An Honest Evaluation of Philippine Culture

[noriel]

Thursday, November 27, 2003
Magsaysay: The realities of a balikbayan
By Jo Magsaysay

"Whatever

Have you ever seen that commercial about the balikbayan grandmother that kept on saying, “Walang ganito sa America?”

And how many of you recent ‘returnees’ silently agree with her, while ‘stayees’ find her remarks funny?

How many times have you caught yourself sounding like the Americanized grandma? Statements like, “If this were the States there wouldn’t be uncollected garbage.” How about this? “In Germany, drivers would never have been allowed to hoot their horns or change lanes when they want to.” Or, “Our roads are so bad and awful, in Sweden all the roads are graded and fixed every summer and it’s like driving on clouds.”

And how many times do we catch other people giving us that “there she/he goes again” look? The “you-think-you-are better-than-us” stare?
I’ll bet many times unless you are really thick-skinned.

We also have the ‘barrio, barrio’ syndrome. Meaning many ‘returnees’ seek out other ‘returnees’. Why? Since the ‘stayees’ cannot seem to understand us balikbayans, it’s easier to communicate with them because they, like you, lived abroad. They would normally have the same sentiments as you. There is also the unspoken sentiment that they would rather be abroad than live home.

Then why return at all, when most balikbayans criticize almost every aspect of the Philippine society and government? That, where they came from was far more superior than good old Philippines?

Many return for varied reasons. To retire. Jobs contracts are finished. Divorce. Family ties. Being sickly and needing care. Dying and want to be around family our home is just where the heart is.

What many Filipinos fail to understand, are that many balikbayans have their own culture shock to deal with when they return to the Philippines for good.

It’s just many of us go into denial that we are actually getting a culture shock from our own country. It is normally understood that culture shocks happen when adjusting to new countries of domicile, but few will admit they get one when they return back home. Especially if you have left home for 10 years or more.

What many forget is that when they left the Philippines, it looked different. There was more order, peso was higher and had more value. It was shocking to see a P1,000 bill, because when you left the highest denomination was P100. There were less cars and vehicles. Traffic was only bad during Christmas and that was in Manila. Now a little rain, floods are everywhere. What is normally a 20-minute ride home now takes two hours. You cannot remember having your nerves as frayed as this before. You seem to see more garbage and so many beggars. Dirt seems to be everywhere. And worst, the roads seem to be narrower and you now need a 4x4 just to drive the city streets! More chaos and less order.

Then you have the balikbayan children. They look like every other Filipino, but think and act like foreigners. It’s not a put on, it’s how they really are and nobody understands them. Filipinos think they are putting on airs and are ridiculed or made fun of. Thus making their assimilation even harder. The balikbayan is suddenly faced with all these things.

Living in an organized society, the memory of what you left behind slowly fades from your subconscious. Your adoptive country now teaches you how to follow rules, respect people and property. You learn time management, you also find out that if you work hard, you get compensated just as much. Because it’s a first world country, everything works. Trains, buses, underground all leave and arrive on time. Streets are clean and are even washed and shampooed once a month.
And there is dignity in work. You could be a postman, a policeman, or a caregiver and yet you are not looked down upon. In fact you are appreciated.

But life outside is fast, and in some societies even clinical. Winters are harsh and cold. It’s dark half of the year. The citizens of your new country are seemingly unfriendly, so engrossed and always in a hurry! All you seem to remember is that from the time you get out of bed, you hit the floor running.

You need to organize the kids, breakfast, take them to school and then go to work. Then it’s pick-up time for kids, go home, cook dinner and then do the washing up, the ironing or some household cleaning. No time to relax. By the time you finish, it’s time for bed. Then you wonder, “Where did my time go?” I want to relax.

Then you think of home. You feel a stirring in your heart, as you think of the warm breezes on your faces when you were a kid. All the familiar smells that go with the breeze… the smell of adobo, bu-ad being fried, hot tsokolate for breakfast… and Christmas gatherings with family with the inevitable lechon… time to go to the beach and just relax…

Then one day, you decide, we’re going home! We miss what we remember in our moments of loneliness abroad. You remember the fun things and precious moments you left behind.

Then you do go home. That’s when you are hit by the realities that you forgot about when you were abroad. Returning home suddenly doesn’t seem to be as easy or exciting. You go into denial and then start sounding like the “Americanized grandma”. You keep computing everything back to Deutshe marks to US dollars or English pounds, and therefore almost everything is cheap. Only you are not earning a foreign currency anymore.

That then becomes a reality check. Everything works in the reverse now.

It hits you like a ton of bricks. For many, denial goes on for sometime, eventually you have come to realize why you’ve decided to return.

Returning to the Philippines is home. No matter how bad everything is or gets, we have our families who love us, our friends who never gave up on us, you wake up to sunshine almost daily, and all the familiar things and smells are real… because you are where you belong…home. "


(November 27, 2003 issue)

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Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here.

yes, i agree! home is where your loved one is - no matter where it is, yes?

[benign0]

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
yeah, i can dig it. most of those i know who're living in some rich country talk this way. they're failures here in the philippines, nothing else.

Where in that article was there any talk about personal failures in the Philippines?

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
if they're really worth anything, a poor country like the philippines would have taught them to follow rules, respect other people and their property, time management and to work hard. but no. they couldn't hack it here, or they just give up. in an organized country, you realy have to work and follow rules because if you don't, you'll get stepped on, you'll starve to death and you'll go to jail.

