud of. In my honest opinion, I think Ms Elaine Low is pretty much like the incarnation of  Diana, Princess of Wales.

Next, superstar Lady Gaga, not matter how eccentrically dressed, also has a heart gold; being one of the first international celebrities who is taking real action to help the plight that Japan is undergoing. I may be I'm wrong, but I think she really is one of the first selfless few. On Friday March 11, she "launched" a little wrist band as you see on the left, to raise funds. Each bracelet is going at donations of $5 or more and all donations received will go directly to relief funds and efforts. As we all know, Lady Gaga is kind of a weirdo, and there's quite some weirdos in Japan too, so... maybe they click. Jokes aside, some may say she has an ulterior motive or what not, but action speaks louder than words, and this, my friend, is what I call action! Once again, for the full report from Yahoo! News, click here.

Apart from Lady Gaga, other stars like R&B icon, Alicia Keys, also offered condolences saying, "My heart breaks for Japan". On her twitter account, she also mentioned that she woke up early in the morning with "a song in her heart", although she has yet to disclose what it would be. Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber called Japan "one of my favorite places on Earth." "It's an incredible culture with amazing people. My prayers go out to them. We all need to help," Bieber wrote on Twitter. Hey don't flame me, I'm neutral about him, I'm just writing with focus on the main topic.

Going down the scale from generous to absolute a**hole, we are at the middle zone now. It's difficult to explain this one. Well, I came across a particular, quite popular, blogger's webpage, and I see that see has donated a pretty significant amount of $200, USD I presume. You can see thumbnails on your left, I've applied more mosaic to protect the users identity. I admit, I never was able to easily depart with that much money for charity, never ever. I don't come from a rich, pampered family, I'm struggling to make my basic ends meet and I only write post or journals for fun, as a past time and some views are due to controversial topics. I don't blog for a living, nor can I bum around, sponge of others, do nothing but bitch around, create make up tutorials and still be able to eat at lavish restaurants. Just kiddin'.

Ok, anyway, I am ashamed that I never donated that much of money and I must say, that person donating $200 is pretty darn generous and charitable. One little problem though, shouldn't giving or donating really come from the heart. I mean, I believe in anonymous donations, otherwise it sounds like an advertisement. Do you have to post it proudly on your own blog, trying so hard to let everyone know? You even posted 3 screenshots of your transactions? No offence please, but it may seem to some people that you are paying $200 to buy popularity. I've have seen a lot of crazy girls who would do just about anything from good to despicable and shameless, to get themselves on the Google "popular search" section, even in my country. I'm not looking for any trouble, sincere apologies if I offend anyone.

"Benevolence is to selflessly give help without any expectations to receive anything in return."

Now for second place! No pictures, just a quick touch on some really shallow people only care about Japan's situation because they fear the safety of their favorite Japanese AV actresses. ... ... .. ...

Yeah I know, there are like so "DOH!". They only are concerned about their daily dose of pornography and not how many poor folks in Japan lost their homes. There are also others who lament that there favorite anime is not showing, possible shortage of sushi or Japanese food, and what not. Typically selfish.

Lastly, at the top of the absolute a**hole chart, we have those unfeeling people who make use of the current affairs for personal or monetary gains. Please refer to the picture you see on your left, click to enlarge. I had to mosaic the pictures and some details in the screenshot in case anyone sues my ass off. Please don't, I'm broke. But honestly, you can find them easily by searching.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure you would find that somewhat familiar or perhaps you have indeed seen many of those spammed everytime you open your twitter. All those "I will donate $1 for every retweet or new follower" kind of bull crap. Unfortunately, there are actually some folks who probably wanted to do their part to help Japan but got cheated of their sympathy to follow their instructions and perform free advertisements. They are obviously out there to cheat some suckers. I've seen some accounts that represent a company or some weird organizations, but there are also several personal accounts of individuals that say the same about donating $1 for every retweet or new follower. What crap! What is their creditibility? Based on what situation can I trust them that you'll really fork out the donations? Retweeting is just a click worth of effort, and there could be millions of people who can retweet, and if there really are millions of retweets, does it mean they can easily afford to throw away millions of dollars for charity and declare themselves bankrupt? Even a big MNC would think twice investing millions of dollars before going bust.

Like I have said in my earlier paragraph, there are a lot on thick skinned people who would do just about anything from good to despicable and shameless to make a name for themselves. It is indeed questionable for such companies to use such unethical business ethics, and shameless for individuals who employ such low methods to gain popularity. Some other enraged users also commented things like:

"For those who tweet that you will donate 5c $1 $2 whatever for every retweet i dont believe you will actually do so"

"Is every "we will donate $1 for every retweet" actually going to donate or is it a pathetic attempt to get followers?"

"All this "I'll donate $1 for every retweet" shit is bollocks. If you're going to send money, do it. Don't expect publicity from it."

"RT For every retweet @bing will give $1, up to $100K « Eff you Bing.Just donate the damn money"

I personally liked the last one the most. For others, being focused in results may just backfire. The marketing team for this media company here have some serious consequences to bear. They wrote something like:

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook Japan in the early afternoon today, blah blah blah. Book your spots in the Weekday Evening News Bundle as the channel brings viewers comprehensive coverage reports on the disaster with extended versions of news bulletins tonight.

… Call our sales representatives now!”

Disguised as news, it was actually just another marketing ploy to deliver numbers. Many who received these electronic direct mail were enraged and labelled them as "insensitive" and "heartless". The company has made a formal apology shortly after being bombarded with negative comments. For the full report, click here.

And that would pretty much sum up this lengthy article that has been broken up into 3 parts. Having received so much help, Japan has started to get things under control. Those who have contributed, either by donating, being a volunteer or simply spreading the word to help, give yourselves a pat on the back. Those who are willing to help, have mostly already done their part and that is all we can do. However not to be complacent, Japan is still in the danger zone and needs time to really pull through this mess. Let us all pray for the recovery on Japan. After all, if Mother Earth gets gravely ill, these calamitous disasters will eventually consume all living things on this planet, all of us.

Thanks for reading.