Like many around the world, I've watched Brazil from afar over the years, but something seemed to have 'lit' the country when Lula was elected to office. Not sure if he was the cause or the effect, but living in Malaysia, I sit and watch for a similar 'magic' to happen here: in many ways, it seems the only way to go forward on a sustained basis, as any multi-ethnic, resource-rich, democratic country (like Brazil, Malaysia) can only go so far, as in the past, with its privileged few raping its abundant resources, leaving the minimum for the masses through the trickle down process. Malaysia is struggling right now, but its basic values such as democracy, inter-racial harmony are at least on surface, largely intact. I wait for a Lula clone to show up here soon!
Since you now spend a lot of time in Africa, do you see the potential for South Africa to repeat the Brazil 'magic' over the next few years? It seems a shame, after Mandela, so much of their natural 'energy' is sapped everyday due to the HIV/AIDS factor, but perhaps this country lacks the critical 'DNA factor' that always existed in modern day Brazil?
In this part of the world, Indonesia's president Yudhoyono seems to have 'lit' the country too, and I think this great, complex, but beautiful country is going to go places over the next 50 years, with its basic values like democracy, multi-everything (religion, language, ethnicity, bio-diversity) very much intact.
Congratulations, and all the best,
Selva |
