Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 15 | Page 7

August 1 - 20, 2017 OPINION PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY  Rey Fortaleza - Publisher Carlito Pablo - Editorial Consultant Rosette Correa - Senior Editor Jun Cordero - Associate Editor Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon Datol, Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, DeeDee Sytangco, Alan Samuel, Erie Maestro, Sandee M. Ed Malay, Jayne Anastacio, JJAtencio and Willie J. Uy (Manila Bureau Chief) Alvin Barrera / Mon Correa - Graphics and Layout ; Rolly Fortaleza - Graphics Design JoelCastro - Website; Julian Fortaleza - Sports Editor; R icardo Fortaleza- Sports Photography Editor: Dean Guzman; Photograhers- Charles De Jesus/ Christian Cunanan Reyfort Publishing & Entertainment Office Add: 9955 -149th Street, Surrey, B.C. V3R 7N2 Email: [email protected] Website: www.philippineasiannewstoday.com http://www.reyfortmediagroup.com Tel: (604) 588-news (6397) Fax: (604) 588-6387 Copyright of letters and other materials submitted and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher may freely reproduce them in any other forms. Opinions and views expressed are of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY. E-mail: [email protected] Racism and other spades Breaking Point can you imag- ine the damage that social media and some groups have done to our future generations by redefining vocabulary? I also tell my students a story of how I learned the different races as a child through a Christian song taught to us in Catechism that goes, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, are most precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world!” As a seven year old, I thought, “Well, I’m sure Jesus loves me, too, even though I am brown!” and as a child, you really don’t see “colour”. Now, however, because of our constant bad- gering of children regarding race, beliefs, gender, morality, etc. we have taken away their innocence, and their ability to decide and ascertain, based on truth, what really matters most, and what values their families are trying to uphold. People fear that if you say something against the popular notion, you are anti-this and anti-that, and this is what our children are now learning - they are learn- ing not to speak up and stand up for what they believe in for fear of ostracism. US President Donald Trump is under fire (once again!) for not speaking against white supremacists right after By Rosette Correa In 1775, German physi- cist and anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach com- posed a treatise called, “The Natural Varieties of Mankind”, and proposed five major divi- sions: the Caucasian or white race, the Mongolian or yellow race, including all East Asians and some Central Asians; the Malayan or brown race, includ- ing South/Southeast Asian and Pacific Islanders; the Ethio- pian or black race, including sub-Saharan Africans; and the American or red race, including American Indians. Blumenbach based this on the shape of the skulls of the people from these races, however, he did not give it a hierarchy or ranking. If Blu- menbach had done this study today, he would have been dis- missed as “racist”, despite his work, as most scientists and other professionals in the fields are debunked by social media and called names for revealing truth based on careful study. In this day and age, a lot of people don’t really know what the word “racism” actual- ly means. My Grade 7 students call everything you say against what social media has estab- lished as “the truth” a “racist” remark, even if it had nothing to do with one’s origins. I have to give them Blumenbach’s explanation, and redirect, but Bulong Pulungan By Deedee Siytangco Angel Thoughts “Never reply when you are angy. Never make a promise when you are happy. Never make a decision when you are sad.” Spirit of the Unbounded ************** Meet Nelia Cruz Sarcol, a vivacious person who started out as a flight attendant. She “took off her wings” to go back to the academe, graduated magna cum laude and received awards from two prestigious international honor societies of the USA. Afterwards, she founded an international school, the how old I am. I tell them I am overweight and that I’d rather be a size 8 than a size 10. I tell them that these things are arbitrary, and I am not sensitive about these things because these are facts. This is how I tell people that I am secure about who I am, regardless of how people see me, and I don’t impose these things on other people, nor will I go to Parliament and change laws based on what I perceive things should be. I will not let long es- tablished laws and codes be changed because of my per- sonal and selfish definitions. Imposing my beliefs on oth- ers is outrightly disrespecting their rights as individuals, and their right to live and raise their families as they fit. It is outright bullying, and therefore, unjust and a form of discrimination. We need to go back to ac- cepting the truth, even though Jack Nicholson says,”You can’t handle the truth!” When one learns to accept that one is dif- ferent, and that their difference is what makes them unique, this is when forbearance hap- pens. When one is able to en- dure and forebear, when they don’t need to insist that an entire system based on estab- lished science, nature and mo- rality be changed so that they can be “accepted”, that’s the time that true tolerance hap- pens. Race is an established truth, so let racism retain its definition as it is, without be- ing confused with other ide- ologies that people and groups say is the absolute truth. Let’s go back to calling a spade a Learn life lessons from the pearl CIE British School which is recognized by the University of Cambridge International Examinations, UK. Nelia calls this, “The School for Leaders.” The CIE British School awards British IGCSE and GCE A Level qualifications to its High School and pre- University students. To date, there are now three campuses: Makati, Cebu, and Tacloban. College bachelor degrees have been added as well as a Master’s degree in Management. The current CIE Non-Academic programs that complement the rigors of academics are impressive Reprinted from Manila Bulletin the Charlottesville attacks, talks about racism in America being so blatantly alive is the talk of the town. It was pretty obvious that neo-Nazis were present during the protests, but it took Trump a few days before con- demning the act by the group. He said that they staged their protests as a reaction to the re- moval of the statue of US Civil War General Robert E. Lee, who led the Southern insur- rection for state’s rights and slavery. Trump even furthered his argument by saying whose statue was to be brought down next, with both George Wash- ington and Thomas Jefferson, two other US Presidents, being slave owners themselves. One thing he said was true, though. “Where does it stop?” referring to the endless protestations about anything that irks the very nature of every human being. Whether we like it or not, it is the truth. When will it ever stop - the ac- cusations that one thing is bet- ter than the other, that one’s rights is more important than another’s rights, that one fac- tion is more respectable than the other, etc. Who gets to de- cide on these things? I tell everyone that I’m brown, and I actually use the racial definition to describe my- self. After all, we Filipinos grew up proudly speaking of our ka- yumanggi race. I tell everyone as well: art, violin, swimming, aikido, fencing, golf, and travel. An imposing structure that houses the CIE British School main campus on President Magsaysay Avenue in Cebu symbolizes the vision and dedication built into this school by teacher Nelia. It would be difficult to put in a nutshell all of Nelia’s continuing roster of accomplishments and achievements but a review of a simple and unpretentious but very patriotic book provides an insight of what drives this gem of a woman. Nelia authored a book on her leadership goals, The Pearl Principle. This was published in 2008 by the CIE Global Colleges, Inc., which revolves on the cycle of life of the oyster giving birth to the pearl. It recounts how the teredo microorganisms invade the oyster and make it secrete nacre to protect itself. Out of this unique natural event, the beautiful, precious pearl emerges as well as its story of inspiration. This, Nelia likens to adversities which constantly challenge Filipinos to face and which they can transform into Prof. Nelia Sarcol opportunities to improve nation. themselves as a people and a Teacher WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM Nelia Cruz Sarcol to this day espouses CONT PAGE 14