(Originally published at Deremoe on November 20, 2013.)
Let me be frank. Just now, what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments in my life has been cancelled. One last shining piece of hope in the midst of the troubles I am having now, gone in an instant.
Animax Philippines has announced that the Animax Carnival Philippines 2013 has been cancelled, and according to them, the cancellation was made by the higher-ups at Sony Pictures Television Networks — Asia.
Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, which owns and operates Animax, made the decision out of respect for the nation as it grieves the devastating losses resulting from typhoon Yolanda. The company wishes to express our heartfelt sympathy to all Filipinos affected by this natural disaster.
Let’s look at this announcement from different perspectives, shall we? I have a set of thoughts that ran in my mind.
“I felt like a child who has his candy taken away from him, and I am trembling in tantrums.”
“Why Haiyan must do this to us? Why does it have to take away even our happiness? Screw you, Haiyan.”
“I prepared myself for this, damn it.”
“The chances of AFA having its local version are delayed until further notice. Sh*t.”
“We need to have happiness in these times. Why you have to cancel this, Sony?”
“It can’t be helped.”
“At least there’s next year.”
From the expressions of anger and frustration that mark insensitivity, loss of respect, and selfishness; to expressions of acceptance which means that we are willing to wait; one of these expressions might be yours as well. I can feel you. If you went to the five stages of grief, I can feel what you are going through.
It feels very bad that this kind of event has to be cancelled, but we have to respect our fellows who have been ravaged in the biggest storm recorded in world history. Not to mention, those who have participated in the relief efforts who was supposed to be at the said event may have to take their time in their mission to restore the affected areas back to normal.
As much as I would like to get mad at the storm, I can’t. It’s a natural calamity: merciless and does not have a human face. As much as I would like to get mad at Animax, I can’t. They did this decision “in respect for the nation”, with “the nation” being the Philippines under recovery.
There are still lots of events that we can spend our time with so that we can end this year still fulfilled. Let’s hope for the Carnival to get rescheduled by early 2014, January at best, and then we can get back to our jolly selves.
I might as well add that this is another thing for Sony — they gave away 400 emergency radios to affected areas with an additional ¥15 million donation to relief efforts.