Friday, July 5, 2013

Breaking My Habit, Day+5: Shave For Hope 2013

Several weeks ago, I got this message in my handphone:
"Dear Friends, Please turn ur profile pic into the Burning Candle of HOPE as on my profile. Then ask everyone on your BBM to do the same for 24 hrs for ALL Cancer Patients. Also we wish everyone to take 1 minute to bring all Cancer patients before The Almighty in prayer. Every flame represents a prayer said for a cancer patient."
I've always been at doubt about this kind of message. I feel that if you ONLY change your profile picture, pray for the cancer patient, then stop at that, you're helping nobody (well, except maybe some encouragement for those patients who did see your profile picture). I know, it doesn't cost me anything to do this, but I don't see the benefits, either (pardon me for being skeptical). That is why I didn't bother changing my profile pictures or broadcasting the message. 

Similarly toned stories could be taken from Facebook. I'm pretty sure you've encountered pictures which stated that for every like / share that the picture get, something good will happen (X will donate Y to Z, e.g: Facebook will donate $1 to kids in Africa). This one is different than the first story as it actually dupes the reader into clicking the 'like' / 'share' button (not really harmful, just makes me want to say "Owh.." and pat you on the back). 


Good Guy  Facebook, donating for every share
The over-abundance of these kind of pictures even gave birth to this cute little internet meme..

Even the African kids are judging you

.. and even a campaign from the Unicef about making the actual, monetary donation.



Yeah, the world doesn't run on likes.

If you are interested in actually helping other people, but don't have that much money to spare, let's go together to Shave for Hope 2013. For every person who shaved their heads, funds will be raised (by the sponsors) for Yayasan Pita Kuning Anak Indonesia, a foundation that specifically helps children with cancer.

It doesn't take much out of you (except your hair) but it will really make a difference. The event will be held on Gandaria City Mall, Sunday September 15, 2013. This time, let's be bald for a good reason. See you there!

P.S: 
As I will be too busy from tomorrow 'til Sunday for Jakarta Startup Weekend, blog posts for those 3 days will be combined in 1 giant post next week. Stay tuned!

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