In God I trust...that he will be guided.

Rock The Vote....off

And so in a few days, we will know who will lead that big, powerful country - Joe the Plumber's fan or the Salleh Yaacob lookalike. I have never been so fixated with an election, not even when I was covering it as a journalist - until now. Growing up in Singapore, an election is a boring event of seeing the main party spewing rhetorics of 'more good years', when the hammer is seen as the devil and the lightning as the saving grace. Singapore was ruled by a major party for so long and so successfully, that it is hard to fathom the idea of an opposition. And when we did open our minds and let them in, the gap of quality politicians between the major party and the opposition is so wide - that I wonder when they will ever catch up.

Anyway, this post is not about Singapore. It is about the US, and Canada - a place I call home now. I was never introduced to the concept of optional voting, until I move here. I never knew you can choose not to register yourself as a voter , and therefore not vote.

Coming from a law-abiding society, and I really mean law-abiding in its full glory - voting is a given in Singapore. You go for the rallies, read all the pro-major-party articles written (by the same newspaper I used to work for) in the media, squeeze your brains by an ounce to make an intelligent judgement - and end up voting for the major party anyway. That's the drill. For decades.

So when you have an election that someone told me is a cross between Survivor and American Idol, you get hooked. CNN or 'Senenen' as DH and I fondly call it now, is on in our apartment at breakfast, before dinner, during dinner, and after dinner. On some days when we are not disciplined, it is even on right after Fajar prayers, just before breakfast. We were so hooked to the US elections that the Canadian one, which was 2 weeks ago - came and swiftly went. DH almost treat it like a chore, I would too if I had to vote. The day of the Canadian election, DH arrived home from work at 6.30 pm, half hour before voting closes. He then rushed out, with me tailing behind simply because I wanted to be a kepo, and reach the voting centre at 6.45 pm. Then he realised he went to the wrong centre, and we sped to another voting centre hurriedly. He casted his vote just 5 minutes before voting closes. And he was not the last one.

When we reached home, we were back into the Senenen world. Sometimes we remembered that we were supposed to switch on CBC instead to catch up on who won the election, but we were not loyal to the Canadian networks. Senenen was like dope. Shame on us.

And so like everyone else, I am waiting with bated breath for this US election to be over. I want to go back to my non-Senenen addiction days. I need to flush this US elections out of my system. It makes me worry that when we do manage to peel ourselves off the TV, we end up reading Huffington Post instead.

I do believe this US elections addiction is becoming unhealthy. I need to get back to the OTHER addiction. That little-do where 10 men run around on skates chasing each other with sticks.

The hockey season has started, and I need to be loyal to the true, non-partisan president.
The puck.

Seven

A long time ago during my student days, I managed to charm a veteran journalist about my theory concerning why people like to listen to sad, love songs. During that interview, I confidently spewed verbal diarrhea on how humans , knowingly or otherwise, need (and like!) to go all the way down before springing back up. Sad, weepy love songs are merely instruments to hit rock bottom, drowing in self-pity - before the magic rocket of feeling positive takes place. I expounded on how it is not possible to heal when you only allow yourself to feel the pain 'halfway', which only translates to a halfway recovery. Who wants that?

I did not know any better then. I was only 22 years old at most when I came up with that. I don't know how I did it. I do know however, that the journo in question was so impressed and kept on asking me questions on my supposed, insightful background. He factored my majoring in Philosophy had a lot to do with it. God knows.

Fast forward to today, I am acquainted with the concept of contraction and expansion. How one will be passed along a period of contraction before you can expand - in your inner realm. It is the ability to pass the test of bad times (contraction) and remembering Who is in power, and eventually surrendering the burden to Him to take care of it, before one can truly expand. This is a period of flourish. And this is cyclical.

I recalled the day that lesson was taught. I couldn't explain any more than the fact it was by divine permission that my so-called philosophical insight came out of my juvenile, 22 year-old mind. It was not from me, but from Him. The familiarity is stark.

During yesterday's Tafsir class at Zawiyah Foundation, Imam Fode Drame was explaining about the nafs lawwama - the blaming nafs. On how we blame everyone and everything but ourselves. How the nafs lawwama is a veil we put upon ourselves (and unfortunately, nurture) between us and God. In the discussion, we took examples from the story of Prophet Yusuf - on the importance of saving more, and eat a little. Yusuf had a dream of how Egypt will be in a period of drought for 7 years,and flourish for the next 7. He had advised the king to save for the drought while times are good.

This morning, I was reminded by DH on how it has been 7 years since 2001. That fateful year when Bush came into office, 9-11 happened and all the world is topsy-turvy. It has been 7 years before now, where we are hitting rockbottom with a global recession. We have been in a period of contraction since that year. We are, at the 7 year mark.

I can therefore, take solace that there is expansion in store. I am telling myself to look and see, and be alert of it. With Obama looking like he is getting into office, it is obvious the non-performing administration is getting an overhaul.

I seriously cannot wait to see what's in store for the world next year.

I think I am the only one I know who is excited about a recession.

Get me a better theory

Someone told me, actually...make that two - that people will watch more TV during a downturn. It is a way for people to escape the gloom and doom, and escape is what the TV is good at. Ah well...escape, khayal, engaged...they all mean the same thing.

It was an answer that most producers want to hear I suppose. But for some reason, I wasn't able to hook myself to the sweet notion. This downturn is different, while people are happy to watch more TV, it doesn't mean that the advertiser will be spending more ad dollars in the broadcasting space. There is so much prudence in declining ad ratios already, and a downturn - basically turns that prudence to panic. Unless broadcasters are willing to lower their rates, then advertisers will not spend the marketing dollar to make sure they protect (and expand) their markets. And IF broadcasters lower their golden hands to reach out to struggling companies to advertise in network slots, it only means that their license fees to us producers, get lower. In a highly unionised industry like TV and filming, it only means that the buck stops with us, the producers.

And so you can tell I am not hot about the idea that people watch more TV during a downturn. It doesn't mean a thing to me, because it is a secondary factor.

I am hardly one, but this time - you can call me a party pooper.