When stock pundit be held responsible!

Money Monster (2016)

Director: Jody Foster

That it is. There is no shortcut to making that first million. First, one must realise that one's journey to the land of gold and honey may meet impassable obstacles and not reach the intended destination. Or, he may be skewed away from the path and end up in a ditch. Or, he may be swallowed by a beast (or troll under the bridge, if you still believe in fairy tales!)

Wealth is finite. It is a zero-sum game. For one to make a million, somebody else must lose a million. The way advertisers do their thing, prospectors buy the idea that no one is a loser. They entice you into the gravy train, which never runs short of curry!

With the advent of complex algorithms, the unholy union of data scientists and conniving dupe masters never had it better. Speaking in incomprehensible jargon that they do not understand, they create a smokescreen that can cleverly hide their true malfeasances. Their spick appearances and polished social etiquettes belie their demonic intentions beneath their mask.

Even nations are getting involved in this debacle. When fiat money is churned out indiscriminately, even small Governments with altruistic intentions gamble on their children's future when their investments appear robust and are backed by the greenback. 

Have you noticed how financial experts have such short life spans on the airwaves? Like swallows before the summer, they appear in droves when the stock market is doing well. They yak and yak like they have perfected the art of making money out of the market. It is as if they are there for everyone's picking. Overnight, they will be uncontactable when things go south; swallow fly south. This must be why their actions are termed 'flight by night' activity. And the market will swallow everything in one big lump. 

What happens to all those sycophants who promote and sing praises of the moneymaking product as if it is the best thing to happen to mankind since sliced bread? Are these mere messengers? We do not kill the messengers. Or can they be held accountable for what comes out of their mouths? 

These are the questions that go through the mind of the compère and controller of a popular money programme named 'Money Monster' when a disgruntled investor holds the host at gunpoint and straps a bomb vest over him. The investor had lost his inheritance in stocks after taking the programme's advice, hence the frustration. 

As expected, life on the silver screen is more black or white. By the film's end, the cause of the stock prices' fall is pinpointed to fraud by its owner, and instant justice befalls the wrongdoer.

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

A problem many would like to have...

While scavenging around for the next topic to ponder, I came across a conundrum a friend of a friend was going through. Not many would find it a big problem. Many would not mind inheriting that problem. Others would say, "What problem?"

After working all their lives engaging with various businesses to pull themselves out of the shackles of poverty, they can say they have arrived. No, thanks to the governmental racially discriminatory policies, and despite this, they had managed to give their three children an overseas education. Again, the children had opted to settle overseas because of the national social re-engineering policies. The roots are so deeply embedded elsewhere that they find it pointless to return to the roost. Their occasional summer vacation and digital connections would suffice for family bonding.

The couples are left to fend for the coop and the empty nest. To complement that, there are multiple landed properties, real estate assets, various incomes, and a stash of moolah to lubricate their silver years.

None of the children are keen to take over the legacy the parents will soon leave. In the minds of the foreign-educated liberty thinking, socialistic minds of the offspring, they do not want anything with their capitalistic parents' money, which they would be thinking was earned through the blood and sweat toiled by the bodies of the working class. And they want none the part of it.

So, the elders are left with a dilemma. How will they will off their legacy when none of their kids want to inherit it. In a world where siblings and relatives clobber and murder each other to get a piece of the meat, here they have to deal with no one wanting their hard-earned.

Many individuals with apparently noble intentions (?really) have no dearth of suggestions and avenues on how to dispose of their wealth to the world. There is no shortage of NGOs willing to put their money to good use, more than a hundred orphanages and homes that are always short of contributions, the house of worship with their bottomless pit of donation kits and private entities that could set up trusts to aid the needy. Yet, they decided to spend it all with close friends, fine dining, rewarding their palate and seeing all the things that they could see in this lifetime. Who knows what holds for them in the future when this life is through? An abyss? A new beginning with no recollection of what transpired here and now? Or…

I attended a friend's 80th birthday recently. It was a celebration of a man's life who had every right to show and motivate others through his slow journey of rags to riches. After a fulfilling life in the civil service, corporate world, and academia, he is engrossed in spirituality. He took it his life's mission to pay back to society. He finances needy students and also engrossed himself in social activities. His secret to success and happiness is his outlook on life. He shields off every hurdle that comes his way with a smile.

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

Higher the call, so is the fall!

Man On The Run (Documentary, Netflix; 2023)

Director: Cassius Michael Kim

We all know the drill. We have heard it all before. The Government started a novel project selling government bonds to buy oil fields in Central Asia. With the returns, the Government, via its subsidiary, 1MDB, would pour money into the country, which would help improve the living conditions of its citizens.