That's right.

Unlike in ol' Pinas where murderers and plunderers not only roam free, they rule!

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
you have a lot of filipinos here in the philippines who don't follow rules, don't work hard and have no respect for otjher people. but they seem to get along fine.

Yes. Get along fine in their chaos and mediocrity.

Sounds like a real paradise.

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
conclusion: there's still something for good-for-nothing-pinoys here in good 'ol philippines.

That's why there are so many of them in them islands.

Originally posted by mac_bolan00
COME HOME BENIGN0T!!!!

Maybe some day when I am old and gray and need a lot of servants (which I can pay in puny pesos converted from our mighty aussie dollar) and other forms of cheap labour to get by.

I'll live in a subdivision that employs its own private army and lounge around at the local country club.

I'll even be considered a hero bringing in my hard currency to prop up your flacid local one.

And since I will be a balikbayan, I can exploit that famous natives' irrational beholdenness to anything foreign to get away with just about anything.

Dude, I'll live like a king!

See you in about 60 years! (and don't forget my hero's welcome at the airport)




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[benign0]

Originally posted by noriel
yes, i agree! home is where your loved one is - no matter where it is, yes?

Yessirree.

Can't disagree with that one.


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[jonathan_perez]

Originally posted by benign0
Sentiment from the ultra-"nationalist" GABRIELA:

The culture of violence and male dominance characterizes Philippine society. The common reactions of society to any form of violence against women are generally to blame the victim not the perpetrator.

Alam mo naman yung GABRIELA, they're a white supremacist, nazi, hitler-inspired group whose spokespersons are Joseph Goebbels out to send filipinos to the gas chamber... that's why they use terms like 'culture of violence... characterizes Philippine society'.

noriel must be basking in the thought of how exceptionally smart a high school-only graduate he himself is to be able to make his imagined professor accept his lessons.

Wake up from your fantasy, noriel: You're getting a D-.

[R3'91]

Originally posted by benign0
Thanks!

Yes as a matter of fact that first article is directly a result of our exchanges (plus a few with Ms. mell). I just re-arranged them and made some alternations to convert them to 3rd person tones. Many of my more recent articles are based on discussions I've had in PEx (and a few other forums). This is the reason I hang around here -- to harvest ideas and inspiration for Get Real!.

And yes, I think you've clearly articulated your views during those exchanges (thanks for your patience ).

No prob, nice to see that you think I make sense.

Originally posted by benign0
Hey, looking forward to seeing it. I might even publish it on Get Real! (if ok with you, that is). It should be a good piece to complement the "What's in a school" piece.

Hehehe, this is putting some pressure on me to write a great piece. Seriously though, if you deem it worthy for inclusion then I think it would be my pleasure.

Originally posted by benign0
My comments to the author before we published it included my observation that an underlying root issue (the articulation of which was scattered all over the article) was the lack of emphasis on critical thought in our approach to education. The emptiness created by a lack of emphasis on this fundamental thinking skill is what I think contributes to our collective inability to develop and implement systemic solutions and initiatives in our society.

I think she (the author's a she by the way) was spot on in citing a few unsavory "products" of the system such as credentialismand Law-trained individuals who went on to dominate our politics. I'm not sure, but in the paragraph that started with "Instead, our universities and colleges have produced a multitude of "new-age" colonizers. A generation of self-satisfied individuals...." I think she was driving at how the system contributed to the increasing polarisation of our society because of the huge range of levels of education quality across our local schools (in contrast with more egaliatrian systems where public or private education is almost of the same level of quality). But then again maybe I'm just reading too much in between the lines.

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You would be surprised how close your "reading too much in between the lines" are to what I have in mind. Actually, the article that I am planning is very much like your first article: it would be a compilation of my posts which are mainly in response to other PEXers in the topic of education. It would come mainly from my posts/responses to victory in The Academe (these were a year ago, I think; the 'PEX crash' wiped it out so I guess I will have to work from memory) and a recent one in response to jonathan_perez in another thread (the chinoy one, I think).

I will post it here once I finish it. Am quite busy as of the moment with other matters, and I don't want to post something half-baked, so I hope you can be patient with me too.

[advancement]

Originally posted by jonathan_perez
Alam mo naman yung GABRIELA, they're a white supremacist, nazi, hitler-inspired group whose spokespersons are Joseph Goebbels out to send filipinos to the gas chamber... that's why they use terms like 'culture of violence... characterizes Philippine society'.

noriel must be basking in the thought of how exceptionally smart a high school-only graduate he himself is to be able to make his imagined professor accept his lessons.

Wake up from your fantasy, noriel: You're getting a D-.

[benign0]

Originally posted by R3'91
No prob, nice to see that you think I make sense.

Hehehe, this is putting some pressure on me to write a great piece. Seriously though, if you deem it worthy for inclusion then I think it would be my pleasure.

Dude, I don't think writing a "great piece" will be much of a challenge to you.

Just write the way you post.

Originally posted by R3'91
You would be surprised how close your "reading too much in between the lines" are to what I have in mind. Actually, the article that I am planning is very much like your first article: it would be a compilation of my posts which are mainly in response to other PEXers in the topic of education. It would come mainly from my posts/responses to victory in The Academe (these were a year ago, I think; the 'PEX crash' wiped it out so I guess I will have to work from memory) and a recent one in response to jonathan_perez in another thread (the chinoy one, I think).

