I covered the International Women's Day event this afternoon and aside from catching up with several high profile women friends including my dear ex-principal from sixth form who is now a deputy permanent secretary (I was so thrilled that she remembered my full name and my employment history!! heheh!), I had the honour of listening to the keynote speaker, Dr Jemilah Mahmood, President of Mercy Malaysia or Malaysian Medical Relief Society.

Frankly I had never heard of Mercy Malaysia until today and it certainly opened my eyes! One of the questions Dr Jemilah asked of the audience was when we think of humanitarian aid agencies, does any asian organisation come to mind? I must admit, the only one that came to mind was CARE Australia... hardly asian.

The other question she asked was, if tonight your sleep becomes an eternal one, and the maker asks you what have you done with your skills, education, intellect, wealth, influence etc to benefit your fellow human beings? How would you answer? Her objective was clear. To put everyone in a state of perturbation. And perturbed I was! She ended with a deep and meaningful quote from Martin Luther King Jr., «Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.»

Food for thought: What can I do to help these organisations directly or indirectly aside from donating cash and supplies? Something to do with photography perhaps?