7 Breed of Highly Effective People During Lockdown

Aotearoa New Zealand exited from the state of lockdown as of 23:59 yesterday. In this national happy occasion of the new found freedom(?) and the first morning of life outside lockdown, here is a tribute to those souls who had been the most effective over the 33 days of lockdown since it came into effect on 23:59 on 25 March.

The Toilet Paper Hoarders

These are the ultimate harbinger and ambassadors of moral panic. Remember this phenomena when toilet papers were the most sought after item in grocery stores across the Western World? Why only Western World? Because the rest of the world knows methods other than wiping to clean their bottom after doing business in the toilet.

On the surface, these lot who managed to trigger a tsunami of moral panic may seem like your ordinary hoarders. But they are more sophisticated than you might have realised. Going by the “diffusion of innovation theory”, these are the innovators - at the forefront of everyone - leading the charge of innovation. Right there at the beginning of the bell curve. Apparently, somewhere in New South Wales someone got tasered after a “petty argument turned dirty” over a few rolls of this humble paper roll. 

Innovators aka toilet paper hoarders belong to the yellow to the far left (Image: Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, cjni.net)

The Jaywalkers

You are walking down the sidewalk. 50 meters in front, you see someone walking your way. The two of you are now thinking exactly the same thing, at the same time. As if some sort of mental telepathy is going on between the two strangers. Who blinks first? Or to be accurate, who crosses the road first to keep the safe social distancing of 2m? The end result - kinda sorta (Kiwi lexicon for kind of sort of) street dancing until both of you end up jaywalking. You know you are safe, right? Because there are no vehicles on the road.

The Dogwalkers

How come so many of them canine owners suddenly need to so frequently walk their dogs?

OK, Zoomer (not OK boomer)

It is a viral irony that today we are all Zoomers in a world where the pathogen behind the pandemic and the technology that is literally saving our work and life balance both can be traced back to China.

Despite being warned of all the security holes and zoombombing, the tide of Zooming took us all by submission. We don’t know if Cisco was/is playing politics to prevent Zoom from gaining market or the businesses of other race were being xenophobic. Nothing was stopping Zoom from going viral (if it is still safe to use that term). We so readily not only downloaded the app but also made it our virtual office. What we know now from numbers is that Zoom’s owner Eric Yuan’s net worth has skyrocketed to over $2 billion, according to Fortune magazine.

While we are zooming on Eric Yuan, here are bits and pieces about him from one of the shortest entry in Wikipedia for a billionaire:

Eric S. Yuan is a Chinese-American businessman.

He was born and raised in Tai'an, Shandong Province, China. In 4th grade, Yuan collected construction scraps to recycle copper for cash

Yuan moved to the US in 1997 at the age of 27, speaking very little English. 

In 1997, Yuan joined WebEx. There, he routinely spent all night writing computer code, only making time for his hobby of playing soccer. WebEx was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007; he became vice president of engineering.

In 2011, Yuan pitched a new smartphone-friendly video conferencing system to Cisco management. The idea was rejected and Yuan left Cisco to found Zoom Video Communications.

In the beginning, he struggled to find investors because many of them considered the market to be saturated.

In 2019, Zoom became a public company via an initial public offering, at which time Yuan 
first became a billionaire.

(Eric Yuan photo: Fortune Magazine)

The Experts

These are the new breed of microbiologists, virologists, epidemiologists, science communicators, analysts of the global as well as country-wise COVID-19 responses, COVID-19 correspondents without borders, and the list goes on and on to the moon and back. They earned the coveted title of Ex (abbreviation for Experts) in front of their name without having to attend a single course on the subject matter. They are that brilliant. This is the greatest wave of learning by rumouring and bluffing the world has ever seen.

We all, by now, are experts in all of the above. We know, we know what we are doing. Right? So this is self-explanatory.

Apparently more than 18 years ago on 12 February 2002, the then US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during question time said this - "there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know". 

Did you gerrit? I don't know. It went way above my head. I'm totally confused.

The Parents

How on earth do you retain composure and remain sane even after surviving all that mayhem of having infants, toddlers, teenagers around 24/7?

New marvel-lous superheroes

All the wonderful people from healthcare and other industries, including but not limited to the following, in no particular order of priority. There probably is no other humbling feeling than to acknowledge the role of these beautiful people. We literally owe our lives to them.


Nothing illustrates this devotion and sacrifice more than this emotional photo of two nurse anesthetists who are married to each other and work on the same Anesthesia COVID-19 Airway team—savoring their limited time together without knowing what will come next, and if their own lives are at stake. (Image and description: Health.com)

Nurses, doctors, lab operators running coronavirus tests, pharmacists, radiologists, scientists, microbiologists, epidemiologists, virologists, supermarket checkout operators and the entire supermarket workers, courier drivers, local dairy owners, public bus and train drivers, waste and recycling truck operators, and many more.

Well done people. Ka Pai.

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Character Revealed by Crisis (Part 2 - The State of New Zealand)

In Part 1 of this series, I blogged about the manifestation of an individual’s character during a crisis*. In Part 2, I make an attempt to spell out the character of the New Zealand government and its leader Jacinda Ardern. 

What is a government and its role? There is endless discourse held and treatise written on this topic. As you can imagine, the answer to that question is not straight forward.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO of New America, says that three “responsibilities every government has towards its citizens” are to protect, provide and invest. Similar to Ms Slaughter’s views, in today’s context, political scientists, scholars and critics seem to acknowledge that the main functions of a government should be to provide leadership to deliver on three fundamental areas. Security. Society. And economy. For the nation. Towards it people.

