On the Middle Ground: Traditionalist with Some Liberal Values

The Western world has been very divided lately. The great divide between the far-right (conservative) and far-left (liberal) groups has intensified especially in social media. In the Philippines, I don’t usually associate myself with millennials – whom I used to stereotypically view to be overly liberal, individualistic, socio-politically apathetic individuals engaging in grievous sins (like pre-marital sex). However, on the economic stance, I agree with some left-leaning stances such as universal healthcare and socialized tuition fee and housing. The balance, I believe, must be maintained. Greedy corporations run by capitalists have a tendency to worsen economic inequality. (Like what happened in the Paradise Papers scandal). Too much socialism eradicates the need for work and influences lazy tendencies in people.

In the Philippines, I began to appreciate liberal people especially during discourse of various ideas. Many of them willing to listen, and are open-minded about different ideas (ranging from economic protectionism to personal expression methods), the exact opposite sometimes exhibited by traditionalist. However, I, being a believer of the necessity of regulation in some aspects of life, side with traditional conservatives when it comes to religious beliefs, language preservation, and topics regarding the family and sanctity of marriage. I even believe in an elective constitutional monarchy I do not condemn or judge other people, unless they can be subject to judgement depending on the circumstances. Sometimes I find myself like posts relating to Crusader memes (e.g. “Deus vult!”) or Roman imperial memes (Ave Roma!) and discuss Catholicism with heavily conservative folks. On the other hand, I see myself liking posts regarding socialized housing, anti-American imperialism, LGBTQ rights (except same-sex “marriage”), and pro-Reproductive Health Bill (pro-RH) posts and memes (except those advocating abortion).

Being on the middle ground is not bad, as long as you’re not fence-sitting for a long time. At least, we can show that centrists still believe in careful balance and are least to be radical (which I believe is different from being passionate in a certain field).

Travelogue 2016: Our Field Trip to the Republic of Singapore (Q&A)

The UST Chemical Engineering Class of 2016 Educational Tour

Crossroads: Unfold Impending Chemical Engineering Grounds in Singapore

Travelogue 2016

Author's Note: The following post was submitted by the author to the University of Santo Tomas Chemical Engineering Department in line with the requirements of a particular subject course covering field trips and seminars.

Prologue

On 5 April 2016, members of the University of Santo Tomas - Chemical Engineering (ChE) Batch 2016 embarked on an international field trip to the Republic of Singapore, the first in ChE history.

This international field trip was in line with the requirements of the course ChE 524 – Field Trips and Seminars, the latter being a course offered to all 5th year graduating students of the chemical engineering program.

The field trip, which ended on 10 April, was supervised by six members of the faculty, including the department chair.

In what way did the field trip help further your understanding of professional and ethical responsibility?

Upon our landing at Changi Airport in Singapore, I already felt a change in atmosphere. Many people whom I assume to be Singaporeans appeared to be very orderly even while walking. Also, they fall in line (queue) in an orderly fashion. They are very disciplined, especially about time management. Comparing this with Filipino stereotypical work ethics, I believe that merely comparing their work ethics with ours contributed greatly in understanding professional and ethical responsibilities, the latter being a goal of the chemical engineering program. We must use this observation as a lesson and apply it to our work ethics.

Our professional responsibility was also tested during the plant tours since we had to strictly follow the set timeline in our itinerary. Also, I have personally observed that long restroom breaks, slow walking pace of my batchmates have raised eyebrows among the ethnically Chinese Singaporeans working in some of the factories we visited. The naturally carefree Filipino work ethic may not always compatible with Singaporean counterparts. 

Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) was also a test of our communication skills. I can say that their rail transit system is around fifty times more efficient than the Philippines’ ailing railway systems. Even the awesomeness of the relatively spacious and efficient Philippine LRT-2 which I [used to] ride to school is diminished when compared to this.

In what way did the tour improve your ability for effective written, visual, and oral communication?

