on the soapbox tonight...
isn't it fascinating how negative events bring out the best and worst in people. While those all those medical workers, biologists, i don't know.. countless other people in related industries, are working their ass off fighting SARs and the war, all some of us do is sit around, whinging and whining endlessly.
well, now's my turn to whinge and whine...
- I didn't like all those reports in the papers, the media e.g. 'praise from WHO' or sarcastic remarks about Hong Kong's slow action. So what if they jeered at us closing down our schools? (There was some article saying that the Lion City must be a pussy cat after all) Why must everything be an eye for an eye? Grow up. It's silly and petty. And self-glorifying. Not very gracious at all. How to build a gracious society like this? Well, then again, the thought has occurred to me that we
always have to be told what to think, so maybe we also had to be told to appreciate the govt and the medical workers, especially since we're famous for complaining.
- J. had invites to the Female Magazine Spring/Summer Collection show and we had tea before that. Of course, the topic of conversation was... SARS! People who have quarantine orders have had cameras installed in their homes and they have to turn it on to report at specified times. So Miss-I-am-Queen-of-the-Soapbox Lai, was saying that this was an absolute invasion of privacy and she can't understand why these people would stand for it. And then she went on and on and on. Well, yes, I agree that it's an invasion of privacy, but there is a total lack of social responsibility in our society. I personally have zero trust that even someone as 'educated' as Lai would stay at home if she was under quarantine.
Case-in-point, someone else at the table, her brother works at one of the polytechnics and *before* they closed them down, staff were given forms to fill in. Apparently, one of his colleagues told him, "You know, just now on the form, they asked if we had anyone living with us who had just travelled to Hong Kong. Actually, my husband just came back from HK yesterday." ... while the whole time giggling away. When asked what she ticked, she exclaimed, "of course I put 'no' lah!" Jeez. Where is her fucking brain? Not to mention moral conscience...
See, this is what scares me about this whole situation. Today they were discussing the fact that parents took their kids to the affected areas during the period that schools closed down to contain/prevent contagion. Was it irresponsible of them? I don't know. While I believe that they should have the freedom to choose, it just doesn't seem like a smart decision to make for even for your own family and kids. Then when you return, you risk the people around you as well. Not very good. But at least they were honest enough to admit that they went. I'm more concerned that there are people who went but will not care to report, either because they take it about as seriously as the bimbo above, or they are too arrogant and think that they have the right to do what they want, regardless of the consequences.
Back to the privacy issue, seriously, having a camera in your home is the most obvious form of 'you are being watched'. For example, anywhere in the "industralised" world, once you create a bank account, your monetary activities are going to be traceable, unless you're someone who has a complicated trail of money like the Mafia or Osama; OR you pay everything in cash. beyond your I/C, all your activities are also trackable by your credit card, cash card, any electronic transaction - be it your money or library card, or even zapping your security card in and out at work. If you think I've watched Se7en too many
times, I assure you I have not.
- astropup alerted me to "Help! I've reached SAR-turation point" - a letter written to the Straits Time Forum by a fourth year medical student. Basically, she wanted to say how life should go on in spite of SARs and the war and the media should not be focusing completely on these events. I was so tempted to write an email to Forum but then I realised that it would just be a personal attack since I agree on her basic point, but she needs to grow up or maybe learn to express herself in a less selfish manner. Where the media is concerned, news is not just about reportage of facts, it is also about education, demystification, propaganda, politics, business; there are so many things entangled in the motivation for the media to print/broadcast what they do. In the end, you have to sift it out yourself and determine which are the facts and which are not. In the case of SARs in particular, I feel they have a responsibility to disseminate information so that people learn the facts, stop the paranoia and practice some social responsibility.
paradoxically, even as I sit here and rant away, I am absolutely sick, sick to my guts, of people who complain repeatedly about the same things, but do nothing about it. It's perfectly ok to complain, but there has got to be a limit. Life is about choice. Nothing new about that thought. But to live your life, fully aware that each second that passes is about the choices you have made/are making/will make - to have that level of awareness, that's tough, possibly even painful.. I'm not sure I'm capable of that. But I've decided to act more than I complain from now on. I'll strive for halfway point first...
well, now's my turn to whinge and whine...