This is my take on how the government of New Zealand is doing on its duty to deliver on the fundamental functions since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country just over a month ago. 

The Kiwi Psyche

Aotearoa New Zealand is my adopted home. My views are based on my experience and observation since I moved here in 2005.

There is a concept of no. 8 wire mentality in New Zealand. Wikipedia has a very short but accurate story about no. 8 wire. The Wiki content is written way better than I may try to explain. So I have taken liberty to copy paste it below.

Number 8 wire is a 0.16"-diameter gauge of wire on the British Standard Wire Gauge that has entered into the cultural lexicon of New Zealand.

As a consequence of the ubiquitous use of number 8 wire in New Zealand, remote farms often had rolls of number 8 wire on hand, and the wire would often be used inventively and practically to solve mechanical or structural problems other than fencing. Accordingly, the term "number 8 wire" came to represent the ingenuity and resourcefulness of New Zealanders, and the phrase "a number 8 wire mentality" evolved to denote an ability to create or repair machinery using whatever scrap materials are available on hand. New Zealand hardware and DIY store franchise Mitre 10 [One of the largest hardware chain stores in NZ] have adopted "Number 8" as their in house brand for generic hardware supplies and tools.

The Waikato Museum runs an art award named after the wire.

No. 8 also resembles infinity ∞. This resemblance may be a mere coincidence. Or not. It may be interpreted as how no. 8 wire may mean different things to different people. At the same time, it is a testament to the nature of how amorphous and ubiquitous this idea is. It is crazy but a cool idea at the same time. It is one of those things that is as Kiwi as it gets.

It may be easier to understand an ordinary Kiwi psyche if you have figured out how to measure the gauge of No. 8 wire approach. No. 8 wire is an ordinary piece of metal wire but it is a pragmatic tool to protect farms and properties, mainly across hinterlands. The idea of no. 8 wire is world famous in New Zealand since ages, as them “cool as” Kiwis say. There are probably hundreds of thousand of kilometers, if not millions, of the hardware on the fence lines all over North and South islands. The software of no. 8 wire, however, is more deeply rooted in the Kiwi worldview. It seems the idea has been programmed deeply into the psyche not only of an everyday ordinary Kiwi but also that of the communities and the society at large. If we cared to note carefully, we see manifestations of the no. 8 wire approach translated in actions everyday. From an individual all the way to the government.

The no. 8 wire approach is such a simple idea that it may sound ridiculous to some. But it is extraordinarily effective. Ordinary Kiwis have achieved extraordinary feats. Along the way no. 8 wire mentality seem to have had its wee bit of share. Let us look at some exemplary Kiwis, their feats, and the role of the no. 8 wire phenomenon that may be attributed to their achievements.

Hardwired to the No. 8 Wire Mentality

Sir Edmund Hillary is the best example of an extraordinary Kiwi. A beekeeper from Tuakau, South Auckland went all the way as high as he could get, literally. You can read in his autobiography to get an appreciation of how he trained for his climbing feats. It is full of the no. 8 wire philosophy.

Have you ever given a thought to why the guy on the New Zealand's highest denomination of $100 bill is there? The guy with thick moustache and flat hair is Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford. Born at Brightwater, near Nelson, Rutherford went on to earn many accolades, including the coveted "father of nuclear physics". There is only one Kiwi to earn an element to their name - rutherfordium. In the following information burrowed from New Zealand History, you can judge for yourself how no. 8 wire-ism was all over Rutherford's celebrated life:

Nicknamed ‘crocodile’ (because crocodiles always look forwards), he became known for his ability to make imaginative leaps and design experiments to test them.

In 1917 Rutherford claimed that he had 'broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter’. In his third major breakthrough, he had succeeded in 'splitting' the atom – making him the world's first successful alchemist. This research was published in 1919, the same year he became Director of the Cavendish Laboratory. There he proved a humane and supportive leader who never failed to let his students take credit for research he had mentored. (The latter character is an excellent example of the humble nature of Kiwis regardless of their status).

Image: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand

According to the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, "Rutherford was a not particularly successful relieving teacher at Christchurch Boys' High School ... Having failed for the third time to obtain a permanent job as a schoolteacher he looked to other avenues" in 1894. Today, there are many institutions, awards, buildings, streets, parks, schools and labs named after Rutherford. If you follow the orbit of his scientific feats, which includes moving to the UK and later to Canada, you will have a sense of the no. 8 wire radiation all over. Similarly, check out his countless scriptures written to his scientific feats and you will soon realise his experimentation, almost close to flirting, with the electron, proton, neutron and radioactivity.

Ironically for a country like New Zealand that vehemently protested against nuclear armament and nuclear aggression, Rutherford's discoveries, in some ways paved the scientific basis to the invention of nuclear fission, which in turn lead to the discovery of chain reaction adopted in making atomic bomb. Search Rainbow Warrior and you are set for a years’ worth of reading material on the serious side of the hippie era of New Zealand.

On a more lighter disciplines, Peter Jackson, Taika Waititi and Lorde are a few famous names in contemporary New Zealand popular culture.

Jackson’s epic storytelling of JRR Tolkien’s books in the triologies of the LOTR and The Hobbit have the no. 8 wire innovation to movie making printed all over. The Weta Digital, the extravagant sets, and the extraordinary special effects and prosthesis probably would not have been possible without a bit of the no. 8 wire concept.

Waititi’s antics and quirky sense of humour to movie making is contagiously beautiful and creative. How on earth can the same person make the home production of Boy, the hollywood smash blockbuster Thor, and then go on to make the Academy award winner Jojo Rabbit? I don’t know how you see it but I see a no. 8 wire creativity written all over Taika Waititi’s work.

