Obviously, that question is so rhetorical in many ways. First world countries enjoy more stable economies, better support systems, provide more opportunities for their populace, and feature superior infrastructure.
But perhaps, if we view things using a more human perspective, the answer may not be so clear after all. Here’s a brief summary of what happened in Mumbai, India, after record-heavy rains:
The torrent showed the best and the worst about the city. Hundreds of people drowned. But unlike New Orleans after Katrina hit, there was no widespread breakdown of civic order; though police were absent, the crime rate did not go up.
That was because Mumbaikars were busy helping one another. Slum dwellers went to the highway and took stranded motorists into their homes and made room for one more person in shacks where the average occupancy is seven adults to a room.
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It would be reasonable to think that a major reason why Friendster is alive today (despite making what some call a huge blunder) because of its large number of Filipino users and operators. While MySpace barely made a footprint here, and even if Multiply is steadily winning converts with its vastly better features, Friendster continues to be the social networking site of choice for most Filipinos.
But a new player may change all that, and perhaps even spell the end of Friendster. Yuwie is a social networking site that promises to pay you for your participation. Using what’s quickly becoming a traditional business model—offering free content supported by advertising—Yuwie will apparently pay users a small share of the income the site generates from selling ad space. Read the rest of this entry »
While pithiness can have a lot of impact, and it may leave the reader with an incomplete picture. Just like the The World Factbook’s entry on the Philippines dated October 4, 2007. The facts and figures are very accurate, but the country summary may leave the wrong impression:
The Philippine Government faces threats from three terrorist groups on the US Government’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but in 2006 and 2007 scored some major successes in capturing or killing key wanted terrorists. Decades of Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines have led to a peace accord with one group and an ongoing cease-fire and peace talks with another.
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As a semi-proficient bowler myself, I found the announcement that the Federation International des Quilleurs (aka FIQ, or International Bowling Federation) move to Singapore quite notable:
The world governing body for bowling… will soon move its headquarters from the Philippines to Singapore.
This was confirmed by Jessie Phua, who recently assumed the presidency of FIQ. She is the first Singaporean to head a world sports body.
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Update: Read the apology
So you’re a Filipino angry at Desperate Housewives, and want to make sure your disdain is effective? Here’s something that’s much better than a boycott (which Karlo says won’t work anyway).
Ever heard of a Google bomb? A few years ago, if you searched for “Miserable Failure” on Google, the first result was a link to George W. Bush’s biography. Maybe you can also do that here. Just pick a web page talking about Teri Hatcher’s recent slur (like perhaps, the post I wrote yesterday or even the one you’re reading right now?) and link to it using the words “Desperate Housewives.”
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Update: Read the apology
Many Filipinos found Teri Hatcher’s remark on the 4th season premier of Desperate Housewives pretty insulting. I found it a bit presumptive, and pretty unfair to the millions of Filipinos working hard to provide quality health care in America. Listen to the dialogue:
“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.”
This is hardly the first time the Philippines has suffered from its unflattering reputation. Does anyone remember that joke Jay Leno cracked way back in 2004, when we pulled out our troops from Iraq to save a truck driver? Read the rest of this entry »
Genuine irritation can produce so much eloquence, as Elber proves recently with his demand to stop spamming him:
If you want meaningful change, then you have to stop irritating the people who can actually help you spread your message around. Stop getting in our faces. Maybe, just maybe, we might actually be open to what you’re trying to say.
He, of course, had enough of the spammer who couldn’t seem to get a clue, even though I already gave the spammer a brief lesson on how not to market online.
After this spammer tried to leave a comment on this blog, my personal blog, and even one of my pro blogs, I had enough. A little research gave me a way to contact the party the spammer was ostensibly representing. I informed them of what was going on, hoping to hear their side of the story.
Quite happily, they promptly replied to my inquiry, made it clear that the spamming was going on without their knowledge, and promised to contact this “overzealous supporter.” I’m inclined to believe them, given that they’ve been very open and forthcoming.
In any case, let’s hope that Elber’s loquacious put down makes it clear to those who want to spread a message online: relevancy avoids animosity.
Butch Dalisay recently wrote about Filipino-ness in Writing:
When I write a story, I worry about plot and character—not about how that story will be labeled by somebody else. Writing a story that people will want to read again is difficult enough. Ultimately, the only nation that will matter to the writer is the one whose passport consists of the published book. As his student Allan Aquino remembers NVM Gonzalez saying, “Writers create their own nation, even if they’ve never set foot on it.”
I’ve highlighted the Filipino nature of The Bayanihan Blog Network numerous times, whenever I discussed our objectives, how the member blogs relate topics to the Philippines, or how they cover Philippine topics. But we don’t believe that it’s enough to be Filipino. As Butch Dalisay wrote, it ultimately doesn’t matter what the nationality of the writer, or a blogger for that matter, is.
In many ways, this blog network is about creating its own nation: a Philippines that has a lot to offer to the offline and online world. We try to go beyond the casual negativity that many Filipinos are guilty of, and focus on things we can be proud of. But we’re more than just that.
The Bayanihan Blog Network is more than just a Filipino blog network. That much is obvious from the way we write and what we write about, as Butch Dalisay writes. Yet what really matters is the quality content and unique perspectives we offer on a regular basis. Only through this can we hope to stand out from the millions of online publications out there.
So I welcome you to check out the different member blogs of our network, and let us know what you think.
My original post on boy bastos being shut down is just part of the interesting discussion over the whole issue.
The Warrior Lawyer has been earning links for his post on freedom of expression balanced with the anti-porn section of the revised penal code of the Philippines. It condemns
“the authors of obscene literature, published with their knowledge in any form; the editors publishing such literature; and the owners/operators of the establishment selling the same.”
Who sets the standards of obscenity and immorality? An American judge saying “I know it when I see it”? What about magazines like FHM and even Men’s Health, which, no matter how you look at it, contains content that many people would find offensive. Why do they escape scrutiny, or at the very least continue to operate unchecked? Is it because they stay just a hair below explicitness?
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The whole purpose of search engine optimization is to increase the amount and quality of visitors coming from search engines, by tweaking a website’s presentation and structure, and ensuring its content can be easily cataloged by search engines. Good SEO isn’t all about attracting more visitors to a website, but also those who are interested in the website’s topic as well.
It’s not unreasonable to think that bloggers could use of SEO to create a more realistic impression of their own country.
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