China's Three Gorges Dam

Watched this past weekend Discovery Channel's feature on the world's largest dam being constructed in the Yangtze River. Everything now is about China (toys and all overproduced stuff sent out to flood the world market and thus bring down less competitive or more expensive economies, Olympics, Tibet and the Dalai Lama) and the channel's presentation of the multifaceted character of the power generation project adds a more extensive look on that nation's economic growth. The Three Gorges Dam would supply a tenth of China's inceasing energy demand and would also be the answer to the need for clean energy. Being the largest producer and consumer of coal China is suffering from unhealthy air condition, acid rain falling all over the country and the threat of unbreathable air come Olympics. The whole world marvels at China's rapid capitalist expansion, with its people experiencing a profound change in their very being in and of course their outlook of this world. Bad thing is that the damming of the powerful Yangtze river has wrought destruction on its surrounding with heightening floods now burying villages and towns. Thousands of families now evacuate to higher places and millions move to farther and more developed cities as their residences are being submerged by the water held back by the dam. One city builds a wall to protect itself from the flood and many of its cultural heritage already submerged in the river waters. And one feels sadness as one villager paints his neighborhood which, they are certain, will be lost in the coming weeks and months. Others have suffered the same. One old man visit his village before it gets out his sight.

Surprisingly, ruins of ancient civilization are being discovered in the construction areas. Artifacts found are not from the same period in history and upon being unearthed, revealed more artifacts of earlier times beneath them: each new civilization built on top of the older ones! Viewing China then on a linear historical timeline graphs a forward march in terms of its economic development (veering away from its socialist undertaking that uplifted the lives of hundreds of millions) and a further reach backward to the expanses of its history as more relics of the past are being discovered and studied. Discovery shows one museum overflowing with found objects and a newer, bigger one being constructed to house more artifacts. Salvaging pieces of history struggles against the forces of their surrounding (that they themselves had caused) as the dam nears its completion. It is telling that as the government builds modern industrial projects such as the three gorges dam, it also builds museums, both testaments to the heights of the world's oldest civilization that is China. Both embody civilization and its dialectical feature of barbarism - the barbarity of neglecting historical and cultural 'treasures' and the barbarity of dislocation and uprooting that the poor Chinese have to suffer from. It is not only that things fall apart (Yeats and Achebe) and all that is solid melts into air (Marx and Berman) but that their entire cosmos is in danger of being sucked up to oblivion.

10:40 pm
Monday, 28 april 2008

Rabbit Republic

PDI had a report last week showing a Philippine population of 88.57 millions as of 1 August 2007. Currently, we are now the 12th most populous country in the world, based on a quick look at international survey reports on the web. Pinas is second to Indonesia's 232, 998, 000 (wikipedia; the southeast asian list gives a Philippine pop of 90m) and larger than Vietnam which has been historically more populated. This runs disproportionate to the world's (only) 42nd largest economy, though the traditional tally of gross domestic product does not reveal how the people really enjoy the benefits of their country's--their very own, to be exact--product and services output. We all feel it: the increasingly heavier traffic, noise, pollution and the more pressing concerns of mothers and children's health and the kind of future each one is going to give to the next generation.

I remember the Fibonnacci sequence lesson in math that shows rabbit population doubling with each pair. This is akin to the rapid growth of our population that eats up on fast depleting resources. A ballooning population does not mean that 'malilibog ang mga Pilipino' (it is a given!), it only shows that the government fails to manage its population! Yes, we need to address graft and corruption; yes, the problems of government inefficiency and inutility. But these are all tied up to the nation's population management program that largely concerns reproductive health. Up to now, the national administration only supports natural family planning method that is proven to be ineffective. The most seriously burdened by this problem are the poor, the overwhelming majority! Uuwi sa bahay ang lalake o ang mag-asawa, magtatalik, tapos magbubuntis ang babae kahit hindi na nila ito gusto at kita namang hindi na kaya. This happens because modern methods are not provided to those who need it most. Local government units are left to administer their respective constituents' needs; that is, promote the artifical and more effective methods with themselves parrying the Catholic Church's opposition. I think that the proposal to adopt the rhythm method is hypocritical on the part of the religious for it then allows sex without human reproduction, only that the biological limit--perceived to be natural and the religious/spiritual--is utilized. It is just the same - sex without babies. Sino'ng niloloko?! Only that this is just a myth, according to doctors, reason why our population now mimics the rabbit pack. The Playboy image should use the Philippine map instead on its succeeding releases.

They say that the nation's middle class is expanding, but only in terms of numbers because other government studies show that this class is gradually shrinking in proportion in the national total. Good news: the middle class now plan their families better than before, starting with limiting the number of kids. Bad news: the poor now rapidly increases its numbers faster than the rest of the classes and greater than the national total population increase. Visit the urban poor areas and you see that babies are born almost every day. They also abound with teenage moms and dads.

