Inconvenient truth

Been away from this place for awhile now.

I’ve posted this video of Gordon Ramsay on my Facebook, urging people to stop eating shark fins, very simply because it does not add any significant flavour to the soup/broth. You can eat an exact same broth without the shark fins in it, and you couldn’t taste the difference.

Thing is, I couldn’t bring myself to finish it, so I stopped within 3 minutes of the video. Somehow, today, I silently chided myself and played the whole thing from start to end. The heartbreaking part came when he came to a rooftop that is sunning an entire counter stacked with shark fins. Just how many sharks died unnecessary deaths because the Chinese need a certain type of food to make them feel like they are better than others?

The other heart breaking part came when Ramsay held up a perfectly big fin of a thresher shark. I cannot even begin to express my sadness; it feels like the ocean has now one less magnificent animal to patrol its waters. It’s heartbreaking because it is one less thresher I’ll ever (if I ever) get to see.

All these can end if lovers of sharks fin ask themselves, Why?
Why do I like to eat sharks fin? Do I like the soup, or the fin itself? Will I get an equal pleasure in eating just the fin without the broth? I do believe, more often than not, the answer boils down to – “I like the broth”. Which begs the statement of fin lovers professing their love for the fin.

I’ve been asking myself the thought-provoking, and often depressing question lately – what am I doing in this world? This video just fuelled my desire to make a bigger difference in the world.

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