A Wet Wet Wet Raya

Today is a wet Raya in Malaysia. 2 days of consecutive rain has submerged some parts in Kedah and Penang. The weather is cold and gloomy. I don't observe much of a festive mood in my place Kulim. There were a few fire crackers yesterday and that's it. Wow, it seems that the Malays and Indians have caught on to the firecracker rituals, which was supposed to be a Chinese thing to do on Chinese New Year. I performed my 50th. dana of the year to the Sangha at the Lunas Hermitage Centre in the morning. There is a large crowd due to the extended holidays. The US financial crisis abated following a plan for another vote in US Congress this Thursday after the $700 billion bailout plan was killed on Monday, sending the market down 777 points. However, the market is taking a bet that it will be passed this time. Bargain hunters, speculators and short covering activities sent the market higher by 485 points. In 2 days, the market has moved within a band of 1262 points. This is the volatility scale we are talking about today. Citigroup bought Wachovia for $2.9 billion on stocks. At the same time, it slashed its dividend by another 50%. Ouch...that hits me hard as a shareholder. It used to be $2.14 dividend per share at the start of the sub prime mortgage crisis last year. Now its left to a measely $0.64 per share for the shareholder. I have to chuck away the gordon dividend model to value my stocks this year. The financial markets has gone haywire. In Singapore, JB Jeyeretnam, the legendary opposition leader of the PAP, passed away at 82 due to heart failure. Despite being sued to bankruptcy by the PAP leaders like Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, he was defiant till the end. His ideals undiminished. He is the epitome of the statement "Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death". A great Singaporean son. On the Malaysian shores, RPK, the Malaysian "James Dean" spend the Raya at Kamunting under the draconian and hated ISA. When the British left, we enthusiastically rid ourselves everything that sounds British. Even the name of the road. Ironically, we retain the ISA. If we are talking about substance and good governance, abolish the barbaric law of ISA. Free the 68 political prisoners.