2:20 am
23 april 2008

Across the Universe

Just watched Across the Universe. Jen and I bought the musical a month ago when we went with Glen and Camille to the sultanate of quiapo to eat that quintessential halal chicken (we ate in the new eateries that don't have those chicks anymore) and bought DVDs afterward. The moview is awesome! I guess one is always under the shadow of the Beatles's wings even in watching the film four decades after the presumptive context. It will take time to think over the politics of its aesthetics as it just seems to have made the social and cultural temper of the times as a kind of set in the staging of emotional Beatlemania. But man, the visuals are astounding! One sees the paper mache higantes used during the anti-war protest that turn into carnival figures when the youngsters went into the haven of spiritual retreat. Particularly moving is Let It Be where Lucy learns of her first boyfriend's death juxtaposed with the murder of a black child singing the song amidst the riot. I Want You shows Max Corrigan's drafted into the war akin to an assembly-line manufacturing of youth into soldiers of war. Later on this would be defaced in Strawberry Fields as Jude's attempt to draw still life falls apart, strawberries marvelously transfigured to bombs pelting Vietnam. And there is direct irony here in that one understands that the specialized art of making still life runs contrary to the anarchic turn of events in the East and at home. And the soldiers do look menacing as they also look eerie in dancing the draftees into war with their masked faces. The boys then, in a kind of fantasy, bring liberty's statue to the tropics. Still another good singing is the chaos/fight scene (running all throughout the film) in Revolution where Jude mocks Lucy's involvement in a 'radical' group as he staves off any extra-personal/individual commitment. Come to think of it: the bastard leaves England to meet his father and got sucked up in America's quandary that paves way for the film's eventual unfolding. The story will remain in my mind for days.

5:17 am
16 April 2008

rap...takatak...wowowee!

Sa biyahe patungong Timog Katagalugan: palabas ang Wowowee.

Paminsan-minsan lang akong nakakapanood ng lunchtime tv program. At kung manonood ay paborito ko ang Eat Bulaga!. Patok pa rin kasi ang mga hirit ni Joey de Leon. Magagaling magpadaloy ng programa ang hosts. At nando'n din si Michael V, na medyo tahimik. Kalabisan para sa akin ang wowowee: sobrang ingay, sobrang likot, sobrang iyakan at tawanan at nakakapanggalit ang kanilang pag-alipusta sa masa para lamang makakuha ng atensyon. Pero hindi lamang sa mga mahihirap at sinasabing mga walang-pinag-aralan malakas humatak ang palabas na ito; maraming mga mayayaman at may mga naabot din naman sa buhay, gaya ng mga Pinoy abroad, na masugid na tagapanood ng show ni Willie Revillame.

Contestants nang tanghaling makapanood ako ang mga takatak (cigarette vendor) boys. Bahagi na ng programa ang pag-alam sa background ng mga kalahok; dito nga lamang eh medyo itinutuloy ang pagtatanong sa mga personal na trobol nila. Kailangang madrama...hindi ka lang dukha...dinudusta pa...'yong isang bata tinanong tungkol sa mga magulang - patay na pala ang nanay niya, ang dahilan: iniwan sila ng tatay, nagkasakit ang nanay at namatay... 'yong isa naman sinabing tinanong kung taga-saan siya, sumagot na taga-Tondo at kupal pang humirit na maraming tsismoso sa kanila...at ang isa eh hiniling na magpakita naman ang magulang na namatay na, kausapin daw siya, sabihin ang dahilan kung bakit sila nilisan. Magkasalimbayan ang extreme comedy at drama sa wowowee. Matatawa ka sa witty na hirit ng player at maiiyak din sa tila wala nang hihigit pang kaapihan na dinaranas nila. Sa talent part, kakanta at sasayaw ang contestant na paraan na rin upang ibsan ang mga hinanakit sa mismong sandali ng kasikatang inilalaan sa kanila.

Sa wowowee nga lamang, pinalalabnaw ang nabubuo nang emosyon ng mga tagapakinig at tagapanood. Ang mass medium ng telebisyon ay may kapangyarihang kumalap ng simpatiya, na maaaring tumungo sa pagbuwag ng pagitan 'natin' at 'nila'. Na sana'y hindi lamang pagbibigay ng donasyon ng audience/mayayaman at naaawang Pinoy ang maisasagawa. Ito kasi ay konsolasyon lamang: na ang mga nagbibigay ay ituturing na mabuti pa ang kanilang kalagayan pagkatapos malaman ang abang kalagayan ng iba at dahil dito'y makararamdam ng pagpapala dahil pinagpapala nila ang iba. Kasama sa pagbalong ng luha ang katiyakang ayos naman pala ang lahat...tuloy ang palabas.

Ang tiyak: kumita ang mga taong nasa likod ng palabas. Itong kalagayang madala sa nakalulungkot na kuwentong ibinabahagi ng mass media ay dulot ng kagyat na ugnay ng ating karanasan din ng pighati at kahirapan. Sa pagitan ng contestant at madla, wala tayong pinagkaiba. Sa isang banda'y maaaring pinanonood lamang natin ang ating mga sarili. Malaking negosyo ito! Pagkatapos umiyak, sasayaw at kakanta si Willie, kikita nang malaki, at mambababae. Alalahaning may apektibong dimensiyon ang pasismo. At siguro'y metodolohiya nito ang pagkudlit sa napakalambot na kaibuturan ng ating puso (at budhi?) upang pakilusin tayo sa iisang tungo. 'yon nga lang, ang tunguhin bang ito'y mag-iimbestiga sa malalim na dahilan ng pagdanas ng karukhaan? 'yon bang mag-iisa sa watak-watak na karanasan ng pagkadusta? O iha-hyper ang ating emosyon (galit! lungkot! awa!) para lamang sa lubos na kaluwalhatian ng mga kapitalista?

Wowowee, sino'ng hindi mawiwili?!

2 Abril 2008