The jeepney has been a much romanticized symbol of Filipino culture. On one hand, it is both an icon of post-WWII Filipino culture and ingenuity, a source of pride for many Filipinos. On the other hand, it is a symbol of government neglect of certain public services..
The jeepney was originally a makeshift effort after WWII to provide for some means of transportation to the people. The railways and other public transportation systems were destroyed. Reconstruction and recovery take time. So, people had to fend for themselves. They needed transportation and some employment. Abandoned jeeps of the US were thus converted as makeshift form of transportation. It was obviously a temporary solution to a problem. Unfortunately, that temporary solution seems to have become a permanent transportation system.
A journey in life and business
Friday, May 18, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Governance and neglect of the middle and working class
I was talking one time with a group of friends who were somehow working with one elected politician or another. We were discussing about social and other media which specific audience these media reach.
It did strike that, even through a cursory observation, many, especially local, politicians actually do not use social media. They still rely heavily on traditional face-to-face communication or mobile media in dealing with their constituents. The reason? Most voters—i.e., the lower income groups and informal settlers—do not use computers or the internet. All their programs, including election campaigns toward this population demographic group. During election seasons, campaign literature would reveal that all the candidates promises are related to alleviating problems of the poor.
It did strike that, even through a cursory observation, many, especially local, politicians actually do not use social media. They still rely heavily on traditional face-to-face communication or mobile media in dealing with their constituents. The reason? Most voters—i.e., the lower income groups and informal settlers—do not use computers or the internet. All their programs, including election campaigns toward this population demographic group. During election seasons, campaign literature would reveal that all the candidates promises are related to alleviating problems of the poor.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Hollowing out hallowed rituals and traditions
At one mass, a foreigner priest tried to illustrate in his sermon how some practices could be hollowed out of its meaning. It was a funny story. I will try to reconstruct it but some details may already main.
At one parish, the priest had loyal pet dog who would stray all over the church. So, to keep the dog from bothering people during solemn rituals, it will be tied up somewhere in the churchyard. It was a practice that went on for years until the dog died. Later on, after a new pet dog was acquired by the priest—the church has evolved and now had space for the dog away from the church during mass. Strangely, every mass as the consecration approaches, some of the church caretakers would get the dog from its place, bring it to the church premises, and tie the dog to where the other dog used to be tied.
The story could be spurious and my recall, inaccurate. Nonetheless, the story is a good illustration of what could happen when people forget—or deliberately eliminate—the essence of some rituals and practices. They become empty, meaningless motions.
Such is what happened to some religious traditions like the Santacruzan in the Philippines and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the US. It seems like that this is also what happened to the Mardi Gras in the Caribbean. People remember the fun part and the festivities, but discarded all the religious and spiritual content and relevance which would demand people to do prayer and sacrifice. People just want to have fun. Unfortunately, traditions that have lost their spiritual dimension sometimes degenerate into hedonistic bacchanalian feasts, completely detached and unrecognizable from their religious origins.
Modernization and urbanization is sometimes the culprit as may have what happened in the Santacruzan. (See the other post, Difference between Flores de Maya and Santacruzan). Sadly, however, it’s legislation in an effort to completely separate Church and state and other deliberate actions that remove the religious significance of many traditions. I describe these efforts as the hollowing out of hallowed rituals and traditions. So you end up with meaningless rituals and traditions. Hollow instead of hallowed practices.
Such is the case of the Santacruzan. It’s more a local community or family event than one of the church. Anyone and every one produce their own Santacruzan. I doubt if any one really knows why it’s called a Santacruzan in the first place.
It’s similarly happening to Christmas. The use of religious imagery has been banned in government (and even some multinational companies). Even the greeting “Merry Christmas” is also disallowed. Instead, the greeting “Happy Holidays” instead is encouraged to be used. Even Christmas itself is being referred to as the Winter Solstice Festival. Sigh.
However, for those who still believe, it would make a lot of difference if one contemplates the spiritual significance in their practice of many traditions.
At one parish, the priest had loyal pet dog who would stray all over the church. So, to keep the dog from bothering people during solemn rituals, it will be tied up somewhere in the churchyard. It was a practice that went on for years until the dog died. Later on, after a new pet dog was acquired by the priest—the church has evolved and now had space for the dog away from the church during mass. Strangely, every mass as the consecration approaches, some of the church caretakers would get the dog from its place, bring it to the church premises, and tie the dog to where the other dog used to be tied.
