The Year Without Fireworks

Like the sound of a dream.

The splendour
of the laughing
clouds appears
in the calm
of a quietness,
with delicate
breaths and a
restless seaside.

Francesco Sinibaldi

I hope all future celebrations are very grand affairs. I extend my good wishes to the United States on this very important day. Like I have expressed, may the future celebrations be fireworks extravaganza's.

It would be hard to imagine a national day without fireworks. But at the same time it would be equally disheartening to burn hundreds of thousand dollars in momentarily flashes at this difficult time.

Some people say green shoots are starting to sprout everywhere. Others say the silver-lining of the economic crisis is emerging. Yet still others suggest the great recession would continue to loom over the horizon for months.

The facts are:
1. Unemployment rate all over the world keeps rising, many countries are either near double-digits or above.
2. UK economy has been in sharp contraction, so are a good number of other nations.
3. The IMF predicts that global economy would shrink by about 3% this year.
4. The global stock markets appear to be fluctuating but recovering steadily, albeit the sentiment and fundamentals do not seem to grow any stronger.
5. And many many more???

Who could we trust? Who should we listen to? Why not form our own assessment and judgment? Perhaps we ought to avoid being misled by herd psychology. Better make our independent decision, ALWAYS.

Remember simple life can still be most enjoyable. It is all in the HEAD.
(Tan Boon Tee)