Commentary from the office desk: 2 cents worth of political events (Part IV)

On this issue of the discussion of political events for this week, there are quite a few sensitive issues of discussion that have major implications possibly for the coming 1-2 years… seems like the Year of the Ox has instead made things harder for people to live with each other. Look on…

The focus on the new Obama administration in the US seems to have reached a fever pitch following his inauguration this week, and this will definitely be so for the next few months. And with good reason. Obama and his key ‘weapons’ have too many hot issues on the table to handle – and today I would just mention 2 of them – the economic crunch and his first victory on the passing of the economic stimulus package and condemnation of too-wealthy Wall Street Bankers…and the other being the ongoing instability in Israel-Gaza and the Afghanistan issue. Obama’s actions have been decisive and calm, but his ire against the Wall Street bankers shows that he wants to identify with the common American man on the street to the end of his term, and that for now will stand him in good stead to pass even the toughest of reforms that would help the average American. As for the Middle East, he might be a little too naive on how things can be resolved, but the guile of Hillary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke means that he would get the best expert advice on handling the situation.

North-South Korean relations seems to have taken a turn for the worse now with the North cancelling all agreements with the South. Of course, the North explains this as no thanks to the aggressive policies of the South led by Lee Myung Bak, but I would differ – I rather see as the North increasingly realising itself as being seen as the weak state, the pariah state…isolated and irrelevant, that it has decided to play the one card that it still has that would make the world shiver – now I am realising that my best pal’s words in his presentation more than a year ago are still very valid…

Lastly of course a word of mention must be given to the increasing unemployment situation in Singapore. Those who read would know that unemployment rate for the country rose to 2.6% at Q4 08, so that is ringing bells for everyone already. Now for what that means is simple – there is just an ongoing cloud of doom and gloom around the country – and the Chinese New Year itself is extremely reflective on that. Despite massive efforts to celebrate, the ongoing tightening of wallets means that revenues for selling of goodies and good foods have massively fallen – more people are now going out hoping to get something out of the worsening situation – employers want to tighten but more people need stable jobs to survive. I am definitely one of them some time ago – the current one I am doing is something I would definitely reject a year or 2 ago – not now, as I see myself having the need to adapt in order to prosper better. And that is the moral of the story for anyone else in Asia right now. Japan’s the latest case with calls for snap polls intensifying by the opposition over the LDP’s non effective economic reforms.

Finally, a side note has to go to the effects of global warming – the heat wave throughout Asia is tremendous. Most of us would have realised that the last 2 months have been unusually dry – when the expected Nov-Jan monsoon should be here and then a few years ago…and that the Australian Open was delayed for a while due to the searing heatwaves of 41 degrees Celsius and more…slowly, mankind is suffering for all the environmental destruction it has caused since World War II…

That’s all from me for now…the next post might be late…but it will still come =D

P.S. Some of my anger is also directed at Liverpool and the LA Lakers for not getting the wins they are getting and letting everyone else get ahead…but get ahead with it guys! Sooner or later, we will ride out of this slump…