Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Kansulay revisited
I am re-reading James Hamilton-Paterson's excellent dissection of Philippine culture and the Marcoses, America's Boy (Unusually for Amazon.com, the reviews on this book are equally thoughtful and well-written). I'm sure I've written this before, but his pen is sympathetic and his descriptions of rural life in the Philippines ring true. Being a city boy myself, I only really absorbed a lot of probinsya influences when I started dating Van. Manila really is an imperium in imperio, a kingdom unto itself. Hamilton-Paterson spent years in the isolation of an anonymous Luzon village he calls Kansulay. His descriptions of the primitive standards of living entangled with the unbelievably complex social waters are completely believable and compelling. Van and I fell in love with this book the first time we read it; now it's like a comforting reminder of home.
* * *
Unfortunately, with all the traveling round we plan to do this year, it's looking less and less likely that I'll come home before Christmas. It's strange knowing this is the longest I've ever been away. I always say this, but I feel as though the connections to who I am are growing stronger and weaker at the same time. Like the henna tattoo I got from Dubai, sometimes it feels like I've washed away a part of me, a skin of superficial attachment to an idea of home that, maybe, I left a very long time ago. Not the happiest thought, is it?
Labels: books, philippines, random stuff
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
OFW news - mostly good
A Pinay nanny who saved her employer's children from a garage fire was rewarded with a $25,000 gift for the education of her own child, the Inquirer reports. The consulate in NY found out about her heroic deed when her employers, a Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Wood, accompanied her to replace her passport which was lost in the blaze.
While I certainly agree with the enforcement of a $400 wage (not very much when you factor in living and traveling costs), the recruiters do have a point - most people who leave the country do so because of the opportunities, regardless of rules. Certainly someone offered $350 a month to drive a truck through Iraq, when facing zero employment prospects at home won't let a little thing like a POEA exit permit stop him. I just hope this doesn't mean that more people will be driven underground into the grey and black markets, where the scum of the earth do prey on vulnerable people (maids and nannies especially).
Still, things are looking up. Someday we will come home, and live like Kings. He says, typing from a business park in a country town in the back water of England.
In other news, apparently the Philippine government is enforcing a minimum $400 monthly wage for all new contracts approved by the Overseas Employment Agency (POEA). Predictably, the recruiters who send most of our OFWs abroad complained it would hit our competitiveness as an exporter of labor, and would also distort semi skilled salaries in the Gulf States.The Woods acknowledged her heroism and her quick thinking, saying they would be “forever grateful” to her. “The $25,000 was not a reward but was meant for the education of Hazel’s son. She took care of our most precious possession -- our children,” they said.
Rebong also reported that Reposo, 30, had worked as a nanny since November 2003. Though a Business Management graduate of the University of Negros Occidental-Recolectos, Reposo left the country for her five-year-old son’s sake to work in Bermuda together with her parents and two siblings.
While I certainly agree with the enforcement of a $400 wage (not very much when you factor in living and traveling costs), the recruiters do have a point - most people who leave the country do so because of the opportunities, regardless of rules. Certainly someone offered $350 a month to drive a truck through Iraq, when facing zero employment prospects at home won't let a little thing like a POEA exit permit stop him. I just hope this doesn't mean that more people will be driven underground into the grey and black markets, where the scum of the earth do prey on vulnerable people (maids and nannies especially).
Still, things are looking up. Someday we will come home, and live like Kings. He says, typing from a business park in a country town in the back water of England.
Labels: news, philippines
Friday, May 12, 2006
The day before...
[tag: _philippines]
...and everyone is rushing around buying last minute accessories, arranging transportation to Tagaytay, and packing for the big day. Whew.The forecast is for wind & rain tomorrow :-( We'll be praying at the shrine at Santa Clara and hopefully the storm will hold off for just one more day. Please pray with us that the sun will come out tomorrow!
Got to run. See you tomorrow at the Church...
Labels: philippines, update
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Even the Americans "Get It", Iggy
[tags: _philippines]
News about news - the Inquirer and other local papers report the government's reaction to a New York Times editorial,Dark "Days for Philippine Democracy". Talk about childishness? Isn't the mark of immaturity the inability to take any criticism, even from (and especially from) outsiders?
But even that wasn't the clincher. Which genius in the Arroyo cabinet thought it a good idea for Ignacio Bunye - an idiot and a liar, at the very least, with zero credibility even in his OWN press cliques - to blame the NYT's analysis of the situation on the OPPOSITION? The same opposition who are "so inept" they couldn't get their impeachment claims through Congress?