The story could be spurious and my recall, inaccurate. Nonetheless, the story is a good illustration of what could happen when people forget—or deliberately eliminate—the essence of some rituals and practices. They become empty, meaningless motions.
Such is what happened to some religious traditions like the Santacruzan in the Philippines and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the US. It seems like that this is also what happened to the Mardi Gras in the Caribbean. People remember the fun part and the festivities, but discarded all the religious and spiritual content and relevance which would demand people to do prayer and sacrifice. People just want to have fun. Unfortunately, traditions that have lost their spiritual dimension sometimes degenerate into hedonistic bacchanalian feasts, completely detached and unrecognizable from their religious origins.
Modernization and urbanization is sometimes the culprit as may have what happened in the Santacruzan. (See the other post, Difference between Flores de Maya and Santacruzan). Sadly, however, it’s legislation in an effort to completely separate Church and state and other deliberate actions that remove the religious significance of many traditions. I describe these efforts as the hollowing out of hallowed rituals and traditions. So you end up with meaningless rituals and traditions. Hollow instead of hallowed practices.
Such is the case of the Santacruzan. It’s more a local community or family event than one of the church. Anyone and every one produce their own Santacruzan. I doubt if any one really knows why it’s called a Santacruzan in the first place.
It’s similarly happening to Christmas. The use of religious imagery has been banned in government (and even some multinational companies). Even the greeting “Merry Christmas” is also disallowed. Instead, the greeting “Happy Holidays” instead is encouraged to be used. Even Christmas itself is being referred to as the Winter Solstice Festival. Sigh.
However, for those who still believe, it would make a lot of difference if one contemplates the spiritual significance in their practice of many traditions.
Friday, April 27, 2012
The difference between Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan
When I was doing my research for the Rosary exhibit for the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH), I couldn’t find any accurate information about the Santacruzan and the Flores de Mayo. Much of the information—even those on internet encyclopedia and even supposedly reliable local tourism guides—seem to confuse the two traditions. Santacruzan and Flores de Mayo are two different traditions. They just happen to be celebrated in the same month of May.
As I found only flimsy information about the two tradition, some little findings and observations could help one understand how the two traditions are vastly different.
As I found only flimsy information about the two tradition, some little findings and observations could help one understand how the two traditions are vastly different.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The killing heat
Once can suffer from heat stroke even if one is not staying
under the sun. And it can be a bizarre, scary experience when one comes close
to it.
Routine activities—like cooking—can trigger beginnings of
heat stroke symptoms. After all, heat stroke is something you don’t really
think about when you’re just inside the house and doing something you’ve always
done without problems.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Deadweight
At one of the funerals I attended recently, one of the topics of conversation was how a person becomes heavier as he is about to pass away. Disturbed by bed-redden person’s making final requests when they did not think it was already his time, the relatives checked if the person was getting heavier. Indeed he was.
Ever noticed how much heavier people become when they no longer have any life in them? It may take more effort or more people to carry a dead person than to carry a living one. Thus the expression deadweight. Deadweight is supposed to mean the “unrelieved weight of inert mass” according to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Ever noticed how much heavier people become when they no longer have any life in them? It may take more effort or more people to carry a dead person than to carry a living one. Thus the expression deadweight. Deadweight is supposed to mean the “unrelieved weight of inert mass” according to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Cooking for therapy
After encountering so many investment and health problems, one cannot help but suffer from severe stress which could lead to depression. Thankfully, prayer provides much hope but not always relief from the physical stress. Exercise can be very limited as a result of one’s physical problems. Of course, conversation with loved one also helps.
Arts and crafts—including cooking—can actually relieve stress. I caught a TV show that my mom was watching one lunch. I think the show was entitled Spoon with Janice de Belen as host. She had as guest a popular chef (I forgot his name) who preferred to be referred to as a cook or a kusinero. Let all others be called chefs he said. He’s just a simple cook who studied in a culinary school.
Arts and crafts—including cooking—can actually relieve stress. I caught a TV show that my mom was watching one lunch. I think the show was entitled Spoon with Janice de Belen as host. She had as guest a popular chef (I forgot his name) who preferred to be referred to as a cook or a kusinero. Let all others be called chefs he said. He’s just a simple cook who studied in a culinary school.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Rest and prayer on Holy Week and Good Friday
When we were young, my dad used to drive us around Manila to do the Visita Iglesia. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed from Maundy Thursday evening until 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday. Now, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed only until midnight of Maundy Thursday. So, there’s really much less time to do the traditional Visita Iglesia.
