THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 7 | April 2014
EDITORIAL & OPINION
11
ORKS?
I use social media and Facebook in catching up with
clients, family and friends. I get to see shows, community
events and know other people’s views
and insights about it. It’s a great tool
for shopping, movies or e-business’
with special offers’ hints around
various retails stores in town. I love the
FB photo albums and its controlled
settings.
Being a pop singer-songwriter, social media links me to
my fellow composers, artists, family and friends. It informs all
generations about heritage, arts and
culture, news, shopping or various
entertainment updates. Social media can
actually empower the talented youth,
although an excessive use also has its
disadvantages and drawbacks.
I use it for catching up with the professional and business’
linked-in updates, touching base with family, friends and
acquaintances in my privacy. It’s a fast
tool to get upcoming events, hear other
people’s perspective on changes.
Rosemarie Ujmiakova
Charity Balila
Maria Barlan
Melbourne
Bligh Park
Arndell Park
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
LEARN to say yes and no with conviction
and finality. This is a vital life skill.
when you will not think of them,
no matter how old they already are.
15. Teach your kids rituals, values, customs, family and social traditions. It will give them a sense of
who they are and their place in the
world.
16. Learn to say yes and no with
conviction and finality. This is a vital life skill.
17. In matters of love, there are
very few who are wise. And even
the wise will make huge mistakes.
18. As much as it is fashionable to disdain politics, it is important to understand and engage in
it. Politics affects us in every way
and so we cannot leave it to politicians alone.
19. Don’t wait for apologies or
thank yous. If they come, great!
Even if you never hear them, it does
not mean that people did not feel remorse or gratitude. Just be content
in knowing you did the right thing.
20. Do not remain in your comfort zone. Pretty soon, it gets stale
and can become a toxic zone. Move
forward. Embrace the unknown
and meet the “you” you haven’t
met. When you engage the un-
known, you realize that, more often
than not, you can actually handle it.
21. Do not identify yourself
with your feelings, moods, status,
wealth. They come and go. Identify with things that have never
changed and will not change. It
may take you a lifetime to awaken to what these are. But you must
know them.
22. Religion is a franchise on
God which, when you think about
it, is way too big and complex a reality to brand. If your religion works
for you, great. But even if you have
never joined a formal religion, you
will still experience God. God is
inescapable. What’s important is
to just love and be kind to people.
That’s the best way for others to
know there is a God.
23. Avoid the literal, uncreative
life. Literalism strangles and kills.
A life lived without poetry or art
is hardly a life. It is the same when
reading holy text. Don’t read it literally. It is not so much about science
or history, but more about opening
us to the greater truth, the sacred
mystery of what we can never measure or completely explain.
24. Sex and lust are part and
parcel of being human and we will
deal with them throughout our
lives. Learn when to control them
and when to let go. Learn appropriateness. Give selflessly and receive
with gratitude.
25. As much as you cultivate
your taste, mind, manners, faith,
make sure you put as much effort
into cultivating and expanding
your sense of humor. It is the reset
button of life.
JIM PAREDES
is a multifaceted creative. He sings, composes,
writes articles and books, teaches at the Ateneo
De Manila University, designs and facilitates various
types of workshops. He is also a writer of books, a
widely read columnist for the Sunday Life section
of Philippine Star, and a well-known photographer. This article was
also published by the Philippine Star.
neration
ia?
pino migrant in the West Coast of
America said The Philippines is
“in the heart.” For the later-generations, the Philippines is perhaps a
remotely colourful collection of stories - heard somewhere in the past.
It may also be simply a congregation
of islands somewhere across the sea.
Or the Philippines may have taken
root deep in the hearts among our
next generation, forging a living –
albeit different interpretation or a
rhapsodised interpretation perhaps
– Filipino identity nonetheless; or
what it is to live with Filipino blood
in Australia.
Merlinda Bobis, herself a Filipino-Australian wrote a story “The
Fruit Stall” where she integrates
)ɕ