The Zeitgeist is a new UrbanWire column on the latest ins and outs of pop culture. This week, Ronald Wan writes about ping pong, American pomp and Michael Jackson’s 50th pom-pom.

In case you’re wondering, the Zeitgeist is not the name of a German professor or a European trance band. Neither is it the brand name of an Austrian shampoo. The Zeitgeist simply means the spirit of our times and is the name of this column, which delves into what’s apparently hot and relevant in popular culture today, yesterday and the past two weeks – it’s a bi-weekly column.

Anything goes in the column. It could be about the nomination of Barack Obama as presidential candidate this week and the popularity of say, durians, last week. Or pop tart Britney Spears going commando (read: panty-less) several weeks ago but then again, that seems more like every week.

Let me begin on a celebratory note – sort of. Congrats to the Singapore women’s table tennis team for clinching the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics much to the delight of only half of the nation’s population.

Considering the trio of women paddlers Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu were born in China, many Singaporeans didn’t feel too proud of the foreign talent representation. Besides, they were busy watching Don’t Forget the Lyrics rather than the Olympics.

The lack of sentiment was soon replaced by the brouhaha over the untimely “sacking” of team manager Antony Lee by the Singapore Table Tennis Association. Many Singaporeans expressed outrage, more words were exchanged in the media between coaches and players and then a Minister had to help resolve the issue.

In the end, the silver medal win truly became a 100% Singaporean effort because a Minister stepped in to assist. Whenever the government is involved in a matter, it officially becomes a national effort.

Look at the Social Development Unit’s undying and passionate matchmaking efforts to hook up single university graduates over the years. That Herculean effort alone wins the Olympic gold medal if you ask me.

Speaking of national effort, anyone who saw the Democratic National Convention in Denver should be amused by the pomp and pageantry of American politics. Watching former US president Bill Clinton, powerhouse Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama the candidate himself all giving powerful speeches on the same stage was a wet dream come true for any Democrat supporter. I’m one of those suckers.

But more importantly, the entire primary race battle between Clinton and Obama had a good number of Singaporeans transfixed and I’m sure even more will join the ranks in the months leading up to the Nov 4 election. This vivid and healthy obsession with politics in America, whose only association of Singapore is with Michael Fay, is doing a great job of filling the political apathy void here.

What happened in local politics and Parliament this year that got Singaporeans really talking were the report findings on escapee Mas Selamat and the recent by-election law debate. The latter only got a few Singaporeans – those who understand what a by-election means – interested. The rest were concerned about the Baby Bonus.

And that’s the sad state of our political consciousness. Just the other day, the first protest/demonstration in Singapore at the Speakers Corner lasted merely 10 minutes. I spend more than 10 minutes brushing my teeth, if you get my drift.

Now to end on a happier and light-hearted note: Michael Jackson, the pop star who created the moonwalk and great songs like ‘Heal the World’ and ‘Billie Jean’, celebrated his big 5-0 birthday last week. He exclaimed, “I am still looking forward to doing a lot of great things.”

I’ve got a feeling a geriatric moonwalk is on the cards.

Ronald Wan was a former editor at UrbanWire and now a freelance writer who is still trying to perfect the moonwalk.