Here Today, Where Tomorrow

Austrian newspaper cites resilience of RP economy

Yes indeed. Our economy seems strong enough to survive the crisis that plagued the United States and Europe and other strong economies in Asia. Some say the tidal wave of that economic recession has yet to reach the Philippines and may be felt only later this year or in 2010. Me thinks that gives us time to prepare for a possible crisis and minimize its impact if ever it finally hits us, unlike during the 1997 Asian financial crisis when our economy was caught by surprise and hence suffered.

What keeps our economy afloat is the people's willingness to spend. Even if most Filipinos have limited capacity for earnings, we still spend so much because it is not in our culture to sacrifice present needs and wants for future stability. We don't mind if we spend our last centavo for a party today even if there is no guaranteed meal for the next day. We don't mind borrowing money to spend on a luxury now even if we pay for it dearly in the future. While this does not make good economic sense, at least we do not sleep on our money. This attitude is most favorable to business.

While we can brag about the state of our economy right now, still we can't compare our economy with that of our rich and better neighbors. Japan or Singapore deep in recession is probably a version of the Philippines with average economic growth. Our economy may not be suffering, but it's not gaining much either. It is mediocre, to say the least. Of course we know why our economy cannot really take off - poor governance, political and social instability, lack of discipline, backward mentality, etc.

Our attitude reflects what kind of future we will have. We are happy to survive today. We'll just keep our fingers crossed for what tomorrow will bring.

Dogged

I was awakened by the blaring siren of fire trucks around 3 am today. Alarmed but not panicking, I got up, observed the neighborhood, and judging from where the fire trucks were heading, surmised that fire probably struck the slum area several blocks away from where I live. Not sensing any potential danger, I went back to bed and tried to sleep again but was frustrated by the loud sirens that broke out every so often.

So I decided to just let the time pass by watching a movie in bed from a portable player. What movies do I have? Ahh, Slumdog Millionaire – the recent Oscar Best Picture. I wanted to see this film before it even won an award. Of course, everyone knows what the film’s story is all about. It is one thing, however, to read it from the newspapers or the internet, and another to actually see the film. The latter is obviously more captivating.

In summary, Slumdog Millionaire is real life becoming reel because of the sudden fame and fortune the young slumdog amassed after answering correctly the questions in a television game show, deriving clues from his life experiences. The depictions of every clue are comically and cleverly presented and are used to gradually build up the film plot. Among the funny and memorable scenes are the young Jamal diving into a puddle of human excrement just to get an autograph of his movie idol and Jamal and Salim escaping the syndicate but leaving behind young lass Latika.

Throughout the movie, though, the slumdog didn’t seem to care much about what he can achieve and achieved eventually, but only longed for the love that was written by destiny - humanizing an otherwise incredulous story.

Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy did a splendid job weaving the story originally written by Vikas Swarup into a film material. Director Danny Boyle was beyond impressive in turning the story into an artistic, cunning, and emotional imagery, truly worthy of an Oscar. Boyle avoided the sacrilegious yet treaded dangerously by inserting the typical Bollywood song-and-dance sequence before the credits, but it escaped as charming anyway.

I was so engrossed in the movie from start to finish that I forgot to give the slightest care what happened in the incident that kept me awake in the first place. If the fire hit the slum area, indeed, a lot of families would have been affected and probably some lives were lost. Then I realized… it was the place of slumdogs. It is possible that a Jamal could be living there. A Jamal whose hopes of survival cling to a thin thread. A Jamal trying hard to be good amid all the evils. A Jamal who patiently perseveres for love.

I hope not. I fervently hope not.

We need a winner.