two weeks ago, an old friend wrote in her facebook account about her experiences as a new public school teacher in the province...she just started work this month....anyway she got really depressed because of the situation of her students....each child uses only one notebook for all subjects...the parents can afford just that...they also do not have a lot of books....they just share what limited books they have....after working in a private school where all students could afford to buy notebooks and books that must have been really depressing....
last week, while on our way to skygarden in quezon city, i heard two friends talking about books...i eavesdropped...i learned that one of them asked for books from the others....it turned out her niece is studying in a public school and she was only given one book....yup...not one set of books but one book...she found out about this when she found a note from the teacher in her notebook...the note says that her niece is not doing her homeworks...
now there are talks (loud talks) that there are plans to increase the 10-year basic education to 12...if that will happen do they think they can provide all the books that the students need...we only have 10 years now and we could not give all the students even half of the books that is required...try to go to the provinces, sirs....there you will see the real state of the classrooms....here in manila all public school students probably receive the complete set....but as you move farther away from the capital, book supply also moves far away from what is proper, appropriate, needed or required....
can they build enough classrooms?...they couldn't even have all the old (dilapidated) buildings repaired....look at what happened to one school where a student died when an old building collapsed...look at classrooms being used by a class with 60 - 70 students....look at classrooms divided into two to accaommodate two big sections....look at desks shared by 3 - 4 students.......look at students studying under 'talisay trees'...look at 'stages' used as classroomS and not as venues for performances.....
students need good teachers to learn....will they be able to provide enough teachers for this additional two years....if they could provide that, will they be able to pay them enough....a lot of good teachers now are going abroad because they do not get paid well here....some education graduates would even prefer to work as domestic helpers (no, i'm not saying this is bad....this is just not what they trained for) in other countries because the pay is better....
some people advocating this 12-year basic education are saying that they are going to increase the budget for education...can they and will they really do that?...even if they do, i think what ever additional budget they will give to education will not be enough to even compensate for the deficit every school child is now experiencing....and then they will add two years???....
i wonder....what is their real reason for thinking about this 12-year basic education curriculum?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
gospel for AUGUST 16 - the rich young man
the Gospel for today is about the rich young man who asked Jesus what he needs to do to gain eternal life....before i share to ou my reflection on this, here is the Gospel from Matthew 19:16-22
A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
when i heard this Gospel this morning i thought it must have been really sad and depressing for the rich young man....he might be thinking how he can give all he has when he needs to live....he needs his material possessions to survive here on earth....if he is living in our world now where money talks he needs every possession he has.....it must have been doubly hard to imagine that all the things he is doing -- following the commandments -- is not enough to inherit LIFE....
he needs to give all that he has for those things are tying him down....he is not able to fully serve God because all his material things are taking away his attention from the Lord....
i said i'm luckier than this rich young man for i have no material possessions to boast of....i said i have almost nothing so naturally i have nothing to give....in fact if this story is happening now i think i should be one of those who deserve to get something from whatever that young man will so decide to give....im always concerned where to get money next....then i realized im no different from that rich young man....like him i am also tied down by my earthly concerns -- i with my worries how to get money -- him with all his money......
if i will not be tied down with this concern i can fully do what i need to do....and that is to follow the Lord....this is very difficult to do....like i've said we all need money to survive....we can do almost nothing without it....so what must i do?....forget about thinking where to get money to pay the bills or to buy meds?....forget about looking for money and just run away from my obligations?....that is not possible, i believe....maybe i just need to fully trust in the Lord and not worry about it....maybe i just need to trust in his goodness that all my concerns will be take care of.....maybe i just need to believe that he has in his possession all that i will ever need here on earth and all i need is to ask from him....maybe ill do these....easier said than done....God grant me the grace to fully trust in you....