I can't bear to read anything that issues out of the mouths of the Philippine government these days without bracing myself internally. The incompetence, the stupidity is breathtaking. I miss the days of "Sic o Clock News" when you knew what you were watching was satirical.
Nope, sorry Iggy, perhaps for your next presscon you might want to blame the opposition for the miserable April heat. Whoops, isn't that God's doing? Has Gloria been missing out on their regular phone calls?
Idiot.
News about news - the Inquirer and other local papers report the government's reaction to a New York Times editorial,Dark "Days for Philippine Democracy". Talk about childishness? Isn't the mark of immaturity the inability to take any criticism, even from (and especially from) outsiders?
But even that wasn't the clincher. Which genius in the Arroyo cabinet thought it a good idea for Ignacio Bunye - an idiot and a liar, at the very least, with zero credibility even in his OWN press cliques - to blame the NYT's analysis of the situation on the OPPOSITION? The same opposition who are "so inept" they couldn't get their impeachment claims through Congress?
I can't bear to read anything that issues out of the mouths of the Philippine government these days without bracing myself internally. The incompetence, the stupidity is breathtaking. I miss the days of "Sic o Clock News" when you knew what you were watching was satirical.
Nope, sorry Iggy, perhaps for your next presscon you might want to blame the opposition for the miserable April heat. Whoops, isn't that God's doing? Has Gloria been missing out on their regular phone calls?
Idiot.
Labels: news, philippines
Monday, March 06, 2006
LSE talk on the Philippine situation
[tag: _philippines]
Alex , one of our friends at the London School of Economics, has sent us an open invite to a talk on the State of Emergency situation and the ongoing political unrest in the Philippines. While we may not be able to go ourselves, this is a great opportunity to discuss the current sad state of affairs back home, and whether the overseas community can do anything about it.
EDIT 1: Screencap of the flyer uploaded here.
I've heard any number of opinions ranging from full on outrage to mild indifference, and have swung between the two myself so much that it's frankly exhausting. Here's to hoping somebody will have the clarity of vision to actually present an unbiased analysis of the goings-on over there, if only to reassure me that there is any shred of hope left for our dear old banana republic.
EDIT 2: Via angela's blog, the BBC posted an intensely personalizing photoessay on poverty in the Philippines. Seeing a lot of these images every time I come home to Manila, it's almost physically painful to read; Rex San Diego's story could easily be that of any one of my Pisay classmates. And one very dear friend in particular.
Alex , one of our friends at the London School of Economics, has sent us an open invite to a talk on the State of Emergency situation and the ongoing political unrest in the Philippines. While we may not be able to go ourselves, this is a great opportunity to discuss the current sad state of affairs back home, and whether the overseas community can do anything about it.
EDIT 1: Screencap of the flyer uploaded here.
I've heard any number of opinions ranging from full on outrage to mild indifference, and have swung between the two myself so much that it's frankly exhausting. Here's to hoping somebody will have the clarity of vision to actually present an unbiased analysis of the goings-on over there, if only to reassure me that there is any shred of hope left for our dear old banana republic.
EDIT 2: Via angela's blog, the BBC posted an intensely personalizing photoessay on poverty in the Philippines. Seeing a lot of these images every time I come home to Manila, it's almost physically painful to read; Rex San Diego's story could easily be that of any one of my Pisay classmates. And one very dear friend in particular.
Labels: philippines
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Trying to pretend everything's normal.
For anyone who cares, here's a running account of the events in Manila. With all of the things that are happening, my one concern is that my family and friends are all safe. The rest of the country can go to hell. It seems they are well on their way already.
[tags: _news]
[tags: _news]
Labels: news, philippines
Friday, February 24, 2006
Ngek.
[tags: _news]
Arroyo declares state of emergency - INQ7.net
Yet another example of useless politics and thuggery at the highest levels of government and the military. Yet again I'm ashamed of being Filipino. I fervently wish that these fuckwits got buried in the landslides. The administration, the generals - the whole lot, really.
Sorry for the outburst. Sometimes it makes you want to cry.
EDIT: This from the Times:
Arroyo declares state of emergency - INQ7.net
Yet another example of useless politics and thuggery at the highest levels of government and the military. Yet again I'm ashamed of being Filipino. I fervently wish that these fuckwits got buried in the landslides. The administration, the generals - the whole lot, really.
