Inauguration

Who would have imagined that one day I would resort to the world of 'blogs' as the medium-of-choice to express my observations of life, but here I am.

I'm excited to be able to record thoughts in a central repository, even if I'm not sure about how to work this web-thing properly. I'm aghast at the prospect that one day someone I know might stumble upon these ruminations and take exception. So I go forth cautiously but without apology my perceptions of the life and times around me.

This blog is born in the midst of the greatest economic crisis of my generation, and of the last generation for that matter. I live in Hong Kong, which is navigating its way through these dark days with some sensibility for crisis, having recently (in relative terms) experienced economic turmoil in 1997's "Asian Financial Crisis" and the SARS-inspired calamity of 2003. However, despite the familiarity of stock market declines and property slumps, there is an eerie feeling on the street and in the boardrooms that this time its different. The most strikingly unique feature of this crisis lies in its global reach. I think we are witnessing one of the foreseeable yet regrettable consequences of globalisation. In a world where we are more interdependent and interlinked than at any time in history, doesn't it make sense that we should all catch the virus that started with one?

In a year where we will probably see more bankruptcies than ever before, mass migration to under-employment or worse still, unemployment; it may also prove a pivotal time for meaningful action to begin addressing our infatuation with dirty energy and ageing infrastructure, and thus in a way allow us the opportunity to be reborn. With this generational economic devastation comes an unshackled political landscape ripe for making those changes we all know are right, but are usually pushed aside as we expeditiously chase some heady capitalist ideal. Don't mistake me for a left-wing liberal, I am absolutely a beneficiary of the market economy and still believe in meritocracy. However, whenever any system is abused or our way of life becomes excessive, its calls into question the very principles that warrant merit. We must be careful not to throw away the overall construct, but at the same time be willing to make wholesale changes to the paradigm.