Just a thought...

I completed a story book lately - "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly...It's a fantasy story, but quite an interesting read. Fantasy stories are not something I would pick up generally; it all depends. I got to know of this book through Borders e-newsletter, and I read its synopsis, which didn't sound too bad. At some stages, it did keep me gripped, so quite something I enjoyed. So if you are keen, go for it.

Well I'm not plugging the book, just something that occurred to me after I completed the book. A similarity I shared with the boy in the story. Well, he was an only child and his mom's life was slowly ebbing away due to cancer. He came to this conclusion that something can be done about it, and it was all up to him. It started out innocently enough; he just did his playing and games quietly so as not to disturb his mom's rest, and basically he felt that if he did some things a certain way, if he did certain things in a particular / routine way, he can keep his mom's illness at bay. So it came right down to the point where he would wake up in the morning and get out of bed on the right side; he would take a certain number of steps (even, not odd - odd numbers were deemed evil) to go to the bathroom; he would brush his teeth a certain number of times (even still); chew his food a certain number of times (even again)...stuff like that. And if he had bumped his head accidentally on the left side, he would bump it on the right just to make it even..and if he thought he had bumped twice instead of the designated once, he would bump it once again, or any number of times necessary to make it even-numbered and so on; the things he would do...

When I was reading the book, it occurred to me that he seem to have some compulsive disorder. Then I realised that I was a little like that too..and still am sometimes. I thought even numbers were good and odd was bad; and instead of an "obsession" with numbers, I was stuck on routine habits - like doing certain things in a certain way so that I would have a smoothsailing day that day. But I stopped that bad habit after I came to Christ. He, after all, is whom I believe to be in control of my life, not some silly chance thing. In any case, I thought, if doing certain things routinely will get me through a day well, then it's probably the devil at work, that I had to panter to his likes. Haha..well, I caught myself doing that still actually. Not that I believe otherwise now, but I supposed I just sort of fell into habit again. Oh well. Just thought how differently it had looked when it's someone else's story, and how "I'm not like that" or "I certainly don't have any disorders!"...but really, isn't the similarity a tad too uncanny? haha...WELL, I know I DON'T have any disorder =)

News

Did I ever mention that I enjoy reading other people's blogs? Heh...not really surprising, since I'm so kaypoh...I also enjoy pouring out my woes and happiness through my blog. But somehow along the way, I seem to have either lost interest, or at a loss of words, literally. And I'm sure many of us have encounter this - have lotsa things running through our minds, have a great idea what to blog about, then totally forgot about it when sitting in front of the computer. Yeah, that feeling kinda sux doesn't it.

This time, I let my hands do the talking - I opened an empty post, and just typed away. I guess that's what we mean when we say it's good not to have to think sometimes =)

Anyways, I was watching the telly just the other day when something I learnt in school flashed through my mind.

It all started with me wondering how come I'm blogging so much lesser now than the beginning when I first started. I did mention that my unforgiving hours had alot to do with it. Well it's still true, just that I wondered about the possibility if I had become bored...like, the novelty has worn off? Or even "de-sensitised"?

Yeah, "de-sensitisation" is a concept I picked up from a module last semester. Desensitisation basically means that if you've gone through alot of a particular something which used to irks you, frightens you, or whatever it is, you outgrown from it. This psychology concept is used in media study to explain how kids, for example, after having watched much violence on tv, becames "desensitised", that they may begin to accept that it's ok to be violent, or they are no longer turned off by it when they see it the next time.

AND one thing led to another, I wondered if I'm desensitised when it comes to news. Ok, here's what I mean. Everyone of us has a role in the news process; we are either the ones who PASS the news from around the world to viewers, or we are the ones who RECEIVES the news. In a way, we play both roles at different times don't we? We tune in to tv news and become a viewer, and when we tell our friends about the brutal murder in Japan, or that funny office-chair competition in Germany, we pass the news along.

But for those of us who work in a newsroom, it's kinda diffferent. We are SURROUNDED by news. It's an exciting place to be at, especially during times of breaking news. But it's also made me wonder if that is making me desensitised.

Just yesterday, I was doing a piece of news about how improverished families in Manila Philippines had to turn to re-cooking trash for food. They live in abject poverty - earning less than 200 pesos (about US$5) but having to feed the entire family. To top off, rising inflation has encroached into their income, making things worse. Basically, they scavenge for food in the trash; and a kind of trade from this has evolved - buying and selling trash. Literally, what's one's trash is another's treasure. You can go here for a better idea: http://www.probetv.com/search_result.php?search_id=Payatas

In any case, that wasn't the wire I was working with. I had footage of this mother who sifts through the trash, picks out chicken wing bones (with bits of meat still remaining) and fries them for her children. Sizzling chicken frying in the wok; you'd never have guessed. The footage is far more poignant than my description...hair-raising. One kid commented that she loves the chicken. I mean you think about it, for the poor who could hardly put food on the table, chicken wings are a treat! But this is just so wrong...and sad.

When I was looking through it, I cringed when I saw the kids clamouring for a piece of chicken (or whatever was left on the bone)...then I felt sad for them...then, sort of nothing. I mean as in, after I was done, I left the place and forgot about it. It's wrong to be feeling this way, I know it. People who cared enough perhaps would have done something more. Or maybe it's the sentiment that one man's effort is not enough to change things. Whatever it is...I don't want to be desensitised. Being able to feel for the story and the people whose story you're telling, is very important. You can't tell a story well if you don't believe in it. News today is rather subjective. As in, reporters subtly input their emotions or agenda, and make you feel what they want you to feel through the way they craft the story. Ethical concerns aside, it does give a human side to stories, or give an alternative view to political brawls between countries.

One can never be bored with news, because no two piece of news is the same. But it just sort of made me wonder if having written too much of a particular type of news will make one (or me) feel nothing for it...and end up simply chewing-and-spitting-out the facts that's all.