Have you read the news recently? Have you seen the photos of the devastation wrought on the people of Lebanon?
It's a shame. A country so beautiful destroyed by the hands of man. My uncle was in Beirut for a year or so working for MAS as the country head somewhere in 2003-04. He showed me photos of the place and I was gobsmacked. It looked so serene. Beirut was like the French Riviera. That's how beautiful the city is. I honestly couldn't care less if 2 groups of people with differing political ideologies wants to beat the living hell out of each other. I couldn't care less if they wanted to assasinate each others' leaders and send suicide squads to wreak havoc in the other's territories. What I do care was the targetting of innocent civilians.
In that respect, both sides are acting like savages. Hezbollah attack Israel's border patrols and captures 2 soldiers. Israel then retaliates with unequal measure by bombarding targets all over Lebanon indiscriminately, even killing UN observers. Hezbollah then fires back missiles at residential areas of northern Israel. Personally, I agree that Israel has the right to self-defence, though they are stretching the definition of self-defence to include the destruction of Hezbollah at all costs. After so much destruction and death, the world community are slowly beginning to react to stem the bloodshed.
I don't know about you, but I find it funny and, at the same time, debatable on the response of Big Brother. Their swift reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and their subsequent invasion of Iraq under the pretext of stopping a tyrant in the form of Saddam Hussein doesn't seem to be replicated when Israel attacked civilians in Lebanon. I can't help but wonder where is the swift reaction for the North Koreans or the many tyrants now in power in Africa. It also poses the question if the powers that be are selective of who they want to help or who they think are worth help.
As much as I want to go on at the political terrorism some countries are practicing, no amount of frustration would change the fact that the leader of the most powerful nation in the world has shit for brains and bias to boot. On to more interesting and gratifying news for now....
I remember reading Berita Harian, the local Malay newspaper featuring this particular campaign revolving around youths and premarital sex. The slogan of the campaign is "Lebih sexy, katakan tidak", transliterated to More sexy, say no. One of the campaign stills features a young girl looking into the mirror which shows her but pregnant, driving home the point of being pregnant is not sexy.
Honestly, pre-marital sex is a problem which leads to more serious social problems such as teenage pregnancy, discarded new-borns, unprepared parenthood which leads to more problems. You get my drift. It's a vicious cycle. I was reflecting upon this campaign and how effective it would be and somehow I had this feeling that such efforts are only scratching the surface. I mean most community efforts require participation from all walks of life. Otherwise, such efforts may be futile as the targeted audience would not be reached otherwise. Also, participation from parents are crucial though some parents can't seem to care less about their children's well-being much less such efforts.
From what I do know and can see, most of the youths who are susceptible to negative influences and, thus, would be more open to such activities, would be those who come from broken home or have broken hopes. The life they lead is one revolving around friends, desirable or not, it's their choice. Pubs and clubs are more of their kind of place as compared to mosques or community centers. Personally, I feel, all youngsters need is attention, love and someone to talk to. If they can't find it at home, they'd go elsewhere to find the acceptance they crave. I believe and hold on to that adage that everything starts from our home. If we can't get our home in order, there is no way such efforts will work.
That said, such efforts need to be brought to the fore as even making our youths aware of the potential pitfalls is winning part of the battle. I mean being young and impressionable, youths are likely to get involved in such activities, what more the youths who struggle to find acceptance from their parents and peers. So, I'm all for it, let the youths know what they are getting into even if we are scratching the surface, it's a start.
PS: I am confused, we have a campaign by Action for aids promoting safe sex and we have this campaign with promotes abstinence. Can't help wondering which is better.....
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