Bracing for a rough 2016

A Reuters picture I saw online on Christmas Day sadden me.

It was an image of a man on a street and a couple walking by. The caption read: “A man dressed as Santa Clause begging for money in Brussels”.

It doesn’t matter if you believe in Santa or not. But as I know it, Santa gives out presents. Not asking for presents. He is a giver, not a receiver.

But the picture broke that belief. And my heart. Obviously things are not good for that man dressed as Santa. Even for Brussels for that matter.

Almost immediately a picture taken by my daughter Nabila a few days earlier came to mind. The picture is accompanying this piece.

We know what the banner actually meant. Never mind the words used.  But to see it differently is tempting. I interpret it as this: things are so bad now even our planet is up for sale. Tongue in cheek? Sort of.

The picture taken by the writer’s daughter which reads ‘Earth for sale’. – December 31, 2015.For sure things are definitely bad. I’ll just stick to the economic aspect. Cost of living is high and we are struggling. That is putting it in a nutshell albeit an understatement. And we (well most people anyway including yours truly) are blaming the government for it.

Of course the government can counter my interpretation of the picture by saying the “advertisement” i.e. the banner was put up in the first place because things are good and people can afford to buy the planet. Tongue in cheek also?

Truth is while many are increasingly finding it hard to make ends meet there are people who are having it good. Like the daughter of a federal minister who is telling everybody through Instagram and whatnot of her (as well as her family’s) five (perhaps six or seven) star holiday in Europe with a shopping spree to match.
Lucky her.

But the reality is that the high cost of living is going higher next year. We are staring at prices of food, (even the simple pisang goreng, sate and tom yam), transportation, toll rates, electricity and a long list of other things.

Nothing is coming down. Wrong. Oil prices continue to slide. And the ringgit is still depreciating. Both not good for country, which means “we” the public will be hurt.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the deputy prime minister, has assured us that a high-level committee will be set up to tackle cost of living issues. I’ll leave it to you if such assurance is indeed assuring.

International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan’s advice on coping with economic difficulties is not much help as many surely agree.

I won’t comment further as he has been schooled by comedian Harith Iskandar on how to differentiate between jobs and positions.

Which brings me to what I’m driving at.

Lest I be accused of repeating myself or retelling an old story, I admit I’ve written about this before, on how hard it is to wish everybody a Happy New Year when the new year is not really that happy.

At the end of 2014 I remember cracking my head and asking friends to help me phrase my 2015 greetings (what with the looming goods and services tax).

I came up with: “This New Year’s greeting comes with a hope for happiness.”

Something like that. I can’t recall the exact words. After all it has been more than 300 days since I said that.

Anyway, we know how 2015 turned out to be for most of us. Except for the likes of the daughter of the federal minister I was talking about earlier who I am sure will continue to have it good again in the coming year.

So how do I wish friends, relatives and all a Happy New Year when we’re in for bad weather in 2016?

Well here goes. A plain and simple: “With hope have a Happy New Year, everyone.”

At least try lah. – December 31, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.