I must do this tactfully so I don't come off as an awful person.

You shouldn't donate to Japan. or at least not yet.

"OMG YOU BITCH YOU'RE AS BAD AS THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAID JAPAN DESERVED THE EARTHQUAKE"

no, I'm not. obviously Japan didn't 'deserve' the earthquake. that was pure stupidity. this is not. see, this afternoon I asked Gus if he was going to donate to Japan, and he said, 'no they don't need it, they're rich'. I was appalled as you are likely to be at this point, and I yelled 'THEY'RE IN DEBT!!!" and while I stood by my convictions on this (especially because I'd already donated) Gus said, every country has debt. doesn't mean they're not rich. which is true, and I thought about it for awhile then told Gus he was right.

I came home, did some research. and this case is all the more true for Japan. see, not only is it the world's third biggest economy, it also is the world's most prepared for dealing with natural disasters and their aftermaths. meaning that it has resources financially, as well as in terms of rebuilding and rehabilitating the destruction. of course, we can't assume on that alone that Japan doesn't need help. except for that the fact that they pretty much said it. the Japanese government has not come forward to seek financial help from the rest of the world and has been extremely specific in their aid requests: specialized search-and-rescue teams, specialized communications help and specialized medical assistance. things that the average donor like you & I are unable to provide. otherwise, the Japanese government has been quite clear that they don't need help. PLUS, it has been offered help by 91 countries so far, accepting the offer only 15.

so does that really mean that we shouldn't donate? what's wrong with donating? what's wrong is this: you don't know where your money is going. at the moment, donors are pumping in massive amounts that might not even go towards helping relief efforts in the end. it is essentially 'directionless giving' and until there is a clearer picture of the situation, you are better off stashing the money away OR giving it to countries/communities/organizations that really DO need the money. for example, donating to Haiti would probably do more than donating to Japan. why? Haiti was also hit by an earthquake but didn't have the resources to cope with it. they're still rebuilding, but it's a poor place, and if you donate your money to Haiti, you can be pretty sure you're really going to help. donating to local charities might also be more worthwhile of your money, and in the meantime Japan will rebound like they always do.

IF you are bent on donating to Japan, it is probably better to hold out and wait. this article talks about the reasons why. basically it's better to give the government time to assess the real needs of the disaster and then you can know for sure what your money is going to help. by giving to the red cross and other fairly generic and ambiguous organizations that support 'relief efforts', you're not going to know for sure that your money will end up helping people.

for example, if in a month or so when the situation has been better analyzed and it turns out there is a significant number of orphans who have been left without parents because of the tsunami, and there is a lack of orphanages to support them OR there is a lack of funds to help these orphanages deal with them, then you can donate directly to these orphanages, or through an official organization that helps them. this would be more useful and helpful than giving without direction. and, if in a month, the government comes forward to say they need money for rebuilding efforts, then by all means go ahead and donate.

so once again, I'm not being a bitch. of course if you have given I praise and admire your compassion and generosity, but if you haven't and are planning to, maybe think about it for a second. I have no doubts everyone who wishes to donate has the purest of intentions in their hearts, but I think it is important to also be sure that your money is going to be put to good use and that you want your money to be maximized in how it's going to help someone. good articles to read about this are here and here.

ALSO if you want another good way to use your money, you can hire an ah long to go and rape that Samantha girl on 91.3fm who said that "heartlanders shouldn't go to holland village" because they are "uncultured". is she a fucking retard or something?

honestly it's extremely childish. this girl obviously has no sense of consideration nor respect for other people, especially those who might not be as fortunate as her to get to live in holland village. she has completely baseless arguments with gigantic loopholes, she can't find the simplest sound premise to any of her arguments. she's clearly uneducated, uninformed and her attempt to slang is distorting her words she sounds awfully fake. "cultured" people don't air their inconsequential and baseless grievances on air. and if she were smart, she wouldn't go on air and insult a demographic that is THE MAJORITY OF SINGAPORE

furthermore, she insulted people in bedok, who live in the HDBs, and eat food at block 85. someone argued back, "we earn income and we want to go to holland village to eat good food, just like we would go to bedok. what's wrong with that?" and this airhead of an excuse of a human being said that the food prices in bedok & holland village are extremely different, so do heartlanders even earn enough to go to holland village and buy the food there. HONESTLY?! are you that daft? are you THAT dumb? you think just because people stay in heartlands they're so fucking poor they can't afford to eat Thai Express (WHICH btw charges standard prices at all outlets) at Holland V? I suppose she thinks she's all high-and-mighty because she's rich enough to frequent some pretentious bar called 2pm or some fucking crap like that.

as much as I want to punch the lights out of her and possibly threaten her life, I also feel that she's a product and a bad egg of Singapore's silver spoon problem. too much excesses, no fight in life, no struggle. only getting what she wants all the time, being a spoilt brat, having self-entitlement issues. of course not everyone in Singapore is like this. she just happens to be one of those that went wrong. like an egg that fell out of an egg tray, then got put back and sold. an unfortunate incident for the rest of us who have to tolerate her among our "uncultured", "uneducated", "slippers and t-shirt" midst. Samantha from Holland V, you better only be wearing super branded long gowns and full make-up and high heels. if I ever catch you in slippers I'll punch you  

on a last note,
to be cultured also means to be respectful and considerate of the people around you, no matter where they come from. so OBVIOUSLY, you =/= cultured. maybe you should stop going to holland V.