A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
when i heard this Gospel this morning i thought it must have been really sad and depressing for the rich young man....he might be thinking how he can give all he has when he needs to live....he needs his material possessions to survive here on earth....if he is living in our world now where money talks he needs every possession he has.....it must have been doubly hard to imagine that all the things he is doing -- following the commandments -- is not enough to inherit LIFE....
he needs to give all that he has for those things are tying him down....he is not able to fully serve God because all his material things are taking away his attention from the Lord....
i said i'm luckier than this rich young man for i have no material possessions to boast of....i said i have almost nothing so naturally i have nothing to give....in fact if this story is happening now i think i should be one of those who deserve to get something from whatever that young man will so decide to give....im always concerned where to get money next....then i realized im no different from that rich young man....like him i am also tied down by my earthly concerns -- i with my worries how to get money -- him with all his money......
if i will not be tied down with this concern i can fully do what i need to do....and that is to follow the Lord....this is very difficult to do....like i've said we all need money to survive....we can do almost nothing without it....so what must i do?....forget about thinking where to get money to pay the bills or to buy meds?....forget about looking for money and just run away from my obligations?....that is not possible, i believe....maybe i just need to fully trust in the Lord and not worry about it....maybe i just need to trust in his goodness that all my concerns will be take care of.....maybe i just need to believe that he has in his possession all that i will ever need here on earth and all i need is to ask from him....maybe ill do these....easier said than done....God grant me the grace to fully trust in you....
Friday, August 13, 2010
why i need to lose weight...
i just had my breakfast...half rice (half cup of fried rice that is)...half pansit (yeah, that's half order of pansit)....two pieces siomai...how will i lose weight if i eat like this....hay....who cares....hahaha
but seriously, how do i lose weight?....i don't know....well, i know because i write about them (article writing gig)....but i do not follow what i write....i dont follow the tips like eat frequently but in small portions, don't miss meals, do aerobic exercises, build some muscle mass, drink tea and drinks with l-carnitine, etc....i don't follow any of those, that's the problem....oh....wait....i do....i follow the first....eat frequentlly but in small portions.....okay.....no need to raise that eyebrow...i just follow half of it....eat frequently....that's it.....so why don't i follow my own tips....you see, sometimes we need or i need some motivation to really start doing something....maybe i should try to find a reason why i need to lose weight....hmmm.....
hmmm.....health reasons?.....yes, that could be....the days that followed after my check up at the makati medical center were characterized by conscious eating.....i didn't eat a lot the week after the check up....but after that i went back to eating 'normal'........why?.....i don't know.....maybe because i was thinking may gamot naman (there are medicines available) or wala naman akong nararamdaman (i do not feel sick)....bad...that's bad attitude....i know.....trust me...i know....ahaha....
hmmm....how about being 'noticed'...yeah, you know what i mean....you don't?....fine....just imagine this: there's a guy who is lean with abs as well defined as that of derek ramsey beside a guy who has bulging tummy....who do you think will get the attention....hmmmm.....sounds like a good motivation....naaaah....i don't get affected by that anymore.....i'm so used to being ignored because of that already.....i have experienced that too many times that i'm numb already (play music...tan tan tanananananananan tan tan ta nan)....lol.....as in bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.........
hmmm.......i can't think of any other reason....do i need to really have a reson to lose weight.....do i really need to be motivated....maybe.....maybe not....maybe i just need to put that thing in my head and hopefully it will understand that i need to do it....do i need to do it....hell yes...i need to do it very badly....i'll do it now...hay....whatever.....in the mean time, i need to go to the canteen....why?.....duh....i haven't had dessert pa kaya.....
but seriously, how do i lose weight?....i don't know....well, i know because i write about them (article writing gig)....but i do not follow what i write....i dont follow the tips like eat frequently but in small portions, don't miss meals, do aerobic exercises, build some muscle mass, drink tea and drinks with l-carnitine, etc....i don't follow any of those, that's the problem....oh....wait....i do....i follow the first....eat frequentlly but in small portions.....okay.....no need to raise that eyebrow...i just follow half of it....eat frequently....that's it.....so why don't i follow my own tips....you see, sometimes we need or i need some motivation to really start doing something....maybe i should try to find a reason why i need to lose weight....hmmm.....
hmmm.....health reasons?.....yes, that could be....the days that followed after my check up at the makati medical center were characterized by conscious eating.....i didn't eat a lot the week after the check up....but after that i went back to eating 'normal'........why?.....i don't know.....maybe because i was thinking may gamot naman (there are medicines available) or wala naman akong nararamdaman (i do not feel sick)....bad...that's bad attitude....i know.....trust me...i know....ahaha....
hmmm....how about being 'noticed'...yeah, you know what i mean....you don't?....fine....just imagine this: there's a guy who is lean with abs as well defined as that of derek ramsey beside a guy who has bulging tummy....who do you think will get the attention....hmmmm.....sounds like a good motivation....naaaah....i don't get affected by that anymore.....i'm so used to being ignored because of that already.....i have experienced that too many times that i'm numb already (play music...tan tan tanananananananan tan tan ta nan)....lol.....as in bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.........
hmmm.......i can't think of any other reason....do i need to really have a reson to lose weight.....do i really need to be motivated....maybe.....maybe not....maybe i just need to put that thing in my head and hopefully it will understand that i need to do it....do i need to do it....hell yes...i need to do it very badly....i'll do it now...hay....whatever.....in the mean time, i need to go to the canteen....why?.....duh....i haven't had dessert pa kaya.....
