April Showers

So the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers". April started really hot actually but these days we've been getting rain in Singapore. Are we expecting flowers in May then? Well I've noticed here in Singapore the Tabebuia trees and the Bougainvillea actually bloom much better when it's hot with no rain. On a personal level, restlessness always come. Uninvited, thoughts would come that say, yep, I still want all of this to be over. I want to stop, just stop. There's something exciting to look forward to in May, but even then and as always with me, I have my anxiety. I'll write more about this when the time comes.

So April, what has been going on? Indonesia had its election. We're keeping our current president, Pak Jokowi, for another term. I hope he'll be braver and have more self-confidence this second term since he has nothing to lose on account that this is his final term. I did vote for him even though I'm beyond disappointed regarding his vice presidential pick. It's sad really because for the second time that I voted for him, the vote was not really for him, but it's against the other guy. The other guy being Prabowo. Prabowo is again in his delusional state, insisting he won and there's cheating everywhere. He did this too in the last election and at that time people were perhaps alarmed at his stand. I recalled the open letters many people wrote telling him to basically take several seats (side note: I learnt that term by watching Wendy Williams - another side note: it's weird that I only knew of Wendy Williams by chance and only like in the last 1.5 years. I love her, she's a gem). Back to Prabowo, since he's using the playbook from last time, I think this time around people just move on with life and don't really care, except for his ardent misguided supporters. I do wonder if people are just too scared of him to give it to him straight or his camp really cannot accept defeat and really really want power. People around the world should perhaps pay attention on this playbook, like I can see Trump using similar tactics if he loses his re-election.

I think the big question for Indonesia is what will happen 5 years from now. Some weeks ago I told someone that Prabowo might run again, like why not if people are willing to bankroll him like what happened now. Pak Jokowi really needs to be progressive and builds a good enough foundation for people to vote correctly. In 2014, he won 53.15% of the vote (source: Wikipedia). This year, the projection puts it at around 54.50%. We'll only know the actual result next month, but respectable pollsters put it at that number. That's like only 1% increase. I wonder if Pak Jokowi is disappointed. I mean I read that number as despite of progress and efforts, it's not enough to make people to vote for him. Something is wrong in the way a huge part of Indonesia made their choice. Tribalism is strong not just in America, but in Indonesia too. It is sad because we can only move as fast as the slowest person in the group and we can't just drop this dead weight. So how do we get people to make better choices? How do we get people on the other side see that their insistence to stay in their side will sink us all down? Some people may argue how can you be sure that your side is the right one. Well my judgment is easy, as a minority, the other side is ever so willing to sacrifice us first and limits our freedom. Hence why I cannot go with the other side. Hence why the vote is against the other side. This side I'm in is far from perfect and I do wonder often if minority's rights are being respected and protected but on the other side, I just don't see it.

Anyways, that's Indonesia. What else to talk about? I haven't been going to the movies because honestly what's there to watch aside for superheroes movies. It's Game of Thrones season now. I'm looking forward to the battle with the white walkers though I'm not quite ready to see many people die. I was thinking how sad it is that Cersei will spend the final season in such horrible haircut. Yeah that's a very random thought. Much have been said about who will end up sitting on the throne. For me if it's not Daenerys, then it's just so unfair. Now that I think about it, I think if Jon Snow dies for real now to make way, I think I'll be okay with that. Oh another thought that came to me was how are they going to deal with the white walkers situation. Obviously they need to be contained and I doubt they can be destroyed completely, but in the age of Trump, building a wall is just bad optics. So I guess for now I am most curious about resolving the white walkers issue.

Right people, I really have nothing else to say. I hope you don't have a lot of "April showers", but if you do, I hope "your May flowers" are as always, glorious :)

:) eKa @ 10:17:00 PM •

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