The robe and the abacus...

Never trust a man in a suit and tie.

He may hide his evil intentions behind

his haberdashery perfection. In the

same vein, a female who reveals much

more than is needed to hide the 

necessaries may be masking the real 

thing she is hiding. 

It is said that the mark of the fall of an economy or, to go as far as a civilisation, is the disproportionate increase in the numbers of accountants and lawyers in society. Disproportionate to what, one may ask. For a community to propel to higher heights, we desperately need educators, engineers, scientists and health care workers. Educators to teach the young minds, engineers to push the boundary of the mind to explore new frontiers, scientists to discover ways to ease living and health professionals to ensure healthy bodies and minds for continual progress. As society becomes complicated, or the piece of the economic pie gets smaller, there would arise the need to protect or usurp material as much as possible, the legal way. After all, good times do not last forever.

Furthermore, the generation next would not be so resilient or antifragile to handle things given to them on a platter. Still, prosperity has to be continued down generations. Hence, there is an innate compulsion for good times to continue rolling within the family. Finances need to be fixed.

The significant jump in the numbers of lawyers and accountants may also mark the decline of morality. Whether the downfall of society is because of their increase or as a response to the fall, it is a matter of conjecture. When one sees things that used to be settled with a gentleman’s handshake amongst close-knitted friends or relatives now mandates legally signed documents to seal the deal, we know we are going down the rabbit hole of mutual distrust.

Washing dirty linen in public and broadcasting intimate detail to shame the other party is in vogue these days. The accusers think that they could play the victim card by putting all lewd pieces in the open. Little do they know, the public says a free daytime soap opera.

Trustfulness is now a forgotten virtue. When a person used to be entrusted with our monies, we did that not because he could give a beautiful account of our income and expenditure. We knew that there was no doubt about his trustworthiness as he would guard his assigned duty with his life. Now, we want a nicely executed (maybe concocted) Excel sheet with all the 't's well crossed and the 'i's meticulously dotted. Creativity and documentation supersede honesty and hard work.

Honest toiling and passion do not count in this material. All one needs to be successful and marketable in a colourful resumé with skills of articulation Lawyers and accountants help us towards that end. Teachers and medical personnel do not serve to broadcast their deeds. There do it because it is a service to mankind. At least, that is how it used to be.

[P.S. Writers and literary figures are still needed for they need to stir emotion and push boundaries, for we only know our limits when we push them to the brim.]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

No honour among thieves?

Better call Saul (Seasons 1-5; 2015-2020)

Miniseries, Netflix.

When you were growing up, you were told to study hard and be somebody. “When you are up there, you will be only dealing with intelligent people!” But, reality hits you when you grow up. It is nothing like they say it would be. 

A doctor friend once remarked, “unlike bankers and lawyers, we have to see everybody who walks through the consultation door - sick, mad, hostile, smelly, dirty or dead (they are pushed through though) at any time. We cannot choose our clientele, and we cannot shut our doors to anyone.”

Some time ago, it may have been true when banking was noble, and lawyers fought for justice, not merely to dance to the tune of their paymasters. At this time and age, when throwing a stone into the public square would probably hit the head of a lawyer, the race to secure employment is now more than ever. Many men in robes have resorted to ambulance chasing and touting to make ends meet. It has transcended all professions. The democratisation of education and the push for all segment to receive equal opportunity have sometimes compromised quality and ethics for quantity.

People used to seek professional help when they were caught in trouble. Now professionals create problem to meet up with people. For example, a poor financial organisation got people into trouble who would seek professional help to get out of the mess. Now, professional give out loans to people with unworthy credit ratings, then send another set of professionals to pull them out of the mayhem they started in the first place, like advertising the splendour of great wines and selling liver tonic at the same time.

'Better Call Saul' is a spin-off from Breaking Bad. Somewhere along the miniseries, viewers may have seen a fast-talking lawyer in a flashy loud-hued attire. That is Saul Goodman (sounds like 'It's all good, Man') for you - a loud, in-your-face kind of character who has no qualms in bending the rules to get you that out-of-jail card. He bends the truth, finds loopholes, technicality issues, tampers with evidence and all the things that one does not expect a learned professional to do. 

'Better Call Saul' is actually a prequel to 'Breaking Bad'. The miniseries narrates the tale of Saul Goodman (real name: Jimmy McGill) as he elevates himself working as a mailman in a reputable law firm to obtain a law degree via correspondence from the University of Western Samoa. However, Jimmy, as he is known throughout this show, has a lot of baggage from his past.

An ongoing saga throughout the series is the loggerheads between Jimmy and his uppity elder brother Chuck. Chuck had been the ideal son who excelled at school and was a valedictorian in University. He emerged as a top-notch lawyer, whereas Jimmy was a prankster from school, all through into young adulthood. Jimmy had to be bailed out from jail when one of his pranks was deemed by the courts. Chuck tried to give Jimmy a new lease of life in his law office. Meanwhile, later on, with the stresses of life, Chuck became a social recluse and had to be cared for by Jimmy. Chuck and Jimmy, however, has a love and hate relationship; Jimmy grateful for the help in becoming a lawyer, whereas Chuck feels that Jimmy is not worthy of being a member of the legal fraternity.

Jimmy pairs up with a fellow legal eagle, Kim Wexler, who rose the rank and files in the same office. A subplot involves a former rogue, now reformed cop, Mike, whose daytime employment is a parking attendant. He moonshines as a fixer and an assassin to provide for his dead son's wife and daughter. Mike feels guilty for getting him killed as he was a straight cop. His colleagues decided to fix him up for not playing ball. Interspersed inside all these are two gangs who try to control the drug traffic. 

Also peppered at the beginning of some of the episodes are short snippets of Saul Goodman in another life where he looks older and assumes a different identity, Gene Takavic. He is a manager in a bakery situated within a mall and leads a secretive and quiet life. Maybe in the next and final season, Season Six, the secret will be out of what led him to such a situation. Quite a compelling miniseries. Kudos to the creative storytelling.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.