My thoughts on how I can help the less fortunate
I realise I was really angry, on Sunday. I mean, I spent a little over a weekend, being a prisoner in my own homeland (thanks to all the police roadblocks, targeting people of the wrong skin colour). I’ve yet to feel this way in Melbourne, where I spend most of my time nowadays.
I am Malaysian. A Malaysian Malaysian. A country that still profiles via race, is doomed, and this thinking will disappear as the young, grow up. A Malaysia where the Gen-Y controls the country, will be a lot better and more open. Besides, with mixed-marriages, and all the normal inter-racial fun, I don’t see why Malaysia, can’t be Truly Asia. Welcome back, the idea of Bangsa Malaysia.
I applaud the protesters that go to the BERSIH or Hindraf rallies. They’re truly Malaysian. Khairil says it best :) I’m really happy that there are people I know of, ordinary folk, whom go to these rallies – read some accounts from Su Ann, and a couple from my junior at school Shazeea.
As a Malaysian, predominantly living overseas and spending copious amounts of time away from my country of birth, there is no point in I getting emotional over things. I’m probably from the upper-medium-class of families, and life is pretty cushy. Heck, by virtue of just not living in Malaysia, makes me not feel the day-to-day pains (like 20% fuel price hikes, toll hikes, etc.), felt by fellow Malaysians. That doesn’t mean I can’t get angry and request change.
So, in my spare time, while I’m in KL, I’m not going to spend it wailing away enjoying cheap drinks and the amazing night-life. I’ve decided that there are only several things I can do, that can really make an impact:
- help the poor, by educating them. I remember back in 1998, there was a NetDay project, where we got old i386 machines, loaded PicoBSD onto them, and made them useful again. I plan on sourcing machines, to be re-purposed in community centres. If a community centre doesn’t exist, maybe the “village leader’s” home can be used. I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and realise that connectivity matters, and so on and I’m hoping that I get “help” and “assistance” to make this flow. I only have aims of ensuring people use FLOSS applications, and hopefully have online connectivity, because that’s clearly where the future is at. I can provide training, setup PCs, and probably do so much more. If you’re in shackles, its because of lacking education – breaking free, is my aim.
- document the poor. One of my hobbies is photography, and I’m not half bad at that. I plan on taking photos of the less fortunate, their living conditions, and tell their stories. I’ll license it under the Creative Commons, so folk can also make use of it, if they see fit. This isn’t going to be easy, because its time consuming, and I’d probably need to get around in a car, but let’s see how far I get. Maybe it’ll inspire others to continue
The poor are everywhere. They’re not only ethnic Indian. There are ethnic Chinese and Malays that are poor too. The last couple of sentences can truly be summed up as – the poor are everywhere, in Malaysia. They’re Malaysian.
Enough ranting, its now time to work on the doing.
Those are great inspiring comments. Are you going to collect some old pcs from aus and ship them over? There is a good source from all that is Australia. This idea could also work in Oz-downunder. keep me posted….