The trouble was that the same who applied for the money from the Government approved the loan, executed the loan, received the loan and received the returns were all the same person. Najib Razak is the 1MDB Chairman, Minister of Finance and the honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia. And there were no oilfields that were bought. Still, the whole exercise saw many people making loads of money, enjoying obscenely decadent parties, and the Malaysian taxpayers paying exorbitant amounts of money as interest to international players.

Even though the local journalists kept crying foul and were brave to publish the shenanigans, the powers that be managed to keep a tight lid. People in enforcement and investigation positions were hushed. A young prosecutor was even buried alive in a concrete can. Things only started moving when the US Department of Justice charged Goldman Sachs with foreign bribery.

With a provocative title like 'Man on the Run', I would like to find new scoops on Malaysia's most infamous fugitive, Jho Low. Nothing. He was nowhere to be found, without an interview or anything new about his whereabouts. With extensive narration from The Edge owner Ho Kay Tat, ex-MP Tony Pua, former AG Tommy Thomas, Clare Rewcastle of Sarawak Report and whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo, nothing new actually surfaced. Perhaps the most ridiculous interview was given by the big kahuna himself, Najib.

In an interview three months before his guilty verdict, he is comically seen lamenting the fact that he had been victimised. In a system where he is supposed to be protected, the system lets him down. He griped that the officials appointed to protect people like him did not do their job well. They, instead, should be the accused, not him. I thought Najib was losing the plot. He is not a monarch who inherits the post by birth. For heaven's sake, he is a leader of a democratically-elected government selected by the people to serve the people. The power that was wielded to him comes with specific responsibilities. A politician only lasts until the next election. Can he be so naive? Does he don the Emperor's clothes? Is he surrounded by sycophants who boated his ego so much that he thinks he need not be accountable? The whole 'speech' reeks of entitlement. Accountability and responsibility do not fall into the equation. It is mind-boggling to see so many who still think he is innocent and is a victim of political sleight of hand.

The whole imbroglio paints a very bleak picture of the Malaysian democratic process. It is as though we are a banana republic where law and order are only for show. The high-heeled can scoot off with millions right under everybody's noses. There is a glaring lack of checks and balances in the system. Too much legislative powers are given to the ruling party. The executive powers are too timid to carry out and enforce laws. The national coffers are made to be like the leaders' kitty. The judiciary arm and even the fourth estate are toothless.

The presentation needs to be more comprehensive in its coverage. Many of the key players and beneficiaries of 1MDB refused to be interviewed. That would include the self-proclaimed First Lady of Malaysia, Rosmah Mansur, representatives from Goldman Sachs, and the makers and cast of the movie 'Wolf of Wall Street', who were paid from proceeds of 1MDB.

Is this the watershed moment of Malaysian politics? Will its citizens awake from their slumber to ensure such blatant abuse of trust does not repeat? From the recent turn of events after the last elections, I seriously doubt it. Too many schisms and fractures have developed in the country, once earmarked as another Asian tiger. Look at it now. It is just a paper tiger lantern that could be engulfed by the fire ignited within its confines.

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

Everything is out of order!

And Justice for All (1979)

Director: Norman Jewison

During one of those festivities gatherings, we managed to pin down one of our old schoolmates. That was quite an achievement, for he was and still is a senior partner in one of KL's outstanding law firms. We created a hypothetical situation. What if he, as a lawyer, either gets a client who admits his crime at the onset or, along the course of the trial, would he still continue to defend his client?

In so many words, with mentions of the right to proper legal representation and duty to the client, our layman's minds understood that he would still continue defending his client. His task was to ensure that his client was free of his charge. Of course, he would not purposely make his opponent win, knowing pretty well that his client committed the offence. Nowhere in the conversation was justice and seeking the truth uttered. Justice is what the court determines, and the truth is what is argued out. 

This must have been what the Sophists of the Greek tradition would have wanted - a skill in public speaking so convincing that one is able to sell ice to the Eskimo.

Recent events in this country prove that the legal arm is not there to seek the truth or dispense justice. It is just a question of who is holding the mantle of power. Seeing how often we see the arm of the Law bending backwards to the tunes of the members occupying the corridor of power is nauseating.

Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) sees all these in force in the courts. Haughty judges throw their weights around, suspects are treated like dirt, and the system has no time for the common man. Around him, he sees many dysfunctional attorneys move around like zombies playing to the tune of the system. Kirkland punches a judge when the judge repeatedly makes it difficult for his case to be put forward. For that, Kirkland spends a day in jail.

