Foodcourt Despondency

I've blipped this place from the other end on an evening much like this. The place is usually crowded with hawkers and diners from 530 to about 930pm, but it's quiet and rather sparse due to the rain.

In a place as warm as Malaysia I think the rain is both boon and bane. We crave the respite it brings from the unforgiving sun, the relief to go out or even stay in (not a proponent of air-conditioning) comfortably and go about our activities. Yet it disrupts so many forms of activities we have come to rely on as a civilised society: roads clog and jam up, pedestrians get soaked, and hawkers and small business owners lose their income for the day.

I see this scene before me and I can't help feel sorry for the vendors that lost a chance to make the portion that they need to pay bills, rent or their children's tuition fees. I think of the financial and economic state and direction of the nation and wonder how people are going to make ends meet. Sure, I'm able to live comfortably enough though things get more difficult, I count my blessings, but there are innumerable out there teetering on the poverty line or below it. I feel sad for them, and for my country as I walk home. A sense of despondency has replaced what once was patriotism.

Tomorrow teacher will be back from his training retreat at the foothills of the Himalayas. Heaven knows what new tricks and torture he has learned to play us with. I practise some yoga to make sure my body won't be too traumatised. I tried the crow pose on my own today, just for the fun of it. For the time being I'll call it the "falling chicken pose".