I woke up today energised and well.. although there's no sun, I still consider this a good day. I'm thinking : Spring will be here soon. So better stop whining. Then I remeber my Dad's text: Anak, watch Manny Pacuiao's fight. Oh yeah, have to go online and look around for a video somewhere about his fight. Of course, there's this pride you feel when a kababayan bring prestige to your country. Wohoo! Manny won again. I can almost hear the jubillant cheers in the cinemas there; in the gymnasiums where the fight is seen for free. Ah! I am proud to be Pinoy.
Then came the news at six. ITV featured a story about the Philippines, and this British guy who planned to build a playground there. The video featured the smokey mountain in Tondo. This brought back memories of my outreach activities with my former company; and some outreach programs on my birthdays and during Christmases. It seemed like a different earth seeing it on TV. I cried for my kababayans and the poverty they have to go through just to stay alive.
In the background, I heard my neighbor's kids talking and yelling and swearing. And some were running from the corner shop, shouting f-ing words at each other, squandering their allowance with ciggies and beer. They look so miserable and unhappy. You can see it in their cold jaded eyes.
What a great contrast: Poverty but warm smiles and genuine laughter; richness, and comfort and warm clothes here but cold stares and sad looks. My pride for the Filipino spirit has grown exponentially overnight. As the news report has said, poverty was everywhere, and yet it is unthinkable why the Filipinos still manage to smile. Maybe it's resilience. I don't know. But it made me miss Pinas even more.
