Was it just another hurricane? Or a wake up call?

Irene, unlike the hurricanes of yesteryear’s, brought much fury up the eastern coastline of US. Move west and it causes massive destruction and life lost. Shift to the right, and people and property are saved.  Or is this a leveling or some kind?

It mimics the current economic and political turmoil of this country, and the world. Everyone is in an economic downturn, a recession. If that is so, we are all equal then, aren’t we? Or is someone gaining?

The politicians of the world are stirring the pot. Japan changes PMs faster than a person changes clothes. US has a four-year-termed President, but even then, by the second-and-a-half -year, the foundation is shaken. And then you have Malaysia. The king is a puppet, ran by people who are not voted in by the majority, but profess to run on democracy. Their “ruling” runs for eternity. Is anyone or anywhere safe(r)?

A few days before Irene, we were busy hoarding water into tumblers, containers and pails. Lucky for us, we Chinese tend to have a stockpile of these vessels lying around. At times of emergencies like these, water becomes our greatest asset. What’s the world’s greatest asset?  Gold. Gold is the world’s trading commodity.

Just like that, we hoard and stockpile these items, which is turn causes the “unnatural” increase of value to them.

Of course, we then squirrel away as much food as possible. Who knows how long we will be imprisoned in our own homes. Our home is always filled to the brim with food. I have a pantry of canned foods, biscuits, pasta and junk food, two freezers filled with vegetables, fruits, dumplings, fish and chicken, and a pull-out pantry packed with instant noodles, rice, flour. Those who go hungry in my home is a lazy bum.

In the economic world, silver and platinum is their food of choice.

The next thing on the emergency list is light: matches, candles, torch-lights and batteries to power it. The world’s emergency cling-on is steel.

In times of destruction, we find friends, family and turn to God. On the other hand, the world clutches on to barrels of oil and bags of coffee. We pay for the latter, but not for the earlier.

Water, food and loved ones keeps us going and warms us to the core. Try sleeping with gold, silver, platinum, steel, oil and coffee.

I’m not trying to be a hypocrite. I know I need some sort of commodity in exchange for some nourishment and protection. But let’s not clamor for metals. Let’s find our warmth in each other. Let’s go back to the basics and be thankful for what we have.