'Tsunami the aftermath' is a video about the problems surfaced after a Tsunami and it happened in Thailand in 2004, it is based on research and interviews to show the people around the world visually about Tsunami and how does it affected the people. The issues regarding the video and categorized as social, economic and political.
The social issue in the movie was burning bodies without identification. In the movie, a scene of monks are seen burning dead bodies without identification and informing the deceased's loved ones. Their purpose of burning the dead bodies is so that they could prevent/stop infection from spreading. This is a case of moral dilemma because in a person's perspective it is morally wrong to dispose the dead bodies wihout informing the deceased's loved ones. The families of these dead bodies have the right to know if they are dead or alive or else they will be living in doubts, it will be a living hell experience for them. If they keep the dead bodies any longer, fatal infection may spread around and affect the living people around them, then more people would die. This is an irresponsible act. In this scenario, I would suggest them to take pictures of all the dead bodies before burning them so that their families would be informed if they are dead or alive. Again, this is just my opnion. Different people has different opinions regarding morals.
Another social issue was regarding the chaos, confusion and looting that took place after the disaster. Chaos was when the villages and hotels affected and destroyed and the places are in the mess with casualties and dead bodies all over the places. The people who survived the natural disaster were left in confusion and questioning whether their family memebers with them are safe and sound. Wondering if they could pull this through while the foreigners would wonder how are they able to get home. A family of westerners in the movie, a man died on his way to the hospital leaving his wife and two sons. His death left his family devasted and it could leave his wife thinking how is she able to support her two sons alone and more questions running through her mind. In the video looting was seen. It is when people steal things from the surroundings or even expensive jewelry from dead people and these people could have taken important belongings from deceased which meant alot to their family members.
The economic issue in this video is that there will be economic losses by investors in Thailand and it would also affect the confidence in Thailand of the investors'. Thailand would need finance to rebuild all the destroed buildings and the hotels affected suffered heavy losses. In one of the scene, one of the man from the press said " That is a lot of unpaid room service." it is infact true as given the situation, they could not get payment from the guests and instead they have to spend more money in rebuilding the hotel.
Lastly is the issue regarding political. The government was warned of the impending Tsunami but did not set up a warning system. The government should have set up a warning system to warn the people and maybe more people could survive the natural disaster by making their escape earlier before the Tsunami came. In fact, the arears affected had poor accessibilty, they do not have exit routes and none of the people are briefed about safety and plans of escaping when natural disasters striked them. Relief efforts were inadequate and evacuation by embassies from different countriesn were too slow. The local government did not do much to help those victims in villages. Embassies from other countries were slow in evacuating their people and as a result of that, people suffer just like one boy in the movie, he had to amputate his legs to stop the virus from spreading. The hospitals in Thailand did not have the equipments and proper treatment and thus the boy had to have his legs amputated to save his life. If the embassy had evacuated him earlier, he could have received treatment and would not have to have his legs amputated.
From this video, I hope that it could spread the awareness of Tsunami and it could teach the people the right way to respond to it and have better accessibilty around. It is also important to have exit routes and a well-planned escape to increase the chances of survivors when natural disasters happened.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Reflection on the movie - ' The Cove '
The movie ' The Cove ' is a film about the former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's quest to document dolphin operation in Taiji, Japan. Ric O'Barry helped to capture and trained five dolphins for the television series, 'Flipper' which were played by these five dolphins. After one of the dolphins in O'Barry's opinion, committed suicide in his arms by closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate due to tremendous and since then Ric O'Barry thinks that keeping dolphins in captive is a curse.
According to the movie ' The Cove ' the Japanese fishermen in Taiji are killing the dolphins and whales for money. Taiji fishermen catch dolphins and sell the captured dolphins to dolphin trainers from all over the world. Dolphin trainers choose their desired button nosed dolphins and have them trained for performances in dolphin parks. Dolphins who are not selected by the dolphin trainers will be brought to the cove which is surrounded by wire fences and "keep out" signs for slaughtering and their meat will be sold in the markets.When these fishermen are questioned about the killings of the dolphins, they said that it is their tradition/culture but many Japanese did not know of such tradition existing.
It is 'wrong' to kill the dolphins and whales because they are intelligent and self-aware. According to a surfer in the movie, there was once when he was surfing, a predator was 2 metres away from him and a dolphin saved his life by pushing the predator away from him. Another reason is that the meat of the dolphin is toxic as it contains mercury and it will deteriorate the health of the humans. Lastly, the method of killing is brutal as the dolphins are being pierced through by a spear like weapon and they are left to die slowly until they drowned.
According to the movie ' The Cove ' the Japanese fishermen in Taiji are killing the dolphins and whales for money. Taiji fishermen catch dolphins and sell the captured dolphins to dolphin trainers from all over the world. Dolphin trainers choose their desired button nosed dolphins and have them trained for performances in dolphin parks. Dolphins who are not selected by the dolphin trainers will be brought to the cove which is surrounded by wire fences and "keep out" signs for slaughtering and their meat will be sold in the markets.When these fishermen are questioned about the killings of the dolphins, they said that it is their tradition/culture but many Japanese did not know of such tradition existing.
