Vox Pops: Party For Pakistan?

Last Wednesday night, Ctrl.Alt.Shift decided to bust through the rain and head down to the o2 academy in Islington. The Party for Pakistan [1], organised by former CAS contributing editor and all-round legend Riz MC, gave us the opportunity to support a fantastic cause... as well as the perfect excuse to rave it up on a school night.

The jam-packed and diverse line up saw the likes of Plan B, Akala, Lowkey and Killa Kela gracing the stage; an eclectic mix of urban sounds and some innovative collaborations between the performers made this a night to remember. A special appearance from the mighty Miss Dynamite got the CAS team shaking our collective thang on the dance floor... and, infact, almost made us forget we were meant to be doing vox pops.

Ooops. Back to work then...

So. We temporarily kicked off our dancing shoes and caught up with some fellow party people to find out their opinions about the real causes behind the event. We wanted to know why people came down, their opinions on the floods in Pakistan, and whether the ongoing problem of climate change had a role to play in causing these devastating natural disasters...

Jahed, 23
"I came down to the event ‘cause it’s the prefect opportunity to have a good time while raising money for a good cause. I guess I relate to the problems in Pakistan because I’m Bangladeshi, and my country also gets hit by floods and monsoons every year. I think natural disasters definitely have something to do with climate change; large scale emergencies like this perhaps make people more conscious that climate change is already affecting people all over the world, and events like this night are a positive way of raising awareness."

Alex, 24
"The party for Pakistan is a great way to get young people together to start thinking about developing countries that are in need of aid, without being the usual guilt trip angle. I think that climate change is the major factor in causing all the latest natural disasters and there will be a lot more to come. Natural disasters weaken developing countries who are struggling anyway, destroying everything around them and sucking them bone dry. The West is largely responsible for creating climate change, yet our attitude towards it seems very much a 'head in the sand' approach. Surely the natural disasters that have happened in Haiti, Thailand and Pakistan, should make people wake up and realise that action needs to start now, in a BIG way."

Max, 20, Luke, 19 and Matt, 19
Max: "We came down because we thought it was a good cause, particularly at the moment, during the aftermath of the flood, when the secondary effects of the disaster are going to be massive. Because the disaster happened in a developing country, the death toll is much higher than it would be if it happened in the West... the human cost is immense."
Luke: "I’m pretty sure the floods have something to do with climate change. I think it’s hard to talk about what our perceptions of climate change is within ‘the West’ in general as it definitely varies a lot from country to country, and depending in who you’re talking to. I do think the idea is definitely spreading more and more amongst the public though, and people are starting to become aware that something needs to change."
Matt: "I agree, I think the new coalition government and particularly Nick Clegg are quite green, and hopefully that should help spread more awareness about the issue."
Max: "The West needs to wake up and realise what is happening as a result of climate change in the developing world. We need to rally the troops if a real change is going to be made."

Maleena, 23
"I came here to support a fantastic cause, see some great acts, hear some great music and skank! My family are originally from India, which is just across the road from Pakistan, and I know how isolated and poor the people can be in those villages. It's important we speak up and support them in anyway we can. I think that these events have everything to do with climate change. If we weren't abusing the earth so much, the sea levels wouldn't be rising and the floods wouldn't break out; I can't imagine the two not being linked. It's scary how fast the sea levels are accelerating. It's so sad because it seems that climate change preys on the weak and vulnerable.

I think the fact that incidents like the floods in Pakistan can be linked to other natural disasters occurring all around the world, like the fires in Russia, means that we need to be more responsible as global citizens, and be more wary of the effects of global warming in general. I perceive climate change as something that we need to tackle head on, making changes to our daily lives to try and help save the environment. It's easier to abuse resources and exploit the use of products that we know are bad for the environment in the West, because there's an abundance of them all around us." 

Words and Photos: Eva Baker

 To donate to our pakistan appeal click here [2].