Na madinig siya ng mga Pinoy - tila ito ang nais ng kasulatang ito:
The Filipino Today, by Alex Lacson
Siguro, ang layunin ng may-akda ay marangal. Ngunit hindi ko pa rin nagustuhan ang kanyang katha. Kasi, una, kung gusto mo talagang makatulong at marinig ka ng kapwa mo Pinoy, aba e dapat gamitin mo ang wikang Filipino.
At heto na naman ang isang maling propaganda na pinapakalat ng may akda: na magaling ang Pinoy. Hindi po. Tulad na ng mga halimbawa niya, may ilan-ilang magagaling na Pinoy. At hindi dahil Pinoy sila. Aba e kung magaling ang Pinoy, bakit hindi nagtagumpay si Capt. Mendoza na makuha ang kanyang mga demanda sa kanyang tinangkang hostage crisis? O di kaya ang mga pulis nung panahon na yon, lamang sila sa numero laban kay Capt. Mendoza--bakit nila napabayaang may mamatay na mga inosenteng sibilyan na silang mga turistang banyaga pa man din? Aba e kung magaling ang Pinoy, bakit nagka-abusadong Martial Rule tayo sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong Marcos? Madami tayong pwedeng itukoy na mga tila hindi "magagaling" na mga kapatid natin.
Tulad ng mga halimbawa ng may-akda, totoong may ilang magagaling na Pinoy.
Pero ito po ay dahil nagsikap sila.
Tignan mo na lang si Manny Pacquiao. World Champion. Pinoy, hindi po ba? Ngunit, World Champion po ba siya dahil siya ay Pinoy? Hindi po. Bakit ang kapatid na niya mismo na siyang "boxer" din na si Bobby Pacquiao, hindi nakakamit ang mga tagumpay na tulad ni Manny? World Champion po si Manny dahil po mas nagsumikap si Manny sa kapatid niya o sa kahit sinumang Pinoy. Yun lang po yon.
Kung gusto talaga natin umunlad, IKAW mismo, kapwa Pinoy, ang dapat magsumikap. IKAW mismo ang dapat may gawin. Hindi mo pwedeng sabihin na lang na dahil Pinoy ka, magaling ka na. Lalo na kung wala ka pa namang pinapala. Kapag nagsumikap ka at tunay na magaling ka na nga, tsaka mo ipag-mayabang na Pinoy ka. Kasi pwede lang tayo maging "proud to be Pinoy" kapag ang mga kapwa Pinoy ay tunay nga na "proud" para sa atin, o na maipagmamayabang nga tayo. Tulad niyang mga tinutukoy na mga indibidwal na mga tao sa kasulatan na aking nabanggit - tayong mga Pinoy ay "proud" sa kanila at sa kanilang mga ginawa - mga tulong sa ibang tao, mga imbensyon nakakapagpa-unlad ng buhay ng ibang tao, mga panalo sa mga isports, atbp. Sana lang ay "proud to be Pinoy" pa nga din po tayo kapag tayo ay may nakamit na.
Ang "keyword" po talaga, ay hindi "Pinoy." Ang "keyword" po ay "gawa."
"Cliche" na ito ngunit, ayun talaga ang tanong e: Ano na ba talaga ang nagawa o ginagawa mo para maipagmalaki ka ng iyong pamilya, ng iyong komunidad, ng iyong inang bayan?
Note: For our international readers, pardon the use of our own language. Those who speak our language, after all, is my intended audience for the above. And that English-writing Filipino author, who apparently, I critiqued also an article back in this link. Of course, you can always use Google Translate or some other online translation service, although it is usually an imperfect translation.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
[Book Review] 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country
This book came out and became quite popular. I did have a comment on it, and now is the time to speak up.
I think it misses one important thing every Filipino can do to help our country. But okay, this is one thing I don't do myself very often, or at least not in print or publications and not on the internet...
13. Speak in Filipino to each other. Preserve our culture. Respect our traditions. Write your books for Filipinos in Filipino. Teach other Filipino dialects in elementary, high school, and college! Including Tagalog*! Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have wrong English grammar, it's not our language after all. Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have "wrong" English pronunciations. They are only "wrong" in the eyes of Americans, etc. Other English-speaking nations have their own way of pronouncing English: each of the 50 States, the UK, Scotland, Australia, Singapore, Canada, India, Italy, Germany, and so on. In other words, don't judge fellow Filipinos by other nation's standards!
(*Many do not know a lot of Tagalog words; they call them "very deep" Tagalog words, thus alienating themselves from speaking it more fluently. And this is the dialect that is the primary basis of the Filipino language.)
