Pre-Dawn Preoccupations

I always grumble when I hear the alarm for me to get up for my pre-dawn meal and I always have to drag myself out of bed and stumble down to the kitchen. But once there, I’m up and about, somewhat alert in my semi-comatose state (??). Sometimes I listen to the radio with its early morning religious insight and advices, and sometimes I turn on the tube and watch sports or catch up on world news. And when I watch the latter, all kinds of thoughts run through my mind.

#1: The financial crisis is nowhere near its tail-end. Lehman Brothers was doing badly. This was the prestigious investment bank in the US, heck, it was the lean, mean, investment banking machine. But the credit crunch caught up with it and yesterday, even before the markets Stateside had opened, Lehman Bros filed for bankruptcy protection. And the tumble of the banking group will have global repercussion effects – it’s already hit Asian markets shortly after the US stock market suffered its worst daily plunge since 11 September 2001.

Isn’t a business’ main purpose of existence or objective to make profits? So how and why did Lehman get so badly affected? The US government had said it wouldn’t save Lehman and risk the taxpayers’ money, though it did bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae just days earlier (maybe because it had bailed out those two). Merrill Lynch was luckier as it had a white knight in the form of Bank of America. All eyes are now on AIG – millions of policy owners and consumers worldwide would be affected if it collapses.

Should government step in to rescue a failed financial institution? Is it the responsibility of the government to do so? One argument is that government should shun bailouts as firms may accept more risks beyond their normal risk appetite if they feel they’re insulated from the consequences.

A few British tourism-related operators have also filed for bankruptcy recently including XL (which sponsored West Ham jerseys). Oh, and let’s not forget troubled Alitalia.

#2: Seemingly sudden large-scale deaths around the world from the Russian plane crash; Hurricane Ike which hit Houston, Cuba and Haiti; stampede in Indonesia; deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan before that; Typhoon Sinlaku in Taiwan; Turkish ferry capsize; Delhi blast; toxic milk and landslide in China... the list just goes on and on and on (and let’s not forget the unrest in South Ossetia previously).

It does sound all doom and gloom, doesn’t it. Sometimes I think I can go without watching news for a few days and when I pick up where I left off, it’s just the same grim news recycled but in different countries, different scenarios, different contexts. The flooding in Haiti is made worse by deforestation: this made me ponder and wonder if it was them (OK, substitute this with any other developing countries) who destructed their country and themselves first before the hurricanes (calamities, catastrophes, natural disasters) arrived.

#3: This country is going to the dogs with all the arrests, accusations and slander. Keep it this way and we’ll be social pariahs soon. Even Zimbabwe’s disputing leaders have agreed to a power-sharing deal; of course it’s still much too early to see how things will go, if things will really improve or if this is something Bob thought of in his attempt to pull the wool over the world’s eyes.

All that happening around us, near and far, and some people are more concerned if so-and-so singer’s husband strayed away? Or what to have for break fast when there are people out there who are unsure if (rather than when) they will get their next meal? Or where to spend Eid when there are people who no longer have homes to return to?

Or do I just think too much at pre-dawn? And if so, is it unhealthy of me to have all these pre-dawn preoccupations? Maybe I should just stick to watching sports or listening to religious advices (the latter does make me think too, of how blessed I am).