Week 6: Fireworks burns money

So after having a massive celebration of the New Years Day here in Sydney, I thought it was interesting to research on 2014 most brilliant fireworks display around the globe.
Dubai ranked as the Guinness world record to have spent US$6,000,000 to display a long six minute spectacular show on the world's tallest building- The Burj Khalifa.
With this hyped up fireworks display and good cheers to celebrate the  New Year, there always a downside to these celebrations. This reminded me of the picture posted on Facebook where the graphic illustrates that the Government has been 'wasting' its money on firework displays rather than investing money into those who suffer under the poverty line. The graphic shows a person in Africa who seems to lack in nutrition as the caption says 'while they are starving to death'... 'something is really wrong in this world'. This made me think about how globally educated some of the well developed cities are to use such investment for their own people to celebrate with happy cheers and not think about those who would have at least a home, or some food being sent to them as these people's new years resolution.
A lot of globally educated people don't see, is that there are way more people living in poverty and only a few percentage of us 'lucky ones' to have lived well in the developed countries or at least have a roof above our heads - and yet these countries are spending way more on silly fireworks that don't create value in human life.
If Dubai has the desire to attract expats or tourists to come and visit the country, would the six minute fireworks display be the trigger for them or would a long term investment in helping out third world countries be more touching to those around the globe? All in all, the answer is that capital is well spent if it looks good on the outside. The fireworks looks spectacular along with symphony around the Burj Khalifa is just the cover of a book. Once the displays are gone, the money spent will never be gained. And that's why the Dubai Government seems to have attracted many tourists around the globe to have set a world record of its New Years celebration- whilst the people who live in the poorer countries suffer more and more as less money has been spent on food, water, shelter and education for these people.
We do live in two very opposite worlds and that in my hope that by understanding and learning the differences between the rich and poor, will enable a bridge connecting about the global awareness of some situations that I do not get to experience with.



References:

ABC Net, Jan 2, 2014, 'Dubai 2014 fireworks display breaks world record: Guinness', 2013, accessed 9th January, 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-01/dubai-2014-firework-display-breaks-world-record/5181456>.