Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Young Filipino At Her Finest!
(Editor's note: This is the winning speech of Patricia Evangelista. If you are a Filipino, you must read it.)
WHEN I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.
I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!
More than four centuries under western domination does that to you.
I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of “greener pastures.” It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora.
Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.
There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it.
My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.
Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore.
True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now.
My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino -- a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.
Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.
Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood.
I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.
A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships.We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.
Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!
Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word.
We call people like these balikbayans or the ‘returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.
In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me.
And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.
http://www.manilamail.com/features/patricia.htm
On Homosexuality and Beyond
To start with,gays,whether gay men or lesbians,are still struggling to achieve recognition as part of our societies,perhaps may be as a sector or as a mere segment of our people.Beyond this however is a rather silent revolution among the homosexuals---a revolution that aims at acceptance of full length and sincerity.Even if we say that these individuals have assumed a "the-usual-people" state in our country today,they are still faced with judgements that,at definite levels,are baseless and unfair.Does this make sense for the Filipinos,especially for the youth?I think so!Since most of homosexuals today belong to the younger population.
So what is the relevant issue?Four words will spell it all out:Practice what you preach!It is so apparent that people are now less predictable than ever before.To put context,it will be totally difficult to identify who actually put their words into actions and who are the ones who just put words into their mouths.Connecting it to the struggle of the homosexual populace,many are continually discriminating and threatening them.It is not anymore a surprise that condemnations against homosexuals are all around but how does this benefit the rest of the world.Many people are claiming that they are good followers of their faiths but still,they commit mistakes intentionally to inflict pain to the least recognized or marginalized.Gays are abused through unsolicited assaults,harsh words and backbites by these so-called faithful individuals.Are not these acts more disgracing than that of homosexuality.
The reality is that it is always easy for others to judge without putting themselves on the marginalized shoes.It is always easy to blame others for their faults and never admit the mistakes of those who judge with utmost bias.It is always easy to talk about morality because it also easy to pretend to be morally upright all the way.IT IS ALWAYS EASY TO POINT ON THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS WITHOUT MINDING OUR OWN WRONGS.If I were to analyze,the homosexual situation is now made a good excuse for people to abuse their own imperfections and still claim that they are good followers of God.It is so sad to finally discover that not even half of our population is consistent with what they claim to be true and good.Our very own selves do not exhibit that of our God.
So the next time around that you encounter a gay man ramping like a model,just offer a humble greeting.Simple but it will make adifference in the following days.Respect bgets respect and acceptance begets the same thing.However,practicing these through sincere acts of kindness will surely serve our purpose of spreading God's Wisdom.
Bakla man o tomboy,dapat pa rin silang igalang at tratuhin nang patas.That makes our living more just and totally fair.Let the youth rejuvinate the decaying sense of respect and fairness of our society.Fight hate against homosexuals and let them live the way they exactly want.It really helps!