So Kirkland is perplexed when he is called to defend the judge he punched. The judge is charged with assault. The system feels that hiring a lawyer who abhors the judge would strengthen his case. He sees the system as existing to take of each other's interests. The last of their concerns is to improve the dispensing of justice, the welfare of the accused or reduce the number of those wrongly accused. 

Kirkland is threatened about his long-forgotten breach of client-attorney confidentiality case. He has no choice but to accept the offer. Along the way, he discovers more dirty secrets about the judge and rots about the system.

7.5/10. Good watch.

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

Truth, not fiction?

Paper in Money Out (2023)

Authors: Sree Iyer, Jagdish Shetty

This book is supposed to be a work of fiction, but what we read here is probably what every Indian podcaster with the right leanings, worth his salt, is reporting on his channel. 

It is a potpourri of dirty politics, dirty dealing and equally obnoxious under-table dealings laced with blackmail, thuggery, double-crossing and bribery. Perhaps I should add treason to the list as leaders, who were entrusted to protect the assets of the country, are seen making wheeling and dealings with the enemies. Money is a natural lubricant for any transaction, friend and foe alike. 

One familiar with the twirls and twists of Indian politics will see a canny resemblance of characters to the who’s who in the present-day politicians and prime movers of Indian politics. 

Offhand, I think I see the likes of Subramaniam Swami, P Chithambaram and son, Sonia Gandhi, Narinder Modi and possibly many leaders of the South. Listeners of the P Guru YouTube channel would find a sense of deja vu going through the story. Many times I have heard of printing ‘legal’ bank notes with duplicate serial numbers, of Pakistan printing money to fund terror, the ease of travel with multiple passports, of the porous international waters and the establishment of offshore shell companies to hide ill-gotten gains in the quagmire of tax havens and privacy protection. The Hawara network of money transfers has stood the test of time and can resist any scrutiny. There is no money trail to sniff out, so to speak. 

What used to be fiction is probably just another day, another transaction in convoluted worlds and mavericks and fixers. They slide easily between warring factions, and like roaches, they cannot be exterminated. Like mushrooms, too, after a downpour, after the coast is clear, they would revert to their job of fixing. These touts need not to searched for. Their tentacles are so intricate that they will find them. Their network is more comprehensive than LinkedIn and Headhunters put together. 

As long as there is free market, there will be fixers and touts. 

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

Painting reality in words?

Who Painted My Lust Red? Book #2

Who Painted My Future Bright? Book #3

Author: Sree Iyer (2020)

There must be a reason why politics is labelled the second oldest in the world, after the flesh trade. Anything goes if the price is right. At least, that is the perception these books give an impression on politicians and people in power who make decisions that could steer the country's direction.

Money determines everything. It lubricates, moves and generates more wealth. There is a dire need to push as the window of opportunity only opens briefly. Wealth needs to be accumulated in the short time power is handed on a platter. In the meantime, vultures and hyenas will hang around to scavenge or perhaps initiate the kill themselves. 

In this fiction, Sree Iyer tells an account of a dog-eat-dog world of Indian politics. It is not all about Indian politics either. In an environment where everyone is yearning towards that one thing in life, money, nothing really matters anymore. The end justifies the means. All values held in high esteem in previous generations just go out of the window. Those who managed to scale the wall of wealth have it all. Once the Rubicon is crossed, everything else can go to hell - friendship, honesty, compassion, loyalty and humanity.

Hindus have an apt explanation for all of these. The great god-kings who appeared on Earth long ago were merely akin to what Plato would describe as philosopher kings. They were mortals elevated to demigods' status because they did what was right and just for the greater good. 

Iyer tells of an unholy alliance between Indian bigwig politicians, cricket officials and players, Bollywood, entrepreneurs, the mafia and a significant number of shady characters who bring tremendous value to the association by fixing all loose ends from setting hotel suits to appointments with big-shots to discrete hawala money transactions with a minimal service charge. Money begets money. Money as a social lubricant beings on power. The mind wanders to yearn for other bodily pleasures when zeros on the currency do not really matter. People are so gullible. Put some pretty face with hunky cricketers with God-like followings; people are bound to be interested. In a cricket-crazed country like India, the cricket league is big money. Running the Indian league from a God-forsaken place like Dubai means away from the scrutiny of Indian enforcement. Dubai is only interested in your money.

Against this grain, some will still believe in righting the wrong. Traditionally, law and order is maintained by the various arms of the administration. The press forms the Fourth Estate to do further checks and balances. Unfortunately, when the whole machinery is corrupt, and self-interest supersedes national aspirations, more creative ways must be derived.

