The Swedish election: rational but passionless

The 2010 national election in Sweden on Sept 19th is just 18 days away and the two major coalitions - the non-Socialist alliance which is currently in power and the Socialist's red-green coalition are grappling with basically the same issues that all elections in the past have tackled: jobs, welfare, schools, healthcare and taxes. What differentiates the two blocks are the priorities undertaken and the beneficiaries of tax incentives and reductions.

As indicated in most of the political barometers, the governing non-Socialist alliance has taken the lead over the opposition Socialist red-green coalition. Without going into any specific analysis on this trend, the easiest conclusion on why the non-Socialists are getting greater confidence from the electorate is how they handled the economy during the 2008 financial crisis. That they succeeded in implementing measures that cushioned the impact of the economic world turbulence on Sweden's economy is a remarkable success. Several EU-member countries are finding it difficult to immerse from budgetary deficits and without help from international and European financial institutions, could sink into a quagmire.

The non-Socialist alliance has been a successful model of a united political platform , that is to say - one voice on most issues of concern to the Swedish electorate: employment and job incentives which means that work is more beneficial than social welfare dependency. Taxes of low-income earners were considerably reduced and new job creation incentives were introduced. The other priority areas are the schools and healthcare sectors - how much more in additional budget would they be getting in consideration of the growing population of old people and the increasing number of babies needing placements in daycare centers.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in the recent launching of the non-Socialist alliance platform promised further tax reduction, especially to the older people whose highly- taxed low pension has been a constant source of discontent. The economy permitting, he has set an ambition goal to lower further income taxes thereby inducing new jobs through lower employer's fees. The opposition Socialist red-green coalition wants to raise taxes to finance the needs of various sectors, which could lead to greater welfare dependency. The message is that, it does not pay to work because one could get as much through unemployment benefits and it will be more expensive for employers to hire due to expensive social costs.

The issue of taxes hits the main pulse of every voter and it is as close as it gets to becoming an emotional issue. If there is any criticism that can be made in the increasing tempo of the election campaign, it is the lack of emotional appeal of the election slogans made by each party and the two blocks. Slogans don't grab one's attention and don't ignite any enthusiasm. Compared to most elections in other countries where there is a life and death struggle to be heard, to convince and to win, the Swedish elections - including this forthcoming one is bereft of passion and conviction. It is too rational that it actually forgets how emotional some issues are to many voters especially those living on the margin of society.#

The right to live..and to die with dignity

The right to live...and to die with dignity is an issue of critical dimension that continues to challenge those in power to act not simply out of humane considerations but in accordance with the law. Life is sacred as all religions declare and precious in the name of everything that is good in humanity.

In Sweden, the right to end one's life - of persons whose daily sustenance comes mainly from tubes attached to machines, has been a long-standing debate in the medical, as well as political communities. There are a number of cases that came to light in the media where certain individuals have been kept alive for many years through palliative care, who have no hopes of ever getting better and where pain and suffering get worse as days pass. They have expressed the desire to die, or be allowed to die. It is often an agonishing familymember who plead with the physician for suicide help.

Recently the case of a person who has been kept articifially alive was brought to court and challenged the National Health Board - the highest Swedish decisionmaking body, to make a decision to grant the right to die.

The outcome may have favoured one particular case but the issue on granting one's desire to die with dignity has yet to become legally acceptable.

There are complicating factors that do not allow a simple legal interpretation of one's right to die with dignity. There are many cases where the person no longer have the capacity to express the will to die, so that it is the family that interprets that will. If there is no written testament to the effect that the person concerned has infact stated the will to end his life or be allowed to die with dignity, then it would be the words of living relatives that have to be validated. Are those words expressed out of selfless love or are they motivated by interests other than those of the person lying in a comatose condition.

Persons living less than half a-life or hanging to the barest thread of life for many years in hospitals are more visible to a greater number of people who are part of the medical and nursing staff. There are however, less visible cases who are in long-term nursing homes who may or may not be palliative cases. There is one particular case where I have had professional experience in nursing. She had been a well-known personality in the academic community and had authored books. A severe stroke caused by the death of her husband sent her to into a state of helpless immobility. She had to be fed through a tube in her stomach. But she was conscious of everything around her and she reacted to music, people around her, things of beauty like nature when she is taken out in the park.

