Ondoy asked, “Whom to Blame?

Catastrophic- this is how Filipino and other nationalities may describe the devastation brought by Ondoy. Many lives were taken. Many were left homeless. Many were torn down into pieces. All are back to square one.

To lose love ones is the most painful of all. To accept the lost without even a slim preparation makes it more hurting. How can I describe the pain of someone whose heart was broken? How can I suffice the sorrow of those whose not only house were taken but also those who make it a home? Nothing.

No one to blame, they say; not the people, not the government and most of all not God. Among the three mentioned, I am certain that the latter should never be blamed. But let us try to analyze, is there really no one to blame? Some may say, it is the government because it failed in protecting them; or some may say, it is because of the people’s selfishness and negligence to our nature.

There is no one to blame, really, except ourselves. It is not the government and the people. It is us, who abused the nature. It is us who failed to appreciate life and take care of it. It is us who became busy doing our daily stuffs. It is us who sometimes forgot to thank God for what we have achieved because we are busy.

Let us just keep on scrutinizing what happened and where it happened. I do not want to sound rude but this is just for the sake of analyzing. The tragedy mostly happened in places where pollution is rampant, and where people are busy. It flooded in places where we can see visible water pollution. It rained a lot in places where there is much air pollution. Simply explained by science; the hydrologic cycle. This is merely a call.

Some of us cut trees without reforestation. Many of us throw our trashes in streets or in any places. Water, land and air pollution are all product of human actions. And we made all of these. And if you try to isolate yourself with this vivid reality, let me ask you, did you do something? It is just that, we try to put blame towards other people for not doing this or that without trying to analyze if you have done your part.

It is time for us to be awakened from reality…of the true campaign of our nature… Ondoy is just one of the calls we tried to ignore. But let us not be ignorant all through our lives. It is time for us to realize the weakened and devastated state of our mother nature. Let us not let Ondoy to be ignored once again. Let us not let our own deeds stole the lives of our dearest. Let us not put the blame to other people put it in us. Let us do our share in making this world a better place… a place where life exists.

Education to Change or Sustain?

by: Josephine Luz=)

Should education be designed to change or sustain society?” is a frequent yet controversial debate especially in the education sector. Education has an important role in developing and maintaining the properties of society.

As we enter a new kind of society, the information era, our education system must be equipped with the needs of the new generations. On the one hand, I believe that education should be designed to change only a part of the society where we can pave way to development. The very purpose of education is to impart and contribute to the betterment of man and society, and without this change, no development will take place. On the other hand, education should also be designed to sustain a vital part of the society like the standards, norm, and its ancient roots. As to Oak (2009), if social norms deprive certain strata of society from progressing in life and come in the way of social welfare, it defeats the purpose of education.

Banathy (1991) stressed that we should offer education that will define the creative capacity, competence and character of the new generation which will shape the society of the 21st century. There is growing awareness in the paucity in the current design of education that deal with the new realities of the information or knowledge era. Banathy also suggested that education must be transcend rather than improve it; re-vision it rather than revising it; and transform it by design rather than reform it. Thus, education must be designed in a way that will fit the students of the new generation to their generation.

With the above mentioned issue, we must always consider the interrelation of education and society as well as their impact to each other. Oak averred that society and education are tightly bound entities and hence cannot be separated from each other. The link of these two remained as the roots of educational issues.

Education must be modified from time to time in order to meet the needs of time but at the same side, it must also ensure that these changes will not corrupt the ancient roots and the foundations of the society.

Cute Cats, beside Esplanade.

Clarke Quay, Singapore

August 1, 2009- We had our rest here after that tiring walk and exploration with the best of Singapore. Marlone, the bestfriend of Gidz, told us that we must see this place. It is romantic especially during evening where you will see the beautiful lights. But unfortunately, we were nt able to witness the place. We were in the place for until 730PM but it is like 5:00 Pm in the RP. We were so tired this day that we were not able to wait until the dark night comes.

Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore, located within the Singapore River Planning Area. The quay is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and Boat Quay.

Merlion, the Symbol of Singapore.

August 1, 2009- Right after our walk in esplande, we went to the fountain of Merlion, is an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Its name combines "mer" meaning the sea and "lion". The fish body comes from Singapore's ancient name back when it was a fishing village — Temasek — meaning "sea town" in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name — Singapura — meaning "lion city" or "kota singa" in Sanskrit and Malay. As Gidz told me, if you will visit Singapore, you should see this place because this Merlion is the symbol of Singapore.

Esplanade, Singapore

August 1, 2009- The first place that we visited right after we fixed things in Singapore is the Esplanade. The Esplanade is a waterfront location just north of the mouth of the Singapore River in downtown Singapore. It is primarily occupied by theEsplanade Park, and was the venue where one of Singapore's largest congregation of satay outlets until their relocation to Clarke Quay as a result of the construction of a major performance arts venue, the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which took its name from this location. I find this place nice and a must see one. I was amazed with the design of its roof.

Salamat king Suportang Pamagaral.

King marakal a bage, dakal ku dapat ipasalamat. Karing binye da kaku ding taung susuporta kanaku lalu na king pamagaral ku, tune kung pasalamat. Dakal mu naman bageng milyari na migpakumplikadu king sitwasyun ku bilang talasunud karela. Madakala bage ing pigbawal. Dakal a dahilan kung bakit da patupad deti. Dakal mu namang dahilan kung bakit da sasabyan ini ampo ita. Marakal kareni tune namang tutu pero marakal din ing pilit namung patutwan at kulang na king awsan dang realidad. Ngeni, minsan, aku linabag. Pilit panindigan ing bageng piniling dasnan. Dapot deting taung areti ekula antindyan. Balu ku sasabyan dang antindyan daku, pero king gulut na nita, eku balung talastasan. Dakal a migbayu manibat nyang pinili ku ini. Masakit mang tikdong pasibayu kayari daring egana ganag disisyung gewa, king saup king matas at malakas a tiwala king Apung Ginu, balu ku ya ing bahalang sumaup kaku. Siguru malwat pang kasakitan ing danasan, pero ita siguru ing kabayaran. Manibat kanita, manibat nyang meayus na ini, dakal pasibayung pangaku ing biye da, karing apulung mesabi, metung mu ing milyari. Ing eku mu buri, sana ala namung sasabyan, ala namung pangaku nung ali mu rin magawa. Alang palabra de onor. enaku bisang magsalita karela, uling balu kung atin nala nanamang idahilan. at aku nanaman ing mali. Pero kahit nanu paman ing kulang at ali dapat, sobra sobrang pasasalamat ing ibie ku karing taung migtiwala king agyu ku at sinuporta kanaku.