Although raised at a posh suburb of Devonport in Auckland, Ella Yelich-O'Connor’s jerky electro moves in music video and live performances, and her lyrical ability to morph a simple daily act of playing tennis must have had some sense of no. 8 wire in them. Her extravagantly cynic take towards superficial people in her hit singles “Royals” is an unmistakable approach to no. 8 wire creativity. 

Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern

The latest in the “world famous in New Zealand since ages” list of Kiwis is the PM Jacinda Ardern. She is the incumbent leader of New Zealand showing the world “this is how you do it”. 

Just as the All Blacks are the fiercest when they are down during a rugby match, Kiwis tend to bring out their best when they face a crisis. This is true for Joe Bloggs of New Zealand. It is equally true for leaders of this country. The one person to whom it most accurately applies is in the case of the current leader of New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern. We have seen it during the Christchurch massacre of 15 March 2019. We saw it again during the Whakaari White Island eruption of 9 December 2019. We are again witnessing Jacinda Ardern at her best since the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in New Zealand. 


Image source: BBC

I may have an unconscious bias to talk up anything Jacinda Ardern. I may have continued to be swept across by Jacindamania. Here is a crash course about the Jacindamania phenomenon.

The term Jacindamania was coined during the 2017 New Zealand general election campaign. Andrew Little, the then Labour leader, stepped down in the aftermath of low(est?) poll rating. The baton was passed on to the then Deputy Leader, Jacinda Ardern, only a few weeks prior to the polling date. Jacinda Ardern became leader of the New Zealand Labour Party on 1 August 2017. It took her only a couple of weeks to turn “let’s do this” to “we did it”. Labour won the election on her leadership on 23 September 2017.

It seems only fair to say that the way she projected herself and the Labour party, and managed the election campaign in those couple of weeks in September 2017 was extraordinary. She pulled off an election winner from a near impossible position. Little did we know that what she managed to achieve then, in the prize of election victory, was only a trailer of the Jacindamania saga that was to unfold right before our eyes. We continue to witness the leadership of Jacinda Ardern at the best. I personally have a feeling that the best is yet to come.

Decoding the Symbols and Success of New Zealand’s Response to COVID-19

In terms of New Zealand’s COVID-19 response, numbers speak for themselves.

Daily number of confirmed positive cases in New Zealand have gone down to single digits since last week. So much so, the Financial Times had to come up with an additional scale of 5 in the Y-axis log scale in their graphs to accurately display New Zealand’s numbers.


Notice Y-axis and New Zealand curve. The images are from 18 April and 25 April. Spurce: https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest


New Zealand has one of the lowest total cases and deaths in the Western World. What those numbers haven’t been able to capture, and the most important part, is how this all is done. What actions and how much effort has it taken to achieve those results. What the numbers won't tell you is how the government is making this all possible. The graphs won’t tell you how New Zealander’s feel about all this (If there is any credible survey about public opinion, I may have missed it).



New Zealand’s COVID-19 response in one graph. Source:Te Pūnaha Matatini**

At the beginning of Part 1 of this blog series, I started with the following quote from Paul PT Wong:
a person’s true character is often revealed in times of crisis or temptation. Make sure that you have what it takes to be your best in such times.

This, I think, applies to a leader and government of a country too. Jacinda Ardern and the New Zealand government makes me feel safe. I feel well looked after. I feel like the New Zealand government is taking care of me, my family and the entire New Zealand. I will be forever grateful that I am living in New Zealand during this crisis. There is nowhere else I would rather be.

At the beginning of this volume of the blog, I mentioned the fundamental functions of any government leadership. In the aftermath of COVID-19 generated chaos, it is my observation that Jacinda Ardern and the New Zealand government are doing the best they can to deliver on all three fronts on security, society and economy. They are doing this in all honesty and sincerity. They have succeeded to keep the country safe by taking timely measures to contain the coronavirus. So much so that the campaign that started initially a few weeks ago to suppress the virus has now evolved to being able to eliminate it. The government is looking after the entire spectrum of the society - from the richest to the poorest. The New Zealand government continues to implement one of the most generous economic relief packages that this country has ever seen.

The Sad Case of Cynicism

You will recall the cynics (the likes of Mike Hosking, Morgan Freeman and their posse) a few weeks ago when they were fiercely arguing why New Zealand must immediately close its borders right then to prevent the coronavirus from getting into the country.

It was the initial days when New Zealand had not even introduced the four level alert system. The same cynics are now saying that Jacinda Ardern has overreacted and that she has crushed the economy. I have no words, only this emoji 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️ and this quote from Paulo Coelho, “my most frequent exercise these days is to shake my head in disbelief”. 


The curve of the cynics. Source: internet

Two such over zealous citizens managed to sue Jacinda Ardern in the court***. Both lawsuit have already been quashed by the High Court Judge. Oh, and by the way, the pair apparently requested name suppression citing concerns about death threats. The judge kindly obliged with the name suppression request.

The same or similar cynics also seem to constantly troll in (anti?)social media people such as the Director-General of Health and the team of scientists who are working day and night to fight the virus and communicate about it to the general public. Winston Churchill famously said, you will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks”. The quote speaks for itself for the approach those busy at work should take or are taking. 

How it All Comes Together?

So what is the relationship among no. 8 wire mentality, duties of a government, leadership and COVID-19?

In the context of New Zealand’s response to the crisis of present and the recent past, there seems to be a tendency to burrow from the no. 8 psyche. I would have no clue if this happens by default or on purpose. I discussed in length above, how this applies to famous Kiwi icons. It also applies to Jacinda Ardern’s current approach to COVID-19 too, in my mind.