In the meantime, the goalpost of what is right is constantly shifted to suit the flavours of the times. Conversely, seven-century wisdom is spewed as the legitimate decree for humankind to follow.

India boasts of being a Visvaguru (global teacher) to the world, as it was before the 15th century. It was then the wealthiest country in the world, controlling more than half of its wealth while the rest of the world was in darkness. India, in its previous avatar, was a cultural icon. Everyone in the modern world then wanted to emulate Indians. Its culture transcended its borders to adjacent lands and beyond its shores via its extensive shipping lines.

If India is not just reminiscing its glorious past but instead to re-establish its former status before it was flattened by colonising powers, it has a long way to go. It should keep in check with its own backyard. The civil service is wanting of a long deserving facelift. There is an urgent need to erase corruption as an accepted practice. The courts need to get their acts to mete swift justice.

The book narrates a fictional account of everything the author has been broadcasting over his channel all these years.

Money makes the world go around. Money even makes a corpse move, it seems.

Book #2 @ 'Lust Red' takes readers to the world of cricket match-fixing, honey trapping. money-laundering, hiwara services to ease transborder money transactions, blackmails and a lot of horse-trading. Political leaders, Bollywood bigwigs, high-ranking government officials, the mafia and ill-defined creatures who fix anything called middlemen make their presence felt amidst all the dealings. They determine the outcome of matches and make a killing from the results.

Book #3, 'Future Bright' reveals the confusing web of Indian politics. Taking a swipe at current and past leaders, it also presents Pakistan as the villain whose sole existence is to destroy India. Like Will E Coyote's repeated failed antics to trap Road Runner, Pakistan again and again has muck on its face as the endeavours fail miserably.

The setting of the book is strikingly similar to contemporary events. There is no denying that the characters here are no different to current national leaders and figures. The greatest fool among all these is the average citizen who fails to see beyond what is shown. They remain clueless about all the backdoor arrangements and arm-twisting manoeuvres behind the scene by people entrusted by the people to lead the nation to a brighter future.

(P.S. It seems Kings of yesteryears were so good. Perhaps people looked at them as God's representation on Earth, hence, are infallible. Maybe they were the true philosopher kings that Plato advocated so much. From a Hindu cosmology point of view, we are in Kali Yuga, the decadent times. People are supposed to be degenerate and materialistic. The last time the world had good kings was Rama in Trata Yuga and Krishna in Dvapara Yuga.)

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

!--Go to www.addthis.com/dashbo

For a fistful of rupees?

Farzi (Fake, Miniseries; 2023)

Created, Written &Directed: Raj & DK

It said that Pakistan is on the brink of bankruptcy. It has gone with a begging bowl to IMF for aid. After securing massive loans with low interest from China and investing in projects that never saw daylight, Pakistan found itself in trouble deep. The creditors came knocking on its door. The pandemic and local political turmoil tilt the economy further into hopelessness. Even God was not kind. Massive flooding, almost unheard of in desert-like Pakistan, took many lives in the densely populated regions of the country. 

The real reason for Pakistan's predicament, India likes to believe, is Modi's demonetisation policy. It is alleged that Pakistanis were actively printing fake Indian rupees and using them to fund terrorist activities across the border. With the help of corrupt politicians, civil servants and the Mafia, these monies made their way to the Indian marketplace. It is the grey market; a fake ₹100 is equivalent to ₹30 in real money. It is sanitised once it is fed into India. Everyone is happy. Politicians are free to utilise these easy ill-gotten gains to bribe constituents and for campaigning. Other avenues for this foolhardy are cricket betting schemes and Bollywood financing. 

The new size of the new notes made it difficult for the counterfeit industry to keep up. With the increased use of digital currency, physical money is also slowly losing its place in daily cash handling. The fake note industry took a severe beating, which shows in Pakistan.

The movie 'Farzi' is said to be based on Amazon's bestseller book by Sree Iyer, 'Who painted my money white?'. After reading the book and viewing the miniseries, I see that the theme is similar, but the premise is different. 

Sree Iyer's book is more about dirty politics and the shenanigans of politicians. It tells about everything going wrong in India through his lens - fake currency, Islamic terrorism, love jihad and more. The climax is the attempted assassination of India's Prime Minister. For those familiar with Indian politics, readers can immediately identify that all the characters in the story obviously carry an uncanny resemblance to present-day politicians.

The miniseries tell about a street-smart artiste with a neck printing fake Indian notes in his grandfather's newspaper printing press. His fake turns out so accurate that an international terrorist based in Jordan wants to use his services. And things get complicated as governmental enforcement is hot on his trail. 

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

Follow

Follow

Follow

Follow

Follow

Follow