Thursday, September 11, 2008

WTF

Bear with me, still working it out of my system: the following WTF moments are brought to you courtesy of the smart people of Trinidad and Tobago.

Man dies in firebombed car;

If the account shown on the news was anything to go by, apparently a man was pursued by his killers, who shot him and when he attempted to flee in his motor car, proceeded to firebomb it. He then climbed out of the car, fell to the side still moving until the flames from the car engulfed him. Horrific right. Well, all of this was CAUGHT ON CAMERA, including the man still moving as the flames crept towards him. NO ONE went to his assistance and it was all on tape, featured on the news. WTF.

Okay, I had at least another dozen but you know what, writing this I just got plain disgusted. Too many things that could oh so easily be resolved but yet, we seem so content to let them go, they aren't our concern until it hits our wallets and then we'll only complain. Oh yes, there's the other "reason". Early on Saturday morning a concerned friend called at the crack of dawn having read the blog. Why was he concerned? Because according to him, I was treading into dangerous territory by commenting on the things that were making me angry.

As a citizen of this country, and one who works for the country, have I not got a right to be concerned and talk about it? Apparently not, there could be victimisation etc. That's when I started to wonder if I'd gone to sleep and woken up in, oh, Zimbabwe, China or some other country that represses free speech. But then that might be me being naive. Or whatever.

So, to wit, this morning I'm not going to talk about a certain Minister who shall remain nameless commenting that it was the public's job to police developers to ensure that they are not contravening building regulations, as opposed to the Town and Country Division and the Environmental Management Authority. Nor am I going to talk about a three day retreat by heads of a certain protective service to decide that "they can make a dent in crime". Or the budding brouhaha about which member of the Silver medal winning relay team got money and which didn't. Or the poor kid hit by a broken Utility pole who is still stuck in hospital and everyone pointing fingers at someone else.

Nope, nope, this morning I'm going to concentrate on something much more positive. From the Dalai Lama, " approach love and cooking with reckless abandon, remember silence is sometimes the best answer".,

Om, shanti, shanti, shanti, om.

6 comments:

Wuzdescene said...

Wallah ... dah whole scene wit de man dying ... and NO ONE going tuh his assistance .... while it IS very WTF-ish ... I think the reason we've become so heartless .... is because there's fear for our own lives .... if we were to attempt to 'help' people in need .... I sorry .... in dat scenario .... I wasn't jumpin in tuh help dah man either .... fuh what .... tuh dead .... and get de chaconia silver medal fuh bravery nex Independence .... posthumously!! .... eh eh! ... I eh playin in no hero! ... these days .... sad tuh say .... common sense .... definitely have tuh override ... compassion ... and that's just the new Trinbago reality ....

GirlBlue said...

I only heard about that from a friend this morning, it must have been disgusting to look at and to feel compassion for the man and see noone move in to help him. Its things like that that make you realise how much some sort of broadcasting code is needed as the news stations are always showing some instances that any other news station in the free world would never be able to air.

Coffeewallah said...

'Scene, my problem was they kept shooting and then shared it with the nation.

Blue, broadcast code is one thing, for years we self-policed and you'd never have seen something like that on the air. Now, it's all about sensationalism and how much we could shock the viewer who in turn in is a ghoul and will not complain.

Angie said...

so...its ok to show a man being killed...but its not to stand up n talk for ur rights or speak out agains the gov't?! wtf?!?!?

HPD said...

I always question the camera as well. I once met a guy who took a photo of a kid in Ethiopia and a vulture in the background. And he walked away. He explained that the lens brings a different disconnect to the world and that it is one of the "rules of engagement". I told him to go take a photo of himself in the mirror and just disconnect from life all together. Maybe I used stronger words...

But... It's your last paragraph that reminds us of love...

Angry African

Coffeewallah said...

All, I am beginning to understand why the world is sinking deeper into the morass, it's frightening. I think that we've been so desensitised by seeing death and destruction glamourised by the media that we are unable to prod our consciences or understand right from wrong. This is not to excuse anyone, it's an indictment that we are willing to accept things that are wrong.

AA, that South African photographer you were referring to, turned out he couldn't live with himself either, he committed suicide seven months after he took that photo.