I suppose this focus on how our approach to education polarises society stems to my views on how English figures in all this -- that our unequal quality of English language emphasis in our schools has caused a further disadvantage to the non-English-proficient have nots. Much more fundamental of course. But I believe that by isolating certain key factors to this "polarisation" (and I believe the English thins is key), we may be able to be more efficient at finding solutions.

Originally posted by R3'91
I will post it here once I finish it. Am quite busy as of the moment with other matters, and I don't want to post something half-baked, so I hope you can be patient with me too.

Looking forward to seeing it.

Take your time as I don't think The Light is within our respective lifetimes.

Originally posted by jonathan_perez
Alam mo naman yung GABRIELA, they're a white supremacist, nazi, hitler-inspired group whose spokespersons are Joseph Goebbels out to send filipinos to the gas chamber... that's why they use terms like 'culture of violence... characterizes Philippine society'.

noriel must be basking in the thought of how exceptionally smart a high school-only graduate he himself is to be able to make his imagined professor accept his lessons.

Wake up from your fantasy, noriel: You're getting a D-.

Note that our foreign friend has lightened up a bit on the "culture of crime" thing.

Wnat are you gonna do Mr. noriel, contradict the Archbishop of Manila himself (since you are such a stickler for credentialism, that is)




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[advancement]

[benign0]

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Get Real! makes its first official statement about the 2004 presidential elections here!

This is anchored by an article by the esteemed William Esposo: "Know the people promoting Poe and Showbiztocracy" who makes a biting commentary on the culture behind our "unique" style of executing this truly festive democratic process!

Happy reading!

[benign0]

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Check out the latest Get Real! article published on peyups.com:

Crime and Punishment

Send in your comments and be heard!!

Happy reading!

[noriel]

Originally posted by benign0
Dude,

Wnat are you gonna do Mr. noriel, contradict the Archbishop of Manila himself (since you are such a stickler for credentialism, that is)




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if the saintly mother theresa said something like" the philippine culture is barbaric, cruel, criminal and plunderous" - i would say exactly the same thing: that (she) or you are a racist of the worst kind, hateful, etc.

why, have you now annointed yourself as the infallible pope or something and think that (as a self-proclaimed" hero, king and consultant") you can get away with posting blatant lies without being at least rebuffed in pex?

still feeling superior? well, it is christmas..i shall be more compassionate and understanding. please accept my pity!

[benign0]

Originally posted by noriel
if the saintly mother theresa said something like" the philippine culture is barbaric, cruel, criminal and plunderous" - i would say exactly the same thing: that (she) or you are a racist of the worst kind, hateful, etc.

why, have you now annointed yourself as the infallible pope or something and think that (as a self-proclaimed" hero, king and consultant") you can get away with posting blatant lies without being at least rebuffed in pex?

still feeling superior? well, it is christmas..i shall be more compassionate and understanding. please accept my pity!

Thanks for your "compassion" and your "pity".




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[advancement]

Told ya "n" is a nincompoop.

[miss_mike]

Originally posted by ElizabethII
What happens when you forge these great ideas......sit back and do nothing about them......talk is cheap.

a big challenge indeed.

what good has our virtual tryst offered to our country already at the edge of an economic collapse? so far nothing but an exercise on who gets to up one another in a sham contest of wits.

better to forge a movement or an alliance of some sort, link up with other advocates similar in goal. given a good helping of objectivity, surely feasible solutions can be devised.
once organized, i would second Orion D's idea of forming a political party, a step in reinventing our system. if we can tap potential incumbents to lobby the objective, then start with the legal structure of the govt, which is the senate. if none, then start with the partylist. package the party to appeal to all levels of pinoy society.

most people are wooed with proper merchandising and good advertising.
feed on this, true leaders might FINALLY be installed in the philippine government come 2007.
groom a visionary line up to be a credible MASA friendly politician with a strong political will.
maybe make them appear in sitcoms just to reach out (ehem like what bayani fernando did in home along the riles? that appearance resulted in the reformatting of the show to home along the airport, to which NAIA is now breathing at the show's neck).
crass as it is, this what appeals to the majority of the electorate.

once installed, make the vision educate all levels. package the "vision" in tabloid and komiks form, tax incentives for companies in exchange for promotions etc.

well that's wishful thinking, caution though, forget not the lessons of our recent past.
rewind scenario: marcos regime, ninoy's & evalio javier's assassination, massive election fraud; all resulting to spontaneous combustion- movers organizing, edsa revolution, cory's ascension; all resulting to renewed hope- cabinet revamp, local & international advisers flock, lack of political will, political dissention, trapos infiltration; all resulting to the mess we are today.

let not history repeat itself.
talk is cheap, yes, but are we up to the formidable task of making HOME a place where FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY is VALUED and the RULE OF LAW UPHELD?

[miss_mike]

R3'91 and benign0 so much bravura! keep it going...

hi R3'91!
i dont consider my views on education cynical, it is a word alien to me.
my article is based on an honest evaluation of facts gathered from small talk, actual experiences and first hand accounts. no fiction involved. benign0 has articulated the essence precisely as i have wanted it conveyed.

Originally posted by benign0
..."What's in a school" piece.

My comments to the author before we published it included my observation that an underlying root issue (the articulation of which was scattered all over the article) was the lack of emphasis on critical thought in our approach to education. The emptiness created by a lack of emphasis on this fundamental thinking skill is what I think contributes to our collective inability to develop and implement systemic solutions and initiatives in our society.