Thursday, August 12, 2010
pnoy declares august 23 regular working holiday -- goodbye to arroyo's holiday economics
it's official....august 23, 2010 is a holiday.....a regular WORKING holiday.....i just got this information on the net....our president noynoy aquino reportedly chose to celebrate the death anniversary of his father on his actual death day which is august 21....it's a saturday.....
last year, then president gloria macapagal arroyo declared august 23 as a holiday -- part of her holiday economics....i wonder if her being the one who declared this is the reason why it was changed....it appears that president noynoy has a ddiferent reason...in fairness...it was said that he is trying to avoid the imposition of unnecessary burden upon the employers, ensure the continuity of government, business, and commercial transaction, promote productivity, while at the same time preserve the solemnity of the observance....this came from lacierda which i got from yahoo.....
what is a regular working holiday?....based on what happened during the president's first sona, employees need to report to work...so why is it called a holiday?.....i don't know.....do employees get additional pay?.....i don't know.....if they do then the first reason why that laciera gave will not be achieved (unnecessary finanacial burden...).....this is confusing in a way....besides, if august 21 is already a non-working holiday, why declare august 23 a regular working holiday....if it is going to be celebrated already on the actual day, what is the point of doing it again on the 23rd....can it not be just one?....august 21 as non-working holiday or august 23 as non-working holiday....no in-betweens....(i would prefer august 23 to be non-working holiday =>)........
what do you guys think......
last year, then president gloria macapagal arroyo declared august 23 as a holiday -- part of her holiday economics....i wonder if her being the one who declared this is the reason why it was changed....it appears that president noynoy has a ddiferent reason...in fairness...it was said that he is trying to avoid the imposition of unnecessary burden upon the employers, ensure the continuity of government, business, and commercial transaction, promote productivity, while at the same time preserve the solemnity of the observance....this came from lacierda which i got from yahoo.....
what is a regular working holiday?....based on what happened during the president's first sona, employees need to report to work...so why is it called a holiday?.....i don't know.....do employees get additional pay?.....i don't know.....if they do then the first reason why that laciera gave will not be achieved (unnecessary finanacial burden...).....this is confusing in a way....besides, if august 21 is already a non-working holiday, why declare august 23 a regular working holiday....if it is going to be celebrated already on the actual day, what is the point of doing it again on the 23rd....can it not be just one?....august 21 as non-working holiday or august 23 as non-working holiday....no in-betweens....(i would prefer august 23 to be non-working holiday =>)........
what do you guys think......
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
late for late sunday mass
last sunday i heard mass at 9 pm....i know it's already late....it would have been better if i went to church in the morning.....but anyway....i arrived at the st. joseph the worker's parish in palanan, makati city...i arrived there on time....i sat in one of the pews that is vacant.....in front of i saw a couple who brought along their pet dog with them.....it was i think a shitzu.....anyway, maybe they just do not want to leave their baby behind.....then while the priest was giving his homily another couple came and sat on the same pew i was occupying....i thought i was already late (that is for going to the last mass for the day)....imagine you have put the mass as perhaps as your last activity for the day and you still arrive late.....i was bad....i was not focusing on the mass....i was busy judging others.....so i tried to focus on the homily....it was hard.....the priest is a foreigner....his accent was thick....but just the same i tried to focus.....again, it was hard....
why am i writing this....i don't know....i was just wondering why there are still many of us who put up to the last part of the day important obligations like participating in the mass.....hmmm.....
why am i writing this....i don't know....i was just wondering why there are still many of us who put up to the last part of the day important obligations like participating in the mass.....hmmm.....