Since we were in a foreign country, our oral communications skills were put to the test as our Taglish, or Filipino proficiency were obviously of little or no use among most Singaporeans. The most challenging for me was understanding Singaporean-accented English, since although they’re using grammatically correct English, the accent makes it harder for us to hear and immediately understand them properly. Visual communication skills were also highly appreciated since Singaporean public transportation has a knack for using icons alongside quadrilingual word signs.

Two members of ChE Batch 2016 reading the information board at a bus stop.

This tour emphasized the importance of an engineer’s ability to communicate, for what is the use of an amazing idea if one cannot share it to the world’s development? Thus, I believe that awareness on globalization should be used as a reason to improve our language skills, especially with English and Filipino. (I separated the two languages since I have observed than in Metro Manila, the colloquial lingua franca even among academicians is actually Taglish, or heavily code-switched Filipino.)

The author at Newater.

Concluding Statements

The theme of the field trip also suits well with this objective, as it reminds us that learning is not limited to the four corners of the classroom. Not only that, many things are learned from experience, not from academic classes.

Overall, I can consider the trip to be an enlightening and one-of-a-kind experience. I have learned many things in this five-day trip. After seeing the development of the city without jeopardizing the environment because of their sustainable development skills, I could not help but compare it with our homeland the Philippines. The next challenge is to see and try to emulate the good aspects of their professional work ethics and apply it to our work ethics. Also we could or should try ("try" because ideally it is possible) to help develop the Philippines into a country that has a high human development index like Singapore. 

Short Post on the LTFRB and Uber Issue

To quote an internet commentator: "Uber continued accepting applicants even if there were instructions from LTFRB to put on hold all applications for Uber and Grab franchising. Grab on the other hand complied. That's why Uber was suspended for a month"

This is why I was kinda neutral on this issue. You see, I'm not against Uber per se, but did anybody notice that it exceeded its supposed goal in reducing traffic while providing safe mode of transport to their patrons. Instead of having cars share their rides, it has become a glorified millennial-driven "taxi" service (for upper-middle class people) with...well better service than most taxis. Having too much private Uber cars plying around Manila will aggravate traffic (though the blame should not lie on them). 

Short Status Post #1 Series 2017

Note: I will be posting random "thoughts for the day" posts from now on. This is similar to what I do on Facebook but with a more public scope.
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I don't know, but I never ever really liked jeans (denim pants). I find them heavy and uncomfortable (unless I'm a worker or in the field). I always prefer classy slacks, and other pants.

Verse from the Bible Quoted by Philippine Banknotes

This may be old “news” for some, but it was only last month (March 2017) that I realized that our own monetary bills quoted the bible.

Older banknotes wherein the quote is not present

Although I’ve been keen to examine the new generation Philippine banknotes, it was only last month when I realized that the phrase “Pinagpala ang bayan na ang Diyos ay ang Panginoon” (Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord) was actually a quotation from the Bible, specifically that of Psalms 33:12.

             Psalm 33:12 (King James Version)

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Awit 33:12 (Ang Biblia 1905)

¹² Mapalad ang bansa na ang Dios ay ang Panginoon; ang bayan na kaniyang pinili sa ganang kaniyang sariling mana.

Before realizing this, I thought the quote was just some random religious quip that was added by a zealous member of the numismatic committee that designed the banknotes, or probably an People Power/EDSA-related quote, the same way 2 Chronicles 7:14 became commonly associated with it.

I do not have doubts that indeed this verse is true, but in the Philippine setting as a whole, I believe it is not applicable. Is God really the god of the Philippines? Many here are proud that we’re the only Christian country in Southeast Asia (forgetting our tiny Portuguese-speaking neighbor East Timor), but corruption is prevalent in this country, sad to say. Idolatry, let the reader understand, is also rampant.

Isaiah 29:13 (Revised Standard Version)

And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

    and honor me with their lips,

    while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote;

Atheists, especially the radical anti-theists, also lost their minds and were highly indignant after finding this verse inscribed in their banknotes. Some do have valid viewpoints against putting a Bible quotation in the banknotes. One of them goes like this: If one can add a Bible quote in legal tender, might as well add a verse from the Quran or from the Book of Mormon.

