RED Is The Colour

Eventhough I'm a colour-blind, but for some it is an open secret that my favourite colour is RED. At one point in my life (spanning over whopping 2 years) I only buy red apparels, nothing but RED. Pathetic, I know. So when I know about the campaign, I'm interested to know more and how we can help. It is call (PRODUCT) RED (click here), a project which is a brainchild of U2's Bono and his friend. It is aim to help to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Simply put, to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering from those diseases, mostly in Africa so they can have a better life. How they work? Simply by getting world's renowned brand to create and sell their special edition products in the name of (PRODUCT) RED. Then some/most/all the profits will go straight to the fund. For example, if you buy an iPod Nano (PRODUCT) RED, which cost the same as usual iPod Nano, the money generated from the sale will contribute to the fund and it will helps billion of people who are in dire need of help. So visit the website to know more okay. Actually, that's my contribution so far because I have not buy any (PRODUCT) RED yet, maybe in the future if I stumble into it.

So, December 1st has past 2 days ago, maybe some of us know and maybe some of us don't realize that 1st December every year is declared as World AIDS Day, and being celebrated around the world. The (PRODUCT) RED I mentioned above also one of the project that is significant to the World AIDS Day. Today as I read The Star newspaper I realized that we take HIV/AIDS for granted. We know how deadly the disease is yet we have not taken any measure to curb it, as we can't do anything about it. Some shocking fact from The Star, from the research conducted by Bayer Schering Pharma in conjunction of World Contraception Day. Research done in Malaysia sampling 200 respondents aged 18-21.

• One third of Malaysian aged 18-21 have already had sex.
• One third of 200 respondents have had sex before the age 21.
• 30% did not talk about contraception before sex.
• 30% did talk but with certain difficulty.
• 50% of the girls have already had sex without contraception

You can check the actual article here.

So now, based on that I can assume we (teenagers/young adults) have indulged in a lot of pre-marital and unsafe sex, which is against our culture and religious. I have friends, which openly confess their involvement in such activities. I know it is now common among us now, no matter you are Malay, Chinese or Indians. Okay, it is clearly against our religion and culture, but please, if you are actively involve, please consider to limit the damage by practising safe sex. Wear protection, such as wearing helmet while riding a motorcycle. If you subsequently 'slipped', your head is protected for more serious injury, you got what I mean. So here I'm not promoting free sex or pre-marital sex, I'm opposed it because it is against my religion. But if you happen to happen to practice it, make sure it is safe. If you feel buying condom in 7 Eleven is embarrasing or no vending machine selling condom in Sintok, you can always buy those stuff online and it will deliver to your doorstep. Nice idea? Okay don't ask me which website offers such services. Hehe

And another thing, if you are actively involve in the games without using contraception, please brave yourself and surrender yourself to the nearest clinic that offer confidential AIDS test. Some of the clinics even have pre and post test counselling to make sure you are in the good shape before and after getting your result. So what is the need to go through this nerve wrecking test? Well, as i said before, if you have indulged in such activities that put yourself vulnarable to AIDS, this test will determine where you stand. HIV positive or negative. If you are negative, good for you, stay that way and spread the awareness to others. You can say to girlfriend/boyfriend, 'Hey! I'm HIV negative and I'm raring to marry you' for example. On the other hand, if you found yourself HIV positive which means you are carrying the disease, please bear in mind that it is good you know it earlier and not spreading it to others. There's treatment for the disease, they haven't find the cure yet but the treatment can slow the disease. If you have contracted the disease, please make sure you control yourself by not spreading it to others. That's the reason why the test is important.

Again, I'm stressing here that I'm not promoting pre-marital sex. I just feel like sharing it to you all because we Malaysian always feel 'this' and 'that' topic is taboo and so sensitive that we prohibited everybody to talk about it and what happen? the problem get worse. So take my advice, say no to pre-marital sex because it may lead you to suffer from HIV/AIDS and it is irreversible. Think before you do anything okay. An hour of happiness and joyful can drive to years and never ending sorrow. And if you wanted to do that badly, please use protection, at least you do your part to limit the numbers contracted with HIV/AIDS every year.

I'm thinking of getting 'Purity Ring' like The Jonas Brothers, haha. C'mon, I ain't no saint.

Thanks for reading, do your part in creating awareness about HIV/AIDS, leave your comment please.

Image from  http://www.coconino.az.gov/accesshealth.aspx?id=9160