I think she (the author's a she by the way) was spot on in citing a few unsavory "products" of the system such as credentialismand Law-trained individuals who went on to dominate our politics. I'm not sure, but in the paragraph that started with "Instead, our universities and colleges have produced a multitude of "new-age" colonizers. A generation of self-satisfied individuals...." I think she was driving at how the system contributed to the increasing polarisation of our society because of the huge range of levels of education quality across our local schools (in contrast with more egaliatrian systems where public or private education is almost of the same level of quality). But then again maybe I'm just reading too much in between the lines.


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aside from the realities i have mentioned, i should have also included possible solutions so as not to further widen the gap.
let public schools churn MORE skilled graduates by emphasizing on practical arts/shop subjects.
discredit colleges who can't afford to maintain standard tertiary education, and make them vocational institutions instead. revive the NCEE, it's only time and money wasted when a student is incapable to undergo higher education. also, most so-so colleges mill underemployed grads.
more practicum hours for proper immersion, so degree holders won't feel too smug and know how to empathize with their co workers most esp their subordinates.

i am looking forward to your article, maybe get rights as well so i can publish it in my
sorority's webby as well? o


hi benign0!
i see Great Real Philippines as an effective medium in reaching out the growing number of web savvy pinoys, i do hope your views will be taken with an open mind and a lot of introspection!

[R3'91]

Hello miss_mike. Nice to see you in PEX. Welcome.

About your article, sorry for calling it cynical, but that is how it appeared to me. And yes, adding a solutions portion to it would've given me a different impression of it. As you have read, I am planning (time allowing) to likewise come up with an article (write-up?) on Philippine education. And like benign0, if you deem my article worthy then you are free to publish it in your sorority's website.

So, you belong to Sigma Alpha Nu? Diliman, I assume. I have some friends in LB who belong not only to Nu but in Alpha Sigma as well.

You'll be surprised on how alike we think in terms of proposed solutions. Anyway, I will try to get the write-up done after all my previous obligations have been met. Busy as a bee, that's me - but without the honey I am afraid .

Happy PEXing.

[miss_mike]

Originally posted by R3'91
Hello miss_mike. Nice to see you in PEX. Welcome.

About your article, sorry for calling it cynical, but that is how it appeared to me. And yes, adding a solutions portion to it would've given me a different impression of it. As you have read, I am planning (time allowing) to likewise come up with an article (write-up?) on Philippine education. And like benign0, if you deem my article worthy then you are free to publish it in your sorority's website.

So, you belong to Sigma Alpha Nu? Diliman, I assume. I have some friends in LB who belong not only to Nu but in Alpha Sigma as well.

You'll be surprised on how alike we think in terms of proposed solutions. Anyway, I will try to get the write-up done after all my previous obligations have been met. Busy as a bee, that's me - but without the honey I am afraid .

Happy PEXing.

each to his own opinion no issue with me.
maybe my initial solution was not emphatic enough so as not to make effect.

such a small world isn't it? i'm a from the manila chapter.

a bit too cold from the part of the world where you're at, isn't it?

i was with PEx back when users need not register but somehow my passion for the boards fizzled...i hope not, this time...

just keep the mind soaring! looking fwd to your next discussion with benign0

[kabise]

Originally posted by miss_mike
a big challenge indeed.

what good has our virtual tryst offered to our country already at the edge of an economic collapse? so far nothing but an exercise on who gets to up one another in a sham contest of wits.

better to forge a movement or an alliance of some sort, link up with other advocates similar in goal. given a good helping of objectivity, surely feasible solutions can be devised.
once organized, i would second Orion D's idea of forming a political party, a step in reinventing our system. if we can tap potential incumbents to lobby the objective, then start with the legal structure of the govt, which is the senate. if none, then start with the partylist. package the party to appeal to all levels of pinoy society.

most people are wooed with proper merchandising and good advertising.
feed on this, true leaders might FINALLY be installed in the philippine government come 2007.
groom a visionary line up to be a credible MASA friendly politician with a strong political will.
maybe make them appear in sitcoms just to reach out (ehem like what bayani fernando did in home along the riles? that appearance resulted in the reformatting of the show to home along the airport, to which NAIA is now breathing at the show's neck).
crass as it is, this what appeals to the majority of the electorate.

once installed, make the vision educate all levels. package the "vision" in tabloid and komiks form, tax incentives for companies in exchange for promotions etc.

well that's wishful thinking, caution though, forget not the lessons of our recent past.
rewind scenario: marcos regime, ninoy's & evalio javier's assassination, massive election fraud; all resulting to spontaneous combustion- movers organizing, edsa revolution, cory's ascension; all resulting to renewed hope- cabinet revamp, local & international advisers flock, lack of political will, political dissention, trapos infiltration; all resulting to the mess we are today.

let not history repeat itself.
talk is cheap, yes, but are we up to the formidable task of making HOME a place where FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY is VALUED and the RULE OF LAW UPHELD?

my idol, had the same vision, he even showed that it can be done, he made sure that his theme, "immersion thru organization" soar. as a result he landed a job as erap's secretary of agrarian reform. then he realized that ideals and vision are only good on his walls but will not feed his family and suffice his appetite for material things and the rest is history.

money is power and power is like an addiction, once you tasted it will take over your ideals and integrity. finding a capable leader with the same vision and ideals is easy, keeping them to continue the same path is another story.

