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November 8th, 2004 03:39 PM #1Misplaced Priorities can Mislead a Nation
"He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in
what is great." John Ruskin
Jasmine Trias visited the Philippines very recently. Everyone was agog
waiting to welcome her. The excitement was remarkable as the media and
many of our "kababayans" flocked to the airport to see her. This scenario
is typical of Filipinos. Sadly, it reflects our country's misplaced
priorities.
Contest of the Mind. Another young girl came back to the country just a
couple of weeks ago. Her name is Faye (not her real name for very
sensitive reasons). Unknown to her countrymen, this eleven year old girl
brought honor to the Philippines. She represented the country in the
Intercontinental Science Quiz Net in Australia. Out of 57 countries
represented, Faye garnered First Place for the Philippines. Germany came
in second while the United States came in third.
In stark contrast to the hooplah extended to Jasmine Trias, Faye's
arrival did not make any noise. Not a peep.In an earlier competition,
"Mathematics for the Young Asians" in Indonesia, Faye also came out in the
Top Five. But just like the Australian event, this feat did not receive
any recognition in our country at all. Our interests seem to be set on
other "priorities." We are more interested in promoting celebrity guests
instead of educational and intellectual pursuits. Indirectly and quite
obviously we are teaching our children that development of the external
image takes priority over educational achievement.
Faye's story is inspiring. She comes from a broken family. Her father
falsely claimed that he was unmarried when he married her mom. When her
mom found out, she decided to raise up her daughter alone. Despite the
difficulty, Faye in no way used it as an excuse for complacency in her
studies. In grade school, she was a consistent honor student. She took
every academic requirement as a challenge. And she delivered. At one time,
she submitted a project thesis in Australia that won "The Best Physics and
Science Award". The award qualified the Philippines to be one of the top
10 countries that would compete in Australia, among the 57 countries that
joined. Considering her family's financial constraints, she and her mom
asked help from our government for their trip to Australia to claim the
"Best Physics" award and to join the Science competition. They saw this
challenge as a rare opportunity offered to Faye and her country,
considering that only two Asian countries qualified - Japan and the
Philippines. Unfortunately, our government had other priorities.Mother and
daughter then tried to ask help from individual senators and congressmen.
All turned them down except for one who was willing to help, on condition
that Faye should give public credit to the senator for supporting her even
in the earlier competitions she joined. Out of integrity, the mother could
not accede to this arrangement. Thus no outside help was found. Faced with
this situation, Faye and her mom took out all their savings and went out of
their way to secure by themselves the additional finances needed. The only
driving force behind them was their desire to give honor to God and to the
Philippines.With the little resources they had, they went to Australia on
September 17, 2004 for the competition. They claimed the trophy and cash
award for the "Best Physics" thesis Faye submitted in Sydney and then flew
to Brisbane for the quiz competition.
No kababayan welcomed them in Australia except for a kind Filipina they
met in the plane who assisted them. As they were checking in at a hotel,
the "kind" Filipina who volunteered to help them disappeared taking with
her Faye's and her mother's bags, passports, and plane tickets. At that
point,they literally had nothing left except for the few pieces of clothes
and their faith in God. They had to sell the extra clothes left to be able
to buy food. In need once again, they sought help from some of the Filipino
officials in Australia but to no avail. Oddly, the Filipino officials
there were too busy with other priorities, not minding to help a young girl and a mother
who had no other desire but to bring honor to our country. Given a budget
for only a one night stay at the hotel, mother and daughter had to check
out the following day. Leaving their luggage on deposit and without money
for transportation fare, they decided kilometers to the competition venue
on their native Filipino costumes. If walking a two kilometer distance was
bad enough, how much more would be walking the distance on their native
costume along the highways of Australia!
Upon arrival at the competition site, Faye and her mom were very surprised
when they discovered that the delegates from each of the other countries
were well supported by a band, a cheering squad, and a flag, while Faye
only had her mother and the anxiety of lost passports and plane tickets.