Sorry for the outburst. Sometimes it makes you want to cry.
EDIT: This from the Times:
"In a nutshell, today is more theatre than threat," said Erin Prelypchan, a political analyst at Pacific Strategies Assessment.
..."The level of cynicism is pretty deep," she explained. "Twenty years after the first 'people power', what has changed? People in the Philippines see the same traditional oligarchy in power, the same few families, and they say: what on earth would another people power protest bring? At the same time, they doubt an election would bring any change."
"The truth is that there is no obvious alternative to Arroyo, there isn't anything coming round the bend. So a lot of people are just staying at home today, turning off their televisions."
Fuck 'em all anyway.Labels: news, philippines
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
I keep coming back to Manila
[tags: _travel ¦ _philippines]
My body says 8am, but my watch says 4 in the afternoon. Welcome back to the Philippines, the acid whispers of exhaustion on my tendon strings tell me. After being in one position, more or less, for 25 hours straight, I don't blame them at all.
We landed at about 0530, just short of six hours behind schedule, and had a cheap laugh at the entry gate when a bold blue sign announced "Welcome to BIRD FLU FREE Philippines!" I guess they make all the birds walk on the "disinfecting" carpet before flying into territorial waters. Good job, guys! Maybe you can tackle AIDS next.
Nanay and Tatay met us at the exit and we drove home. Aggie is now almost five foot tall and Gikoy is scraping the 5'10 mark. My siblings are getting the growth spurt I never had. Even oreo the lab puppy is now big enough to knock us all over. Ain't I supposed to feel TALLER back home? Ah well.
All this time I'm chilling out in the cafe, and the quality of light here in Manila is different - somehow less bright, as if daylight struggles to get through the poison cloud permanently above the city - a lesson to Londoners who are now being blanketed by the spume of a recent oil fire.
Just had lunch with Heda and some of her Med friends. Heda spent two months in the US and came back the day before I did. She still has her friends, her familiar hangouts and her habits to fall back on, automatically. Three years on, and I'm totally adrift, the day stretches out before me and I can't connect to anything concrete. I remember, as though in another life, hanging out in these same malls, driving down the same roads, but the memory seems totally unrelated to the NOW. It's less a homecoming than a sightseeing.
I've been here before though. In time, as the days pile on, the old habits will settle on me like blankets, and I will no longer feel the need to wash the dishes after a meal, nor complain about the heat, I will lose my patience in traffic and I will be shoving in with the rest of them on the MRT. Given enough time (and two and a bit weeks is never enough time), I will even start bitching about the prices again, and lay about in the house watching cable all day, because one can get used to ANYTHING, even things you swore you would never do, because you fit the life you're in, and not the other way round. I'm happy to come home, but happier that at the end of our visit, another home awaits, one with only five channels. And bright sunlight over water.
My body says 8am, but my watch says 4 in the afternoon. Welcome back to the Philippines, the acid whispers of exhaustion on my tendon strings tell me. After being in one position, more or less, for 25 hours straight, I don't blame them at all.
We landed at about 0530, just short of six hours behind schedule, and had a cheap laugh at the entry gate when a bold blue sign announced "Welcome to BIRD FLU FREE Philippines!" I guess they make all the birds walk on the "disinfecting" carpet before flying into territorial waters. Good job, guys! Maybe you can tackle AIDS next.
Nanay and Tatay met us at the exit and we drove home. Aggie is now almost five foot tall and Gikoy is scraping the 5'10 mark. My siblings are getting the growth spurt I never had. Even oreo the lab puppy is now big enough to knock us all over. Ain't I supposed to feel TALLER back home? Ah well.
All this time I'm chilling out in the cafe, and the quality of light here in Manila is different - somehow less bright, as if daylight struggles to get through the poison cloud permanently above the city - a lesson to Londoners who are now being blanketed by the spume of a recent oil fire.
Just had lunch with Heda and some of her Med friends. Heda spent two months in the US and came back the day before I did. She still has her friends, her familiar hangouts and her habits to fall back on, automatically. Three years on, and I'm totally adrift, the day stretches out before me and I can't connect to anything concrete. I remember, as though in another life, hanging out in these same malls, driving down the same roads, but the memory seems totally unrelated to the NOW. It's less a homecoming than a sightseeing.
