December 28, 2006

No Internet Access & Lack of Humanity

I've not been having access to the Internet due to this, for, what, a day, and I'm already suffering from Internet withdrawal symptoms. My computer's (almost) my life, and now, I don't know what to do with all the free time in between! I could do some reading, of course, or catch up on real life, as they call it. Yet ... there's this void that only the Internet can fill. Something about a constant connection to the outside world, perhaps?

Sigh. And yet ...

I just realised, that ever since the earthquake in Taiwan disrupted our Internet access, everyone's only complaining about lack of Internet access, blaming it on streamyx, etc. But no one's actually thought of the earthquake victims who lost everything to the disaster. Here we are, grumbling pettily that we have lost our Internet access ("Oh no! No online gaming for a day! How will I live?!"), when there are people out there who suffered a lot more. What has happened to humanity? When have we become that oblivious and selfish, that we are all we think about?

Having said all that ... yep, it's definitely time I move away from the computer for a bit, give my eyes their much-needed rest, and breathe some fresh air for a change. Hope that all is well in Taiwan.

8 comments:

hellfried said...

well said! what we are complaining about is so insignificant when compared to what 2 families in taiwan are going through.

Tine said...

Exactly! I stumbled upon a Lowyat forum post yesterday, where kind Samaritans were offering their proxies and such to the public for their Internet access, but to be used sparingly so that everyone may have the opportunity to access the Internet for emails and such. And all people were interested in was "Oh, I just need it to access WoW forums/play WoW or DOTA".

I was like, WTF?! They're kind enough to lend what small bandwidth they have in order for you to do your necessary emailing, or quick blogging, and there you are, worried about your online games?! That seriously pissed me off big time.

daren said...

hi i'm just some random fellow who stumbled on your blog which was featured in "digital life" on Jan 2 07

the sad thing is that even in the news all around people are reporting about the reason for the sudden disruption in connection and not what you have said about the "earthquake victims who lost everything to the disaster"

reminds me of the time where the US attacked Iraq (or was it because of sept 11?) where oil investors were celebrating due to the sharp increase in the price of oil and it did not matter to them that there were casualties of the unfortunate event

well its good to know that there are still some people out there who are actually conscientious that the actual cost of an earthquake goes way beyond slower internet connection

have a great and blessed year ahead!

Tine said...

Hi Daren, thanks for dropping by. My blog was featured in Digital Life? Would you mind sending me the link? Yeah, I'm that narcissistic :P

Anyhoos, yeah, my sentiments exactly. I'd admit that I was pretty unsettled when my Internet access was disrupted. But when I read of Internet users' complaints on not being able to continue their online games, whining about their stats, requesting that bandwidth is shared with them by kind people who shared their own proxies (not too sure of the procedure, but I think that was what it was) ... I think it's gone too far.

I'm sure you've seen recent articles on The Star, where bloggers were interviewed on how they viewed the recent Internet access disruption. Not one of 'em mentioned anything about the chaos in Taiwan, but only how THEY were affected. It's sad, really, on how we Malaysians have lost sight of what's important. The ironic thing is that we haven't truly lost access to the Internet; I mean, we still have access to local news sites. It really isn't the end of the world.

Happy New Year to you too! :)

daren said...

hey sorry i dont have the requested link..if u are overly narcissistic, i can scan the article for u though haha

and im from singapore so i havnt read The Star (Malaysian newspaper i assume?)

Tine said...

Daren: Hehehe drats :P Wow ... a scanned copy? It's actually on paper? Oh my *itching to know*. Weeeelll ... if you could, I'd be ever so grateful :D

Oooh ... my first Singaporean reader! Well, to my knowledge anyway. Welcome, welcome!

PS: Yeah, The Star's a popular Malaysian newspaper.

daren said...

how would u like your glorious article haha?
not to give u too much of a false hope but the article is like less than 1/8 of the page

Tine said...

Hehehe, no worries. I'm narcissistic, but not THAT narcissistic. Even a one-liner mention would just be nice :)

Do email it to me if you can. Thanks very very much :D