Financial Crisis?

My days left at UTP are counted. It won't be long before I leave this such heavenly place. I have a lot to write, a lot of emotions to share.

But wait. It is so gay to blog about what you feel, about how sucky today is, when the rest of the world is dealing with much bigger issues. Obama is the next President of America, the first black President. Between Obama and McCain, personally I wanted Obama to win, although specifically I don't know why. I don't know if his policies over the next four years would be better than Bush's two terms. But maybe he looks more pleasing, he looks more like a President than McCain, and less like an evil one (not that I'm saying that McCain looks evil).

And on his victory speech, he kept mentioning about the challenges ahead. One of them is the financial crisis. Yea, I heard that. I heard not so long ago Bush signed a 700 something billion dollar bail out to 'the economy'? I don't understand a tiny bit about economy. I don't know how something so 'intangible' like numbers on Wall Street could plunge people in masses into hardship.

So how bad is it? I'm graduating, and first things first, I'm going to go for the PETRONAS interview, my Ah Long. I owe him close to a hundred k, and if I runaway he'll chop my fingers off. No la, he won't. But something bad will happen, of course. Usually people don't runaway, 'coz runaway also no use. Better work for him. He pay good money. Those days, he pay crappy money (so people say la, but to me, any money is good money) so people dream of working with bigger tai kors like Schlumberger or Shell, but now this local Ah Long is competing globally with the big mafias. Now he pays good money (and work much less which I like!) of course I want to work with him.

But you know what comes together with financial crisis? It is unemployment. So we, my batch, the graduating students, are staring at the possibility of complete rejection of all job applications, even from our own beloved Ah Long. The panic is widespread, fearing that PETRONAS, despite their amazing capacity to offer jobs (even when there's no necessity for addition of staffs) might just cut a big chunk out of their job offers.

"I'm 2.8, will PETRONAS call me for interview?" "If they won't accept me, how long do I have to eat my parent's beras before I finally get to buy my own beras?" At first, I was not intimidated at all with all these sudden spreading panics. But later do I realize how big this is.

"The global financial crisis of 2008 is a major ongoing financial crisis, the worst of its kind since the Great Depression." Quoted by Wikipedia, in the first sentence of the article. Wow. Oh my God. Now I'm really scared. A friend of mine told me that several plants have not been operating because their storage tanks are full. Why the storage tanks are full? Because nobody wants to buy their chemicals. One day of shutdown is equivalent to millions. Imagine a few weeks of shutdown. How the company is going to feed their employees?

But why didn't I feel this 'global financial crisis' wave? I remember back in 1997-98, my father was jobless for four months. I had to drop Islamic school because he couldn't pay the fees. We had very humble meals, though I can't really recall what were those so-called humble meals. I did feel the heat a bit, though I was a kid, what do I care about financial crisis. I still get to eat, and I still get to sleep, and there's still gasings and football fields and those stuffs to keep me occupied and happy.

Now I pay my meal with 'my own money' (money that comes out from my own pocket, literally). Thing is, the money that comes from my pocket is the steady supply of scholarship from PETRONAS. It will be five hundred a month, and although sometimes it might be early or late, I still get five hundred every month without fail. If I'm working, I might get 'released' (a nicer term for being fired, because they do not really want fire you, but they need to cut their costs) or get a big pay cut. That is why I don't really feel the heat.

But now (at this exact moment) I'm starting to feel it. I'm hungry, and I don't have money to withdraw from the ATM. I have other reliable Ah Longs, too, but they too are facing the global financial crisis. When I'm hungry, it reminds me of fasting. One of the advantages that people always mention about fasting is the ability for you to experience what it is like being hungry poor people. Truth is, no, the hunger of fasting is never the same as the hunger of being poor. When I fast, I'm hungry but I have a future vision of what I'm going to eat that evening. Poor people don't get to fantasize those stuffs. They're hungry, and in their mind, "When will I get to fill my tummy?" They don't know when will they get food, they don't know how much they'll get, they don't know how good or bad the food might be.

Towards the end of something, I always need money. Now I'm graduating, I want to have farewells, I want to treat my friends with free dinners and such, I want to have trips all around Malaysia, to have seafood at Melaka, to have tea at Cameron Highlands, to have a grand dinner, but when you don't have money, you can't help it but to 'postpone' all those plans (to an 'uncertain' date). There are people who needs money more than we do, so be thankful for what we have.

I used to live through hardship a long time ago, but I left that for quite some time already now, that I almost forgot how does it feel to be in hardship. O Allah I pray to You that I'll never be drowned in Your worldly pleasure, that these days will be a test that I will pass, and a reminder that I will remember. I love wealth, but when I have children one day (upon His will) I want them to go through hardship first.

And about the employment thingy, I still look very much forward to working with PETRONAS, despite all the rumours diffusing around (hahah, diffusing). Maybe I'm a bit too optimistic, just like my optimism for Liverpool's 19th title. I pray to You again God, that with all Your Graciousness, I hope that I'll get a good job that suits my study and rewards me with good pay. I do want to have some few months to enjoy my unemployment, but I hope You won't make my unemployment too long. Thank You God. You are the Best.