I've been here before though. In time, as the days pile on, the old habits will settle on me like blankets, and I will no longer feel the need to wash the dishes after a meal, nor complain about the heat, I will lose my patience in traffic and I will be shoving in with the rest of them on the MRT. Given enough time (and two and a bit weeks is never enough time), I will even start bitching about the prices again, and lay about in the house watching cable all day, because one can get used to ANYTHING, even things you swore you would never do, because you fit the life you're in, and not the other way round. I'm happy to come home, but happier that at the end of our visit, another home awaits, one with only five channels. And bright sunlight over water.
Labels: philippines, travel
Monday, October 10, 2005
Teklado
[tags: _news ¦ _philippines]
Last Saturday I was emergency drafted into emceeing for UKPinoy's Teklado concert. We held this in the Christchurch and Upton cathedral in Lambeth. Two Filipina pianists played a selection of classical music and Filipino standards. Both Dorothy Uytengsu and Victoria Francisco (Angela's mom) are accomplished concert performers, having toured Europe, the US and Canada playing to the Filipino communities there.
I wasn't sure I'd agree to Ariel's request - last Friday I had a pretty bad fever and my brains were leaking out of my nose - but in the end I was glad to be a part of it. Even though I had to run out, in the rain, to get more red wine for Hazel during intermission. Damned red wine.
The concert itself was pretty amazing, even more so when the duo encored with a James Bond medley.
I was also happy to see Anj and tita Marvie again; even the usual suspects (Edna, Oliver and so on) were all out. It was good to know people who could organize such a thing. We ended the night in a Chinese restaurant who served Tesco's cheesecake at midnight, and Irish whiskey and instant coffee. Yeah, Saturday was fun.
Last Saturday I was emergency drafted into emceeing for UKPinoy's Teklado concert. We held this in the Christchurch and Upton cathedral in Lambeth. Two Filipina pianists played a selection of classical music and Filipino standards. Both Dorothy Uytengsu and Victoria Francisco (Angela's mom) are accomplished concert performers, having toured Europe, the US and Canada playing to the Filipino communities there.
I wasn't sure I'd agree to Ariel's request - last Friday I had a pretty bad fever and my brains were leaking out of my nose - but in the end I was glad to be a part of it. Even though I had to run out, in the rain, to get more red wine for Hazel during intermission. Damned red wine.
The concert itself was pretty amazing, even more so when the duo encored with a James Bond medley.
I was also happy to see Anj and tita Marvie again; even the usual suspects (Edna, Oliver and so on) were all out. It was good to know people who could organize such a thing. We ended the night in a Chinese restaurant who served Tesco's cheesecake at midnight, and Irish whiskey and instant coffee. Yeah, Saturday was fun.
Labels: news, philippines
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Legacies
[tags: _philippines ¦ _news]
At last, after a period in the wilderness, de Quiros goes back to the sort of inspired, challenging writing I enjoyed.
"...there is an even bigger reason why I want my kids to develop a capacity to think for themselves. It is not just to equip them to defend themselves from the world, it is also to equip them to defend themselves from me. Or at least from my generation. I go back to the proposition I made at the beginning, which is that the hardest enemy to fight is oneself. The hardest enemy to see is oneself. It’s a truism, but it’s true: The rebels of yesterday are the tyrants of today.
Some very literally so. Nothing for me constitutes a bigger irony than that the same activism that taught us to question everything under the sun also demanded that we never question the cause we were espousing. Or indeed the methods it employed. To do so was to be called a revisionist, not unlike being called heretic by the Church, and suffer the same fate. "
How true. I was never an activist, nor a die hard defender of the Establishment. I like to believe that I have always thought for myself, even if at times I've come to the same conclusions. I hate the labels of conservative and liberal, left and right; the political process to me seemed to be nothing more than a glorified sales pitch, or else an endless feedback loop which quickly degenerates into high pitched noise.
My emotions and my politics have always been very personal, and (I admit) very self interested. I sometimes wonder what my children would make of the values of my time: an unhealthy obsession with money, a naive belief in technology and progress. MOst likely they will think of us in the same way we think of those idealists from the '50s and '60s: except instead of flying cars and plastic houses, we pin our hopes on the Digital Networked Economy(tm) and the Open Software Revolution(tm)(r)(c) even as children in Niger and Sudan and North Korea starve to death.
