It certainly makes more sense for us to give sincere appreciation to our family and friends while they are still around. Life can be really fragile and we are not always guaranteed of tomorrow. There is little room for regrets in life and we must generously lavish our family and friends with gratitude and thanks throughout the year. And perhaps, along the way, we can also reach out a helping hand to others who are in need too.

Besides expressing our gratitudes for our family and friends, we must also give thanks to the environment which has been providing unconditionally for us. And what would be a better way to give thanks to our environment than to protect it.

What are you thankful for this year? What would you be doing this Thanksgiving? Would you be doing anything special this year? Although I am not observing Thanksgiving here, it would be great to share your joy. Wishing you a Bless and Happy Thanksgiving week!

According to a report from AFP, “At least 73 people were killed and more than 330,000 others displaced after the heaviest rain in more than four decades plunged the Philippine capital into turmoil…

The nine-hour deluge across Manila on Saturday submerged houses, washed away shanties and turned roads into raging rivers, forcing terrified residents to seek refuge on top of homes or cars where they waited for more than 24 hours.”

It is the worst extensive flooding that he has seen, according to Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. The rainfall sets a record high of 41.6 centimetres (16 inches), over the previous single-day record of 33.4 centimetres in July 1967.

Philippine Red Cross chairwoman Gwendolyn Pang said rescuers were struggling to reach many areas, with highways rendered impassable.

“This has never happened before. Almost 80 percent of metropolitan Manila is underwater,” Pang told AFP.

For those of you who are reading this and want to make a donation whether in term of money or relief goods, you can do it through:

1. Philippines National Red Cross, PNRC or through their online form: PNRC and choose ‘Typhoon Ondoy.’

2. And if you are in the Philippines, you can also access this list for all the locations where you can drop off relief goods for people affected by Ketsana (Ondoy).

3. If you are in Cebu: Victory Cebu at 3/F Dacay Building, 72 Escario St., Cebu City. Operation: 10am - 6pm, Monday - Sunday.

4. If you are in Bacolod: Victory Bacolod at 3/L Robinsons Place - Bacolod. They are accepting donations in cash and relief goods (bread, “mamon” brownies, cookies/biscuits, juice, energy drink, bottled water, medication, clothing, slippers, blankets,etc.). Contact no. 441-0703.

Update:

The Filipino Association in Singapore (FAS) also announced that it is accepting donations in kind for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. Donations may be dropped off at:

A-Freight Cargo
304 Orchard Road
#03-19 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863
Contact Maureen Schepers: 6235-1011.

i-Remit Singapore announced that it will waive remittance charges for donations to the Philippine National Red Cross. Remittances to the Philippine National Red Cross may be sent through:

i-Remit Singapore
304 Orchard Road
#03-69 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863

LBC announced that it will waive remittance charges for donations made to the following organizations: ABS-CBN Foundation, GMA Foundation, Philippine National Red Cross, and the National Disaster Coordinating Center. Remittances to these organizations may be sent through:

LBC Singapore
304 Orchard Road
#04-77 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863

Wishing everyone a bless week ahead!

I was just slightly disturbed over an incidence that happened before the movie start; I saw a guy resting his legs over the top of the seat in the row in front of him. Looking on the bright side, at least he bothered to take off his shoes before doing that inconsiderate act.

He put down his legs only when the seats in front of him were taken up. How would you feel, if you were the one taking those seats? I just hope that the guy takes good care of his legs’ hygiene.

Do Singaporeans really have no sense of self-respect as was criticised by Jackie Chan, in a recent speech he made during the Boao Forum for Asia?

At first I was furious when I learned that he made such a senseless remark. There is a saying by Abraham Lincoln that goes something like this, “I am not bothered by what others said about me as long as I know they were not speaking the truth of me.” So I shouldn’t be bothered right? Not exactly, because I know that there are some truths to what he said.

Look at the example of the guy I saw in the cinema over the weekend. Not to mention, the amount of litters you can see around the mail box when there is a trash can just besides it. And then there is the usual rushing into the subway’s cabins whenever the subway reaches the station and the cabin’s doors open. Couldn’t they (the people rushing in) allow the people inside the cabin to come out first?

Back to the mail box area, was it really easier to throw the junk mails on the floor than to throw it into the trashcan, which is just about a metre away? Or is it as what Jackie Chan said, that Singaporeans really have no sense of self-respect?

Instead of saying that Singaporeans have no sense of self-respect, would it be more appropriate if I should say that Singaporeans have no sense of civic-consciousness? Now the next questions are, “Is it true only in the case of Singaporean or do you see such lack of civic-consciousness in your country too?

I believe that civic-consciousness voices down to the individual and it is not an unique characteristic of a particular nation. Education, cultures and upbringing play a part in forming the civic-consciousness of the individual. Laws and regulations are sometimes made to force through the civic-consciousness.

In the example of Singapore, anyone caught littering can be made to do Corrective Work Order (CWO); the litterbugs are basically made to clean up parks, beaches and house estates. Many never made the same mistakes again.

Jackie Chan may ridicule the laws in Singapore but some times these laws are there to protect the majority from the minority. And most time, whether certain laws are there or not, they never bother the majority at all because I believe that most people are civic-conscious.

Today is Earth Day 2009. I will not bore you with more information about the Earth Day as I believe you can find them easily in Google. Rather, I would like to leave you with two thoughts:

1. What can you do each day to make this planet a better place?

2. What can you leave behind for your children and your children’s children when my journey ends? Would they still have trees to sit around?

Happy Earth Day to everyone!