One summer day, the nursing staff was informed that the woman's children wanted their mother to end her life because according to them, it was her expressed desire not to go on living. This was a most unusual situation and most of those involved in the caring work did not immediately comprehend the depth of this case, nor did many understand that it was going to be a difficult ethical and moral dilemma for all those involved in looking after her.

It dawned on some after some days that their religion could not accept being a part of an assisted self-suicide case. Such individual protests were muffled and those with psychological problems in dealing with the day-to-day care of the woman were advised to see a psychologist.

It took a month for this person to finally die and during all those days, she was deprived of food and was only given water and morphine. She could not talk, but her face spoke of the pain and anguish she was going through. This case shattered the morale of the people working in the unit and sent several on sick leave from psychological breakdown. The working morale of the staff hit the bottom and much later came a reorganisation of the unit itself. What was inconceivable in this case was how the highest leadership of this organisation agreed to let this happen when the law forbids assistance in self-suicide.

While the issue of the right to die with dignity remains a bone of contention, there are less visible cases going on in the less exposed nursing homes, where so-called palliative cases are found. In general they are cases of persons who are extremely sick, who are just waiting for their time to go. They get the care they need in terms of food, quietude and company though not of medicine. But who really knows what goes on in many nursing homes.#

A royal wedding that stole everyone's heart

Weddings are occasions guaranteed to melt even the hardest of hearts. It is a moment of pure happiness for two people becoming one, as each promise the other that in the battles to be fought ahead, one will never be alone and that triumphs are sweeter because they are shared.

"Love Stockholm" lifted the spirit of a city that needed to be reminded of the abundance of feelings in every inhabitant no matter how much problem each has to face in order to survive life's daily challenges. The preparations made for the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria took more than a year and the last four weeks were devoted to the minutest details, so that the ceremony from start to end would suffer no blunder. And everything did go well and perfect as befitting a couple who defied certain traditions in order for love to triumph. Princess Victoria had chosen her "Prince" from the people, in a remote town in northern Sweden. And she thanked the people with all her heart's conviction when she said: " I thank the Swedish people who gave me my prince."

I am not a royalist at heart because I believe that monarchies are a relic of the past and therefore anachronistic. Ordinary people find sustenance in their daydreaming as they follow the lives of the royals and the famous, which is understandable. To escape dreary moments in a day and float with dreams of wealth and fame allow many, especially women, to find refuge even relief from the eternal damnation of being poor and marginal.

The Swedish monarchy has maintained a strong decorum of morality and propriety. There has been no scandals that feed hungry tabloids involving the lifestyle of the royal children. They have been good ambassadors of goodwill for a small country that is constantly on its toes when it comes to competitions in the world market. It is indeed acceptable when one comments that the monarchy provides continuity, where the new relies on the old for wisdom and where the old accepts vigour from the new.

Yesterday, as I swam through a crowd of people in Kungsträgården to get to a boat moored beside the National Museum, I was convinced of the joy the people had to see their princess at a close range. I was rushing to join my captain who drove a boat carrying 80 people who were celebrating a less royal wedding. There was no distinction when it came to the genuine expression of love in both weddings, love that is so strong and powerful it sweeps away all the uncertainties in this troubled times. I saw the tail of the day's magnificent celebration and listened to Prince Daniel publicly acknowledge his love for Victoria and his gratitude to the elder from whom drew the best in himself. It cannot be denied that even without the pageantry of royalty, the quality of love between Victoria and Daniel is pure gold. #

The amazing moments of love

In this life, we are all subjected to the alternate forces of heat and cold, of rain and sunshine and of hate and love. There is always resistance to accepting the two sides that like a magnet pulls us towards opposite directions. There are times when life seems drawn to the deep ends of sadness and frustration and a feeling of defeat appears inevitable. Everything and everywhere, things just seem to go wrong no matter how much we struggle to get out of the quagmire.

