Again, some three and a half years after the 2004 Asian tsunami, I sit at my computer, the insignificance of my banal and mundane daily problems and stresses put into stark relief by Natureís wrath and devastation - while typhoons and earthquakes leave dead bodies and destroyed lives, Hutchison and PCCW just leave headaches and frustration. The recent natural disasters, though destructive and tragic, have not, I'm ashamed to say, affected me the way the 2004 tsunami did, where the images and coverage of the scale and scope of the disaster unfolding half a world away left me weeping in my holiday hotel room in Peru. I don't know how the recent images have affected you, but I wonder if the daily bombardment by the media of images of human suffering, disease and death has left me incapable of true feeling. I remember the first images that appeared on TV about the famine and starvation in Africa in 1984. They stunned the world - and gave rise to Band Aid and We Are The World as millions donated spontaneously to help. I'm not indifferent and unfeeling to the plight of those suffering from natural disasters, but I've become extremely cynical about the business of organized charity. Charity fundraising is big business now and I'm certain more people are getting helped - but at what cost? Our compassion is exploited by global and local charities who bombard us incessantly with demands for cash. Yet when asked a simple question about how much of our donations actually reaches those who we, the givers, expected to help, and how much went on expensive offices and salaries, there is silence. Why for example was Oxfam recently selling small plastic packages of rice for a donation. The rice would be better sent as relief aid, the plastic packaging only adds to the worldís trash mountain and the money spent on storage, production and shipping could surely have been better used - and I would have donated, with out the rice, anyway - cynical and unfeeling doesnít mean I don't donate.

And, perverse as it seems with June 4 fast approaching, our appreciation and thanks must go out to the individual soldiers of the Chinese armed forces who have worked tirelessly and bravely to rescue so many trapped by the recent earthquake.

sd