Residents use a makeshift raft to help a motorist cross a flooded street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007. Severe storms caused the worst flooding in Indonesia's capital in five years, forcing rivers to break their banks, inundating thousands of homes and businesses. [AP]
Hey, all you people sitting in your comfortable chairs, sipping your coffees (or soft drink or milk, if you are) and reading this post on your computer, have you ever thought of how lucky you are to be in your current situation. Just look at the 145,000 people in Indonesia who are homeless. They don't even have a roof to cover their heads, much less the computer you are sitting in front of now.
You many say that it is just another flood (after the Malaysia floods), just a natural process which just happens to certain countries and not others. We know that they are homeless and despearte for help. But we cannot understand what they feel, because we have not experienced it, thus cannot empathise (not sympathise) and it will be hard for us to put ourselves in their shoes.
Needs and Wants
Our society, the upper class society is talking all about what we want, good food, computer games, the 5Cs, and even though we have a lot already, we want more and more and more... even though we got what we actually targeted. But people who are working very hard to make ends meet, like atking up 3 or 4 jobs a day, all they care for is things they need, not want, like basic necessities such as clothes, and they would be grateful to even get a little of those. So we ask ourselves this question, are we demanding too much?
We think that going to school is a boring process of life that we go through everyday just beacuse the government forces us to, and we are sick and tired of it, and we want air-con, more recess, blah blah blah... but in Indonesia, the children would be estatic just even to be able to go to a basic school wih no fans or air-con, and tables and chairs made out of wood, and dusty blackboards.
Effects in Indonesia
The floods have brought out the best in some and the worst in others. When someone is in distress and see fellow people who are in the same boat as them and need help, people will lend a helping hand and try to the best of their abilities to help others (as shown in the picture above). That's what I think is one of the positives that can be taken from floods. However, looting is also common after floods, where looters break into other people's homes and steal anything they can find. The reason why they do this is because they too, are desperate for money and goods and so resort to looting, and in some way we can sympathise with them. But looting is immoral in the first place they they should not have done it.
The floods will also teach the Indonesian government an important lesson in what they have gone wrong in by having poor urban planning and not having an adequete sewerage system.
So just spare a thought for the people who are so very homeless and desperate for help, and be thankful that you are not in their shoes and appreciate what you have.
P.S. Donations Welcome too
Source:
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070204/ap/d8n2m9tg0.html
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