After dinner tonight, I went out of the house to find a beautiful full moon in the night sky. Immediately, random thoughts filled my mind; some good, some utterly corny. I believe thought that one can be forgiven for being corny on a night the moon lords over the darkness of the night sky.
One of the advantages of living in the suburbs away from the glaring lights of the city and its pollution is being able to observe the magnificence of a full moon. Even as I write, I look outside and find the streets covered with a silver filament of light. It is so beautiful.
When I was still in college, I pass by a lake on my way home and on nights when the moon is at its brightest, it casts a reflection on the lake. It never failed to make me sigh. I always made sure that I sit on the side of the bus facing the lake every time I go home on a night like that just to see the sight.
I sometimes imagine our ancestors looking out of their dwellings to find a moon so round and glowing like a giant ball of silver in the dark evening. Were they scared of it? Or did this give them the opportunity to get together and tell stories to each other?
Young Filipino lovers of old probably met in secret and whispered sweet nothings while being illuminated by a silver disk in the sky and covered by shadows of trees and plants that capture some of the light.
Or did the Katipuneros meet under the moonlight as they planned their revolution to free us from our colonial masters?
On several occasions, I find myself staring at the full moon and wonder whether this is the same moon looking down at my friends and loved ones in distant places. I wonder whether they, just like me, are staring at the moon, struck by its beauty as it floats silently above us.
Such is the power of a full moon on me that I could get corny. But as I've said earlier, one can be forgiven for being so sentimental when possessed by the beauty of the moon.
Even if man have reached it and found that it is a cold desolate place, the moon will never cease to amuse me. In this age of the Internet, wireless communications and globalization, I still believe that the moon will remain a source of inspiration for people like me.
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Earth Hour
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
It's the People Again Who Should Make Sacrifices
The TV newscasts are filled with it. People lining in the streets, wet markets and other places to buy rice. Rice that are within their means. It all happened after the country's agriculture secretary announced that we better cut down on our rice consumption or we will end up with out rice! All hell broke loose as soon as after he said those words.
I thought at that time how stupid it was that instead of government doing something about the impending rice shortage, the secretary himself would ask the people to eat less rice. What's even weird is that he even asked food centers to offer half cup of rice instead of one cup per meal (we serve rice by cups). It's almost as if he's asking Filipinos to go on a force diet!!!
It was almost a joke until I saw the news stories and find my countrymen falling in line for hours on end just to get three kilos of rice a day at a price they could afford. Of course there were available rice but these were priced at no less than 30 pesos per kg. for the cheaper kind and 45 pesos for the more fancy kind such as Jasmine rice.
Why not buy the 30 pesos kind, you ask them? Well, minimum daily wage in the country is 300 pesos something or some 7 US dollars. That is, if the company one is in gives the minimum wage. But most companies in the country are small and medium enterprises so they end up exempted from paying the minimum wage.
With so many filipinos classified by the World Bank as earning less than a dollar a day, buying those readily available rice is out of the question. So they endure the heat (it's summer here) and the lack of a proper system of distribution by the food authority just to get rice that they could afford and don't go hungry for the day. So bad was the situation that at one time, those who were not able to get rice started weeping and begging like we were back in the dark ages!
Speaking of hunger, a few months ago there was report that some 70 percent of Filipinos go to sleep hungry because they don't have the means to buy food. And what did our president say about this? Well, she said that sometimes when she's too busy at work she forgets to eat too and stay hungry. I think that there's a vast difference between being hungry because you don't have money to buy food and forgetting to eat because you're busy making money.
Now here's even worse. A report came out saying that we do not have enough rice because there's so many of us! So we must all make sacrifices and stop making children who will compete for food in the future.
It's always the people who are the source of our woes!
Can't we stop and look if distribution of our resources as well as governance have in any way contributed to this problem and not just too many Filipinos?
I thought at that time how stupid it was that instead of government doing something about the impending rice shortage, the secretary himself would ask the people to eat less rice. What's even weird is that he even asked food centers to offer half cup of rice instead of one cup per meal (we serve rice by cups). It's almost as if he's asking Filipinos to go on a force diet!!!
It was almost a joke until I saw the news stories and find my countrymen falling in line for hours on end just to get three kilos of rice a day at a price they could afford. Of course there were available rice but these were priced at no less than 30 pesos per kg. for the cheaper kind and 45 pesos for the more fancy kind such as Jasmine rice.
Why not buy the 30 pesos kind, you ask them? Well, minimum daily wage in the country is 300 pesos something or some 7 US dollars. That is, if the company one is in gives the minimum wage. But most companies in the country are small and medium enterprises so they end up exempted from paying the minimum wage.
With so many filipinos classified by the World Bank as earning less than a dollar a day, buying those readily available rice is out of the question. So they endure the heat (it's summer here) and the lack of a proper system of distribution by the food authority just to get rice that they could afford and don't go hungry for the day. So bad was the situation that at one time, those who were not able to get rice started weeping and begging like we were back in the dark ages!