I like to believe that my children will see our excesses as benign rather than barbaric, that our penchant for Blackberries and Wifi did not, in fact, push us closer to the apocalypse. And even that, in our own, techno-obssessed way, we helped keep it at bay.
At last, after a period in the wilderness, de Quiros goes back to the sort of inspired, challenging writing I enjoyed.
"...there is an even bigger reason why I want my kids to develop a capacity to think for themselves. It is not just to equip them to defend themselves from the world, it is also to equip them to defend themselves from me. Or at least from my generation. I go back to the proposition I made at the beginning, which is that the hardest enemy to fight is oneself. The hardest enemy to see is oneself. It’s a truism, but it’s true: The rebels of yesterday are the tyrants of today.
Some very literally so. Nothing for me constitutes a bigger irony than that the same activism that taught us to question everything under the sun also demanded that we never question the cause we were espousing. Or indeed the methods it employed. To do so was to be called a revisionist, not unlike being called heretic by the Church, and suffer the same fate. "
How true. I was never an activist, nor a die hard defender of the Establishment. I like to believe that I have always thought for myself, even if at times I've come to the same conclusions. I hate the labels of conservative and liberal, left and right; the political process to me seemed to be nothing more than a glorified sales pitch, or else an endless feedback loop which quickly degenerates into high pitched noise.
My emotions and my politics have always been very personal, and (I admit) very self interested. I sometimes wonder what my children would make of the values of my time: an unhealthy obsession with money, a naive belief in technology and progress. MOst likely they will think of us in the same way we think of those idealists from the '50s and '60s: except instead of flying cars and plastic houses, we pin our hopes on the Digital Networked Economy(tm) and the Open Software Revolution(tm)(r)(c) even as children in Niger and Sudan and North Korea starve to death.
I like to believe that my children will see our excesses as benign rather than barbaric, that our penchant for Blackberries and Wifi did not, in fact, push us closer to the apocalypse. And even that, in our own, techno-obssessed way, we helped keep it at bay.
Labels: philippines
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Gas or No Gas?
[tags: _philippines]
Having recently talked to Nanay and Tatay back home one of the Big News items is the price of gas (petrol) in the Philippines, something on the order of 35 to 39 pesos per liter. People
In fact the same story is happening all over the world; here in the UK some forecourts (gas stations) are charging £1.05 per liter - that's 115 pesos PER LITER. Earlier this week there was a mini-panic buying spree with people trying to hoard fuel like there's no tomorrow. A planned fuel blockade fizzled out though, and things seem to have quieted down.
In the meantime sites like Petrol Direct are experiencing a huge surge in traffic, people suddenly realizing that things are not going to get better, any time soon. The car's languishing at the company garage. Ah well.
Having recently talked to Nanay and Tatay back home one of the Big News items is the price of gas (petrol) in the Philippines, something on the order of 35 to 39 pesos per liter. People
In fact the same story is happening all over the world; here in the UK some forecourts (gas stations) are charging £1.05 per liter - that's 115 pesos PER LITER. Earlier this week there was a mini-panic buying spree with people trying to hoard fuel like there's no tomorrow. A planned fuel blockade fizzled out though, and things seem to have quieted down.
In the meantime sites like Petrol Direct are experiencing a huge surge in traffic, people suddenly realizing that things are not going to get better, any time soon. The car's languishing at the company garage. Ah well.
Labels: news, philippines
Monday, September 05, 2005
Storms
[tags: _philippines ¦ _news]
In the Philippines, hurricanes come and go, demolishing villages from time to time, and people whose houses are demolished pick themselves up and continue. Those who are less lucky can count on their neighbors, if not the government, to help out a little bit, and continue nevertheless. Things move slowly, but they always do in the Philippines.
In the States, a hurricane erases an entire city, and no one seems to care, no one does anything. People are left on their own to loot, die in their own shit, and the world watches the richest nation in the world leave its poor to rot in hell.
Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, and in its wake, indignation and fury at the most incompetent response ever to a national disaster in US history. Bush seems so used to the company of his affluent white conservative base that he seems physically unable to see the human tragedy of New Orleans, even as he visited the disaster site twice in the last week.
His heartless comments on press conferences, his knee-jerk dispatch of Dad and Bill to raise funds, at the same time declaring himself "satisfied" with the unbelievable katangahan of his flunkies - all of this, was typical of a man unused to actually doing anything of use for his countrymen. I can excuse Bush's tendency to get the facts wrong as just plain stupidity. But this goes beyond stupidity, to plain heartlessness. What a fucking tool this president is turning out to be.
