It has been a month since my last column but it feelslike only 2 weeks has gone by.Moving is a time-warping experience, in my book. Likebeing in a bubble in a world of your own. But it is one of the bestways to keep you alert and aware. Aside from the being the opportune time to clean up… Read More »
“No matter how phantasmagoric its stagings often were, the totalitarian society from which I had come was not…some sort of unearthly, demonic aberration, but a human reality that still persists and may indeed revive in other guises as an ideology and as a form of society.” Norman Manea, On Clowns: The Dictator and the Artist, (1992). “Sir…Sir…Sir…”Ah, I’ve… Read More »
Members Clamor for an Independent Financial Auditby Maria CJ De Villa Many people claim that FCT may well be the wealthiest non-profit Filipino community centre in Canada. Why? Because with the liquidation of its building last January 2017, its coffers swelled to a staggering $5.9 million (gross sale). While it would have been cause for a glorious celebration,… Read More »
“Some friends are like sunny days, with false flames, oozing from afar, coming near without a dime.” – Michael Bassey Johnson. I can smell her vulnerability from afar. I have this uncanny ability to sense my victim. It started at a young age with a big lie that helped me avoid punishment if caught. Since then lying has… Read More »
In Sept of last year, I wrote a two-part article for BALITA about the gathering of “dark clouds” in the Philippine educational landscape. I couldn’t have been more prescient when in Dec 2019 the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment ) results of 2018 computer-based, 2-hour test were revealed. The assessment was administered to 600,000 15-year-olds in 79 participating countries. We… Read More »
Beautiful halcyon days! Sun in full splendor. Blue skies. White fluffy clouds. Cool breeze. Perfect! How we want to hold on to this kind of days. But alas! Life is not life if it stays this way. The livingness of life, as I have realized it, is change. Nothing stays the same. Even our bodies change every second.… Read More »
By: Edwin de Leon There are probably more books and titles dedicated to life’s most perplexing wringer. What is the meaning of life? If we take this question on a purely biological basis, the short answer is “none”. Just as the universe has no meaning, so is the life ( or lives ) in it. We give meaning to our lives… Read More »
“Somewhere there’s music/How near, how far/It’s where you are.” Lyrics from How High The Moon, A Song by Les Paul and Mary Ford Whenever I work out on my elliptical at my home basement, I listen to music instead of watching a DVD documentary or a movie. Since being self-isolated due to COVID-19, working out on the elliptical… Read More »
My heart sank when I espied a bit of news online that Muji was filing for bankruptcy (just like a bunch of other fashion retail companies). Thank heavens it was only in the U.S. (Sigh of relief). Am not much of a U.S. goer anyway. Except maybe to New York. But then, my travelling days will probably have… Read More »
“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Immanuel Kant Last famous words, asking for sympathy but none was given. In eight minutes and forty six seconds, the life of Mr. George Floyd was snuffed out of him, captured on a video by a concerned bystander. According to Wikipedia, the last person publicly… Read More »