Brown Soul

I cant help my self but to have hope every time I visited a blog or a site of a Filipino working or studying abroad but yet still proud of her country! Like “Cat’s Walks” who’s living and working in Switzerland.

How many Filipinos will say the same thing:

“I have embraced European culture without losing and being ashamed of my own …I will always be proud of being Filipino and I will always promote the Philippines and our culture. I hope that someday more Filipinos will do the same.”

Check the original source here: www.catswalk.com

I’m suppose to post this article next week but I can’t help my self but to post it now as my way of appreciation and gratitude to her for loving our country kahit nasa lugar sya ng mga banyaga!

What is so special about Beijing Olympic? What is so special about the Bird’s Nest? America has at least 7 stadiums that are as big as or bigger than the Bird’s Nest.

Like what they’re saying,

What makes Bird’s Nest so unique is not the size but its Chinese identity. It is not European, it is not American… It is Chinese! Bird’s Nest is a Chinese soup delicacy, which costs at least $30 a cup. It is created by a certain species of bird that creates a nest with its saliva. What is amazing is HOW FAR and HOW GRAND the Chinese can attach meaning to something as ordinary as soup. It’s like creating a stadium and then call it “Sapin-sapin” or “Burong Talangka.” But no brilliant Pinoy architect has ever risen to promote our indigenous culture and express it NOT with “barriotic-ness,” but with a jaw-dropping, state-of-the-art facility like the Bird’s Nest.

The names of our stadiums are bereft of meaning and creativity: ULTRA, AMORANTO, ARANETA… Our theatres, convention centers are also meaningless: CCP, MERALCO, METROPOLITAN, FOLK ARTS, PICC. There is one theatre named in Tagalog, Lisa Makuha’s ALIW theatre. But just the same, no national identity. Just cute names.

Singapore’s Esplanade whose design was taken from a popular fruit among the Singaporeans—with the best varieties in fact, being grown in the Philippines (Davao): the odorous Durian. In the Philippines, Durian is considered the king of the fruits (Arancillo and Native are the best! How about Durian coffee? I love the taste) But to Singapore, Durian is an icon of culture, progress, civilization. Same with Bird’s Nest, it is so symbolic of Chinese culture.

F. Sionil Jose was right: “We are poor because we are poor.” There is a greater poverty that inflicts us, and it is the poverty of the soul.
Let’s not be surprised if the Oxford Greek Dictionary today defines the word “Filipina” as “domestic helper.” As Jose Rizal sharply pointed: “There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.” We cannot find the Dragon in us, because we think like slaves and therefore we are treated as one. Sikat tayo kapag halukikip tayo ng puti. Hindi tayo makatayo sa sarili nating mga paa—lagi na lang tayong nakasabit sa laylayan ng mga banyaga. We cannot have the will to empire because we are contented with dole-outs and free-loads. Mahirap makahanap ng dragon sa Pilipinas. Continue...