I hope the fallout reaches all the way to the top, and they (the witless people of the States) finally rise up and demand accountability for this mass murder by negligence.
In the Philippines, hurricanes come and go, demolishing villages from time to time, and people whose houses are demolished pick themselves up and continue. Those who are less lucky can count on their neighbors, if not the government, to help out a little bit, and continue nevertheless. Things move slowly, but they always do in the Philippines.
In the States, a hurricane erases an entire city, and no one seems to care, no one does anything. People are left on their own to loot, die in their own shit, and the world watches the richest nation in the world leave its poor to rot in hell.
Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, and in its wake, indignation and fury at the most incompetent response ever to a national disaster in US history. Bush seems so used to the company of his affluent white conservative base that he seems physically unable to see the human tragedy of New Orleans, even as he visited the disaster site twice in the last week.His heartless comments on press conferences, his knee-jerk dispatch of Dad and Bill to raise funds, at the same time declaring himself "satisfied" with the unbelievable katangahan of his flunkies - all of this, was typical of a man unused to actually doing anything of use for his countrymen. I can excuse Bush's tendency to get the facts wrong as just plain stupidity. But this goes beyond stupidity, to plain heartlessness. What a fucking tool this president is turning out to be.
I hope the fallout reaches all the way to the top, and they (the witless people of the States) finally rise up and demand accountability for this mass murder by negligence.
Labels: news, philippines
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Celebrity
It's been a while since I've read Neil Gaiman's blog, but Nanet recently informed me that he'd just been to Manila, where over 3000 people attended one of his readings / signings. Gaiman is a minor deity (an American God?) there due to the overwhelming popularity of his early comic work and later novels.
The funny thing is, I remember mentioning two years ago when I attended one of his signings in London how people in the Philippines would go mad if ever he came there. His answer was, "I've never been invited". Imagine that.
I like to think that my questions to him at least brought last weekend one step closer to reality. Celebrities who've never been there are always bowled over (Pearl Jam called it their most favorite venue for the Vs. tour). Plus, apparently our calamansi juice is vastly underappreciated.
In the Tent
posted by Neil 7/09/2005 12:54:00 PM
In the Philippines, the people are enthusiastic on a level that makes the Brazilians look reserved and polite. They shout very loudly when they're happy, too. There's a noise that a few thousand of the locals make when they all shout at once to let you know they're happy to see you that made me finally understand the idea of a wall of sound...
The funny thing is, I remember mentioning two years ago when I attended one of his signings in London how people in the Philippines would go mad if ever he came there. His answer was, "I've never been invited". Imagine that.
I like to think that my questions to him at least brought last weekend one step closer to reality. Celebrities who've never been there are always bowled over (Pearl Jam called it their most favorite venue for the Vs. tour). Plus, apparently our calamansi juice is vastly underappreciated.
In the Tent
posted by Neil 7/09/2005 12:54:00 PM
In the Philippines, the people are enthusiastic on a level that makes the Brazilians look reserved and polite. They shout very loudly when they're happy, too. There's a noise that a few thousand of the locals make when they all shout at once to let you know they're happy to see you that made me finally understand the idea of a wall of sound...
Labels: books, greece, london, news, philippines, random stuff, travel, USA
Thursday, April 07, 2005
PinoyUK
One of the things I've been working on lately is a website slash forum for Filipinos in the UK. Ariel helped put it up, and we have been working on getting content on and tying up with some of the other communities here.
The biggest stumbling block so far is the lack of a shared vision among the different "cliques" we've been dealing with. I've had to massage the egos of some of them - it ain't pretty. Nothing more frustrating than trying to explain that no, your site is NOT meant to repeat what they've already done. I still have some emails to get through, and I'm not relishing it at all.
The forum is currently under the PinoyUK.com domain, at least it was until the original "founder" of the balita mailing list of the same name emailed Ariel asking us to change it.
At this point I'm already quite frustrated, but we'll see if we can come to an acceptable arrangement.
The biggest stumbling block so far is the lack of a shared vision among the different "cliques" we've been dealing with. I've had to massage the egos of some of them - it ain't pretty. Nothing more frustrating than trying to explain that no, your site is NOT meant to repeat what they've already done. I still have some emails to get through, and I'm not relishing it at all.
The forum is currently under the PinoyUK.com domain, at least it was until the original "founder" of the balita mailing list of the same name emailed Ariel asking us to change it.