Monday, August 9, 2010
wifi on-board -- jac liner from lucena to lrt taft
i came from quezon province last weekend...i went there to visit my father....on my way back here to manila i rode a jac liner bus from sm lucena....the moment i sat on my seat i saw the sinage in front...it says wifi on-board...i checked my phone and found that there really is wifi connection although it is secured....since they are still waiting for more passengers, the bus driver and his conductor was outside....i went outside to ask them if wifi connection is free and if it is, what is the password....according to them wifi is free for alltheir pasengers.....they gave me the password and the conductor even showed me where the router is....i hopped back in and started 'facebooking' (yes, that's the term they use to describe when you are doing something on facebook)...initially the connection wasn't fast....i had trouble uploading photos...you see i love uploading photos from my cellphone (samsun galaxy spica with its android os).....it's faster than connecting the phone to a laptop....anyway, while we were traveling lready connection became better....i evendecided to take out my laptop and check my emails....i also checkd this blog site and my other one (http://eatallyoucanallyoucaneat.blogspot.com)/ ...i even checked my nuffnang account to know how many visitors i had that day....
the connection was good throughout the entire trip....it was really a blessing because traffic was heavy that day....there were several roadworks along the way....only one lane was being used....and bad luck....our side always gets stopped to give to the other side.....i was already pissed because i had an affair to attend but i was running really,really late due to heavy traffick....had it not been for the wifi i would have exploded....
whoever thought of putting wifi on-board jac liner was a genius.....super great idea...surfiing the net is a better alternative to watching movies they show on their small tv....they show the same movies over and over....(besides, i think they use pirated dvd's so i'd rather that they stopped showing those films)....
i do hope there will also be wifi connection on taxis and jeepneys haha....no, let me correct that....not jeepneys....imagine if there is wifi a lot of commuters will be tempted to use their cellphones....this would attract a lot of snatchers......what they need to put in jeepneys are cctv's haha....
the next time you ride a provincial bus look for the new ones that has wifi on-board....you'll really enjoy.....try jac liner....they have buses going to lucena quezon, batangas and binan, laguna.....they have stations in pasay (near lrt buendia besides a disco called nirvana) and quezon city (near lrt gma-kamuning....in between edsa cor kamias and edsa cor east avenue)....
the connection was good throughout the entire trip....it was really a blessing because traffic was heavy that day....there were several roadworks along the way....only one lane was being used....and bad luck....our side always gets stopped to give to the other side.....i was already pissed because i had an affair to attend but i was running really,really late due to heavy traffick....had it not been for the wifi i would have exploded....
whoever thought of putting wifi on-board jac liner was a genius.....super great idea...surfiing the net is a better alternative to watching movies they show on their small tv....they show the same movies over and over....(besides, i think they use pirated dvd's so i'd rather that they stopped showing those films)....
i do hope there will also be wifi connection on taxis and jeepneys haha....no, let me correct that....not jeepneys....imagine if there is wifi a lot of commuters will be tempted to use their cellphones....this would attract a lot of snatchers......what they need to put in jeepneys are cctv's haha....
the next time you ride a provincial bus look for the new ones that has wifi on-board....you'll really enjoy.....try jac liner....they have buses going to lucena quezon, batangas and binan, laguna.....they have stations in pasay (near lrt buendia besides a disco called nirvana) and quezon city (near lrt gma-kamuning....in between edsa cor kamias and edsa cor east avenue)....
Friday, August 6, 2010
jejemon -- wH@t'zz tH3 fUzz
do you remember when the 'jejemon' craze started?.....i don't......one day i just heard them being featured in tv shows....the first time saw a feature about the 'jejemons' was in jessica soho's show on the kapuso chanel....kapuso mo jessica soho....then they were featured in a lot of talk shows soon after.....
who or what are 'jejemons'?.....wikipedia (yes they reached that level where wikipedia devotes precious internet space just to discuss them) defines jejemons this way:
Jejemon (IPA: ['dʒɛdʒɛmon]) is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. Jejemons are defined by Urban Dictionary as those "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility and online lynch squads."[1] A Jejemon is described as one of a "new breed of hipsters who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own sub-culture and fashion."
most jejemons are teenagers....their name supposedly came to be because of their penchant to use 'jejeje' instead of 'hehehe' to denote laughter in sms or status messages in social networking sites....the mon was supposed to be from 'monsters' much like the japanese anime pokemon.....
