‘Thus, our goals for 2022: Smile more, join survival
classes, understand
the zeitgeist to pursue
the unique opportunities.’
WHICH specter haunts the present, which includes the US Department of State’s Limits in the Seas study on the People’s Republic of China’s South China Sea Maritime Claims, the Japanese government’s decision to research railguns (meant to intercept hypersonic missiles) and the Korean government’s welcome of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States’ first-ever joint affirmation that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought?”
Partake of the zeitgeist in Southeast Asia where Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has said that seven teams are currently developing indigenous vaccines as part of a national consortium for the development of the Merah Putih vaccine.
[https://en.antaranews.com/news/209913/seven-teams-developing-merah-putih-vaccine-brin] Where 49 civil society groups are demanding an independent investigation into the MACC crisis in Malaysia. [https://aliran.com/media-statements/over-40-civil-groups-demand-independent-investigation-into-macc-crisis/] Where the National EV Policy Committee is poised to propose more electric vehicles on the roads of Thailand.
[https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/in-focus/40010154]
The same Asean where a 21-gun salute marked the Istiadat Membuka Gendang Jaga-Jaga ceremony for the royal wedding between Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah and Yang Mulia Awang Abdullah Nabil Mahmoud Al-Hashimi. [https://borneobulletin.com.bn/royal-pomp-and-glory-on-display/] And where President Duterte wants a “bigger and higher” statue of first Filipino hero Lapulapu than the statue of Portuguese explorer and colonizer Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu. [https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165723]
The zeitgeist of 2022 (and the looming Year of the Tiger) cannot evade the unexploded ordnance of World War II, as a team of 20 historians, criminologists, data specialists and retired US FBI agent Vincent Pankoke identified a relatively unknown figure (Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh) as a leading suspect in revealing the hideout of the Frank family in Amsterdam. A twist in the mystery of how the Nazis found the hiding place of the famous diarist in 1944. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-anne-frank-betrayal/cold-case-investigation-names-surprise-suspect-in-anne-franks-betrayal-idUSKBN2JR0JM]
The spirit of 2022 is the 80th anniversary of the Wannseekonferenz and other WW2 events. In the relaxed upper middle-class atmosphere of a Schutzstaffel guest house in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, a score of Nazi officials red-stamped the protocol for the final solution (Gesamtlí¶sung) of the Jewish Question: “high-ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP and various Reich ministries discuss their cooperation in the planned deportation and murder of the European Jews on January 20, 1942.” [https://www.ghwk.de/en/]
The 80th anniversary of the First Battle of Bataan: “The Japanese opened the battle for Bataan at 1500 on 9 January with a concentrated barrage directed against II Corps.” [Louis Morton. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific: The Fall of the Philippines. Washington: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1953]
The 80th anniversary of the Japanese Occupation of Manila: “Report of operatives on general trend of affairs in Manila: Japs have enforced martial law in City. Death penalty to be imposed on anyone who inflicts or attempts to inflict injury on any Jap. If assailant or attempted assailant cannot be found, ten influential persons who live near vicinity of crime will be held as hostages. Jap military notes are now in circulation but peso and even dollar is still recognized. Many persons have been seen tied to posts and made to face sun for violation of traffic rules. Everybody must bow before Jap sentries. Failure to do so means five or six slaps on face regardless of age or sex. Not many abuses committed against women in city but in provinces many cases of rape. Many cars commandeered by Japs and all car owners required to register names in Jap headquarters. Markets are open but prices of foodstuffs slightly increased. Japs have permitted religious freedom but have controlled radio and all newspapers and magazines. Americans and Britishers have been concentrated in Santo Tomas Camp. Mayor Jorge Vargas has been recognized by Jap High Command…Curfew has been placed at 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. everyday.” [Diary of Felipe Buencamino III. January 19, 1942. HQ, Intelligence Service, Bataan]
The zeitgeist of 2022 is not slave to the past as it harbors possibilities. A third path Xi Jinping could take to stay in power: reactivating the office of the Chairman of the Party Central Committee at the 20th Communist Party of China Congress. “The Party believes history is a mirror. Is the mirror also a crystal ball?” [Ling LI, Made in China Journal, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2021] This will be a “year of careful consolidation for a news industry that has been both disrupted and galvanized by the drawn-out COVID-19 crisis…Publishers say they’ll be paying less attention to Facebook and Twitter this year and will instead put more effort into Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.” [Nic Newman. Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2022. Published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism with the support of the Google News Initiative] “The EU wants all new vehicles from 2022 to have AI controls on speed that stop anyone exceeding speed limits through the installation of ‘Intelligent Speed Assistance limiters’ connected to GPS satellite location monitors and traffic sign recognition cameras. This is not about safety — the Death Cult couldn’t care less about that. It’s all about control. Israel dominates the market for in-vehicle AI technology which can externally take over your vehicle and drive it into a wall or over a cliff if the hacker operator so decides.” [Thomas Horn, et. al. I Predict!: What 12 Global Experts Believe You Will See Before 2025! Crane, MO: 2016]
The zeitgeist of 2022 is “Big Bang Disruptions”–innovations built on technologies that are both better and cheaper than existing offerings: Companies are using virtual reality to develop employees’ soft skills, un-hackable encryption could be on the horizon, the Commercial Space Age Is Here. [The year in tech, 2022: the insights you need from Harvard Business Review] “Any human being heavily tainted by the Grays’ DNA will be destroyed.” [Maximillien de Lafayette. What Will Happen To Us When The Anunnaki Return To Earth In 2022? 9th Edition. NY: Times Square Press, 2013] “The latest round of African wars began in 2022, continuing to redraw the map lines created during the colonial era. As a consequence of these and similar conflicts, the resources of noncombatant nations around the world, particularly those states along the Mediterranean, are strained by mass migrations of refugees. Along with the problem of providing food and shelter for these refugees, the refugee camp conditions often spur the spread of diseases.” [Col. Joseph A. Engelbrecht, Jr., PhD, et. al. Alternate Futures for 2025: Security Planning to Avoid Surprise. A Research Paper Presented To Air Force 2025. April 1996]
Thus, our goals for 2022: Smile more, join survival classes, understand the zeitgeist to pursue the unique opportunities. [https://hbr.org/2005/10/zeitgeist-leadership]
