Signing on
A group member in the Bobong Pinoy forums posted a short essay written by a Korean student here in the Philippines about his observation about, in his own opinion, our lack of love in our country. His work may be far from being scholarly, but what snaps his work awake is that how the author parallels our current economic and political situation with that of his native South Korea years after the Korean War.
This Korean jives with my point of view concerning patriotism.They, when they struggled to get on their feet again, felt that they have an obligation for their country. They had their run-ins with bad administrators and poor governance, but they brushed them aside and worked hard to help South Korea into what they are now. Some were sent abroad to work; others by their own will, but it's clear to them that they are working for their country and not just by themselves.
It is sad to know that we Filipinos easily break under surmounting pressure of our sluggish progress, but the point is, where's the bayanihan spirit that we've been known to outsiders? Now more that ever that bayanihan is needed if we ever want the Philippines to regain its former prosperity as it had half a century ago, when are are second economically to Japan. I, if given a chance, am willing to work abroad; should somebody ask me why I did that, my answer will be 'I'm doing this for family and for country'. The conjunction 'and for country' spells the difference between working abroad and coming home, and working abroad, then bringing over the rest of the family to live there permanently.
Our government sucks, that's for sure, but we cannot leave the burden on them alone. We as citizens have to do something as well in this situation. After all, it takes two to tango. Maybe some of our officials are corrupt, maybe our social welfare services are pathetic, maybe our national security is flawed, but shouldn't we take them as challenges to show our resiliency in face of such odds?
The writer may be just another foreigner in our land, and someone may retort "anong paki mo!?" or "mind your own f@#%ing business!" but his work reflects his concern on us, to the point of telling what his country went through to become an economic giant as they are. He knows that what South Korea was is what the Philippines is now. There's no difference on that part however, except for one thing--they never gave up.
Signing off
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Choice to be Green
Signing on
Each and every one of us thought that the stunt pulled by actress Alicia Mayer would be the last that we will see. Just the other day three women, two Pinays and one foreigner walked across Plaza Miranda wearing lettuce leaves, campaigning for Filipinos to switch to vegetarian diet. They are said to be members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Personally I'm not against the idea of vegetarianism. Heck, I also eat vegetables. But at the same time I am a carnivore. I am, in my own words, a balanced eater. But the idea of totally converting to a vegan lifestyle has not yet crossed my mind, because I firmly believe that being one should be done only willingly and with full volition. But judging on how PETA reason out, I guess that I will remain the way I am. See, I couldn't help but wonder why these people think that raising cattle and poultry is harmful to the environment because they contribute to the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Well, I think that's because they pass wind, and their numbers increases the chances of the emission being brought up above. Personally, I believe that they are missing some points. Number one: whether to raise animals or not, either for food or otherwise, they will still break wind. Number two: all animals fart. Cows fart. Chickens fart. Lions fart. Giraffes fart. Elephants fart. And number three: Animals aren't the only ones who passes wind. We humans do that also.
I once saw a leaflet from PETA describing how inhumane cattle and poultry were slaughtered. But nothing is more head-shaking than what the foreigner had said; she said that cows are being flayed alive. HUH!? I once saw a pig being slaughtered, but I don't remember it being flayed alive. I guess that the proposition "claiming is one thing, proving is another thing" holds true in this case. You see, it's easier to say that that happens than to produce a concrete proof of such. It's like saying that aliens has indeed landed in Roswell, that everything written in The Da Vinci Code is true, and that Elvis has left the building.
So what's my point after all these? That after all that's been said and done, at the end of the day it's still our decisions that will make the difference. I recognize the benefits of a vegetarian diet, but I believe in free will, and I believe in choices, and I am against using ad baculum statements just for the sake of converting to a new lifestyle. I myself don't like people telling me of what I should be. And I know that we Filipinos do not entertain that idea either. We had endured three hundred and thirty-three years of Spanish occupation, fifty years under the Americans, with a four-year interegnuum under the Japanese, who did nothing but tell us what shall we do, what we shall believe, who shall we listen to, and whose authority shall we recognize. If I am to go vegetarian it is because I want to and not because they tell me to. I have the right to make choices for myself. I am a free man.
Signing off.
Each and every one of us thought that the stunt pulled by actress Alicia Mayer would be the last that we will see. Just the other day three women, two Pinays and one foreigner walked across Plaza Miranda wearing lettuce leaves, campaigning for Filipinos to switch to vegetarian diet. They are said to be members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Personally I'm not against the idea of vegetarianism. Heck, I also eat vegetables. But at the same time I am a carnivore. I am, in my own words, a balanced eater. But the idea of totally converting to a vegan lifestyle has not yet crossed my mind, because I firmly believe that being one should be done only willingly and with full volition. But judging on how PETA reason out, I guess that I will remain the way I am. See, I couldn't help but wonder why these people think that raising cattle and poultry is harmful to the environment because they contribute to the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Well, I think that's because they pass wind, and their numbers increases the chances of the emission being brought up above. Personally, I believe that they are missing some points. Number one: whether to raise animals or not, either for food or otherwise, they will still break wind. Number two: all animals fart. Cows fart. Chickens fart. Lions fart. Giraffes fart. Elephants fart. And number three: Animals aren't the only ones who passes wind. We humans do that also.
