Mrs Boo - 30 Lifer Crisis

Unlike my idol Mrs Giggles, I have no intention of starting a review of American Idol, but I feel very much compelled to write a rant on the fiasco this latest season has turned into.

I am obsessed about American Idol, been following the show since Season Two, when I fell madly in love with Clay Aiken only to learn recently that he is gay and soliciting one night stands over the Internet (sigh, what a tragedy, but that is a separate story). So far, my favourites have never won the Idol crown, but at the very least the past winners had my grudging acceptance after awhile. And so far, they can sing, and HAVE talent, and possess some certain amount of X-factor including the insipid Carrie Underwood.

Now, a stupid dumb (and for goodness sake, she is only pretending!!) blond by the name of Kellie Pickler is threatening to become the first undeserving American Idol for this season. I mean, what can I expect from the Americans yeah, the same people who picked George Bush for 2 consecutive terms!? You stupid and blind white trash with lollipops in your ears and hay in your eyes - what do you know about music, and what true talent is? No, you just want to vote for a stupid bimbo country hick, because she is so innocent and cute! Really, you think Hollywood does not have enough stupid people? Or because you voters feel connected with Kellie’s blatant lack of brainpower? Mind you, she may be far smarter than anyone of you dialing your fortune away voting for her, manipulating your tender heart strings. Ooo, I am blond and blur, and oh so naive! Oops, I butchered that song, but you will still vote for me anyway, just because, you are so blind, deaf and dumb!

[I guess after this rant I have about destroyed my chances of becoming the next President or Prime Minister of my country, because political opponents will use this post to show that I am biased, bigoted and so entirely unbalanced. ]

Nevertheless, I am most disappointed with the judges, particularly Simon. They are so unbelievably kind to Kellie (even when she utterly sucks and basically they should basically shred her to pieces, throw her remains to Timbuktu and leave her there) you think there is a conspiracy to crown her as the next American Dumb Idol. Of course conspiracy theories abound that Kellie is doing unmentionables with Simon ( a la Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky), so there you go. Well, if that is the case, America will become a laughing stock in the whole world (but then again, they already were when Bush became President), and I will never ever watch American Idol again.

And if you want to know what Kellie is all about just feel free to visit: votefortheworst.com. I am not going to rehash how fake that woman is.

And since we are on the American Idol topic - I LOVE ELLIOT. He’s real, talented and humble. Not that I think he will win, but he’s absolutely genius. I will go as far as saying he sounds better than Clay. So he has to improve his performance a bit, but if Carrie Underwood can win based on her wooden theatrics than Elliot can do no less!

So Kellie Pickler, go fly KITE, and suck and carry whatever balls you need to get to the top! BAH!

Just over the weekend, both Mr Boo and I met up with our gay pals, S & J, to celebrate our combined anniversaries. One of the reasons we got on so well is that our couplings are very similar. Both the “men” of the relationships, i.e. Mr Boo and J, are very malleable and gullible creatures, crazy about computer games, easy going, hates shopping, and non ambitious in life. S and I, i.e. the “women”, on the other hand, are go-getters/setters, loud, aggressive, intellectual snobs who do not allow ourselves to be bullied (except on the occasions when we were both in our first jobs, but that is another story). Although we bully our partners all the time, we also watch over them like a hawk in case they are being taken advantage of because of their naivety.

In any case, we were both having breakfast together on Sunday at Burger Kings, and S was regalling Mr Boo and I about a horror story of J lending another gay pal $6,000 to pay off his debts. Other than a written document from the chap stating that he borrowed $6,000 from J and will return the money, interest free (!), J has no other guarantee. That happened more than 1 and a half years ago, or so J claims. S thinks it has been even longer. In any case, S says that J has been constantly meeting up with this friend since then, and instead of asking for repayment, he has been treating the friend for breakfast! S thinks that J will never get the money back, and is upset with his stupidity, although J still believes in the integrity of his friend. I told J plainly that I thought:

1. He has been duped, and the friend will not return him the money even if the friend HAS the money.
2. I will borrow money from him in the future should I ever become broke.