While I have had my share of partying and having good times on vacation during Holy Week, age mellows a person and makes one contemplate on the folly of such activities. Before the age of the internet and cable television, people really didn’t have much to do during Holy Week and are thus led to nothing more than to really pray and meditate during the season. Those were the days when people raise their eyebrows if you were found to be having too much fun during Holy Week.
Now, it takes deliberate effort to really abandon one’s cravings for pleasures during Holy Week. There are simply too many distractions. One has to plan what to do spiritually during Holy Week as one would plan a great vacation.
A trip to the church with a prayer book and a meditation guide would hopefully help one avoid distractions. Inside a church, one can have peace and feel guilty about indulging in pleasurable temptations. So, if one forces oneself to be in a church, one’s being in the church would already force oneself to meditate and pray.
Related posts:
Thoughts on a Good Friday
Aswangs, beer and porn on a Good Friday
Pinoy family traditions: Visita Iglesia
Friday, March 30, 2012
Memento mori and our own mortality
Remember that you too shall die. Next week is already Holy week and it is worth reflecting on our own mortality, on what we should have and should have not done in our life.
Memento mori is the Latin for “reminder of death”. The phrase also refers to a certain kind of art form and practices that can be very morbid and scary. Remember the images of medieval monks using human skulls for candle holders? It is an example of memento mori. It constantly reminds one of his temporary existence in this world and what he ought to do in life.
The chaplet in the photo is an example of memento mori. The beads consist prayers for the dead or for the souls in purgatory so that all those who would be prayed for would finally have their eternal happiness. It is both a reminder of one’s mortality and of eternal life.
According to Ann Ball’s Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices, “during the Middle Ages, human mortality was a frequent topic of preaching, and the laity became fascinated with the physical properties of death almost to the point of overshadowing the Christian message of the Resurrection. This morbid fascination became enormously popular and resulted in works of art including paintings, statures, plays, dances, and other daily reminders of death.” One must remember though that there was the Black Death, the Bubonic Plague during that period, and thus such a preoccuppation of people with everything death. It was simply all around them.
Memento mori is still popular in some countries like Mexico especially on holy days like All Soul’s Day. It seems to have been the origin of many Halloween imagery though the religious basis may have been forgotten.
Unfortunately, in this highly materialistic and secularized world, memento mori reminds one to do the reverse. Live life to the fullest, meaningful sinful indulgence and pleasure. Knowing that one’s life is temporary, one nowadays would prefer to enjoy himself as much as he could with total disregard for morality. Even memento mori forms of art have become fashion accessories, reminder of one’s very physical and enjoyable existence, rather than a reminder of life eternal after our physical existence.
In preparing for Holy Week, one may want to remember that he too shall die. In living life, should it be a life of total abandoment to pleasure, or a life following Christ's example.
Memento mori is the Latin for “reminder of death”. The phrase also refers to a certain kind of art form and practices that can be very morbid and scary. Remember the images of medieval monks using human skulls for candle holders? It is an example of memento mori. It constantly reminds one of his temporary existence in this world and what he ought to do in life.
The chaplet in the photo is an example of memento mori. The beads consist prayers for the dead or for the souls in purgatory so that all those who would be prayed for would finally have their eternal happiness. It is both a reminder of one’s mortality and of eternal life.
According to Ann Ball’s Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices, “during the Middle Ages, human mortality was a frequent topic of preaching, and the laity became fascinated with the physical properties of death almost to the point of overshadowing the Christian message of the Resurrection. This morbid fascination became enormously popular and resulted in works of art including paintings, statures, plays, dances, and other daily reminders of death.” One must remember though that there was the Black Death, the Bubonic Plague during that period, and thus such a preoccuppation of people with everything death. It was simply all around them.
Memento mori is still popular in some countries like Mexico especially on holy days like All Soul’s Day. It seems to have been the origin of many Halloween imagery though the religious basis may have been forgotten.
Unfortunately, in this highly materialistic and secularized world, memento mori reminds one to do the reverse. Live life to the fullest, meaningful sinful indulgence and pleasure. Knowing that one’s life is temporary, one nowadays would prefer to enjoy himself as much as he could with total disregard for morality. Even memento mori forms of art have become fashion accessories, reminder of one’s very physical and enjoyable existence, rather than a reminder of life eternal after our physical existence.
In preparing for Holy Week, one may want to remember that he too shall die. In living life, should it be a life of total abandoment to pleasure, or a life following Christ's example.
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