[miss_mike]

Originally posted by kabise
my idol, had the same vision, he even showed that it can be done, he made sure that his theme, "immersion thru organization" soar. as a result he landed a job as erap's secretary of agrarian reform. then he realized that ideals and vision are only good on his walls but will not feed his family and suffice his appetite for material things and the rest is history.

money is power and power is like an addiction, once you tasted it will take over your ideals and integrity. finding a capable leader with the same vision and ideals is easy, keeping them to continue the same path is another story.

hi kabise!
greed is human nature and in understanding our basic instincts, we are capable of overcoming these. maybe i may seem too idealistic for you, but i am not. i have tried and this even ispired me to write an article about it, (oo, article na naman, *** eh, that's one of my passions, eh ...)

Originally posted by kabise

finding a capable leader with the same vision and ideals is easy, keeping them to continue the same path is another story.

agree, 100%! but we are short in saying that pinoys are incapable of excelling above others who succumb to human nature.

your idol is such a waste, i hope he was able to set foundation for his vision when he took his cabinet post, that part of our country has been abused & neglected far too long. true, ideals won't make our lives comfortable, infact more often it is a cause of misery, but at least it can initialize change. as keating would say-"no matter what people say, words & ideas can change the world."

our country is running out of time. i would rather tell my progeny that "i came, i saw, i tried" rather than instill in them the same sick sense apathy & density that has been crippling our poor country.

rational inputs you have there, kabise. good day to you

[kabise]

nice article ms_mike, now can we see the face behind those high flying adventures?

am too want to believe that we are running out of time, my BIL (brother in law) told me his perception of what is happening in the Philippines. He compared it to a murky pond of water right now; he said, if we keep on pouring pure unadulterated water (our children and children's children and so on) to the pond there will come a time that the pond will be purified.

this will work if we can follow the qualifier pure unadulterated water, but if we have an equal amount of murky water entering the pond also then it will cancel out each other. so education i believe is the answer.

or quick remedy is a true revolution, an overthrowing of one class of society by another. Mao once said that if you have ten thousand people and 9000 are not with you, kill them all after ten years you'll recover the setback. did they do that in cambodia?

[R3'91]

Hello kabise. I agree with you (and miss_mike) that education plays a vital role in revitalizing our society. However, I would say that education is one of the many answers to the problems we are facing nowadays.

Allow me to build on your brother-in-law's analogy on the murky pond. If one wishes to clear the pond, pouring pure unadulterated water is not enough. As you have mentioned yourself, "but if we have an equal amount of murky water entering the pond also then it will cancel out each other".

By simply relying on pouring pure unadulterated water in the murky pond, there is no guarantee that it will improve in quality. Quantity, yes. The ideal process would be to simultaneously purify the murky water already present in the pond as well as the murky water coming into the pond. This would compelement the inputs of pure water (in fact, this would not require massive amounts of pure water).

If we will utilise the example of education and relate this to society, we properly educate not only the future generations (the pure water) but the existing one as well (the murky water already present). Just like in reality, it is more difficult to cleanse the murky water already in the pond than the incoming water. However, it can be done. Take note, it is difficult (maybe even nearly impossible) but it can be done nonetheless.

[xxray]

Originally posted by R3'91
Hello kabise. I agree with you (and miss_mike) that education plays a vital role in revitalizing our society. However, I would say that education is one of the many answers to the problems we are facing nowadays.

Allow me to build on your brother-in-law's analogy on the murky pond. If one wishes to clear the pond, pouring pure unadulterated water is not enough. As you have mentioned yourself, "but if we have an equal amount of murky water entering the pond also then it will cancel out each other".

By simply relying on pouring pure unadulterated water in the murky pond, there is no guarantee that it will improve in quality. Quantity, yes. The ideal process would be to simultaneously purify the murky water already present in the pond as well as the murky water coming into the pond. This would compelement the inputs of pure water (in fact, this would not require massive amounts of pure water).


If we will utilise the example of education and relate this to society, we properly educate not only the future generations (the pure water) but the existing one as well (the murky water already present). Just like in reality, it is more difficult to cleanse the murky water already in the pond than the incoming water. However, it can be done. Take note, it is difficult (maybe even nearly impossible) but it can be done nonetheless.

It may take generations..but not impossible.

[benign0]

Check it out!

Taken from the book The 12 Secrets of Microsoft Management by David Thielen

Page 57, under Chapter 4 "Require Failure"

Obvious Shortcomings

I was once a member of a task force for a local school district. The administration was showing me some of the software they were using and asked me what I thought of it. I replied, "It Sucks."

Oh boy did it hit the fan then. We were discussing $270 million in bond money, and nothing caused more of a fuss than using that phrase to discuss some software. And the fuss was not over the existing problem, but over the words (actually "word") I chose to use.

On the flipside, at Microsoft, we described proposed designs with words a lot worse than "sucks."

Take a look at your own company. If you say "something sucks" (or use other descriptive terms), does the ensuing discussion focus on the problem or item at hand or does it focus on the words used? If something sucks, the important thing is to fix the problem. Not only is the acceptableness of the words used irrelevant, but in some cases words like "suck" are the best description of the problem.

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[metropolitan]

may problema nga mali naman ang iniisip na dahilan, kongklusyon at solusyon.

