Thursday 24 January 2019

The Strange Neighbour

We all have encountered many people of which we label strange because they are not normal in our definition. well, i will tell you my strange encounter and by the end of it, i am sure you all will agree with me that this particular neighbour is nothing but strange.
This particular neighbour of mine is possible between the age group of 30 to 40, about 5 ft 7.
i first saw her outside her door still in her pajamas and night robe smoking and talking on the phone. obviously, this could just be someone who came out for a cigarette break whilst taking a phone call. the second time i met her, she was in the same spot, with the same night robe, smoking whilst talking on the phone. again, this seems normal right. well that same day, two hours later after seeing her, i stepped out of the house and she was still day, doing the same thing. i wondered what type of conversation she was having to stay on the phone for so long, in the same outfit smoking the entire time? well i am the type that when i get curious, i look more into it. i began to notice a pattern, she can always be seen with her cigarette and phone talking. There is not a day, you can come by the neighbourhood without seeing her at least 5 times.
 more questions cropped up. who was she talking to? did she not have a job? responsibilities at home? the person she must be talking surely should be the same as her right? what could they be talking about?
Day on day, she is stood in cold for hours and hours talking on the phone. i began to look through my bedroom window just to check if she was still there. sometimes, she will go inside her house, come out with a cup of tea, well i assume it is since she will be carrying a mug. then the whole circus will repeat itself.
do not fret, there was two changes noticed after 3 months of constantly seeing her. first change was her outfit. she changed from pajamas and night robe to black leggings and a burgundy coat. now, she was no longer the woman in the stripped pajamas, she now became, the woman in burgundy/dark red coat. obviously, she still stays out in the cold, even when temperatures fall below 0 degrees, she can still be spotted outside with her cigarette and phone.
second change- during a brief period during the Christmas holiday, she went hiatus. she could not be seen even once. my only assumption is that she went on holiday or she finally met whoever she had always been on the phone with. its either  that or she months of cold accumulation had finally caught her and she was bedridden with a bad cold. Well, i will never know.
however, she suddenly reappeared, and you know how i know, she was immediately spotted with a burgundy coat, talking on the phone with her cigarette as well. At this very moment, she is still out there. the circle does not end.  
my driving instructor once asked me the question, who is that woman, i can always see her every time i come to pick you and drop you off ?. i could not say anything but laugh at the question.

you see, i am not just being paranoid, i am sure if you come to my area, you will immediately see my strange neighbour. it is normal to go out for a cigarette at various times of the day especially when one has got kids within the house of which she does. however, i find it extremely abnormal when one can be spotted everyday, for hours and hours talking on the phone, smoking, same outfit and in cold. it raises so many questions. it is with no exaggeration when i say, that she is always talking on the phone. i do not mean, she is on her phone browsing, NO. She is having conversations with another person who is potentially in the same position as her.
 What is your own judgement? Strange or not?

Monday 21 January 2019

Trapped Society

I  live in a a society which advocates freedom and liberty at the forefront of its mission. my society condemns the likes of society such as Pakistan, North Korea, China and most of African for being barbaric, authoritharian and withholding the basic principles of Freedom, Choice and Liberty.
to me however, that is very hypocritical and i will try to explain as clearly as possible.
 firstly, we live in a society bounded by endless rules, laws and regulations which preach to be for the the protection of mankind but in reality it truly is not. in the UK  for example, law makers are elected by the public but appointment is dependent on the level of campaign and how good at persuading they can be, or most often, it is simply choosing lesser of two evils, Campaigns are backed by the power of Money, shallow as it might sound, it is. without the money, law makers lack the full resources to reach the mass public in the most efficient way possible. money dictates the successful candidates which means that, often, laws are made in according the preference of the elected.
further more, laws and regulations can be subjective in the sense that, it can never truly be aligned with everyone equally. and just as freeman states in his book, the loophole, once you  know the law, you can Always use it to your own advantage.
similar to the point about money above, we live in a society whereby money is essentially law, to the wealthy, money can essentially buy them out of anything.
the way our society is structured is very one sided. from our education system to careers, we our indoctrinated in a particular way of life. if you study in the west, it is easily noticeable that mos scholars are western scholars which drastically limits your knowledge of the world, if your study in China, North Korea, children are taught syllabus which reinforces their particular heritage and culture, and of which the scholars are predominantly of those ethnic backgrounds.
the same thing can be applied to the Entertainment industry. we are trapped by the rising trends, one will often feel like an outcast if he or she is not following the trend and most often, he or she is pressured to like a particular entertainment because it is approved and loved by the masses.
A recent addition to the trap society is the notion of identity and sexual orientation. we have moved into a society where ones speech has to be carefully filtered before voicing it out. Although this can be seen as good for a peaceful and coherent society, it raises the concerns of choice, individualism, true freedom, lack of self and regressive society. It rather feels like we are indirectly being censored.
therefore, from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the school we go to, down to our careers and the neighborhood we live in, we are are forever trapped in our society and can NEVER BE FREE.

overview

The unification of Cameroon in 1962 has seen Cameroonians enjoying its freedom from both the French and the English rule. although certain cultures such as the English style of learning is still being incorporated in Cameroon, it has continuously enjoyed that freedom. however, with a dominant one party with a long standing president of 32 years, the efforts of the Bameleke's who fought the great independence movement seems to be going in vain.  Cameroons economic depression which started in 1987 till now posed by the president to have resulted from rise in prices, had detrimental effects on the general populations. it saw civil servants who were forced into retirement, school closures, decrease in government spending, rise in poverty rates and as a result, a rise in anti- government feeling and protest. with a president incapable of receiving foreign aid at first was left with substantial debt and have been left since with trying to reduce. A country of only 23m people, is now divided and the southerners demanding for separation on the grounds of maltreatment of its citizens by the French Cameroons, deprivation of it's own resources, oppression, the fact that the unification was initially not a treaty and the french claimed of the south was illegal and forceful. frustration at the government, corruption, poverty has led to demands by the southern Cameroons to be separated from the north and being left with the 13 regions in the south. further demands for regions is being echoed. like all fight for independence, the recent happenings in Cameroon have seen protest which are slowly turning violent, this has spread over countries like Germany, Sweden, and a petition have been made for the UK's parliament to have a debate about the issue in parliament.