'jejemons' have developed their own 'language' or way of communicating....aside from replacing h with j they also use letters that are not often used like z and x....for example 'musta (short for kumusta which means 'how are you') is written as mUsZt@h..... notice that not only was w, z and h added but @ was used instead of a...and also notice that some letters were capitalized....sometimes they also usenumbers to replace letters.....the number 3 is used as e....'jejeje' is sometimes spelled as j3j3j3.....it was thought that their manner of texting was developed to maximize the character allocation of cellphones for sms.....like sending ko instead of ako which means me) or u instead of you.....maybe it did start from that....but you would see now that instead of making words shorter, they make them longer and difficult to understand.....ako for example is spelled as aQcKuHh (saw this in wikipedia)....u is spelled as yUHh.....
more often than not, sms messages from 'jejemons' are confusing....to non-jejemons, their text messages are weird, absurd....
but the 'jejemon' culture has gone beyond text messaging....they now have thier own fashion styles....i can't really describe what they wear.....maybe i could say they look rather weird.....
you will know that the 'jejemon' culture is really popular because of the existence of another group whose only purpose is to fight 'jejemon'.....the group is called 'jejebusters'.....well, maybe i'm wrong in saying that all they want is to fight 'jejemons'....maybe they have others like ensuring that the young really learn how to spell right....but the point is, their creation is an indication that the 'jejemons' have arrived...
so when did the craze start?......i don't know.....they got their name only recently....but i know they've been around for a long, long time already....here is a little secret....when i was in 4th year high school in the province we love having shirts printed whenever there are occasions.....foundation day, intrams, seniors' week, feast of the patron saint of the barangay, feast of the patron saint of the town.....and most of the time, we have our names printed at the back......some of our classmates, instead of having their names spelled correctly will intentionally change it to look 'good'....i cannot remember the exact spelling but here are some examples that were possibly used at that time.....kha-ren....lho-rraynne....oh there's one that i remember....but i won't mention the real name so you'll have something to think about....seychelle......
oh, by the way, can you guess how my name was spelled?.........
who or what are 'jejemons'?.....wikipedia (yes they reached that level where wikipedia devotes precious internet space just to discuss them) defines jejemons this way:
Jejemon (IPA: ['dʒɛdʒɛmon]) is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. Jejemons are defined by Urban Dictionary as those "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility and online lynch squads."[1] A Jejemon is described as one of a "new breed of hipsters who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own sub-culture and fashion."
most jejemons are teenagers....their name supposedly came to be because of their penchant to use 'jejeje' instead of 'hehehe' to denote laughter in sms or status messages in social networking sites....the mon was supposed to be from 'monsters' much like the japanese anime pokemon.....
'jejemons' have developed their own 'language' or way of communicating....aside from replacing h with j they also use letters that are not often used like z and x....for example 'musta (short for kumusta which means 'how are you') is written as mUsZt@h..... notice that not only was w, z and h added but @ was used instead of a...and also notice that some letters were capitalized....sometimes they also usenumbers to replace letters.....the number 3 is used as e....'jejeje' is sometimes spelled as j3j3j3.....it was thought that their manner of texting was developed to maximize the character allocation of cellphones for sms.....like sending ko instead of ako which means me) or u instead of you.....maybe it did start from that....but you would see now that instead of making words shorter, they make them longer and difficult to understand.....ako for example is spelled as aQcKuHh (saw this in wikipedia)....u is spelled as yUHh.....
more often than not, sms messages from 'jejemons' are confusing....to non-jejemons, their text messages are weird, absurd....
but the 'jejemon' culture has gone beyond text messaging....they now have thier own fashion styles....i can't really describe what they wear.....maybe i could say they look rather weird.....
you will know that the 'jejemon' culture is really popular because of the existence of another group whose only purpose is to fight 'jejemon'.....the group is called 'jejebusters'.....well, maybe i'm wrong in saying that all they want is to fight 'jejemons'....maybe they have others like ensuring that the young really learn how to spell right....but the point is, their creation is an indication that the 'jejemons' have arrived...
so when did the craze start?......i don't know.....they got their name only recently....but i know they've been around for a long, long time already....here is a little secret....when i was in 4th year high school in the province we love having shirts printed whenever there are occasions.....foundation day, intrams, seniors' week, feast of the patron saint of the barangay, feast of the patron saint of the town.....and most of the time, we have our names printed at the back......some of our classmates, instead of having their names spelled correctly will intentionally change it to look 'good'....i cannot remember the exact spelling but here are some examples that were possibly used at that time.....kha-ren....lho-rraynne....oh there's one that i remember....but i won't mention the real name so you'll have something to think about....seychelle......
oh, by the way, can you guess how my name was spelled?.........
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