At this point I'm already quite frustrated, but we'll see if we can come to an acceptable arrangement.
Labels: philippines
Monday, March 14, 2005
the PinoyUK forum
Ariel Sagum and I have set up a website meant to be the community page for Filipinos living in the UK. We've managed to do the initial bits but are stalling on the actual execution. This isn't for a lack of enthusiasm over the project; ever since Van, Raj, Anj and I, moved by the film Imelda, decided to do something about the state of the country I've quietly tried to move things along. Ariel's been a great help, but then again we all have day jobs; and there's nothing like the present to obscure the future.
Having said this, I'll be taking some action this week and mailing the PinoyUK forum for ideas. Maybe we can all stop sitting on our hands and make some real progress.
Or maybe not. Either way.
Having said this, I'll be taking some action this week and mailing the PinoyUK forum for ideas. Maybe we can all stop sitting on our hands and make some real progress.
Or maybe not. Either way.
Labels: philippines
Monday, December 20, 2004
have a very Greenhills Christmas
Whew. Am back in Manila for a couple of weeks to celebrate Christmas with the family. The kids are a lot taller than when I was last home in April. In fact, Gikoy's outgrown most of us in gawky teenager mode.
Anyway, this Christmas Van and I decided to take the hassle out of gift giving and tell each other what we wanted. so I asked her to spring for the first 2 months of this phone contract with 3. The handset is the latest in a long line of must-have gadgets I, er, must have. The best part? It's free.
* * *
Just finished an exploratory expedition into the dark heart of Greenhills. For the uninitiated, it's the black hole of Christmas shopping, where the hapless shopper can get forever lost in a maze of stalls. There's a technology ghetto where I'll probably buy Nanay and Tatay's gifts. There's all sorts of cheap shirts and bags for the rest of the list. And toys for the kids. But the hard part isn't finding the gifts, it's getting in... deciding what to buy... and leaving before the madness infects your brain.
* * *
Been busy since we came here. among other things, I've had the obligatory magic all-nighter in argee's place, coffee and fireworks at Eastwood, a buffet of crabs and oysters and snails at kamay kainan (the BEST deal in the universe... P198!) and hung out with heds trying to get her powerpoint Christmas CD to work.
I can't believe it's another year gone. Insert cliche here. It's depressing and invigorating at the same time, but mostly depressing.
Anyway.
Anyway, this Christmas Van and I decided to take the hassle out of gift giving and tell each other what we wanted. so I asked her to spring for the first 2 months of this phone contract with 3. The handset is the latest in a long line of must-have gadgets I, er, must have. The best part? It's free.
* * *
Just finished an exploratory expedition into the dark heart of Greenhills. For the uninitiated, it's the black hole of Christmas shopping, where the hapless shopper can get forever lost in a maze of stalls. There's a technology ghetto where I'll probably buy Nanay and Tatay's gifts. There's all sorts of cheap shirts and bags for the rest of the list. And toys for the kids. But the hard part isn't finding the gifts, it's getting in... deciding what to buy... and leaving before the madness infects your brain.
* * *
Been busy since we came here. among other things, I've had the obligatory magic all-nighter in argee's place, coffee and fireworks at Eastwood, a buffet of crabs and oysters and snails at kamay kainan (the BEST deal in the universe... P198!) and hung out with heds trying to get her powerpoint Christmas CD to work.
I can't believe it's another year gone. Insert cliche here. It's depressing and invigorating at the same time, but mostly depressing.
Anyway.
Labels: philippines
Thursday, November 18, 2004
"Dispersal"
For me the cruel history of the Philippines has always been more or less academic. After all, I was watching Sesame Street during the first People Power and wasn't even born yet during the killings at Plaza Miranda.
But this just put things into perspective for me.
Hacienda Luisita death toll now 14
Updated 02:19am (Mla time) Nov 18, 2004
By Russell Arador, Ronald Dizon, Jo Clemente
Inquirer News Service
Seven more people, including two children, were reported killed in Tuesday's dispersal of striking workers of Central Azucarera de Tarlac, raising the death toll to 14.
The children -- aged 2 and 5 -- died of suffocation when tear gas used by the police and military during the dispersal drifted to their quarters, according to the workers. Two other bodies were found in nearby sugarcane fields a day after the clash.
Charges of assault, illegal assembly, inciting to sedition and malicious mischief were being readied against more than 100 strikers, the Inquirer learned.