Worse, representatives of each country were required to decorate their
booths. With only the three-piece costume they had on, Faye and her mom
were even more surprised when the organizing committee awarded their booth
as "The Most Creative" booth. In the early part of the competition, Japan,
Brazil and Spain were eliminated. As the only Asian country left to compete
against six Western nations, the Philippines was cheered on by Japan. Faye
was encouraged by her Japanese cheering squad, but in her heart, how she
wished that she had her own countrymen to cheer her on. When Faye finally
won first place and the Philippine national anthem was being played, she
prayed silently thanking God for making her a Filipina. Despite all the
painful experiences she had with her country, her priorities did not waver.
A Japanes diplomat was the one who helped Faye and her mom to secure
temporary pass so they could return to the Philippines. The money they won
was just enough for their fare back home and their temporary passport. When
Faye was relating this story before a crowd, she said, "Let us love our
nation, for nobody else will." Faye did not allow her painful experiences to
tear down her loyalty to her country. She is not a celebrity but a servant
out to serve her fellow Filipino.
A Small Way to Greatness.Our concept of leadership in this country is
pitifully skewed. We mistakenly think that leadership is about "lording"
it over other people. Christ corrected this distorted thinking when he
said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord
it
over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so
with you, instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all - Mark 10:42-44
Sadly, we are far from the precept of this truth. It is no surprise
then that we have a dearth of real leaders in this country-leaders who
would set the nation's interests above their own. In the same way, our
concept
of citizenship is damaged. Those seeking for social good for themselves are
never willing to grant the same good to others. Hence
it is common for us hear stories of Filipinos who take advantage of their
fellow citizens.
We want to be served, but we are unwilling to serve. We dream of becoming
like Jasmine Trias. We want our children to be like her. We would rather
spend on things that would make us look good instead of things that would
make us grow in character. We prefer stardom glitter over service-oriented
endeavors.
Quite the contrary, Faye spend sleepless nights studying to win the
competition because she knows her priorities. Unlike Jasmine Trias, Faye
did not receive a hero's welcome when she came back, but, young as she is,
she keeps calling on Filipinos to love the Philippines because every
Filipino is a valuable gift of God. Life, really is not a matter of
intelligence but a matter of setting our priorities right. The question
is: what's our focus on "grand" things that make us superficial or on
simple things that lead us to greatness?
Faye's story reminds us all to look within ourselves. This eleven year
old girl could have complained to the media, but she did not. She went out
of her own small way to bring greatness to this land. Right priorities grant
us wisdom. When properly set, priorities point us to the right people we
need to invest in, the right use of our energy, the righ resources to draw
from, and the right endeavors support. From the words of Faye's mother,
"We all wanted to win, but success is not measured through by merely
winning. It is measured through our hearts, if it is truly attuned with
God all the time. It is all that really matters for we have only an
Audience of One. Whatever we have achieved, big or small, remember one
thing: it is for God and God alone. The King of the Kingdom of a higher
world.
kawawa sila..ni walang suporta binigay ang gobyerno. na touch dito "Let us love our
nation, for nobody else will."
inspiring...
pero, eto naisip ko naman based on mike enriquez's program over the radio this morning....sabi ng ombudsman, P200 Billions ang nalulugi ng pilipinas because of corruption ANNUALLY.
anak ng teteng! kada-taon yun ha. mga hinayupak na mga opisyal ng gobyerno to.
ikaw na ordinaryong mamamayan....minamahal mo bansa mo,
pinapaganda mo, pero meron at patuloy pa rin binababoy ng mga ilan-ilan demonyong naka pwesto sa gobyerno.
hhaaayyyy.
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November 8th, 2004 03:47 PM #2
watched this sa people ata..not sure sumtyms i mix up abs n gma late nyt programs..kawawa nga niloko pa cla ng pinoy sa australia n they wer forced to sell their stuff just to push on with the contest and when they won gnamit nila prize for their plane ticket home. kahit embassy no support daw. kawawa naman.
