Tis the Season for Hope

We know the annual adage of December being the season for jollyness, but frankly in this country, today, it’s pretty damn hard to be full of Christmas cheer. And that’s putting it lightly.

But Christmas in the islands is all about family. When you’re cold and alone abroad there’s nothing like a memory bank rewind of the family Christmas lovo to invoke warm fuzzies of spending real quality time with the fano. These are the types of memories that can at a drop of a hat, make one throw expenditure caution to the wind and ramp up the credit card interest, just to get home.

So while Frank et al continue to think they’re firmly in the driver’s seat, the reality is they’re not. The global economic melt-down and the still being rolled out impacts will not leave the country unscathed. In case the IIG* still delude themselves into thinking that China and India will bail this country out, they are very verrrrrry wrong.

Crunch time is here folks. The budget has been passed without any fanfare and if you read the fine print of the budget documents the national finance honcho’s still depend on a lot of aid to keep the country running. Think about it, do we seriously HAVE $1.715 billion dollars lying around just waiting to be spent?

When the global economic powers reel, we small fries explode. Aid will dry up. If China and India have to pick between providing for their citizens versus extending their foreign relationships via aid, guess who’s going to get priority?

After the recent Mumbai tragedy, Dr. Manmohan Singh will clearly be focusing on national security. Bugger Fiji and our small Chaudhry-as-victim-induced woes.

China on the other hand while being touted as the economic saviour of the world has much to do in coercing her people to SPEND in order to stimulate growth. Growth that stood at 12% in the lead up to the Olympics but which has since receded. Think about that one for a minute without getting too steeped in stereotypes – getting Chinese people to unstuff their proverbial mattresses will be a very interesting process and a case in point is that while the Chinese Government has injected stimulus packages to encourage consumer expenditure, no one is biting yet.

Which brings us right back to our little corner of the world.

Knowing what we know it is inevitable that 2009 will bring many, many challenges for Frank et al. If they’re enjoying perks that they never knew in their lifetimes it is unlikely they have aspirations to let go of this good thing just yet. But as we continue to predict, it will be their love and lack of money that will send them packing.

What does that mean for us everyday folk? It means we should continue to spend very very verrrrrrry wisely. Frank et al needs your money to keep the economy ummm humming (note we do not use the term “buzzing”) so if there’s less of your cash in the system, the machine will break down.

It also means that we need to continue to strengthen our family connections and keep an active eye out for each other.

But most of all, it means that the Christmas season is the Season of Hope. Just as Christ’s birth heralded hope for us mere mortals, let this Christmas usher in renewed hope for Fiji that 2009 will be the year of change and new leadership.

Seasons Greetings from Intelligentsiya.



*We here at Intelligentsiya refuse to subscribe to the sham ruling proclaiming Frank & Co legit. It was and is a sham ruling by a very sham(ful) judiciary.