Good mourning

Thursday, Aug 6th, 2009 Euronext 100: +0.79%
On the sunlounger on my terrace, with some sangria


Every now and again when someone dies, it makes you stop in your stride for a moment and think.

Not all the time of course. In general, as somebody once said, "death is a boring, dull affair and I want nothing whatsoever to do with it." Its a built-in defence mechanism that we don t think too much about other people's death, for the sheer reason you would go barmy. But when I was in Tokyo last week to have a drink with a friend and visit an art exhibition, I must admit I pondered over the sudden death of this one, much admired person who changed and, indeed, improved the quality of so many peoples lives and, although famous for it the world over, had been a bit in the background lately. Probably because not everyone realised what courage and determination it takes to reach that level where you can actually do something. Make a difference.

I'm talking, of course, about Corazon Aquino, the first female president of the Philippinnes, and in fact of any Asian country, who died last week of cancer at the age of 76.

Cory, as she had become popularly known, was educated in the Philippines and the USA and held many titles, amongst which doctor at law. Her passion and pursuit for justice and democracy drove her to run for president herself when, upon returning to the Philippines, her husband, Begigno Aquino, was assasinated when he stepped off the plane on Manila Airport.

The politically unexperienced mother of four unseated the corrupt dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the election to follow, and held the reigns of one of the most volatile nations in the far East for a considerable amount of time, returning the country to democracy.

According to Mrs Aquino, Marcos had been the "first male chauvinist to under-estimate her." So it would appear.

In the years to come, she successfully fought off four ferocious attempts by people from her own government to replace her. And all this without resorting to oppresion or violence.

"As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it", became one of her famous quotes.

Some of her other famous quotations were:
"One must be frank to be relevant."
"The media's power is frail. Without the people's support, it can be shut off with the ease of turning a light switch. "
And, finally, "I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life."

How very true. Mrs Aquino, who consciously refused medical treatment at the end of her battle with colon cancer, certainly did live a meaningful life, as she improved circumstances of many of her subjects, and set the directions for a future political path for her country.

But talking of a meaningful death, someone else died recently too.

I was not surprised by this one though. To be honest, he did look a bit pale for the last, say, twenty years. And when he had to wear gloves when he swang his baby over the balcony of his room in that Berlin hotel, I just had a feeling there's something not quite healthy about this character.

Still, I think his death was hardly a coincidence. After his Thriller album he never really did anything spectacular and became a loss-making liability for his PR people. But hardly dead for some weeks, and - hey, presto - seven singles in the charts at once! The coffin's rocking!

What gives food for thought is some of the comments his fans uttered. "He'll be singing in heaven with the angels", a girl of about twelve muttered in tears.

Now there's a relief.

This guy, whose contribution to mankind consisted of a few silly steps taken backwards, had been abusing children. I mean, if he goes to heaven, we'll all go!
I might even qualify for an upgrade, come to think of it!

Some people's existence just functions as an example for others, either way. While this was true for both Cory and Michael, I somehow doubt they would get along in an afterlife.