London: Joy vs Grief; Giving vs Killing

Let me ask you a quiz question: How many children would have died during one commercial break?

The answer is 100. (Sorry to dissapoint you that it is not IQ)

"Two fingers to end poverty": This is the tagline for MTV's and VH1's effort to end poverty in Africa. I have tremendous respect for artistes who have no qualms about giving to the society after the tremendous amount of recognition the society has contributed towards their success. Among them are the likes of Bono from U2, Bob Geldof, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Good Charlotte, Bjork, Coldplay, Linkin Park, Simple Plan and numerous more. LiveAid concerts are held all over the world to help eradicate poverty, trade injustice and to increase aids to poor countries. It was touching to see established artistes come together towards one goal targeted at countries of G8. Everyday, more than 30,000 people die from extreme poverty and preventable diseases needlessly. Those who attend the concert all over the world might just be buying the tickets to entertain themselves but I take my hat off to them for their selfless acts of donating to the needy. Let's all work together for the society.

I was lucky to catch an episode of Chris Martin from Coldplay's expedition to Ghana where he reiterated his observation on the lives of the poor and undernourished in Africa, where the kids of 5 years had to work in quarries, breaking stones using steels and tools even a strong man in a developed country could not lift. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt's trip to Ethopia bore fruit as he not only collected memories and sounveniors but adopted a kid home as well. He had even teamed up with Bono to establish the ONE.org to further end poverty. Check it out.

While London is celebrating the joy of being awarded the country to host the Olympics, it saddens me to see how their happiness was shortlived by the explosions that occurred on 07/07/2005. The timing could not have been better and it clearly did not suprise anyone that it happened in London. People all over the world are now living in fear and gloom. Despite the joy of receiving and the act of giving where the Live8 concert was held in Hyde Park just 15 minutes away from the explosion scene, there lied dark acts only someone inhumane could think of. But then again, didn't the same war/killings happened in other countries with less media exposure. Guess you know where I am talking about. Let's have a moment of silence for those victimised by this horrendous incident.