The Filipino Freethinkers group even went as far as to call for the removal of the said quote, according to their statement:

The quotation from the Christian Old Testament and its placing on legal tender is a manifest violation of the Constitution and the right to religious freedom of the country’s citizens as it forces even non-Christians to participate in the distribution of explicitly Judeo-Christian material. As a body that represents all of its citizens, Christian or not, the Philippine government must be a secular one; it cannot champion the religious beliefs of any particular faith. – Filipino Freethinkers Statement (2010) [Link: http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2010/12/20/statement-regarding-new-peso-bills/]

These groups would quote the 1987 Philippine Constitution's Bill of Rights which, according to them, are “wantonly violated by the [addition of the biblical quote]”.

1987 Philippine Constitution

Article III, Section 5. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.

I personally don’t see any big deal about it. A similar thing happened in the United States in 2011, where an atheist group called Freedom from Religion Foundation tried to sue the U.S. Treasury Department over the “In God We Trust” motto printed on dollar bills; they lost.

Even if a verse from the Quran or from the Avesta (of Zoroastrians) was added to the banknotes, it will not and will never be a form of proselytism as long as the quote is not explicitly a proselytizing one. As long as moral values are promoted, will you eschew the use of banknotes because of mere words that do not affect its legal tender value? Quoting Section 5 of the Philippine constitution is useless since it prohibits the making of a law. A piece of banknote is not a law! It is not even a religious text that can proselytize, let alone something to be read and analyzed by its users (except the numismatics).

If you claim god does not exist, mere words or mentions of god should not in any way affect or oppress you. End of story.

On Being an Only Child

I was born an only child. Not because my parents did not want plenty of kids, but because on some “limiting” factors they never told me directly. Initially happy with being an only child, I then learned how lonely it is without a sibling. My cousins, who were much older than me, served as my playmates, but they were not always available since they were already in high school during that time.

I would usually say “Ayoko ng kapatid. Masaya naman ako.” during at time. Things changed when my mother would bring a playmate, the daughter of her friend, to our house and we would play “shop”. (We pretend to have a shop and we “buy and sell” our “goods” – mostly our toys. My mother would relate how I would very sad when my playmate was about to leave.

Me (wearing red shirt). My much-older cousin (in gray shirt) at the back.

Growing up without playmates of the same age, my social skills development, I believe, was affected the most. Although I had some playmates in elementary school, someone to lean on, someone that can keep my secrets is someone I never had in my childhood. It was around late high school when I noticed that I am most attracted to petite girls with innocent-looking faces (cute, girly and little), although I never considered courting an important thing before (probably because I was satisfied when I could pinch their faces with impunity).

Now I want to have someone who fits the perfect little sister image I have. Ayoko ng kapatid na lalaki, gusto ko magkaroon ng kapatid na babae. Someone to talk to and have fun with is what I want. I used to be left alone at home most of the time, that’s why I’m used to a quiet environment and is probably what honed my creative writing skills. (When I took an informal psychological test, my creative imagination was said to be one of my most powerful skills.) Although I used to be a shy person, I’m outgoing too much that sometimes I’m clingy to people. I never run out of stories to tell as long as the person who’s with me resonates with my interests. Of course, sometimes I crave for positive attention, thus my exaggerated gestures sometimes.

To be honest, there was a time when I felt superior in thought since, having no one to talk to, I would read about socio-political issues surrounding the world. It was exposure to pro-environmental shows that shaped my environmentalism. It also gave me the thing I want to do with my life. Then I realize, there are also many more people promoting environmental principles, so I’ve decided that I want to join them someday, even in the littlest of ways. (Greenpeace is popular, but I’m pro-GMO which is in contrast to their staunch opposition to GMO.)

Being an only child also has a few, unnoticeable benefits. I have some secrets not even my parents or relatives know. Being alone at home can also allow me to do some things I cannot do fully in public. A few already know, since I already gave them little clues. But the deepest of them all? One can find out by reading a password-protected MS Word document file in one of the folders of my Google Drive.

(Regrading my search for a little sister, read “On the Kuya-Zone” for more information.)