Eid al Fitri greetings and other snippets.

29.9.2008.

So Ramadan for 1429 Hijriah is left with two more days. It's a certainty that Wednesday will be Hari Raya Puasa. In fact some of my neighbours' working children are already back home, taking one last big extended break from their workplaces for the year. 

This Ramadan has been eventful for me and the missus. Both of us lost someone dear - my dear mother passed away on the 10th. of Ramadan, and my 76-year old brother-in-law died yesterday at Subuh, may his soul receive God's rahmah. 

My wife's late elder brother had worked in Singapore all his working life, where he also married his Singaporean wife. Several years ago, long years after retirement, they decided to resettle in Seremban. Many of their working children are in Malaysia, anyway- in KL, Alor Star and Seremban. Two have remained in Singapore. With the big in-law brood back in Singapore, they more or less settled to an itinerent lifestyle, travelling back and forth frequently.

My No.3 Son received some kind of inspiration last week, when he came home for an overnight stay. He unilaterally (this is the inspired part) decided to paint the brick wall fronting our house compound. And he did it all by himself, on the first day right into midnight ! All I did was supply the paint. I have to write it here because I don't know when he'll get inspired again, if ever. Looking at his handiwork, the white brick wall does give a nice fresh look.

I've not bought a newspaper since the last GE in March. Newswise I don't seem to miss anything, surfing the internet daily. In fact I can hardly keep up with the newsflashes from around the globe. What keeps coming up like a bad coin, though, are the bad news - the economy, the teenage crimes, the water crisis (too much in some places and too little in others),  , petroleum supply-and-demand see-saw and the concommittant upheavals, the African political mess and the other made-in-USA messes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all kinds of human conditions, mostly of the unpleasant variety. 

And then there's the domestic variety. The one glaring statistic that the country's politicians are NOT talking about is the 8.7 % CPI. In fact this is going to hit everybody in a big, big way in the remaining days of 2008. And what have we got by way of taking matters in controlled hands ? The Finance Minister and the Defence Minister decided to play musical chairs. Not that it's going to be an improvement, I don't think. 

Well, for the dominant political party, I have this to say. History is on your side. Now don't perk up just yet and think this is good news. History says no political party survives intact beyond 50 years. Just look at Germany, the USSR, India, Indonesia, the Philipines and the Balkans, as examples. The US two-party system and the Singapore one-party system require recategorization and would not contradict the  proposition. 

So, how many years has UMNO been in power ?