[xxray]

Originally posted by benign0
Check it out!

Taken from the book The 12 Secrets of Microsoft Management by David Thielen

Page 57, under Chapter 4 "Require Failure"




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I agree. There is another similar insightful book I read about David Thielen titled "Dare To Fail" by Bill P.S. Lim.

As indicated in The Empire Strikes Back, the Yoda would agree with one of the 12 ("Perform, Perform, Perform"), advising Luke Skywalke:, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Paradoxically, Microsoft's emphasis on performance (e.g. dominance of a market) co-exists with Microsoft's requirement of calculated risks because, as Thielen explains, "Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not. But even more unacceptable is no failure. If people never fail, then they are not trying hard enough. They are not pushing the envelope....There is no penalty for understandable failures on the road to success (aside from exceedingly stupid things), and there are substantial rewards for success. So employees at Microsoft will make attempt after attempt for success without worrying about the failures the unsuccessful attempts led to." But not indefinitely....

So, by the same token, your Get Real website sucks...real bad!

How long have you unfairly and stupidly been defaming our Philippine culture...it's been two years now? Do you consider yourself as slow failure? You betcha, your false message about our beloved culture truly sucks!

Shame on you, shame, shame, shame Benign0!!

[mell 2]

Originally posted by R3'91
Hello kabise. I agree with you (and miss_mike) that education plays a vital role in revitalizing our society. However, I would say that education is one of the many answers to the problems we are facing nowadays.

Allow me to build on your brother-in-law's analogy on the murky pond. If one wishes to clear the pond, pouring pure unadulterated water is not enough. As you have mentioned yourself, "but if we have an equal amount of murky water entering the pond also then it will cancel out each other".

By simply relying on pouring pure unadulterated water in the murky pond, there is no guarantee that it will improve in quality. Quantity, yes. The ideal process would be to simultaneously purify the murky water already present in the pond as well as the murky water coming into the pond. This would compelement the inputs of pure water (in fact, this would not require massive amounts of pure water).

If we will utilise the example of education and relate this to society, we properly educate not only the future generations (the pure water) but the existing one as well (the murky water already present). Just like in reality, it is more difficult to cleanse the murky water already in the pond than the incoming water. However, it can be done. Take note, it is difficult (maybe even nearly impossible) but it can be done nonetheless.

How can one clean murky water?

There are methods out there, of course.

One method that comes to mind is continuous improvement.

This process involves goal setting, empowerment, evaluation and the re-setting of goals.

Seems simple enough and its; but this does not mean to say it is simplistic.

If we use this framework in our own lives, then I believe we will be able to continuously improve the standard of our lives.

Before you know it you have clear water!

This is one way to have true hope, employ a system that will help identify where you are headed, gain the skills necessary to help you achieve your goals, evaluate areas of weaknesses and resetting ones goals and plans.

But first, one has to get real and recognize that one needs to “continuously improve” in order to achieve progress.

[noriel]

Originally posted by mell 2
How can one clean murky water?

There are methods out there, of course.

One method that comes to mind is continuous improvement.

This process involves goal setting, empowerment, evaluation and the re-setting of goals.

Seems simple enough and its; but this does not mean to say it is simplistic.

If we use this framework in our own lives, then I believe we will be able to continuously improve the standard of our lives.

Before you know it you have clear water!

This is one way to have true hope, employ a system that will help identify where you are headed, gain the skills necessary to help you achieve your goals, evaluate areas of weaknesses and resetting ones goals and plans.

But first, one has to get real and recognize that one needs to “continuously improve” in order to achieve progress.

do you not think we as pexers all know that? you are preaching to the choir.

motherhood statements (that racist benigno has thumbed down) like, "be frugal, do not spend money you do not have, pursuit of excellence, quality assurance and resource management, etc." are common sensical.

on the other hand, bigot benigno chose the wrong approach. he attacked, defamed the pilipino culture and antagonized all decent tax-paying pinoys.

very dishonest, yes?

[benign0]

Originally posted by xxray
I agree. There is another similar insightful book I read about David Thielen titled "Dare To Fail" by Bill P.S. Lim.

As indicated in The Empire Strikes Back, the Yoda would agree with one of the 12 ("Perform, Perform, Perform"), advising Luke Skywalke:, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Paradoxically, Microsoft's emphasis on performance (e.g. dominance of a market) co-exists with Microsoft's requirement of calculated risks because, as Thielen explains, "Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not. But even more unacceptable is no failure. If people never fail, then they are not trying hard enough. They are not pushing the envelope....There is no penalty for understandable failures on the road to success (aside from exceedingly stupid things), and there are substantial rewards for success. So employees at Microsoft will make attempt after attempt for success without worrying about the failures the unsuccessful attempts led to." But not indefinitely....

So, by the same token, your Get Real website sucks...real bad!

How long have you unfairly and stupidly been defaming our Philippine culture...it's been two years now? Do you consider yourself as slow failure? You betcha, your false message about our beloved culture truly sucks!

Shame on you, shame, shame, shame Benign0!!

I'm glad you cited that passage. Note these specific lines:

""Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not."

The Philippines has never been known to be a country that experience spectacular collapses into anarchy. But we are known for our chronic track record of slow decline (we are mediocre even in the art of failure! ).

Just as our country (as most "triumphalists" point out) were among the least affected in the 1997 currency crisis, we still managed to be such slugs at the development game that the countries that crashed the hardest are now ahead of us again.



