+ Pray For Japan

(cross posted from my deviantart journal)

Finally some spare time to write something here. Many thanks to orbakat for allowing me to cross post her journal here earlier. You can view her journal entry here. I been following the news since the moment it started. I was at work when I saw a news tweet of a M7.9 quake in the tohoku region, which suddenly upgrades into a M8.8 then M8.9 following a devasting 10m high tsunami sweeping in from the pacific coast wiping almost the whole of Sendai into a wasteland. The Earthquake aftermath is really heartbreaking to watch.

You probably heard of all these from the papers and TV already. But kindly bear in mind that most media are exaggerating on the situation right now. Especially on the panic and confusion currently in Tokyo as well as the incident at Fukushima Daiichi Reactor. There’s an article you can read about to understand more rather than relying on the media to feed you with exaggerated information: Fukushima Nuclear Accident – a simple and accurate explanation

Here’s a little updates I receive from some friends in Japan:
In Chiba, streets and houses are damaged. There’s a shortage of supplies in the convenience stores. Little water, no rice and they are surviving by scrimping and the little snacks they can buy from the stores.
In Tokyo, people in Tokyo are living their days almost just like any other day you will see in tokyo. There are some damages here and there but nothing very serious. Not as scarily as it was described by the media.
In Kyushu, generally safe but their people are very worried for their relatives, friends and fellow Japanese in the Honshu region.

They are all trying very hard to conserve electricity and helping each other tide through this terrible disaster. There was a twitter translation of the situation going on there for the past few days: Japan Quake as Seen from Twitter. Please spare some time to read. Will you feel guilty after reading or will be really do what they are doing right now if the same thing were to happen to you?

Also, to insensitive people out there who compares disaster severity with your own country; who worries only about your favourite celebreties, manga and anime safety; who start the spread of the rumour of the nuclear blast and radioactive rain; who make use of the disaster for your personal gain, who make fun of the Japanese and their karma and producing and using insulting pictures of them, you have my utmost disrespect. I believe I dont need to explain why.

Enough talks, what the people in Japan needs most right now is our help. We cant be there to help them, but we can spiritually and via monetary donations. Here’s a list of some of the agents currently helping out in collecting donations:

American Red Cross
Requires US Credit Card/Amazon Payments account.

Google Crisis Response
Require Google Checkout account.

Apple iTunes-based donations
For iTunes Store users.

The Nippon Foundation
Requires Credit Card.

Singapore Red Cross Society
If you are in Singapore and do not have online payment ability.

The Japanese are still trying their best effort there, but we could help make it easier for them. Please lend your helping hand, and help spread the word.

Image taken from a blogshop which is supporting Japan disaster relief efforts. Click to visit.