And I told Mr Boo if he ever did something as stupid as that, I would WRING his balls.

Today, Mr Boo called me and told me that a “long lost friend” called him up and said that the electronics shop he was working at is closing down, and therefore selling electronic gadgets at a steal. He offered to come down to our house to show these gadgets. Mr Boo bought a home theatre SOUND system for $100. A sound system from an unknown brand called “Harrot”. And so I freaked out, and am freaking out still, which is why I am writing this very post.

$100 may seem a steal except for the following points:

1. Due to my upcoming business, we are both low on savings, and therefore need to save money.
2. His bank account has already fallen below the bank limit, thereafter which we need to pay additional fees to sustain that account, and he is depleting his account even more.
3. We just lost $150 on mahjong the night before.
4. $100 is too expensive for a lousy, unknown brand like Harrot.
5. Our apartment is very small and the sound system will take up way too much space.
6. We DO NOT even have a home theatre system to begin with!!!!!

Mr Boo, fine man as he is, and much as I love him (NOT NOW THOUGH), is really too impressionable, too soft, too gullible and unable to say “No” to anyone. And that is why he gets cheated left, right and centre. And he is coming to 32 years old by the way. I cannot imagine how he has survived so long without me - probably a result of his mother, who is as fierce and streetwise as me, and loves and protects her son dearly.

And now its my turn to do the “dragon thing”. DUH.

Mr Boo, if you are reading this - I am still VERY PISSED OFF.

Against the charity scandal that has exploded in my home country (which has resulted in my first rant), another news relating to something more dire has been hovering at the sidelines. A picture of a kid (not looking like a kid, but rather, a little alien with bulging eyes and a protruding stomach) has just stared at me in the face accusingly. Why is no one helping me? Why are you letting me die?

Due to drought and widespread famine, children in Niger are dying like flies. Yet unlike the Asian tsunami that overwhelmed a good part of the world and saw great acts of charity from all walks of life, regardless of race and religion, the world has barely responded to this crisis in Niger. According to an AP article I read today, it said:

“The warnings have been coming for months. The United Nations first appealed for assistance in November and got almost no response. Another appeal for $16 million in March got about $1 million. The latest appeal on May 25 for $30 million has received about $10 million.”

The Asian tsunami raised more than a billion US$. Of course scores of people died there as well, and the calamity was of an unprecendented scale. Still, one wonders where have all the charitable hearts gone to, mine included.

People like me - we live a very comfortable life in a first world country. Poverty seldom stares at me in the face, and when it does, I try to look away. Sometimes, to assuage my guilt, I make a few miserable donations, telling myself that I have done enough charity for this month, this year, etc., and I cannot save the world. Governments should be the ones helping, or Bill Gates have more money than I do and therefore they should help, along with many other excuses. And every second I try to avoid social responsibility, another child dies somewhere.

It is easy to criticise others for being selfish, stuck in an ivory tower, self absorbed. Just like the elite who can tell us US$400k is mere “peanuts”, we as the elite to the Third World are committing similar crimes or worse by ignoring their cries. Here we are constantly whining about the crappy state of our lives, and not having sufficient money to do this and that, there are people who struggle to peel barks off trees to eat as breakfast.

I feel like I am looking at myself in the mirror, and the reflection is not pretty. Worse still I know that after this blog, I may go donate another few dollars to Oxfam or UNICEF (likely to assuage my guilt - AGAIN!), but very soon I would have forgotten the dying children, and continue to live my comparably luxurious life. The very thought is downright callous, but that too, will be brushed aside quite soon. I am so sorry, kids. I am a selfish, heartless bitch.