Whatever the reasons there are for sinking into the lowest feelings of abandonment are numerous because bad times seem to collect everything that is unwanted in the immediate environment. Things are bad in the workplace where bosses are incompetent and lacking in empathy; hard work and accomplishments are not appreciated and worse, they create jealousy and competition. If they were not enough, the home which is the refuge from all evils outside is empty of compassion and affection. The other half is probably suffering from the same frustration so that the capacity for understanding and consoling each other become a heavy burden of the moment.

How does one leave behind feelings of frustration and anger and change into another person when one comes home? It would be a rational thing to do because whoever is the other person waiting at home does not really deserve to get the outburst of bad humour. How does one cool down, shed off that battered skin like a snake and come out fresh with a new person incarnated? Everyday comes this challenge of changing oneself for the sake of other persons dear to us. What we want to share is not anger against the mismanagement of the world we live in. We want to share the best in ourselves, the part where the heart is unaffected by hatred and anger.

Coming home to a loved one is always the highlight of a day - whether bad or good. To feel the warmth of an embrace that wipes out all the anxieties of the day, to sit close to each other and watch the sun fading from the horizon as the night settles down, to listen to the softness of tender love words and to forget everything else because nothing really matters at such moments of togetherness. These are the amazing moments of love and no words are necessary - not to explain why or to reason out. Love has many amazing moments for hearts open to receive and reciprocate.#

(This piece is especially inspired by the launching of LOVE Stockholm in celebration of the wedding of the Crown Princess Victoria on June 19th).

Taming a season of disaster

Is it a rule in life that problems can occur like the bursting of a dam and pull a person apart in different directions in order to respond to situations needing immediate action. Most times life seems like a straight line that has no sharp ups and downs and the movement is like a soft flowing river. And then from nowhere comes barriers and there is no longer fluidity but a harshness to get through the obstacles.

The arrival of spring in this part of the world has been delayed by the obstinacy of a winter that refused to go. In the process of waiting for the coming of a new season, a natural disaster in the form of a volcanic eruption took place in neighbouring Iceland and sent ashes in all directions. Many European countries were forced to stop all flights and passengers were stranded in airports without immediate alternative transportation. The eruption may have slowed down but it is not altogether sure if the angry volcano will not spew out more ashes.

If it were not enough with a natural catastrophe, the next was a man-made disaster that sent shock waves down Europe's spine. It was (is) the news of Greece imminent financial collapse that pummeled all stock markets to fall to the level of the 2008 financial crisis. If there was a modest recovery made in the last six months in terms of improved share prices, all that simply went down the drain. A huge question comes up on why and how one country like Greece could affect strongly other economies, as well as financial markets. But as any educated guess one can make, there are no national borders when it comes to money and finances.

As ordinary people that most of us are, we find ourselves affected in various ways by the external world where we have little or no influence at all. In the immediate world we live in - with the nearest concerns of work and family, the battles fought are the effects of the bigger world's happenings. Many jobs disappear in the market, companies use retrenchment policies to reduce cost and inflation sends the prices of commodities and services up. The stress brought about by all these untamed happenings is too unbearable that happiness becomes elusive.

If the coming of spring as a season is delayed, the feeling of delay is magnified by a sense of lethargy that holds back our own life's renewal. It is the feeling of being stuck under a rock because there are just too many things going on all at the same time. The opposite side of that rule in life - if indeed it is life's natural course, would be the sudden arrival of many things that bring about happiness and joy. A basket of rotten eggs becomes a basket of golden eggs. If that is how life proceeds then one can only hope that we can tame sooner the hostilities of a season of disaster.#

The unbeatable lightness of being

I have long wanted to borrow the famous title of this blog. But the circumstance that best describes that "being of lightness" has not come to light, as I would have wanted to. Over the last couple of days, I was thrown in a state of constant time change - from the past to the present and back to the past. Some past brings the jewel of that time and others the debris to be thrown away in the dustbin of history.