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Tsikoteer
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- Oct 2002
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November 8th, 2004 03:51 PM #3200M corruption a year...
totoo yan baiskee,
meron dito sa pampanga, kung bumili ng sasakyan parang nagpapalit ng damit,
expedition, pajero, trooper, explorers.
grabe kaya ako minsan ayoko ng magbayad ng tax.
hindi ko alam ko kung san ko kukunin ang tuition fee ng anak ko, hindi ko alam kung saan ko kukunin ang pang opera sa anak ko, sa monthly checkups nila, sa mga shots tapos etong si public official may kapal mukha pang maglakad sa pampanga, buwiset talaga...bad trip, yosi nga!
may araw din ang mga buwaya,Last edited by kimpOy; November 8th, 2004 at 03:57 PM.
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November 8th, 2004 03:51 PM #4
I don't see what all the fuss is about regarding Jasmine Trias.
She's not even THAT good nor good-looking. And everyone was all too eager to "claim" her as one of our own when she never even acknowledged her Filipino heritage by herself. Kung hindi pa siya kinulit-kulit ng mga tao.....
We reward mediocrity at the expense of true greatness and heroism. Maling-mali talaga priorities ng mga tao these days, the same kind of thinking that allowed Joseph Estrada to become president.
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November 8th, 2004 03:54 PM #5
kakaawa naman yung bata.. niloko nang kapwa filipino.
makes you think twice if our country's still worth it.
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November 8th, 2004 04:09 PM #6
Sana hwag tantanan ng media ang isyung ito para mapahiya naman ang mga kinauukulan! Sana ha, kasi alam naman natin ang media dito. Self-serving din!
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November 8th, 2004 04:10 PM #7Originally posted by Bogeyman
I don't see what all the fuss is about regarding Jasmine Trias.
She's not even THAT good nor good-looking. And everyone was all too eager to "claim" her as one of our own when she never even acknowledged her Filipino heritage by herself. Kung hindi pa siya kinulit-kulit ng mga tao.....
government does'nt support that which is not extremely popular.
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November 8th, 2004 04:18 PM #8
SYET!!! Pardon me pero nakakabwisit!!! Kapwa pilipino pa ang nanloko!!! Tapos ang gobyerno alang support Hapones pa ang tumulong!!! ITONG MGA OPISYALES KASI NATIN SA GOBYERNO MAGALING LANG SILA PAG NAKAMIT NA NG KAPWA NILA YUNG PANALO SAKA NILA IBUBULGAR NA TINULUNGAN NILA YUNG NANALO!!!
Sana marami pang gaya ni Faye. I hope and pray that my children will still be loyal to our country paglaki nila gaya ni Faye!!!
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November 8th, 2004 04:38 PM #9
nakakainis naman yung mandurugas na pinoy na yun. sana maging successful yang batang yan.
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November 8th, 2004 05:21 PM #10
wala talaga maasahan sa mga philippine embassies! busy sila sa kanilang mga personal businesses gaya ng door-to-door, pilipino supermarket, recruitment agency, import-export, etc. kung hindi ka din lang pagkaka-kwartahan hindi ka papansinin sa philippine embassy.
kami nga ng mga kasama ko nuon nung nag-work pa ako sa saudi, imbes na tulungan kami ng labor attache duon e ginago lang kami e. pagkatapos kumuha ng pera sa amin para daw sa gastos ng pag-file ng complaints namin, ayun lahat ng ebidensiya na submit namin sa kanya binenta pa sa employer namin.
re jasmine trias - she is NOT A FILIPINA. she is an american. period.Last edited by yebo; November 8th, 2004 at 05:34 PM.
Buhay na buhay ang BGC this evening. Bukas halos lahat ng restaurants. Sabi pa nung isang cashier...
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