It is 'wrong' to kill the dolphins and whales because they are intelligent and self-aware. According to a surfer in the movie, there was once when he was surfing, a predator was 2 metres away from him and a dolphin saved his life by pushing the predator away from him. Another reason is that the meat of the dolphin is toxic as it contains mercury and it will deteriorate the health of the humans. Lastly, the method of killing is brutal as the dolphins are being pierced through by a spear like weapon and they are left to die slowly until they drowned.
Reflection of video – South Park’s Whale Wars
According to the South Park Whale Whores; the issue raised in the episode was the ongoing problem of the Japanese killing whales; as a result of them dropping the nuclear bombs "fat man" and "little boy" on Hiroshima.
The japanese people were portrayed with a stereotyped asian accent with a slur and poor pronunciation on words , they were also depicted as having small eyes, another Asian stereotype, they were traditional Japanese clothes .They can also be seen running away and being afraid of a Godzilla figure. They were also obsessed about killing the "culprits" that were behind the Hiroshima bombing. Their savagery were also depicted in the manner of which they slaughtered the whales and dolphins, brutally stabbing them to death with make shift pitch forks.
The activists depicted in the show were trying to stop the Japanese but failed to do so as they had no real way of physically stopping the slaughter through lawful means, this is proven when one of the crew members told Stan that they couldn't follow through with his ideas because it was against the law. Also Captain Paul Watson refered to the incident whereby he faked getting shot and then using the press against the Japanese. Stan takes over and then proceeds to actively make a difference and stop the Japanese, however his methods relies heavily on killing the Japanese, being aggressive before the Japanese have a chance to hunt; backed up with him saying on the television interview "they can be stopped, if you have balls." They are also shown to lie for higher ratings, as did Cartman and Kenny when they joined up with the crew, despite clearly not showing an interest in being an activist earlier on in the show.
Another issue is the cultural ignorance potrayed towards the Japanese. The average viewer does not even know why the Japanese killed the Whales and Dolphin. Stan's hasty generalization towards the Japanese thinking that all Japanese does not speak english when he asked "You speak english?"
Lastly, when the Japanese stopped killing whales and dolphins and killed chickens and cow instead Stan's father said " Now they are normal like us." He is trying to imply that killing cows and chickens are normal while killing whales and dolphins are not. Whales, dolphins, cows and chickens are all living things after all. This is what makes me puzzled, they all can be eaten but why is it normal for humans to eat cows and chickens but not normal to eat whales and dolphins?
The japanese people were portrayed with a stereotyped asian accent with a slur and poor pronunciation on words , they were also depicted as having small eyes, another Asian stereotype, they were traditional Japanese clothes .They can also be seen running away and being afraid of a Godzilla figure. They were also obsessed about killing the "culprits" that were behind the Hiroshima bombing. Their savagery were also depicted in the manner of which they slaughtered the whales and dolphins, brutally stabbing them to death with make shift pitch forks.
The activists depicted in the show were trying to stop the Japanese but failed to do so as they had no real way of physically stopping the slaughter through lawful means, this is proven when one of the crew members told Stan that they couldn't follow through with his ideas because it was against the law. Also Captain Paul Watson refered to the incident whereby he faked getting shot and then using the press against the Japanese. Stan takes over and then proceeds to actively make a difference and stop the Japanese, however his methods relies heavily on killing the Japanese, being aggressive before the Japanese have a chance to hunt; backed up with him saying on the television interview "they can be stopped, if you have balls." They are also shown to lie for higher ratings, as did Cartman and Kenny when they joined up with the crew, despite clearly not showing an interest in being an activist earlier on in the show.
Another issue is the cultural ignorance potrayed towards the Japanese. The average viewer does not even know why the Japanese killed the Whales and Dolphin. Stan's hasty generalization towards the Japanese thinking that all Japanese does not speak english when he asked "You speak english?"
Lastly, when the Japanese stopped killing whales and dolphins and killed chickens and cow instead Stan's father said " Now they are normal like us." He is trying to imply that killing cows and chickens are normal while killing whales and dolphins are not. Whales, dolphins, cows and chickens are all living things after all. This is what makes me puzzled, they all can be eaten but why is it normal for humans to eat cows and chickens but not normal to eat whales and dolphins?
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Why study Geography?
Geography is the study of Earth's landscapes, people, places and environments. It is to understand the Earth and all of its human and natural complexities and the process of how things evolved. We study Geography for the knowledge.
Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of places and regions recognising the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and the links between them. Understanding the causes of differences and inequalities between places and social groups underlie much of the newer developments in human geography.
Having knowledge of Geography is helpful in related jobscopes such as applied management resources and environments. It also allows us to understand what causes the natural disasters in the world and how to react when natural disasters occur. Understanding the causes such as global warming and anything that affects the world is the first step to enable us to figure ways to reduce or eliminate the problems. Learning through geography whether gained through formal learning or experientially through travel, fieldwork and expeditions helps us all to be more socially and environmentally sensitive, informed and responsible citizens and employees.
Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of places and regions recognising the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and the links between them. Understanding the causes of differences and inequalities between places and social groups underlie much of the newer developments in human geography.
Having knowledge of Geography is helpful in related jobscopes such as applied management resources and environments. It also allows us to understand what causes the natural disasters in the world and how to react when natural disasters occur. Understanding the causes such as global warming and anything that affects the world is the first step to enable us to figure ways to reduce or eliminate the problems. Learning through geography whether gained through formal learning or experientially through travel, fieldwork and expeditions helps us all to be more socially and environmentally sensitive, informed and responsible citizens and employees.
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