Having succeeded to depart once and for all from insignificance of past times - where I thought I made serious contribution to changing the order of things in a little part of the universe, I was summoned to face the challenges of the present. In less poetic language, the ordeal of buying and selling properties became the agenda of the day. First, was completion of the final purchase of a dream seaside flat in Cape Verde, which took hours in the bank. The financial scene has been hazardous for the weak-hearted because the stock market simply skidded down due to the plunging economy of Greece. And the Euro currency wavered. This was bad news, really!

After having succeeded to do away with a sizable life saving to own a dream property in the Atlantic, came the next challenge - that of selling two properties, both of which required a considerable amount of work to empty and renovate. May is a perfect season to sell properties in Sweden, when the trees have young leaves and spring flowers are at their brightest.

In the midst of solving such trivialities of common living came questions that relate to people in the nearest scope of the family. Few days ago, my grandson was christened on a bright beautiful spring day. A wonderful ceremony that radiated with so much love and affection. Matters of family and heart are always overwhelming. But there is always an opposite to happy moments when the heart feels once again some sorrow for those no longer around to share such happy moments.

Three years ago, specifically on the 8th of May I got an early message that my only brother died. I could not attend to his last rites and I am indebted to Satur, my first husband who was there to represent us during this difficult hour. My brother has five daughters, but unfortunately they were not around when he needed them most. This wound in my heart has not healed, because I cannot conceive in all rational thinking how children - daughters especially could be unfeeling towards a parent in his last hours of life.

A week later, my husband of 25 years died after a lingering cancer illness. This was a deeper stab in my heart and I didn't for once think that I would get through living. I saw my world collapsing with tons of debris over me. It felt okay then to let go as I have already lived a substantially good life. But somehow, I survived all the pains of losing and allowed myself a chance to pick up pieces, glue them as best I could and look at the world with a bit of lightness and optimism. And because I opened my heart to the sky, I felt the glow of sunshine enter my life and the shadows of the past slowly disappeared.

When I come closer to the 8th and 16th of May, I no longer feel the bitterness of losing, of knowing that I lost someone I loved dearly. In a span of three years a new life grew from within, just like the spring flowers edging out of the dead leaves of winter. Life is always there especially when we open up to welcome its renewal, season after season. And love never dies.#

The distance between the past and the present

I was in a time machine during the last many days, suddenly thrown back to the late 70s in particular. The dark days of martial law in the Philippines and how by some unexplainable circumstance I found myself assuming a very challenging but dangerous work as foreign correspondent for the Hongkong-based news weekly magazine Far Eastern Economic Review or FEER, a highly respected regional publication with unquestionable credibility in the media world.

Before being thrown into a new arena of struggle, I was dreaming of a foreign posting as foreign trade specialist in the Dept. of Trade, a position I fought hard and won hard via the usual examinations. But then, there was a hurdle to pass and it was getting the approval of the National Intelligence Authority or NISA, a powerful body with all the arsenal of Russia's KGB. As I have been a rebel student leader and therefore a "possible" subversive, that NISA blessing never came. On the other hand, I found myself in jail shortly after martial law was imposed. I didn't stay that long as a political detainee, but all those responsible for arresting me met horrible deaths within a period of a year.

Being a journalist during the long period of Marcos authoritarian rule was not just challenging and risky. There was a strong sense of purpose in digging for the truth, especially the abuses of the military in the countryside that were safely kept in convents and churches. Media gave much to the world without the sophistication of later day technologies such as the Google and other search engines that make life comfortable without leaving one's abode.

That the world was informed of the happenings in most parts of the world, and that many governments were dysfunctional and oppressive to its own, were tasks tackled with great dedication by people of the press.

What threw me back to this period were all the materials that came out of my storage rooms as I struggled to separate the meaningful from the meaningless collection of documents and personal mementos of the past. The separation process had been slow and tortuous because I could not find the measure of the past from the present. All of a sudden, the past became the present.

It is a philosophical question to ask if there is a distance between the past and the present and whether the past has its own force to return to the present and by what circumstance is totally unexpected.#