From what I observed how the government of the time and the respective Prime Ministers approached large crises (Christchurch and Kaikoura Earthquake, Christchurch shooting, Whakaari White Island explosion and COVID-19), both the government and leadership in all events acted responsibly, early and decisively. Response in each of those disasters were unique. The solutions the leaders offered were homegrown and pragmatic. Apart from a minor degree of margin of error, the leaders largely have over-delivered. In contrast they have successfully managed unrealistic public expectations by carefully under-promising. The focus consistently has been the delivery.

On top of all the broader matters, it seems people are kept at the heart of each of those responses. I understand this as this famous saying in action - He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata (What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people).

Politics is a tough job. It comes with its own underlying set of doom, gloom and ugly sides to it that is visible to the public eyes. It is like an iceberg. It is not only all it seems. There are deeper and larger hidden parts and parcels to it. If not equal, there would be more people who would be super critical of any step a government takes.

In addition to the affairs that may directly be relevant to us and our small bubble, we have to appreciate and acknowledge the fact that a government has to consider many and complex matters while making decisions. They have to think about the entire nation of all interest groups. And there are the forces and factors beyond the country’s border.

Regardless of the ongoing top performance from Jacinda Ardern, she has received multiple death threats, apparently. I touched on the twin court cases above. They may not have gotten one hundred percent correct all the time. That kind of performance is a myth and true in fiction. What Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet has managed to do in reality and successfully is strike a balance. They have managed public health by supporting the economy. They have acted for the masses. Their measures seem to have struck a chord with the majority of New Zealanders. For example, on a survey by Newshub conducted on 18 April among 44,768 Kiwis, just over 64 percent said New Zealand should not leave lockdown on Monday 27 April.

There probably is no set formula of success to respond to a crisis of national scale. COVID-19 is a global pandemic of a scale that our generation has never seen before. Depending on our conscious and unconscious bias, we may have different opinions about the degree of success and failure of the government’s approach and Jacinda Ardern’s leadership. That is fine. It’s OK. Looking at the way this Labour-led government is managing this pandemic, however, you can’t take one thing away from it. The Labour-led government and Jacinda Ardern’s leadership have fully done justice to all aspects of their fundamental duties of taking care of the security, society and economy of New Zealand, and that to take care of all New Zealanders.

* https://rajmaharjan1.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-is-your-character.html 

** https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/2020/04/09/a-stochastic-model-for-covid-19-spread-and-the-effects-of-alert-level-4-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/

*** https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/121269117/coronavirus-men-lose-lawsuits-against-jacinda-ardern-ashley-bloomfield-over-covid19-lockdown

Part 3 coming soon (approximately, about the state of affairs of the Himalayan Shangri-La and The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave ...)

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DISCLAIMER

Please do not be a keyboard warrior. Be a man. Do the right thing. (2:30).

(Definition of keyboard warriror from urbandictionary.com and video clip courtesy Russell Peters Youtube Channel) 

Keyboard Warrior

1. A Person who, being unable to express his anger through physical violence (owning to their physical weakness, lack of bravery and/or conviction in real life), instead manifests said emotions through the text-based medium of the internet, usually in the form of aggressive writing that the Keyboard Warrior would not (for reasons previously mentioned) be able to give form to in real life.2. The term is a combination of the word 'keyboard' (the main tool by which the person expresses his/her latent rage) and 'warrior' (due to the warrior-like aggression, tendency towards violence, headstrong nature and propensity towards brute force as a means of resolving conflict rather than more subtle means dependant on finesse).3. The Keyboard Warrior seeks to use the power imbued in his 'weapon' to effect death and destruction (in a strictly-metaphorical sense) upon his foes (other virtual identities he has encountered on the internet). In essence, the keyboard (ie. text input ability) allows the keyboard warrior to manifest his true warrior nature in a safe and removed environment, from which no real-life repercussions .

4. Keyboard Warriors are generally identified by unneccessary rage in their written communications, and are regarded as 'losers' by other virtual identities on the internet.

🙏🙏🙏

Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges: A tale of two leaders

We continue to survive the new normal life. One in which a virus is on the loose. We are ducking for cover within our homes. In between this hide and seek, politicians have stood out as the people who impact our lives the most. It was a fact yesterday. It is today. And will remain the same tomorrow. That is because politicians make decisions. Decisions that have direct impact on your and my life. Decisions such as when the country moves to Level 4. Decisions about who gets how much from the state benefit. And so on.

Here is a reflection and my opinionated view on the two main leaders of the New Zealand parliament, and the two largest parties' approach since this pandemic hit the fan in New Zealand. 

Jacinda v Simon / Labour v National

Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.

Every time I see her on TV or Facebook live, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes me feel safe. She makes me feel like she is taking care of me, my family, and all of New Zealand. The PM makes me feel like she and her government is doing their best to get us out of this pandemic. The PM and her science advisors make me feel like they are working with an intention of eradicating the virus. I trust on their capability to stamp it out. The PM and her cabinet makes me feel like they are working around the clock to best manage the impact on our economy and lifestyle.

When I watch her during the daily press meets, Jacinda sounds like a concerned mother telling her baby, “it’s going to be OK. I got you. I’m going to take care of you”. She asks me to be kind. Amidst all this plethora of mountains of decision making, Jacinda Ardern is leading the country while taking actions to ensure that we get back on track, without having to “yo-yoing between levels”*. I have never seen leadership like this. During this once in a lifetime event, I have seen the best ever leader of my lifetime. 

