day 50

(this post is a bit scattered because my thoughts are scattered)

its tuesday...and every tuesday, i always have thoughts to ponder on while im on my bus ride home.

before the bus ride....

my cultural landscape professor is the kind who's so passionate (i think) with what he does and gets so engrossed with the lecture that he usually forgets to dismiss the class at 930. i dont mind this at all because i enjoy his lectures very much. this just means though that 1) i will miss the free shuttle to bukit timah and 2) additional 20 minutes of travel time.

tonight, we were dismissed at 935 by my watch so i was resigned to the fact that ill miss my bus. i was walking leisurely with 3 of my classmates, 2 of whom were also heading to the same bus terminal where im going. when we got out of the adjoining building and were walking towards the 1st bus terminal, i saw my bus! didn't bother to run though cause it was still a long way to go since i would have to go around the corner and sort of make a u turn cause of the slope of the place. i would surely catch the bus if i would jump from where i was, but i didnt do it for 'civilized' reasons hehe so i walked slowly, not minding my bus. but when i reached the corner, the bus was still there! so there, i hurriedly said goodbye to my classmates and ran like san cai calling for dao! kakapagod tumakbo!

now, for the class proper...

the topic for today was globalization so there was a lot of discussion was about culture change and all that. when our professor got to the part on base ethnic cultures like patron-client relationship, clan relationships, etc, he mentioned about the patronage system in the philippines.

he went on saying "this is still very strong in countries like the philippines even with their democracy and stuff. i know there are filipinos in this class but im sorry, i think its just rubbish"

in college, we have had a lot of discussions on patron-client relationship and patronage politics and at that time, criticizing our nature of politics was just fine. but when these words came out from a foreign professor with me sitting alone (anne, the other pinay in class was absent) in a sea of foreigners, i felt uncomfortable. when he was saying his thoughts out loud, i was even smiling because i know what he's saying and its true. but when the class looked at my direction and i realized that i was in a sea of foreigners, i froze for a moment and became uncomfortable. what he's saying is so true yet i had that feeling that i had to protect my country from the 'judgments' that my classmates might develop out of this statement. but, what will i say? that its not true and tell something i dont believe in just to save face? at that moment, i realized how different it is to talk about the negative things about your country when youre in your country compared to when youre abroad. the truth is not just something that you accept but becomes a bitter pill to swallow.

anyway...

some bits and pieces from the lecture

- he uses bello as a reference. i was actually tempted to raise my hand and say "he was my professor in college'. hehe epal lang. but i didnt.

- the trend of teachers going to other countries to look for better-paying jobs is not exclusive to developing countries. singapore has the same kind of problem. nus lacks geography teachers. contrary to the common belief that graduates of soc sci courses would be automatically absorbed to the academe, what actually happens is they go to private companies or go abroad to become consultants in private corporations.

- singapore is one country who has a motto of "educate, educate, educate!" they believe that their people is the only resource that they have so the government is investing on its people. nus' operating cost per year is 700 million sgd and 75% of that goes to salaries of professors.

- it was interesting to listen to one of my local classmates talking about how some singaporeans have a materialistic culture. she said that she just cant stand how people seem to 'show off' their new LV bags or how their lawyer boyfriends make huge amounts of money or how they were treated to a bali holiday like these are all that matter

my professor agreed with this and shared how some people tend to focus on the glossy side of singapore and forget about the poor part of the society. he said that some people are so insenstive that they make a huge issue out of congested mrt trains when in fact, every city in the world has this same kind of concern. he was stressing how this 'problem' becomes so trivial compared with problems of people who cant afford to a decent meal. and singapore also has these kinds of people. one classmate even mentioned about how some think that their biggest problem is a space for their third car.

another note about the irony of materialism. he was telling a story about his former student whom he saw driving a jaguar. of course, he was so impressed with how his student was able to afford that kind of car. and then the former student started saying "oh i dont have money. im paying 3k/month for this car. im using this to pick up girls because i dont have money to go to bars." hehe the typical yuppie. looks so rich outside, but...

and for some trivial matters..

- zara (daw) changes their display every week. after the 9/11 attack, they only had black and white collections as a sign of mourning

- coach (daw) is the only brand of bag in the u.s. which manufactures their bag locally. i.e. made in u.s. ang tatak ng bag nila when bought in the us. other brands are manufactured abroad.