So we all know the terrible things that have happened in Japan. The earthquake, tsunami, eruptions and now a nuclear crisis. As we all know the situation over there now, I shall not repeat what the news is telling you.
The point of this post is to talk about the reactions the rest of the world have about the Japan disasters. I think we are all too caught up in what has happened in Japan to notice what is or has happened in other parts of the world. Has everyone forgotten the flood in Australia, earthquake in New Zealand and earthquake in China? Who is going to care about them?I think having such a short attention span is one of the human race's terrible flaws. We get caught up in something so big or unexpected that we immediately lose interest in other things. No one thinks about how much help is needed in rebuilding a country since all the attention is used up the moment the disaster struck.
Yes, I agree about the fact that the situation is very bad in Japan, but I think everyone's lives are equally important. When I see the "pray for Japan" stuff going around on the internet, its makes me think who is actually praying for the rest of the world. And now Myanmar is hit by an earthquake too...wonder how are people going to react towards this.
With all the attention on Japan, people are all contributing to the mass panic that has set in. Its funny, because the Japanese themselves were relatively rational about what happened. I mean, news footage on the earthquake and tsunami were mostly about the extent of damage and scenes of people breaking down were far less, as compared to other disaster news. I salute the Japanese for this. Disasters have happened, the Japanese were prepared for it (building quake proof buildings, being mentally prepared, etc.), and have taken it as a matter of fact. Instead of wallowing, the people are helping each other to manage and survive. If the Japanese can deal with this, why is the whole world panicking like hell!?
And it doesn't help much when the media has been spamming news and footage of the tsunami and earthquake. What's the use of constantly repeating same things without providing new information, only succeeding in scaring the public? There are people who have family and friends over in Japan, you know. Why make the situation worse by making them worry excessively?
Don't get this wrong, I love Japan and I'm touched that everyone (including China and the yakuza) is banding together to help the country. But instead of contributing to the hysteria, we can do much more by helping using practical means like donating (even thou I have a feeling they can take care of themselves economically). It'll also be nice to see people caring more about the other disaster hit areas too. Hrm.