Simon Bridges. Where do I start? He makes me cringe, literally every time he says something. I have followed him since he became the leader of the opposition. I have watched videos of him speaking at the parliament where he starts with his question to the government from the (in)famous line, “does she believe in every action of her government?”. 

With his aggressive and negative approach, the leader of the opposition has single handedly managed to undermine the role of the institution of not only the leader of the opposition but also that of the opposition party. He has redefined opposition party as someone who is always on your back being negative on everything and anything. There is hardly any constructive criticism. His attacks, at most instances, if not always looks like a personal vendetta against Jacinda Ardern. They are often not backed by any data or evidence. That makes it looks really odd, lame and lazy. He is capable of more than he is doing. It is astounding why is he continually under performing at this low level? To his credit, there was one instance after the announcement of lockdown when Bridges sounded positive. He for once looked like not a bad candidate for a future PM. But the problem is that was a one off. Rest of the time he seems to be just spitting venom. Simon Bridges continues to do this. And it looks like he is not going to change his style.

Criticising for the sake of criticising and holding the government to account are two completely different kettle of fish. National and Simon Bridges are headed high speed on a one way lane straight on the path of ruthless criticism. Sort of Trumpism. At this rate, an impact is imminent. This is suicidal to the party. When that accident occurs, forget Simon Bridges, the largest party in the parliament (by number of PMs in the sitting NZ parliament) will suffer hugely. The damage would have been done. Heads will roll. They must. And Mr Bridges would be the first to go. The question for National and its constituents is - who is the next leader?

The Politics of Propaganda

It is not only during this pandemic but this has been the case since this political dichotomy came into practice. The right is forever blaming the left that they are poor in economic management. And the constituents buy into this propaganda. Let us look at a few facts.

The largest economic reform New Zealand has even seen took place during the tenure of the fourth Labour government. This was so radical that it has a dedicated nomenclature of “rogernomics”. Any curious soul may want to google that word. I’m not judging the reform or analysing it’s impact. That would be way out of scope of my ability. I’m just pointing to the fact that Labour also does neoliberal market-led economic reforms, in case you didn’t realise.

Similarly, National is portrayed or it gives impression of itself to be this awesome infrastructure building woo haa party. But from what I saw during the three terms of the Key government, there is a difference between handing out contracts to your mates and strategically planning and building sustainable infrastructures of a nation. If you did not know, the Waterview tunnel connection to the airport in Auckland was Helen Clark government’s decision. Do you remember the SkyCity Convention Centre saga of 2015 that rattled the Key government? On the other hand, you might recall the 12 billion infrastructure “splurge” announced by Grant Robertson in January this year. One commentator called Grant Robertson's investment “epic, massive, whopping, ridiculous amount”.

Another beautiful propaganda is this - Labour over-subscribes to social reform. It is the people’s party. At least in principle. The international labor movement was born out of trade unionism during the 19th century to protect the common interest of workers. In New Zealand, according to the NZ Labour party’s website, the party’s “roots lie in activism for workers’ rights and democratic reform, which can be traced back to at least 1840”. The international labor movement and the labour unionism here at home has evolved significantly since the 19th century. It has had its day - good and bad. Yes, the New Zealand Labour party is a socialist party, in my view. However, socialist means many things to many people - from the communists to the lefties, and what not in between. NZ Labour’s values may be compared with the social democrat parties around the world such as those in the Scandinavia. It is beyond me what is wrong with having the following as values and guiding principles of a political party? 

• All people should have equal access to all social, economic, cultural, political and legal spheres, regardless of wealth or social position, and continuing participation in the democratic process.
• Co-operation, rather than competition, should be the main governing factor in economic relations, in order that a greater amount and a just distribution of wealth can be ensured.
• All people are entitled to dignity, self-respect and the opportunity to work.
• All people, either individually or in groups, may own wealth or property for their own use, but in any conflict of interest people are always more important than property and the state must ensure a just distribution of wealth.

The above are part of values and principles of NZ labour. For a comprehensive list of Labour values and principles, visit labour.org.nz and see and decide for yourself.

Here is an interesting fact related to the social reform propaganda. During the three terms of the Key government, there were massive, if not the greatest, reforms in the social sector. You will recall the Maori Party forming a coalition government with the National Party. Sadly, by the end of the three terms, the Maori Party vanished off the face from this planet. That is an interesting topic until next time. National portrays it as tough on immigration, similar to the tough on crime bogus. But during the Key era, New Zealand’s borders were so relaxed that even the Left complained that we were letting in far too many immigrants. Have you noticed how the immigration policies are gradually getting tighter since the current Labour government came to power? Some speculate that the Key government’s relaxed immigration policies were linked to having to feed the housing market frenzy. This again is out of my capacity and a topic, maybe, for another day.

Who did what aside. Looking at the political cycle, one thing is clear about the two largest parties of New Zealand. They are so central in the political spectrum, that it is crowded there at the middle ground. That is the nature of the Kiwi society. We are not an extreme bunch. That's an absolute nah nah for us, instead of our universally favourite yeah nah. Politicians merely mimic our society. Hence, the parties seem to fight each other to gain the middle ground to attract the centrist electorate, who are the majority. In electioneering terms, you can call this group the swing voters. In persuading the swing voters, the parties keep fishing for each others’ ideas and agendas. Apparently, to remain stable in the middle. The fascinating part of this agenda hijacking is that they go for the jugular. National fishing off Labour's agenda of social reform. Labour paying back with fishing off infrastructure spending. As if to devoid the other party of any political oxygen.

