Re: Just recently posted by who is boss in iraq ?blackwater or the iraqi government?
- From: so who is boss in iraq? blackwater or the iraqi government? <carlosbongoton@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:06:15 -0700
On Sep 23, 8:06?am, Dirty Sick Pig <drtysicpig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
so who is boss in iraq? blackwater or the iraqi government? wrote:
GOT THIS FROM ONE OF THE YAHOO GROUPS I'M SUBSCRIBED TO. THIS IS A
MUST-READ! THE LAST PORTION MOVED ME TO TEARS....
Paolo P. Mangahas, 32, is currently working in Kuala Lumpur as Head
of Communications for WWF-Malaysia (World Wide Fund for Nature
Malaysia). He won Honorable Mention in the 2003 Doreen Fernandez Food
Writing Award for his piece Adobo, I'm Home! and has published
several essays on food, lifestyle, fashion, and social and
environmental development.
-----------------------------
Between Poverty and Paradise
Paolo P. Mangahas
LAST night, I had dinner with a German friend to talk about her
planned trip to the Philippines . She had just completed an internship
program in one of the law firms here in Malaysia and wanted to take a
short holiday in a nearby country before heading off to Australia to
finish her studies. She wanted to know more about the Philippines and
asked me for tips on making the most of the two-and-a-half weeks that
she had allotted for this vacation.
We planned her trip between bites, armed only with a faded map of the
Philippines that we had downloaded from the Internet. My goal was to
identify all the "must-see" places in the country (her criteria
being beaches and volcanoes), plot them according to distance and
flight routes, and then cram them all in 17 days. A tall order
indeed, especially for someone like me who has never had a sense of
direction even in my own neighborhood. For the life of me, I could
not spot where Boracay was on her map. So I took the easy way out and
told her to go to Palawan instead.
I carried on with the task like a diligent student trying to remember
my geography, starting from the rice terraces in Banaue up north,
moving down south to the Mayon Volcano in Bicol and the Chocolate
Hills in Bohol. It was an embarrassing ordeal nonetheless as she
could see that I was struggling to find all the other attractive
destinations on the map, which in turn made me realize how little I
truly knew about my own country. She was very excited about the trip
and was eager to learn more about the country and its people.
She imagined the Philippines to be an eternal fiesta of Spanish and
Chinese Third-World flair, filled with warm and accommodating people
who all speak with a clear American accent, where all men have the
handsome earthy appeal of Jericho Rosales and women the heavenly
mestiza charms of Kristine Hermosa (thanks to Filipino soap operas
that have become so popular here in Malaysia ). It was certainly one
of the most honest cultural impressions that I have ever heard and
quite amusingly, one shared by many. In my German friend's opinion,
the Philippines is one of the most open-minded countries in Southeast
Asia . I found this view rather interesting, especially since it came
from a European who has never stepped foot in the Philippines and
whose only direct exposure to the country, was me.
The funny thing about cultural impressions is that they often come
from a place of both acute perception and blatant ignorance, split in
the middle by what is painfully true. But they are what they are ~
impressions. Quite naturally, my friend and I have come to build our
own impressions about Malaysia in the several months that we have
been here. Malaysia is a beautiful country that seems to be in a
hurry to develop economically, but is hampered by a palpable trace of
social reluctance. It seems grounded on an age-old culture that
simply does not mix well with progress, or at least the kind dictated
and exemplified by the Western world. I find this true for most
developing Asian countries, including the Philippines.
My friend pointed out that she has never seen a beggar in the streets
of Kuala Lumpur since she moved here and asked me if it is the same
in the Philippines. As a matter of fact, she admitted that she has
never seen a beggar up close in her whole life and asked me to
explain how it is to live in a poor country like mine.
She wanted to know more about poverty. Her question struck a chord in
me because I realized that apart from Jericho Rosales, this woman
had absolutely no idea about the country where she was going and how
it was out there. Here was someone who came to me wanting to know
more about my country and the best I could offer was a geographical
representation of scenic destinations, which I hardly even knew
myself.
By this time, I had put down the pen I was holding, set aside the
map, and got ready to explain to her details about my country. I did
not know where to begin. After all, how does one explain poverty to
someone who has never experienced it before? To make things more
relevant to her, I started by comparing the Philippines to Malaysia.
I told her that blue-collar workers in the Philippines did not have
the same opportunities as the ones in Malaysia, who can afford to eat
in the same restaurants where executives eat or even shop in stores
where their own bosses shop. I told her that unlike the ones I have
met in Malaysia, secretaries and administrative clerks in the
Philippines will eat in posh restaurants only on very special
occasions and can barely afford to travel to other countries. I then
told her about the beggars, young and old, who parade the streets of
Manila, the children who knock on car windows selling sampaguita, the
mothers who have to forage for food in garbage landfills, and the
unemployed fathers who waste their lives on drugs and alcohol. I told
her about the shanties that bedeck highways and railroads, the
unproductive traffic jams, the garbage-infested streets and sewers,
and the regular typhoons that flood the country and exacerbate
already poor living conditions. I told her that poverty in the
Philippines unapologetically hits you in the face the very moment you
step in. It is an open wound just waiting to be healed.
My friend looked shaken, as if experiencing for the first time a
world she has seen only on TV. That was when my tears started to
fall. I could not help it. I have never cried in front of a
semi-stranger before but for some reason, I cried this time because
she was still not immune to these things.
Her unawareness taught me to see poverty as if for the first time
myself, which brought out a lot of pain. I have become so used to the
pain that I have forgotten how it felt until I painted for her the sad
face of poverty.
I then found myself having to explain to her that despite all these,
the Philippines is still a beautiful country and this you will also
feel the very moment you get there. It is a beauty characterized by
the indomitable human spirit of a people who have seen better days
and yet still have the capacity to find a piece of heaven in their
lives. It is a beauty defined by the untiring faith of a people who
have learned to acknowledge their plight with reverence and yet have
never lost the courage to dream big dreams. It is a beauty
characterized by the painful history of a people who have been abused
and pillaged through the years and yet still have so much of
themselves to give.
Now her tears were falling, smearing the map that I had earlier
vandalized with circles and arrows. But I knew it did not matter
anymore at this point.
I realized that my friend had learned all she needed to know about my
country and my people. She thanked me profusely, saying that she came
to me wanting to know more about how poor the Philippines is but in
the end, she learned how abundantly blessed Filipinos truly are.
A beach is a beach and a volcano is a volcano anywhere in the world,
but it is the people who make the difference. I learned in that moment
that I may not know the geographical features of my country all too
well, but I sure know its heart and its soul because it is who I am.
The real poverty lies in not knowing this.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
.
- References:
- a foreigners impression of the philippines
- From: so who is boss in iraq? blackwater or the iraqi government?
- Just recently posted (properly) in SCF. Ang TANGA ng MAGNANAKAW! [Re: a foreigners impression of the philippines]
- From: Dirty Sick Pig
- a foreigners impression of the philippines
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