Unfortunately because the book with the above title is in English, I don't think its message was brought to all the intended audience. Or maybe that is the point? I like the book, and its contents, and its message. But to reach what I believe is its intended audience, it has to be written in Filipino. Tagalog, Bisaya, Waray, etc. In all dialects if possible!
To defend myself, my intended audience for this blog is not just the Filipino people (that's why it's on the net), hence, kindly pardon the English, imperfections aside. I plan to write one book with the intended audience being Filipinos... I hope to write it in Filipino.
I said "Speak in Filipino to each other" should be #13, to add to the "12 Little Things." Personally I think it should be #1.
Oh and... I do respect traffic officers, policemen, and most specially soldiers. (#5 on the list.) But I fear policemen, to tell you the truth. You could be doing nothing wrong, and then you could just find yourself behind bars, or fined, or abused. After all, they have guns. We don't. I've heard of stories, and I've experienced some of these things first hand. I think #5 should be changed to, "If you are an authority figure - traffic officer, police, soldier, priest, father, teacher, mayor, president, etc. - practice good leadership, respect the people under you, and take responsibility for them." At some point in all of our lives, we each will be in a position of authority. I think we should do our part well first, before we can ask people to respect us.
By the way, I would vote for Alex "Pinoy" Lacson for senator this May 2010. He wrote the said book. :-)
I think it misses one important thing every Filipino can do to help our country. But okay, this is one thing I don't do myself very often, or at least not in print or publications and not on the internet...
13. Speak in Filipino to each other. Preserve our culture. Respect our traditions. Write your books for Filipinos in Filipino. Teach other Filipino dialects in elementary, high school, and college! Including Tagalog*! Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have wrong English grammar, it's not our language after all. Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have "wrong" English pronunciations. They are only "wrong" in the eyes of Americans, etc. Other English-speaking nations have their own way of pronouncing English: each of the 50 States, the UK, Scotland, Australia, Singapore, Canada, India, Italy, Germany, and so on. In other words, don't judge fellow Filipinos by other nation's standards!
(*Many do not know a lot of Tagalog words; they call them "very deep" Tagalog words, thus alienating themselves from speaking it more fluently. And this is the dialect that is the primary basis of the Filipino language.)
Unfortunately because the book with the above title is in English, I don't think its message was brought to all the intended audience. Or maybe that is the point? I like the book, and its contents, and its message. But to reach what I believe is its intended audience, it has to be written in Filipino. Tagalog, Bisaya, Waray, etc. In all dialects if possible!
To defend myself, my intended audience for this blog is not just the Filipino people (that's why it's on the net), hence, kindly pardon the English, imperfections aside. I plan to write one book with the intended audience being Filipinos... I hope to write it in Filipino.
I said "Speak in Filipino to each other" should be #13, to add to the "12 Little Things." Personally I think it should be #1.
Oh and... I do respect traffic officers, policemen, and most specially soldiers. (#5 on the list.) But I fear policemen, to tell you the truth. You could be doing nothing wrong, and then you could just find yourself behind bars, or fined, or abused. After all, they have guns. We don't. I've heard of stories, and I've experienced some of these things first hand. I think #5 should be changed to, "If you are an authority figure - traffic officer, police, soldier, priest, father, teacher, mayor, president, etc. - practice good leadership, respect the people under you, and take responsibility for them." At some point in all of our lives, we each will be in a position of authority. I think we should do our part well first, before we can ask people to respect us.
By the way, I would vote for Alex "Pinoy" Lacson for senator this May 2010. He wrote the said book. :-)
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
[Blog Review?] How to cope with calamity?
Last year I came across this article: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20091012-229701/How-to-cope-with-calamity
My reaction: Yeah right! The things the writer said are all truths. But they are not actually helping people who are ACTUALLY affected by calamity. There are some "helpful information" there on what you should do BEFORE an actual calamity happens. So if I were already affected by calamity, what do I do now considering I did not know yet of these things? Of course newspaper article writers are paid to write articles, not to REALLY help people. Not well thought out. There must be better articles out there.
I say this as one who was affected by calamity (specifically Typhoon Ondoy), and I did not find this article helpful at all.
My reaction: Yeah right! The things the writer said are all truths. But they are not actually helping people who are ACTUALLY affected by calamity. There are some "helpful information" there on what you should do BEFORE an actual calamity happens. So if I were already affected by calamity, what do I do now considering I did not know yet of these things? Of course newspaper article writers are paid to write articles, not to REALLY help people. Not well thought out. There must be better articles out there.
I say this as one who was affected by calamity (specifically Typhoon Ondoy), and I did not find this article helpful at all.
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