The examples above are not that distant in the past. For an inquisitive person, factual information is readily available on your fingertips. Some of you have lived through the times when the above occurred. You have seen and you know what happened. It is impossible to compare every bit about the two parties but there are many examples where they have clearly stepped out of their perceived or projected normal patch. And I personally think that is not a bad thing. Just as a rational voter tends to vote for either party based on the merit of their agenda, it is refreshing to see the parties doing some experiment out of their core agendas. A bit of healthy competition is not a bad thing.

The Citizen’s Role

In this day and age of instant noodles, instant text message, take away latte, 3-second attention span timeline scrolling syndrome and perpetual “look at me! look at me!!”, we have lost the big picture view of the actions of our politicians and the political ideologies. The AI and the algorithms of our devices have programmed us to think and see only right here and right now. There is a saying in Nepali, तात्तै खाउँ, जली मरुँ. Which loosely translates to, “I’m going to devour this hot right now, don’t care even if I die”. This was never so true than in our contemporary times.

Our sense of the long-term vision has been obscured by the blue hue of our screens that constantly bombard us with sensationalising news, click baits, targeted advertisements and bots. We have become so narcissistic that while we continue to flash our selfies and open up our personal lives over the social media, we have failed to realise the social media corporations are making us write free content every time we post something. That includes this writing too. I am also one of them. Just like you and him and her who may be reading this.

Add our deliberate and unconscious bias to our short attention span, you get the most potent cocktail that sets your mind into a hysteria. Our personal bias prevents us from seeing the good in the Ardern government’s merits. At the same time, our personal bias propels us to buy into Bridge’s attack of the government. It seems fair to observe that we have been tempted and misled by our biases. We let our myopic short-sightedness and selfishness conveniently seduce our thinking. This addiction to this kind of seduction is dangerous. This erodes our objectivity. It devoids us from our ability to differentiate the right from the wrong. It clouds our common sense and peripheral vision. If we continue to give up to our virtues for the sake of bias or convenience, there is a greater danger that looms ahead. We are likely to see more and more false positives or false negatives of our understanding and our judgment, if any of these survive at all.

Now, coming back to the present, the Ardern government has clearly and repeatedly informed and warned at the same time by saying this (not exact words) - We want to manage the impact of COVID-19 by going hard and acting fast. We are on track to stamp out coronavirus. Our aim is to have the least impact on our economy and jobs from this pandemic. If we let the virus out, it will have a much greater impact on our economy. In the latter case, our road of economic recovery will be longer. There will be greater the damage to our industries and society if we suffer a rampage like the one we saw in Italy or in the US.

What is there not to understand in the above message and approach of the government? As far as I’m concerned, this government is approaching the current pandemic with a long-term vision for our economy and society. The government’s COVID-19 response seems well thought, balanced, scientifically based and pragmatic. It is doing the best it can to soften the blow on the economy now by announcing a very generous economic package. In the long run, Grant Robertson has informed us he and the Treasury are on the job of economic recovery and stimulus. You might have noticed about the "shovel-ready" projects announced on 1st of April by the Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones**.

And finally ...

Just because you voted for National, doesn’t mean you have to blindly hate the good work of this government. Similarly, just because you adore Jacinda Ardern doesn’t mean you must ignore the opposition. Sadly, from what we can see, Simon Bridges in his role continues to undermine the mana of the important role note only of the leader of the opposition but also that of the opposition party. 

Subscribing to the Maya Angelou quote about how people will never forget how you make them feel, how Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges make the people feel today is going to seal the fate of the Labour Party and the National Party for at least a foreseeable political future of New Zealand electoral cycle. Other than the hardcore supporters of the red and the blue, the voters are noticing. They must.

Let’s watch the space ...We shall see.
-------

* "yo-yo" - a phrase used by Jacinda Ardern during her speech delivered on 20 April, 2020. Full text of the speech available at https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/prime-minister%E2%80%99s-remarks-covid-19-alert-level-decision-%E2%80%93-april-20 

** Beehive link to the announcement  https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-seeks-infrastructure-projects

This article came into life as an extension of my ongoing parley with my good friends Sunil Dhakal and Bhawesh Singh. Thanks guys, for the motivation. I didn't realise until early this morning that I was going to write something out of our conversation.

ब्यबस्थित सहर निर्माणको सुरुवात कहाँ बाट कसरी गर्ने?

धुलो, धुवाँ, खाल्टा, खुल्टी त काठमाडौँ वासी ले पचाई सकेका हुन्। टोल छिमेक अस्त ब्यस्त त भई नै सक्यो। अब त बस्ती नै डुब्न थाल्यो। सहर हामीले यस्तो बनाई सक्यौ कि समाधानका बाटा निक्कै जटिल र लामा हुने वाला छन्। यो लेख समाधानका उपायहरु मध्येको आंशिक छलफलको प्रयाश हो।

वर्षामा खोला नालाको बहाव बढ्छ। तिनका सतह माथि उठ्छन। यो प्राकृतिक नियम हो। हनुमन्ते खोला उर्लेर भक्तपुरका बस्ति डुबेको यसको समसामयिक प्रतिनिधि मुलक उदाहरण हो। बाढीको बहाव रोक्न सकिन्न, तर बस्ति भने व्यवस्थापन गर्न सकिन्छ। बाढी बाट हुन सक्ने जन धनको क्षति रोक्ने हो भने खोला छेउ डुबान प्रकोपको खतरा भएका स्थानमा बस्ति बसाल्न निषेध नै गर्नु पर्छ।

