Poverty's hideous face.

Good evening Malaysia,

While you have probably just been out enjoying yourself, enjoying the latest film, been to the latest clubs, and reading the latest magazines, I hope you find it in you to spare a moment for those less fortunate.

Of course, there are many that are less fortunate than we are, but I speak tonight specifically about those living in poverty, those who do not enjoy the comforts that we often take for granted. The things like basic healthcare, security, food and nourishment, indeed, even the simpler things like sleeping with the certainty of tomorrow is something not all of us enjoy.

Indeed, who shall speak for those less fortunate? Shall we leave the unspoken voices to be those of politicians, of global institutions, of musicians and playwrights? Shall we turn a blind eye to the children in the streets, to the migrant workers, to the prostitutes, to the sick with HIV/AIDS and those living in squatter houses?

Shall we deny them the humanity that we have so liberally taken on as absolute truths, that we parade in everyday? How many, how many of us stake a claim in being part of humanity's loving hand and yet do nothing when that hand demands the best of us?

This will not change your lives. The siren call for compassion rings out everyday, and we, o citizens of the world, have learnt to block this call, to ignore that siren and focus on ourselves as we indulge in the many opiates of our urban lifestyle. Yet, even so, can we really ignore that call, for isn't to ignore that which demands compassion of us, to ignore that very element that makes us human?

And to you, my brothers and sisters who sleep with holes in their roofs, to you who sleep in suffering tonight, I bear no gifts, I bear no houses on green hills for you, I bear no cure or medicine; I only give you this promise, that while I still live on this earth, while I breathe, and while I can earn enough to tend to my family and loved ones, I will not forget you. Someday soon, I promise I will come back for you.

Truly yours,
K