Speaking of hunger, a few months ago there was report that some 70 percent of Filipinos go to sleep hungry because they don't have the means to buy food. And what did our president say about this? Well, she said that sometimes when she's too busy at work she forgets to eat too and stay hungry. I think that there's a vast difference between being hungry because you don't have money to buy food and forgetting to eat because you're busy making money.
Now here's even worse. A report came out saying that we do not have enough rice because there's so many of us! So we must all make sacrifices and stop making children who will compete for food in the future.
It's always the people who are the source of our woes!
Can't we stop and look if distribution of our resources as well as governance have in any way contributed to this problem and not just too many Filipinos?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Happy 3rd Anniversary
Whoa! I can't believe I've been doing this for the last three years! Okay may be sporadically at best. But being someone who easily loses interest on things, it's quite a feat that every now and then I am able to post something on this blog.
This is my first blog for the year of the rat. If I were to believe all those feng shui blabber, it's a very unlucky year for me since I was born in the year of the horse. But I don't really care, first of all I am not Chinese.
Oh speaking of the Chinese... In spite all the bad rap their poor country's been getting lately, I can't wait to see how they would act as host of this year's Olympics. The Chinese have gone a long way in the field of sports since they got out of their Iron Curtain a couple of decades ago. I remember when they hosted the Asian Games a few years back. They have a panda for a mascot and during the opening ceremonies there were guys dressed up as pandas prancing in the field. The problem is, they only have panda heads and hands...
Nevertheless, the Beijing Olympics will still be an interesting watch especially for Filipino athletes. After the complete meltdown in Thailand last December and the debacle of some boxers in the qualifying rounds, the Filipino athletes need all our support in their quest for Olympic glory.
This is my first blog for the year of the rat. If I were to believe all those feng shui blabber, it's a very unlucky year for me since I was born in the year of the horse. But I don't really care, first of all I am not Chinese.
Oh speaking of the Chinese... In spite all the bad rap their poor country's been getting lately, I can't wait to see how they would act as host of this year's Olympics. The Chinese have gone a long way in the field of sports since they got out of their Iron Curtain a couple of decades ago. I remember when they hosted the Asian Games a few years back. They have a panda for a mascot and during the opening ceremonies there were guys dressed up as pandas prancing in the field. The problem is, they only have panda heads and hands...
Nevertheless, the Beijing Olympics will still be an interesting watch especially for Filipino athletes. After the complete meltdown in Thailand last December and the debacle of some boxers in the qualifying rounds, the Filipino athletes need all our support in their quest for Olympic glory.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Shelfari
A friend invited me to a site where bookworms converge. It's called Shelfari. Here, the member is given a bookshelf where he can post books he has read, is reading, and plans to read. It is also a social networking site since any member can join groups that are classified according to reading interests.
I have my own shelf, which you could see at the bottom of this blog. However, this is just part of it. When I listed the books I own and have read, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they total 77 books! I haven't listed the other books that I once owned and read but can't locate anymore.
But this is still a small collection considering that there are some members who have more than a thousand books on their shelves.
I am still building up my library and trying to remember what books I have read before. Who knows, I'd also end up with more than a thousand titles!
I have my own shelf, which you could see at the bottom of this blog. However, this is just part of it. When I listed the books I own and have read, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they total 77 books! I haven't listed the other books that I once owned and read but can't locate anymore.
But this is still a small collection considering that there are some members who have more than a thousand books on their shelves.
I am still building up my library and trying to remember what books I have read before. Who knows, I'd also end up with more than a thousand titles!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas, Pinoy Style
Merry Christmas!
This morning I joined the throng of Filipinos who went out to do their last minute shopping for the Noche Buena later tonight. I never thought that in spite having to wait in line for what seems like an eternity at the check out counter, I would actually enjoy the experience. There's something about being with a huge, pulsating shopping crowd to uplift one's spirit. Or maybe it is the non-stop playing of Christmas Carols in the background that did me in.
Whatever the reason, it made me feel even more that Christmas is indeed here.
I had a great time watching my fellow Filipinos happily buying the things they have saved up for and prepared for months. At least for this time of the year, all of us were able to let go of our worries that our budget will not be enough. And we all went home happy.
Next year, I will be part of this celebration again that we Pinoys have embraced for almost half a millennium already.
This morning I joined the throng of Filipinos who went out to do their last minute shopping for the Noche Buena later tonight. I never thought that in spite having to wait in line for what seems like an eternity at the check out counter, I would actually enjoy the experience. There's something about being with a huge, pulsating shopping crowd to uplift one's spirit. Or maybe it is the non-stop playing of Christmas Carols in the background that did me in.
Whatever the reason, it made me feel even more that Christmas is indeed here.
I had a great time watching my fellow Filipinos happily buying the things they have saved up for and prepared for months. At least for this time of the year, all of us were able to let go of our worries that our budget will not be enough. And we all went home happy.
Next year, I will be part of this celebration again that we Pinoys have embraced for almost half a millennium already.
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