कुन जग्गा डुबान बाट खतरा मुक्त छ भन्ने कसरी थाहा हुन्छ? कुनै बेला खोला बगेकै जमिन माथि नै घर बनाउन अघि त खतराको घन्टी बज्नु पर्ने हो। त्यस्ता ठाउँ असुरक्षित हुन् भन्ने ठम्याउन अन्तरिक्ष विज्ञानको ज्ञाता हुन पर्दैन। यस्सो सर-सर्ति हेरेरै धेरै भन्न सकिन्छ। डुबानको प्रकोपको खतरा हुन सक्ने ठाउँ पहिचान गर्दा १०० वर्ष मा एक पल्ट आउन सक्ने बाढी को प्रकोपको सम्म विचार गर्नु पर्ने हुन्छ। त्यस्तै सामान्यत: खोलाको दायाँ बायाँ २० मीटर जमिन डुबान प्रकोपका दृष्टिले अतिनै संवेदनशील हुन्छन्। यस्ता मापदण्ड हामीले प्रयोगमा ल्याउनु आवश्यक छ। यस्ता प्रकोपको खतरा हुन सक्ने कोरिडोरमा बस्ति मात्र होइन कुनै भौतिक संरचना पनि सुरक्षित हुन्नन्।

काठमाडौँ उपत्यकाको बढ्दो सहरीकरण ब्यवस्थापनका लागी क्षेत्र निर्धारणको एक खाका 

बाढी आउदा डुब्ने जग्गा मानव बस्तीको निम्ति अयोग्य हुन्। मानव बस्तीको निम्ति योग्य र अयोग्य ठाउँको निर्धारण गर्न सक्नु व्यवस्थित शहरीकरण विधाको प्राथमिक धर्म हो। त्यस पछि मात्र सहर व्यवस्थापनका अरु आयाम तिर अघि बढ्न सकिएला। व्यवस्थित बस्ति बसाल्ने हो भने सबै भन्दा पहिलो काम कुन प्रयोजन का लागी कुन ठाउँको जग्गा प्रयोग गर्ने हो त्यो छुट्याउनु पर्ने हुन्छ। यसलाई क्षेत्र निर्धारण (zoning) भन्न सकिन्छ। क्षेत्र निर्धारण नगरी ब्यबस्थित शहरको परिकल्पना सम्भव हुन्न।

ग्राफिक्स: काठमाडौँ उपत्यकाको बढ्दो सहरीकरण: हिजो, आज र भोली
श्रोत: Thapa, RB and Murayama Y (2012), "Scenario based urban growth allocation in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal", Landscape and Urban Planning 105: 140-148.

यसरी क्षेत्र निर्धारण गरे पछि प्रत्येक क्षेत्र भित्रको जग्गाको भोग चलन कसरि गर्ने हो, त्यस सम्बन्धि नीति नियम प्रयोगमा ल्याउन पर्ने हुन्छ। यस्ता नीति नियमले ति क्षेत्र भित्र भौतिक संरचनाको निर्माण वा जग्गाको अरु उपभोग बारे स्पष्ट रुपमा मार्गनिर्देश गर्छ।

उदाहरणका लागी काठमाडौँ उपत्यकाको क्षेत्र निर्धारणको प्रारूप यस्तो हुन सक्छ।

१. प्रमुख बस्ति क्षेत्र - प्राकृतिक प्रकोपको न्यून खतरा रहेका बानेश्वर जस्ता ठाउँमा बाक्लो बस्ति बसाल्न योग्य जग्गा यि क्षेत्रमा पर्छन्। सहरका अधिकांश जनता यस्तै बस्तीमा बसोबास गर्छन्। यहाँ सानो ठाँउमै बाक्लो बस्ति हुने हुनाले खुल्ला ठाँउ र अरु भौतिक संरचना त्यहि अनुसार व्यवस्था गरिएको हुन्छ। घरहरु कति अग्लो र दुई घर बीच कति खालि जग्गा हुनु पर्ने जस्ता मापदण्ड यहाँ कडाईका साथ लागु हुन्छ।

२. ब्यापार क्षेत्र - असन र इन्द्रचोक जस्ता ठाउँको बाटो छेउको जग्गा यि क्षेत्रमा पर्छन। यहाँको जग्गाको भोग चलनको व्यवस्था ब्यापार मैत्री हुन्छ। यो क्षेत्र वरिपरिको जग्गाको उपभोग गर्दा ब्यापारमा प्रतिकुल असर नपुग्ने गरि गर्नु पर्ने हुन्छ।

३. खुल्ला स्थान क्षेत्र - ठूला तथा साना पार्कहरु यस क्षेत्र अन्तर्गत आउछन्। यिनको प्रयोग र यहाँ भित्र हुने गतिविधि सार्वजनिक हितको उदेश्य अनुसार निर्देशित हुन्छन्।

४. संबेदनशिल क्षेत्र - यि रक्षा तथा प्रशाशनिक रुपमा संबेदनशील जग्गा हुन्। जस्तै: त्रिभुवन विमानस्थल, सिंह दरबार र अरु सरकारी कार्यालय भएका जग्गा। यि जग्गा निरन्तर सार्वजानिक स्वामित्वमा रहन्छन्।

५. सांस्कृतिक महत्व क्षेत्र - मठ, मन्दिर, गुम्बा तथा दरबार स्क्वायर जस्ता ठाँउ यो क्षेत्र भित्र पर्छन्। यि सार्वजनिक महत्वका स्थानका रुपमा सम्वर्धन गरिन्छन्। यस्ता क्षेत्र भित्र वा यिनका वरिपरि भौतिक संरचना निर्माण कार्य गर्दा ति सांस्कृतिक महत्वका स्थान लाई प्रतिकुल असर पर्न नदिने गरि गर्नु पर्ने हुन्छ।