Talk about pathetic.


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[jonathan_perez]

Originally posted by noriel
do you not think we as pexers all know that? you are preaching to the choir.

motherhood statements (that racist benigno has thumbed down) like, "be frugal, do not spend money you do not have, pursuit of excellence, quality assurance and resource management, etc." are common sensical.

on the other hand, bigot benigno chose the wrong approach. he attacked, defamed the pilipino culture and antagonized all decent tax-paying pinoys.

very dishonest, yes?

You're full of bull$hit, noriel. All you can come up with are personal attacks and endless repetitions of an unsubstantiated charge. That's about the capacity of your meager mind eh?

You do seem to have learned from Hitler and Goebbels (you're the one who brought them up in the first place after all ): try to repeat a lie often enough in the hopes that the people will start believing it.

[GF2bluz]

kiddo, everytime you pop a mentos you end up saying something silly.

You label things stupid or bull$hit, but never articulate why it is so.

Dinadaan mo na lang ba sa dahilan na anak-mayaman ka? O di kaya'y tulad ni benign0 nasa Australia na?

Pinoys do bad, you jokers rant. Pinoys do good, you wieners still
have a pickle.

Just because you say you're right doesn't make you smart, much in the same way calling your idea a solution doesn't make it a feasible or even an intelligent endeavor.

What is it with people like you who get off complaining and disparaging hard-working folks? You're free to wank on your own anyway, you certainly need not entertain us with your display of verbal masturbation.

[GF2bluz]

Alam mo benign0, kaya ka umaasang yumaman ay dahil pumalpak ka rito. You earn nothing more than AU$25,000 net, and you think you're doing so well? Man you're pathetic. Really you are.

Just because you think you'll earn more money you think you're right? You try to depress people here because you need a reason to feel good.

I really like to see you try and do that benign0t, I doubt you'd get far.

[spo5_santos]

Originally posted by benign0
I'm glad you cited that passage. Note these specific lines:

""Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not."

The Philippines has never been known to be a country that experience spectacular collapses into anarchy. But we are known for our chronic track record of slow decline (we are mediocre even in the art of failure! ).

Just as our country (as most "triumphalists" point out) were among the least affected in the 1997 currency crisis, we still managed to be such slugs at the development game that the countries that crashed the hardest are now ahead of us again.



Talk about pathetic.


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Benignot, tingnan mo ang sarili mo sa salamin. Ikaw (at iyong mga kambal) ang kaisa-isang manunulat dito na nakaka-awa. Pinagtatawanan ka na ng buong PEx crowd!

Wala ka na bang natitirang hiya?

[benign0]

Originally posted by GF2bluz
Alam mo benign0, kaya ka umaasang yumaman ay dahil pumalpak ka rito. You earn nothing more than AU$25,000 net, and you think you're doing so well? Man you're pathetic. Really you are.

Just because you think you'll earn more money you think you're right? You try to depress people here because you need a reason to feel good.

I really like to see you try and do that benign0t, I doubt you'd get far.

So is this all about moi again?

I think your pal noriel has a thread specifically for that fascinating topic here.

Your PM-pal mahalia_mckulit is also a mainstay so I think you'd like it there.

And one more thing. Regarding your question: "Just because you think you'll earn more money you think you're right?" Go ask the audience if this isn't more the rule than the exception in sunny 'ol Philippines. I'll spell it out for ya: In the Philippines, the rich are always right.




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[GF2bluz]

So given your perceived morals in this country, being better off than the rest of us, you are therefore right?

Man if you're worth AU$25K a year and you think like that, you'd be even more wrong with every additional aussie buck you earn.

You think like some blindly ambitious clerk.

[GF2bluz]

So given your perceived morals in this country, being better off than the rest of us, you are therefore right?

Man if you're worth AU$25K a year and you think like that, you'd be even more wrong with every additional aussie buck you earn.

Yes, benign0 this thread has long ceased to be about this nation since its been known to be no more a slanderboard for you. And if it is only just and right to respond, we will dredge every bit of your credibility. Unfortunately, as expected, there's nothing more than an angry simpleton in his mid-20's with nothing more to show than an avuncular petition to stay downunder.

Somehow just because you think benign0 is such an anonymous pseudonymn, he shouldn't be accountable to what he says. If you're really so good to be as you tout yourself to be, then come out of the closet and out of the electronic shadows to show us your true convictions, manay g.

[Daddibangker]

there goes that cannibalistic stupid idiot gf2bluz again. how do you like the taste of your father's seamen after swallowing?

(this isn't bastos! gf2bluz is a cannibal! his father is a ship's captain and gf2bluz eats his father's subordinates, the seamen.)

if you all recall, this gf2bluz was part of my welcoming committee to this pathetic forum together with his best friend macbolan00. he can't even put his thoughts together properly. no wonder he resorts to doing all sorts of personal attacks. in his welcome to me, he did all sorts of attacks, so i called him stupid idiot.

just watch him. instead of focusing on the issues in the articles i posted when i started those threads, he goes into a phase of "verbal masturbation" as he calls it and attacks me! he does the same to benigno right now, just the same way that idiots like noriel and the others do.

the philippines is hopeless because in a simple forum like this, there are too many stupid people like gf2bluz, macbolan, and noriel who focus on targetting the personality of people rather than the ideas that other people advance. if i posted somewhere that the philippines is losing its women to migration overseas as domestics and japayukis, they target me for what i say instead of focusing on why this issue is bad for the philippines and what can be done to solve the issue.

