Vicious Wednesday

In light of the Paris attacks many have come out to show their solidarity and to share their thoughts and prayers to the victims.

AND THEN there is people who are sending death threats and actual attempts in killing muslims post Paris attacks. Not that these never really existed before Paris, but this amount increased. A mosque was burned down in Canada, and a couples house severed some gun shots while they were out feeding the homeless.

Thank goodness they were actually out doing good instead of being at home.

And in a video by AJ+ (Al Jazeera+), we witness a man calling up a mosque and threatening to shoot every single person in the mosque and adds that he doesn't care "if they're 2 or 100".

Seriously?


It's a bloody vicious cycle when you keep doing shit like this.
Why won't you use all this goddamn energy to do good? Like, I don't know feed the homeless, fight for better education, donate to technology advancement in health, start a new sport, SOMETHING USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE INSTEAD OF ALL THIS GOD FORSAKEN HATE.

A couple months ago my childhood friend visited me, and he was staying Seoul Station, pretty much the one-stop-shop for the airport, out of state train travels, and buses. And if you didn't know, Seoul Station is actually known to be the place where A LOT of homeless stay and get food from NGOs and all.

What was interesting was that my friend, as he was walking by, saw the homeless people, and then saw that there was a big (I shan't name the religion so I shall say) religious event going on, like an appreciation offering kind of event. According to my friend, it wasn't too small, and had a stage, speakers, and all. But all they were doing were just gathering and praising.

Then my friend asked: why would they spend all that money for this, and not use it to help the homeless? They're really obvious cuz they're just walking around this event. And this struck me. Yeah, why? Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning anyone here, but why do people have to spend money unnecessarily instead of using it to do more good?

And so it goes back to the Islamophobic video which you can check out for yourself here.

WHY? 

Why won't you use all that hate, all that energy to get off your high horse and help those in need instead of spreading all this hate towards people who were not even involved? What is wrong with you?


#WHEREISTHELOVE

Monday Again

You need not be a world class journalist to know that tragedy struck France this past weekend. Just scrolling through your Facebook will show you how the world has come into solidarity with the victims & families of those who were at the fated theatre.

And yes, grief is much needed for everyone, especially those personally affected by the incidents. Be it the families or those lives taken, the survivors who are probably now also having to deal with the trauma, those whose friends were in that theatre, and the rest of us, who do not think that this was at all necessary, and are choosing to send prayers/love/support to the victims.

On the other hand, while all this is said, I find it truly distasteful and in fact, rude, for anyone to call out on another for also turning the gaze on events that have been occurring either before or simultaneously alongside the Paris attack.

Take.. this article for example:

Unfortunately, if you were to follow the article, you won't really be able to say whether or not the Malaysian actress Wardina Safiyyah (who seems to be penalized here) really said something "distasteful". However, if we're basing it on what the writer says here:

"Wardina Saffiyah’s Official Page instead highlighted the instances of people dying in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine who are not given as much attention. "

(con't) Whatever the actress had said was (from how I see it) a way of her saying "hey, these tragedies are happening too. Why aren't we acknowledging/ talking about them?" 

For this to be deemed as "distasteful" and that whatever Syed Nizamuddin Sayed Khassim had to say "deserved a standing ovation", just breaks my heart. 

It's so easy to jump on the band wagon and ask the humanistic question of "aren't these people human as well?" But let's be critical on ourselves here... When we start pinning down and defending only one group of victims, we're not really doing anything. In fact, we're only acting out on our biases. When we do something like this, we're not really caring for victims as humans, we're merely picking and choosing who we're crying for. 

And sadly, while, yes, he does have a point. You don't say things like that at a funeral, not anywhere, not even in any given situation. But, when you write an article, calling someone distasteful, and giving a WWE smack down to get our protagonist to realize something, and only AFTER, dyou say "let's also take a moment to acknowledge the other victims in other war zones/attacks", your after word holds no meaning. 

It reminds me of when someone is about to say something that you're not too keen on listening ie:

You're about to get fired. Your boss calls you in, compliments you on everything you've been doing, thanks you for all the great things you've helped the company achieve, but ends it with a "how should I say this" and resumes by firing you. Everything that he had said leading up to those last words of your exit would mean nothing. 

And this, kinda feels like that. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not the best advocate in bringing news in regards to every attack/ war that's taking place in the world. If I were, I'd probably already be hired to be a journalist by now (I digress). In many aspects, I am rather unqualified to say anything cuz like I've been told "because your ONE opinion is what only matters" (sarcasm, by the way, if you couldn't tell). However, I do say that order of these events aren't important. Yes, that day it was Paris' day to mourn. But everyday, on a daily basis, even when Paris was happening, people in a war torn country are facing the atrocities that Paris witness that one fateful night. All in all, I see no harm in which the Malaysian actress (whose comment on the incident I still am not able to see) is also crying out for a gaze in their direction as well. 

On a side note, if we're kinda doing what was suggested, in mourning for the next attack, by now, we should be in various countries and bringing attention to things regarding all the places that have innocent victims losing their lives. But, from what I see, quite a lot of us are still kinda stuck on Paris. What does that say about us? 

#whereisthelove gais?