Words can mean different things when they are being said by different people. US President Barack Obama can say that the global economic crisis is far from over and he can make it sound like there are better things ahead. However when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that the global economic crisis is far from over, I sit up and take notice.
Putin made his name when as the Russian President, he single-handedly turned Russia from a laughingstock back into a world power. He did it in a tough, no-nonsense way that remained everyone of the old Soviet Union. Whatever you want to say about his methods, it worked and no one is laughing at Russia now.
So when a tough S.O.B like Putin says that the global economic crisis is far from over, you should be worried. It’s an indication of the troubles facing the world when even the powerful president-turned-premier took heat from the Duma (the Russian parliament) on his handling of the crisis.
It’s saying something about how bad the economic crisis is when an almost-legendary figure like Vladimir Putin face hard questioning from his people. I wonder if that will ever happen in Singapore.
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