it is a hopeless country with these idiots. what a waste of time. i think it is really better for mindanao (maybe visayas wants to join too?) to secede from the society that houses sick minds like gf2bluz, macbolan00, noriel, and other stupid people.

gf2bluz, macbolan00, noriel

stupid people

people who focus on personalities and not issues

look at how that stupid gf2bluz responds to benigno. it's pathetic. he himself, just like the rest of us all is using a pseudonym, but he takes issue with it. hypocritical father-sucker!

gf2bluz, look at yourself you idiot. you can't even tell when you are displaying your stupidity by focusing on benigno's character rather than focusing on the issues he mentions. you really are the epitome of the pathetic personality-centric pinoy that cannot discuss issues properly. what a wanker you are!

you are such a loser gf2bluz!

remember, i call you stupid and idiot because that's all you can understand with your pathetically low iq of 4!

gf2bluz

[miss_mike]

Originally posted by metropolitan
may problema nga mali naman ang iniisip na dahilan, kongklusyon at solusyon.

hi metropolitan!
in refuting, kindly share your dahilan, kongklusyon at solusyon. maybe i've been on the wrong trail all along.

hi kabise!
next time

i am all for your BIL's "refreshing" insight, reason why i've been trying to target education & the youth to shape up before we get shipped out. reality check though, i second xxray's opinion. given r3'91's analogy, this would be a long tedious process but hey! at least it's a hope for regeneration rather than degeneration. wishing that i will see the day that the insults i get from my being pinoy would stop.

anyone at all,
just wondering, if indeed benign0 is a racist or whatever his detractors accuse him of then why would the following find space in his webby?
"One promising light at the end of the tunnel: Bayani Fernando as MMDA chairman is applying his world-class approaches and standards of excellence that made Marikina a true and objective example of what the Pinoy can do."

my perspective of HIS views is to be read as MY admission as a pinoy and an individual, a part of the of the dysfunction my country is in. no more, no less.

as i have posted another thread, *pls. indulge*:
"Truth is visible when honest men seek Her diligently... If he should seek confirmation -- let him look around." G.F. Green on Henry Ford's International Jew{

the website is shock therapy, in my opinion. infact, i have found myself guilty of some of the things contained in the site but i couldn't bring myself to hate the harbinger of "bad news".
"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." (Jn 8:7) just echoes in my mind.

[miss_mike]

signing off temporarily,

happy PExing!

PS:
hi uli kabise!
btw, no impulsive options for me. philippine soil is already fertile sans more "killing fields".

[benign0]

Mate, honestly, I truly missed your batch of triumphalism (the new generation here don't do you justice).

On with the show:

Originally posted by GF2bluz
So given your perceived morals in this country, being better off than the rest of us, you are therefore right?

Im saying: up there in our little island-group "state", the rich rule whether you like it or not. They always eventually set things "right" ("right" being their way -- our way, as a matter of fact). The masses elected a fool to office, for example. What happened? "Civil society" got rid of him extra-Constitutionally. How about that.

Where else do you find a revolutionary leader (as in the Edsa 2 "revolution") governing by virtue of a constitution she "side-stepped".

Originally posted by GF2bluz
Man if you're worth AU$25K a year and you think like that, you'd be even more wrong with every additional aussie buck you earn.

You'll just have to keep guessing, mate.

Originally posted by GF2bluz
Yes, benign0 this thread has long ceased to be about this nation since its been known to be no more a slanderboard for you. And if it is only just and right to respond, we will dredge every bit of your credibility.

Please do. I'm here to discuss.

And by the way, Pinoys are famously expert at "dredging" credibility (check out this trait's latest incarnation -- the Davide case), so any form of behaviour that reflects Pinoy culture is most welcome here.

Originally posted by GF2bluz
Unfortunately, as expected, there's nothing more than an angry simpleton in his mid-20's with nothing more to show than an avuncular petition to stay downunder.

Between the two of us, it seems it is you who has so much "anger" to deal with.

Originally posted by GF2bluz
Somehow just because you think benign0 is such an anonymous pseudonymn, he shouldn't be accountable to what he says. If you're really so good to be as you tout yourself to be, then come out of the closet and out of the electronic shadows to show us your true convictions, manay g.

So if it turns out that "benign0" is a rocket scientist, would that change your opinion about the views I express?

Credentialism -- another famous Pinoy trait that continues to shine through (just like the "beauty" of the Philippines?).




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[R3'91]

Originally posted by miss_mike
each to his own opinion no issue with me.
maybe my initial solution was not emphatic enough so as not to make effect.

such a small world isn't it? i'm a from the manila chapter.

a bit too cold from the part of the world where you're at, isn't it?

i was with PEx back when users need not register but somehow my passion for the boards fizzled...i hope not, this time...

just keep the mind soaring! looking fwd to your next discussion with benign0

'Tis small world indeed, miss_mike. So, you have been to PEX before. Well, glad to see you back. And yes, it is getting quite cold here. Just hit 0 degrees yesterday on my way home from school, and it just made me wish i was back home where it is nice and warm.

About the build-up on kabise's BIL's analogy that I did, yes it is indeed a great task for all of us. But it is a more comprehensive solution, IMHO, than just pouring pure water. And we are all familiar with Confucius: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step".

Enjoy your Christmas vacation.