I once saw a leaflet from PETA describing how inhumane cattle and poultry were slaughtered. But nothing is more head-shaking than what the foreigner had said; she said that cows are being flayed alive. HUH!? I once saw a pig being slaughtered, but I don't remember it being flayed alive. I guess that the proposition "claiming is one thing, proving is another thing" holds true in this case. You see, it's easier to say that that happens than to produce a concrete proof of such. It's like saying that aliens has indeed landed in Roswell, that everything written in The Da Vinci Code is true, and that Elvis has left the building.
So what's my point after all these? That after all that's been said and done, at the end of the day it's still our decisions that will make the difference. I recognize the benefits of a vegetarian diet, but I believe in free will, and I believe in choices, and I am against using ad baculum statements just for the sake of converting to a new lifestyle. I myself don't like people telling me of what I should be. And I know that we Filipinos do not entertain that idea either. We had endured three hundred and thirty-three years of Spanish occupation, fifty years under the Americans, with a four-year interegnuum under the Japanese, who did nothing but tell us what shall we do, what we shall believe, who shall we listen to, and whose authority shall we recognize. If I am to go vegetarian it is because I want to and not because they tell me to. I have the right to make choices for myself. I am a free man.
Signing off.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The P's and the F's
Signing on
The title has something to do on the last Binibining Pilipinas pageant wherein a candidate who stammered her way through the question and answer portion, who bagged the Bb. Pilipinas-World crown just out of sheer confidence despite the obvious nervousness and the subsequent butchering of the English language. You know, "my pamily... , my pamily... , they was". No, I'm not here to drag her down and malign her with comments like "she's dumb", "she's stupid" or "she doesn't deserve to win", no, no, no. I will not, never going to use this blog to maliciously attack anyone just because I damn want to. Well, at least we know that she's not alone in this wide world who got mixed up. Because in the Ms. Teen America pageant, we will see that even Americans commit embarrassing mistakes when answering to a rather simple question, considering that they are an English-speaking nation. Miss South Carolina must've missed the question regarding American geography, or she just didn't paid attention. The whole thing even made it to YouTube. Ah, the power of the internet.
Let's set aside if beauty pageants has lost its credibility by the candidates that they pick, the image the they project, and on how they answer to the questions that they pick themselves. Did I miss on how they pronounce words and their grammar? Hope not! Because if we watch these pageants we will see that there are candidates who are rather poor in speaking English but kept on trying to speak it, despite their accents, and being ungrammatical. But personally I would laud on others who chose to answer in their native tongue because it was through that that they could express best what they think and what they feel regarding the question the judges throws at them. I mean, why torture yourself to speak in a language that you are not familiar with? There's no existing rule that states that candidates should answers only in English, and definitely they will not be hanged when they do not. Save the practice backstage, there's room for improvement and polishing. Feel free to speak in you own language, that what interpreters are for. I hope that the incoming beauty queens will remember that. Hopefully.
Signing off
The title has something to do on the last Binibining Pilipinas pageant wherein a candidate who stammered her way through the question and answer portion, who bagged the Bb. Pilipinas-World crown just out of sheer confidence despite the obvious nervousness and the subsequent butchering of the English language. You know, "my pamily... , my pamily... , they was". No, I'm not here to drag her down and malign her with comments like "she's dumb", "she's stupid" or "she doesn't deserve to win", no, no, no. I will not, never going to use this blog to maliciously attack anyone just because I damn want to. Well, at least we know that she's not alone in this wide world who got mixed up. Because in the Ms. Teen America pageant, we will see that even Americans commit embarrassing mistakes when answering to a rather simple question, considering that they are an English-speaking nation. Miss South Carolina must've missed the question regarding American geography, or she just didn't paid attention. The whole thing even made it to YouTube. Ah, the power of the internet.
Let's set aside if beauty pageants has lost its credibility by the candidates that they pick, the image the they project, and on how they answer to the questions that they pick themselves. Did I miss on how they pronounce words and their grammar? Hope not! Because if we watch these pageants we will see that there are candidates who are rather poor in speaking English but kept on trying to speak it, despite their accents, and being ungrammatical. But personally I would laud on others who chose to answer in their native tongue because it was through that that they could express best what they think and what they feel regarding the question the judges throws at them. I mean, why torture yourself to speak in a language that you are not familiar with? There's no existing rule that states that candidates should answers only in English, and definitely they will not be hanged when they do not. Save the practice backstage, there's room for improvement and polishing. Feel free to speak in you own language, that what interpreters are for. I hope that the incoming beauty queens will remember that. Hopefully.
Signing off
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