- I didn't like all those reports in the papers, the media e.g. 'praise from WHO' or sarcastic remarks about Hong Kong's slow action. So what if they jeered at us closing down our schools? (There was some article saying that the Lion City must be a pussy cat after all) Why must everything be an eye for an eye? Grow up. It's silly and petty. And self-glorifying. Not very gracious at all. How to build a gracious society like this? Well, then again, the thought has occurred to me that we
always have to be told what to think, so maybe we also had to be told to appreciate the govt and the medical workers, especially since we're famous for complaining.
- J. had invites to the Female Magazine Spring/Summer Collection show and we had tea before that. Of course, the topic of conversation was... SARS! People who have quarantine orders have had cameras installed in their homes and they have to turn it on to report at specified times. So Miss-I-am-Queen-of-the-Soapbox Lai, was saying that this was an absolute invasion of privacy and she can't understand why these people would stand for it. And then she went on and on and on. Well, yes, I agree that it's an invasion of privacy, but there is a total lack of social responsibility in our society. I personally have zero trust that even someone as 'educated' as Lai would stay at home if she was under quarantine.
Case-in-point, someone else at the table, her brother works at one of the polytechnics and *before* they closed them down, staff were given forms to fill in. Apparently, one of his colleagues told him, "You know, just now on the form, they asked if we had anyone living with us who had just travelled to Hong Kong. Actually, my husband just came back from HK yesterday." ... while the whole time giggling away. When asked what she ticked, she exclaimed, "of course I put 'no' lah!" Jeez. Where is her fucking brain? Not to mention moral conscience...
See, this is what scares me about this whole situation. Today they were discussing the fact that parents took their kids to the affected areas during the period that schools closed down to contain/prevent contagion. Was it irresponsible of them? I don't know. While I believe that they should have the freedom to choose, it just doesn't seem like a smart decision to make for even for your own family and kids. Then when you return, you risk the people around you as well. Not very good. But at least they were honest enough to admit that they went. I'm more concerned that there are people who went but will not care to report, either because they take it about as seriously as the bimbo above, or they are too arrogant and think that they have the right to do what they want, regardless of the consequences.
Back to the privacy issue, seriously, having a camera in your home is the most obvious form of 'you are being watched'. For example, anywhere in the "industralised" world, once you create a bank account, your monetary activities are going to be traceable, unless you're someone who has a complicated trail of money like the Mafia or Osama; OR you pay everything in cash. beyond your I/C, all your activities are also trackable by your credit card, cash card, any electronic transaction - be it your money or library card, or even zapping your security card in and out at work. If you think I've watched Se7en too many
times, I assure you I have not.
- astropup alerted me to "Help! I've reached SAR-turation point" - a letter written to the Straits Time Forum by a fourth year medical student. Basically, she wanted to say how life should go on in spite of SARs and the war and the media should not be focusing completely on these events. I was so tempted to write an email to Forum but then I realised that it would just be a personal attack since I agree on her basic point, but she needs to grow up or maybe learn to express herself in a less selfish manner. Where the media is concerned, news is not just about reportage of facts, it is also about education, demystification, propaganda, politics, business; there are so many things entangled in the motivation for the media to print/broadcast what they do. In the end, you have to sift it out yourself and determine which are the facts and which are not. In the case of SARs in particular, I feel they have a responsibility to disseminate information so that people learn the facts, stop the paranoia and practice some social responsibility.
paradoxically, even as I sit here and rant away, I am absolutely sick, sick to my guts, of people who complain repeatedly about the same things, but do nothing about it. It's perfectly ok to complain, but there has got to be a limit. Life is about choice. Nothing new about that thought. But to live your life, fully aware that each second that passes is about the choices you have made/are making/will make - to have that level of awareness, that's tough, possibly even painful.. I'm not sure I'm capable of that. But I've decided to act more than I complain from now on. I'll strive for halfway point first...