Sunday, October 31, 2004
i remember when i was living in kota kinabalu, a close family friend auntie minah on a few occasions brought me and my mum to this home for kanak-kanak istimewa. i remember having no idea what we were doing there but i remember feeling scared of the kids there, especially the extra friendly kids with either down syndrome or cerebral palsy (cant recall) - they always wanted to hug people! and i was always surprised cuz they always managed to come up behind me ever so quietly.. and then grab me! then i would squeal and run away.. how stupid and naive i was to do that! of course i was stupid and naive - i was 5!
now i dunno why i always have this strong urge to do volunteering work. thanks to auntie minah, it might be.
when i was in form 3 i wanted to join greenpeace. of course that wasnt possible because that body doesnt exist in malaysia. not that i know of. but their passion for saving animals and the environment managed to bring them everywhere! i loved watching them holding up placards at a picket in brazil and catching a huge fishing boat in japan by only a small motorboat juz so they can object to whale fishing (by pasting a massive sticker on the fishing boat). remember when sarawak had that bakun dam which was majorly criticized by environmentalists? one environmentalist flew in a parachute right into the lawn of a sarawakian menteri whilst the menteri was having a little party! how cool is that! i dunno if that was the brain product of a greenpeace volunteer but anyways the fellar had to serve jail sentence for believing in the right thing. whoever u are, i salute u, mate!
when i was either form 4 or 5, i asked my mum if i could have $50 so that i could join mercy. of course she said no! no mother in her right mind would allow her daughter to go to war-torn countries juz to distribute food and stuff! but if i was allowed, maybe i wouldve gone to afghanistan or iraq or north korea or india or darfur. maybe i wouldnt have lived to tell my story but it wouldve been great cuz its juz what i always wanted to do. maybe a little bit on the edgy side but nonetheless, its always better to do something u have passion for than to do something that u dont (like studying law!)
i know that if i join mercy there would be a possibility of being sent to war-torn countries (they dont juz send doctors u know!), even if i might start with tasks in malaysia like packing food and blankets and stuff. i would love to go to war-torn countries to help people but i know that i would piss in my pants whenever i hear bombs and machineguns.
so the closest i got to joining mercy was joining their yahoogroups! and sometimes it tears me apart whenever they message goes like "volunteers needed for iraq - urgent!". SIGH..
now i decided to join amnesty international. a friend introduced me to it cuz theyre having a charity drive in subang in november. she hasnt replied to my email yet and its been a month! tak jadi kot.. anyways, its too close to raya so maybe i'll join after.
my parents slalu marah i cuz sometimes i am, as they put it, "humanitarian sangat" (oh puhleeze!!). i would argue with them to defend the newspaper delivery guy, or help an old man yang kena stroke in the middle of a dangerously empty padang bersemak-samun (i think it was a stroke), or go out of my route to jemput kawan somewhere sampai keta kena eksiden, or spend my very last penny on a present for a friend. of course la they would marah cuz theyre the ones who had to pay for my "deeds" (heheheh!). but i always reply back "mak ngan ayah la yang ajar anis jadi baik macam ni". wicked tak? humanitarian la sangat!
but i do get stepped on sometimes, especially when i offer myself too much. macam ada la kawan dulu-dulu yang "kasi siku mintak peha" (betul ke peribahasa ni? help!). kasi kaki kang! tapi i ikhlas-ly helped nonetheless. close friends i really dont mind helping tapi yang "automatic friends" ni yang malas sket - friends yang jarang layan i, tapi suddenly layan cuz nak mintak favour. then after that buat-buat tak kenal. huh nyampah!
anyways i would always carry that urge to join a volunteer body. i remember being in elementary school and having this dream (the conscious kind) of marrying a tokeh minyak arab and being his 3rd wife juz so that i could get my hands on his money and build a home for sick babies who were borne by drug addict mother and stuff like that. the dream hasnt died yet! (yay!)
i wonder why rich f*cks (as my friend likes to call it) who have lots and lots of money to spend on yachts or their 4th villa in dubai or unnecessary things like buying dresses worth $10,000 worn by elizabeth hurley, do not actually spare some to build something humanitarian.
(i know am and far would cringe on this) i have actually written on an online malaysian entertainment magazine criticizing siti nurhaliza as to why she spent her million on contact lenses and hair-dyes and BMWs (that she doesnt even drive!) and "kenapa siti tak ada kesedaran nak bina rumah kebajikan" (as i think ive put it). MUAHAHAHA! tahpapetah! tak relevant langsung! jahat la anis ni. but that was years ago (wink! wink!)
i have loads more to write but its 7 am and i look absolutely stunning in my medusa hairdo and my pajamas so im going back to sleep. see ya when i wake up at 2 pm!
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Comments:
i know, anwar..tapi aku tak tau camane standard nak cap orang as 'humanitarian'. what i know is im not one of them. blum lagi la..hehe!
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