६. गैर-सहरी क्षेत्र - बाहिरी रिंग रोड भन्दा पारिका जग्गा गैर-सहरी क्षेत्र मा पर्छन। यहाँ ग्रामिण जीवन शैली प्रोत्साहन गरिएको हुन्छ। गैर-सहरी क्षेत्र अन्तर्गत कृषि उत्पादन योग्य जग्गा सुरक्षित गरिन्छ।

माथिका बाहेक ठाउँ अनुसार, आवश्यकता अनुरुप अरु क्षेत्र वा उप-क्षेत्र थप हुन सक्छन्। जस्तै बस्ति क्षेत्र अन्तर्गत बाक्लो बस्ति, पातलो बस्ति वा मिश्रित बस्ति क्षेत्र हुन सक्छन्। त्यस्तै, चितवनमा राजमार्ग क्षेत्र वा निकुञ्ज क्षेत्र हुन सक्छन्।

क्षेत्र निर्धारण व्यवस्थित शहर निर्माणको एउटा प्राविधिक पाटो मात्र हो। समाजका सबै अंग सहि रुपमा चले मात्र सहर ब्यबस्थित, स्वस्थ र सफल हुन्छ। नेपालको सन्दर्भमा हालको अवस्थामा केहि गर्नु अघि निक्कै काम कुरो चाहिं नगर्न पर्ने वा गर्न रक्नु पर्ने देखिन्छ। सबै भन्दा पहिला हालको सहरको अवस्था अझै अरु बिग्रन रोक्नु पर्ने आवश्यकता छ। त्यसपछि ब्यवस्थित गर्ने पहलको पहिलो प्रयाशको रुपमा चाहिं क्षेत्र निर्धारण ठोस रुपमा ब्याख्या र तिनको प्रभावकारी कार्यान्वयन हुन अति आवश्यक छ।

(राज महर्जन सन् २००७ देखि सहरी विकाशमा कार्यरत छन् https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajmaharjan1/)

Character Revealed by Crisis (Part 1 - The Individual)

According to Paul PT Wong, “a person’s true character is often revealed in times of crisis or temptation. Make sure that you have what it takes to be your best in such times.”

The on-going crisis continues to unmask our disposition of mental and moral qualities and strength. We are witnessing this at all levels. From an individual to a global scale. 

This once in a generation event has done things that our generation had never even comprehended, even distantly possible until a few weeks ago. And this looks like only the beginning.

While the virus continues to infect the lungs of our kind, killing in hundreds of thousands within the span of a few months, the impact of this pandemic has reset our lives. Here is my take on what’s going on at the individual, state and global levels.

Semantics Matters

New terminologies such as lockdown and quarantine have suddenly become buzz words. Phrases such as “flattening the curve” and "contact tracing" that we hardly heard before now means so much more. 

These now have become topics of daily household conversation. As we continue to clog our network of information superhighway, those may be the most googled words and phrases. 

One may as well spend the rest of his/her life, if they wish, pondering on the meaning of such buzzwords and phrases in the context of this pandemic. By now we not only know the meaning of those words and phrases, we are living them.

The Individual

We are all locked in our cells. Whether it be state-imposed lockdown or voluntary fear-generated reaction. Let’s face it - this life in self-isolation has had an impact on all of us. 

We are all now self-proclaimed scientists, researchers, virologists, epidemiologists, mathematicians, analysts, comms experts… The list goes on. 

Many of us have become philosophical, suddenly searching for the meaning of life. Some of us have completely retracted inside our shells, shutting down every stimulus life has to offer. Like a black hole sucking in even the light. 

Others are doing stuff they have never done before. These characters are the curious type. This bunch can’t help but continuously keep doing things. As if they have to do something. Anything. It is this bunch that is of my particular interest. I may have an unconscious bias here, as it seems my behaviour aligns with this bunch. I would not know why others do the things they do. For me, my actions are a way to release whatever my body and mind is going through right now. 

The virus has brought our normal life to a grinding halt. One of the universal effects is that what's going on has hit our conscience. This has enabled us to see things that money can’t buy. In the world driven by commerce and efficiency, this important intangible part of life was being obscured. Knowingly or unknowingly we ignored them. We did not have time for those unproductive things. They were not our priority. 

Our self-isolated life has finally given us enough time to realise what we were failing to notice while perpetually chasing to fit in to be normal. While being busy grinding the treadmill of life, we continued to work as a slave to our ambitions. To earn a living. To pay the mortgage. To save for the future. To provide for the family. To impress others. To progress in life. To spend money on our plastic cards. Somewhat true to how Will Smith put it - spending money that we never had, on things we never needed, to impress people who didn’t give a toss about us.

It seems like our primitive impulse of flight or fight has been unleashed. Regardless of our response or reaction, this virus has enabled us to dig deep to reveal a character that we ourselves were oblivious that it even existed. Whether we notice this or not, that is up to us. 

For me personally, while we live on different continents, this situation has encouraged me to keep in touch with family members more often than I used to do. I feel like bonding with my siblings and parents is being redefined. In a positive way. I have come to appreciate the role of my relatives and my relationships to enrich my life. Relationships and friendship are being tested, redefined and strengthened. I am getting to see the geniuses in many of them. The hidden gems are shining, so as to say. 

The fact that is hitting us the hardest is that, yes money is an important part of life, but we can’t eat money. It is only a means, not the end. At the end of the day, it is the people and relationships that matters. He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata (what is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people).

More coming soon on the topic of the state and the world ...