Desiderata Indeed

Extreme prose happened way before extreme sport. When someone sent Evelyn Waugh a copy of "Desiderata", he is said to have written back saying "
"Desiderata is disgusting. I have destroyed it. Desiderata indeed!"
Still, here's one of the least quoted part of the piece:
"But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness"
Writers thrive on fear, fatigue, loneliness and distress. The dark imaginings find voice and expression in the works of Kafka, Kundera and King(Stephen, that is). Writing in this way is creative. Communicating - or commercial acclaim - is, at best, a by-product, hardly worthy of sharing the pedestal or podium.
In short, a trophy case is for the collector, who must never ever be confused with the artist.

A Confederacy of Dunces

Here's a quote from Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." Applying this in the Singapore context, Dr Chee Soon Juan is a genius; and the previous stars, Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang mere pretenders who were unmasked when they are praised by the PAP. The one consistent quality of Dr Chee: he never received any endorsement from the establishment.
Difficult as it may be to believe, this is not meant to propagate pro- or anti- establishment views. I merely want to say that even the unlikeable (by popular or notorious standards) form part of every democratic, civilised, society.
It is a good time for the average Singaporean (combined family income :$4,000.00 or below) to ask, paraphrasing Ronald Reagan circa 1981: are you better off than, say, 2elections (8years, give or take some) ago?
As we approach our National Day with increased pride (a recent survey says it is indicative of 90%, a 10% increase from 4/5 years ago), it would be nice if we extended our hands to the marginalised and disenfranchised, remembering that they too, form a part of the Singapore that we love.

A Reminder To Myself

I am against extremism. I am for remembering that there are many different ways of perceiving the same situation, which leads to differences of opinion.
That someone holds an opinion I consider to be wrong does NOT make that someone wrong-headed.
Lastly, as an example of my personal anti-extremism:
There is a middle path between being a small fish in a big pond and being a big fish in a small pond. Being a medium-sized fish in a medium sized pond. Not thinking big enough (in another person's eyes) is NOT thinking small.

A New Song?

Continuing the theme that this age is better endowed materially but spiritually bereft, a Straits Times(Sunday Times Aug 1, 2010 - "Forget iPad, give me prose" - a must read) journalist, Yen Feng, invoked a 19th century writer to describe our literary poverty: 'We are, as Henry David Thoreau said,"determined to be starved before we are hungry".....Thoreau, in an 1854 essay...advocates a life of simplicity and in nature...Of a particular house he says: "This was an airy and unplastered cabin, fit to entertain a travelling god, and where a goddess might trail her garments...The winds which passed over my dwelling were such as sweep over the ridges of mountains, bearing the broken strains, or celestial parts only, of terrestrial music..The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it."...I cannot remember the last time I stood before such a wind.'
In an article commissioned by the New York Times titled "Stop multitasking", Bob Herbert writes: "There's a character in the August Wilson play Joe Turner's Come and Gone who says everyone has a song inside him or her, and that you lose sight of that song at your peril. If you get out of touch with your song, forget how to sing it, you're bound to end up frustrated and dissatisfied." Herbert goes on to relate that character's account of the time he lost touch with his own song, saying 'Something wasn't making my heart smooth and easy'... I don't think we can stay in touch with our song by constantly..Tweeting, or thumbing out messages..or piling up virtual friends...Try kissing more and Tweeting less...and stop talking so much. Listen."
I'm listening to the music of the spheres.

What's Going On

Plagiarising 4 non-blondes:
"Twenty - five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means"
This blog - actually this blogger - is emerging from a dark place. Some would simply say "the ends justify the means" or "survival".Whatever.
In keeping a diary of sorts to track my attempts to survive the financial meltdown circa 2008, I had hoped to observe something about society's nobility; about Man's spirit of sacrifice for the greater good.
Suffice to say, I detect cannibalism in different guises, clothed with social labels of legitimacy. Emperor's clothes, indeed.
In short, I started out thinking this will not be like the Great Depression of the 20's.
I ended realising that while the financial conditions are better than the earlier age, the cohesiveness was much stronger in the last century.
Call me prophet of doom, but I think we're headed for something worse in the days ahead unless we re-discover our souls.

A Return....Of Sorts

I thought I was finished, the global recession was over. Then I read economists reminding us that during the 1930's after the government's initial round of stimulus measures, the stock markets recovered and the US government stopped the job creation because they were worried about growing debt levels and inflation. The markets plunged lower again.
So, some experts (???) are saying it's not over. Sluggish recovery, at best. Choppy roads ahead. A bit like the perspective on this miniature model of the leaning tower of Pisa.If you look at it one way, it looks like the real, life-sized tower. Placed alongside a human being, it's a miniature sitting in Taiwan's Doraemon Park.

Half Time Scores

Some stock-taking is in order.
1. My last posts indirectly challenged some economic gurus about their having likened this crisis to the Great Depression of the 1930's. Their recent writings have clarified that they meant to compare the PRESENT pace of job creation, deflationary effects on the economies and stock markets, rather than the ABSOLUTE material (and economic) comforts available to the average human being during the 2 periods. I will only say the tone of their writings AT THAT TIME sounded more dire. Which led me to keep this online "diary". If all that's being bandied about is the economic calculations, size of budgets, percentage growth or declines etc, I will certainly defer to the people in charge of the econometrics and statistics. In fact, Singaporeans will recall that some of these numbers are part of "Official Secrets". Ask the Finance Minister.
2. Once the clarification is published, it would seem I am quarelling with no one. I am all alone. THAT is depressing.
3. Thankfully - it's going to sound terrible soon- the latest polls reported by newspapers regarding happiness, and loneliness/isolation, my sense of feeling alone and uncared for is fairly commonplace.
I'm not rejoicing that other people suffer like me. Really I'm not.
It's a good chance to stress again that appearances can be deceiving. Even the numbers. Let's take someting obvious. You can be in a crowded room, yet feel so isolated and disconnected that loneliness is the strongest emotion that comes to mind immediately. Conversely, the SAGE can be all alone with no one around for miles, yet feel SO connected AS ONE to the universe and the cosmos beyond, that there is no "I", but "US". That dude is certainly FAR from feeling isolated or sad.
For the majority of us, "icons of mediocrity" (my pet name for Singaporeans), what then?
I guess (maybe only) the techie would approve of my answer: stay connected to others. Keep connecting with others. Don't lose touch with one another.
It is well to note that one of the most (frequently) permitted criticisms made against our political leaders is that they are "out of touch" with the common man.