Hundreds of policemen and soldiers, backed by an armored personnel carrier and several fire trucks, stormed the barricades of the strikers at the main gate of the plantation at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.
The APC was used to ram the gate from inside the sugar mill. Police and military took control of the main gate after initially using teargas and water cannons on the protesters. The men in uniform later fired live rounds on the strikers.
The military operation against the protesters is not yet over.
But this just put things into perspective for me.
Hacienda Luisita death toll now 14
Updated 02:19am (Mla time) Nov 18, 2004
By Russell Arador, Ronald Dizon, Jo Clemente
Inquirer News Service
Seven more people, including two children, were reported killed in Tuesday's dispersal of striking workers of Central Azucarera de Tarlac, raising the death toll to 14.
The children -- aged 2 and 5 -- died of suffocation when tear gas used by the police and military during the dispersal drifted to their quarters, according to the workers. Two other bodies were found in nearby sugarcane fields a day after the clash.
Charges of assault, illegal assembly, inciting to sedition and malicious mischief were being readied against more than 100 strikers, the Inquirer learned.
Hundreds of policemen and soldiers, backed by an armored personnel carrier and several fire trucks, stormed the barricades of the strikers at the main gate of the plantation at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.
The APC was used to ram the gate from inside the sugar mill. Police and military took control of the main gate after initially using teargas and water cannons on the protesters. The men in uniform later fired live rounds on the strikers.
The military operation against the protesters is not yet over.
Labels: news, philippines
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Manila, manila....
In the mental minefield caused by recent developments I took a glance at some cost of living indexes churned out recently. Apparently I left behind one of the cheapest cities to live in:
"Less developed Asian economies remain significantly cheaper, with Manila (131st) occupying the joint second from bottom spot in the overall rankings and 6 further cities offering a cost of living of less than half of that in New York."
Huh. While London (my current home town) is 6th worldwide, US cities like New York and LA are even cheaper than Sydney. I kid you not.
Of course all of this is because of weak dollar blues. So this maybe isn't the best time to up stakes and move, no?
EDIT: This site claims London is actually #2. Looking at my council tax bill, I can certainly believe THAT.
"Less developed Asian economies remain significantly cheaper, with Manila (131st) occupying the joint second from bottom spot in the overall rankings and 6 further cities offering a cost of living of less than half of that in New York."
Huh. While London (my current home town) is 6th worldwide, US cities like New York and LA are even cheaper than Sydney. I kid you not.
Of course all of this is because of weak dollar blues. So this maybe isn't the best time to up stakes and move, no?
EDIT: This site claims London is actually #2. Looking at my council tax bill, I can certainly believe THAT.
Labels: philippines
Monday, October 11, 2004
"Birit queens"
Today's award for News Ten Years Too Late comes from the Inquirer's Entertainment Section. Nestor Torres talks about the "belters" of Philippine pop music - the Regines and Dulces - who sound as though they would either burst a vein or kill all the dogs in Manila with their renditions of Mariah Carey "ballads".
I used to think it was something genetic, the thin air in Streetlife (RIP) maybe, until I heard more soulful performers like Jaya and mellower crooners like Aiza Seguerra. You heard me.
I used to think it was something genetic, the thin air in Streetlife (RIP) maybe, until I heard more soulful performers like Jaya and mellower crooners like Aiza Seguerra. You heard me.
Labels: news, philippines
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Alarm bell - INQ7.net
As always, de Quiros cuts close to the bone with his articles. This one especially.:
"...American advertisers had special ads for various ethnic communities -- Mexicans, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. but none for Filipinos. He learned soon enough why. Filipinos were considered a subset of the American market, they did not need a different pitch. A reasonable assumption, to go by the very ads we have right here. Filipinos are not assimilated, they are subsumed-and the subsumption begins right at home."
I am debating whether to "borrow" the entire article as inq7 now takes them off after a few weeks... it's such a good read.
"...American advertisers had special ads for various ethnic communities -- Mexicans, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. but none for Filipinos. He learned soon enough why. Filipinos were considered a subset of the American market, they did not need a different pitch. A reasonable assumption, to go by the very ads we have right here. Filipinos are not assimilated, they are subsumed-and the subsumption begins right at home."
I am debating whether to "borrow" the entire article as inq7 now takes them off after a few weeks... it's such a good read.
Labels: news, philippines
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