What can we do as a society? Perhaps, a better tribute to their suffering, besides prayers and money, is that we should be more contented with our lives, and really, really appreciate what we have right now, and thank God for it every single day. Amidst our constant search for more of everything we need to remember that there are people out there who have nothing, and not even their fragile lives. Thank God that somehow, he has chosen to put us here, where we have education, houses, cars, foods, pretty clothes, because I could just have easily been that kid in the picture.

I am fuming mad, and I don’t know where to start.

The huge scandal that has erupted in my home country pertaining to one of the largest, self-professed charitable organisations has set my blood boiling.

Quick background: This “charitable organisation” hosts several fund raising activities via prime time channels for needy patients, raising up to USD5 -8 million per activity. Since its inception, it has now accumulated about USD150 million in reserves, making it the largest charity in the country. Instead of increasing subsidies to needy patients for their treatments, the funds seemingly have been channeled to the CEO, its Board, and possibly all its staff in the form of fat salaries, huge bonuses of up to 12 months, and unbelievable perks (such as installing a GOLD-PLATED tap costing US$600 in his personal bathroom in his plush office, jetsetting in first class, and using DONOR funds to pay for the personal use of his Mercedes, road tax included). The CEO himself is paid a montly salary of USD15,000 and additional bonus of 12 months per annum. As a result of a litigation procedure which took place recently, such atrocities have come to light and have set off a wave of public rage never seen among the normally apathetic and placid citizens (me being one of them).

As if it was not bad enough, the CEO, Board and its public relations machinery have time and again made false and misleading statements in a bid to raise more funds in the name of CHARITY, when their reserves could last up to a good 30 to 40 years without a single cent of donation henceforth. They even had the audacity to sue innocent citizens who had the courage to question their extravagances. According to the CEO, such lavish perks and high salaries were “his entitlement” simply because he has worked 37 years for the organisation, while it was in its infancy, starting out as a volunteer and working his way up. These were also “his entitlement” because he had built up the organisation to one of the biggest, most prominent and most profitable (indeed!!) in the whole wide world. Although his fat paycheck was paid for by the man in the street who will probably never see savings equating to the CEO’s one year paycheck, he did not feel the need to be transparent with his salary and perks because it was “his privacy”.

But I, as well as millions of my fellow averagely paid citizens, donated our money to the 5 year old girl who had bone cancer with one leg already removed, and in constant pain. We donated to the old married couple, both of whom, unfortunately fell prey to kidney failure, and needed expensive dialysis to sustain their lives. These are the constant images we saw on TV, newspapers, brochures. These are the people we wanted to help to alleviate their pain, and offer them comfort.

While I personally do not begrude the man for his salary, I take great offence at the outrageous perks he was given (and possibly to other staff and/or Board members as well), which could have gone to more comprehensive subsidies for the needy (a doll for the little girl perhaps, some food for the old couple?). While the CEO’s unapologetic defence was that the charity organisation was what it was today because it was run like a corporate multinational company, its responsibilities, its societal role, and ultimately its roots are anything BUT. What really do we understand by charity? Is a volunteer still a volunteer if he is paid, and paid very well, sponsored by people who believed the money was going to the poor and desperate? If money is my guiding force, isn’t there a better place to go to rather than work with a charity? If you are with a charity because of your own beliefs, you should be prepared to make sacrifices because the reward of volunteering far outstrips the monetary rewards and perks that you can get.

Many blinkered people who continued to support this CEO pointed out this good track record for the past 37 years, and all the sacrifices he has made in the name of charity. All I can say is that it takes only a single moment of corruption and wrong-doing to wipe out the 37 years of good work.

Between yesterday when I first started out this rant to now as I try to wrap up the longest post I have ever written thus far, the CEO and Board was forced to resign under the barrage of public fury with our government stepping in to try restore shattered public confidence. The saga has not ended yet, there would be more soul-searching, and more relevations to come, and more healing to take place.

While I am not the most charitable soul in the world, this episode has truly open my eyes, and made me wonder if the human race can ever do something good, without expecting something in return? Is charity as an ideal dead?