Ruminations

To the Core

I was out having lunch the other day when I noticed how much prices of foodstuff had increased. Just a two days before, the Department of Statistics announced that the country's Consumer Price Index has risen by 3.7% for the month of August, its highest in six years. At this rate, even spoilt, financially inept brats like me - who, in the words of Oscar Wilde, live so far above our means that we effectively lead a different kind of existence - are feeling the pinch.

I lamented as much to a friend, who, like me, is a bit of an economist wannabe. He reassured me by saying, "Fret not, my friend. Though headline inflation may be shooting through the roof, core inflation remains contained. And as long as this is the case, we shouldn't worry."

Manis.Sweet

Buah mengkudu kusangka manggis,
Manggis terletak di dalam cawan,
Gula madu kusangka manis,
Manis lagi senyummu tuan.

A bitter lemon I took for a berry,
A berry picked from a garden here,
Sweet I thought were sugar and honey,
But none so sweet as your smile, my dear.

And yes, it is because I'm not Italian that I can like Eros Ramazzotti's songs without losing much street cred. Bah!