Elmer Blogger

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Why Can't It Be

You came along, unexpectedly
I was doing fine in my little world
Oh baby please don't get me wrong
'Cause I'm not complaining
But you see, you got my mind spinning

Why can't it be
Why can't it be the two of us
Why can't we be lovers
Only friends
You came along
At a wrong place, at a wrong time
Or was it me

Baby I dream of you every minute
You're in my dreams
You're always in it
That's the only place I know
Where you could be mine
And I'm yours but only
Till I wake up

What if Steve Nash is a Filipino?

I read Jim Caple's article about Steve Nash's Canadian city of Victoria, often making references to it as Nashville (yes, the same as the one in Tennessee) -- in honor of this year's NBA Most Valuable Player. With his humble demeanor and no-tattoo display, Nash is a rarity among the field and an ideal model of the league in reviving its deeply tarnished image caused by drug abuse, domestic violence and to some extent, selfishness ("I told you I needed to feed my family (sic) that’s not going to cut it. And I’m not going to sit here and continue to give my children food while this front office takes money out of my pocket", noted an NBA player who was offered $21 for three year extension).



Nash's humble beginnings as a basketball player came as a secondary option to his sport while growing up: hockey and football player born in South Africa and raised in Canada with aspirations of hitting it big in the hardcourt.

Unbelievable work ethic made him what he is right now: he shoots the ball by the hundreds and never leaves the court until he hits his goal for the day. Exuding confidence of the game sans experience enabled him to send letters and videos to dozens of colleges and universities in hopes of getting a scholarship. Nobody paid attention. And who would, to a six-footer from an obscure Canadian city whose interest in basketball is next to hockey and baseball and whose basketball's biggest name at the time was Bill Wennington?

The Phoenix Suns is indeed gifted with staff with prophetic vision in drafting college players as if putting them inside a machine and prints out their statistics 5 or 10 years in the future. When Steve Nash was drafted by the Suns 15th overall in the 1996 draft, fans did not agree and boos were heard. Playing alongside stars such as Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd, Nash would eventually get traded to Dallas where his stock rose to unprecedented heights and ironically, never get rewarded with a decent contract extension by the Mavs. Phoenix came again knocking, asking if Nash could give himself a chance to play for the team that drafted him. His reply: "I am a Sun".

The rest was history.

But what if Steve Nash was a Filipino?

Old school talk, right. But considering the culture of Filipinos to extremely pamper its very own heroes in their (our) effort to redeem a race tarnished with bad publicity on violence against the press, graft and corruption and garbage problem, the idea could even drive the economy upward. Of course it's hard to make him an honorary Filipino citizen for no reason and that slow slow, pace of bureaucratic process.

Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales are a Fil-Ams golfer so is tennis's Cecil Mamiit but get as much, if not more, attention than the other Filino athletes, notably because of their play. Jasmine Trias, from Hawaii is more popular than any of the noontime hosts of both GMA7 and ABSCBN you see every weekday. Quinito Henson raves about Fil-Am athletes who are not in the Philippines, such as boxer Brian Villoria. Don't forget the heroic acts of Filipino American Generals such as Gen Soriano and Gen Taguba, who initiated an investigation on Iraq abuses by the coalition forces. The outpouring of support eventually left out the true blooded Filipinos, in the PBA for example where Asi Taulava and Danny Siegle lording over the others.

Along with previous unproven claims that one of Metallica members has Filipino roots only show that whoever has the credentials, no matter if 1% of his or her blood is Filipino, the whole nation will readily embrace him/her.

If Steve Nash were a Filipino? The country would be in pandemonium. I see Speaker Jose De Venecia calling a bill to make February 7 a Steve Nash Day holiday. Or Prospero Nograles file a move to replace the generic Circumferential Road in Davao City to Nash Road. He would later defend the move by asking you a question, "Which is easier to prunounce?".

There will be countless photo ops at Malacañang with the President telling Nash that can visit the Palace everyday without prior appointment. In GMA's propaganda billboards, she is seen in the with Steve Nash promoting sports in a remote barrio in Camarines Sur, Eastern Samar or Kalinga. Okay, everywhere. Within ten years he finds himself in the seat of Philippine Olympic Committee or Philippine Sports Commission. If he shuns sports politics and sticks to the game he became famous for, he will coach Alaska Milk, San Miguel or Talk N Text, teams in the PBA with history of hiring non-Filipino coaches. Okay, not applicable as we say "what if Steve Nash is a Filipino".

Just like the sympathy Onyok Velasco got when he lost to Daniel Petrov Bojilov in the Olympics, Nash would get greater sympathy if the Suns lose the Spurs in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Spurs image would be worse than the Atlanta Hawks and Tim Duncan will be labeled a villain superstar. All these in the name of fanaticism and hopes of getting the ultimate goal of championship that's equivalent to winning the first ever gold medal for the Philippines in the Olympics.

Some sari-sari stores will have products like Steve Chicharon or Steve Nash Energy Drink and could easily rename their store with the star's. No offense to him, he would get dozens and dozens of endorsements (I know he won't accept most offers) leaving other actors and basketball players for other means of extra income.

Star Cinema and GMA Films will bid for the right to film his bio and the rival networks will court him earnestly to be part of Kapuso or Kapamilya as show host on a sports show (even if the trend is somewhat outdated). Hopefully, he won't get involved with the scandals of Philippine show business propagated by the ignorant devils. Surely, pirated DVDs of Steve Nash NBA plays are gonna spread across the country and his book "Long Shot: Steve Nash's Journey to the NBA" becomes an instant best seller.

Free-wheeling Globe and Smart will dig into its deep pockets and bag of tricks to make him the top endorser. "Calling Canada? Smart gets it done". Oh, Canada.

The love for basketball would be unprecedented that lotto and jueteng players would leave their usual junctions and prefer to watch the PBA -- and place their bets.

What if Steve Nash is a Filipino? Maybe even for a day?

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891, yet Canadians could hardly name a star produced in the sport until Steve Nash came along. To the ever-hospitable Filipinos, he will be nurtured till the end.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Internet time machine


I recently discovered something that drew my interest on the web. It's something that puts me back in time when I was still searching the web using Infoseek and Webcrawler and ocassionally Altavista; Yahoo! was still relatively unknown then and Google wasn't born yet.

Called the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org), it is an archive of captured webpages from various sites that were posted years ago. It's not like an online cache system that will change everytime; it's like photographing the website and capturing the source code and storing it somewhere. Without storing the images (I guess it only stores html file), one drawback is that when images are no longer where they used to reside, spots of broken images litter across the web page landscape. But to me it's still good enough as the layout is still pretty much intact and I marveled the early coders who maintain image size width and height (img src="" width="" height="").

To view your selected site, simply type in the URL and results are displayed neatly by year, usually starting in around 1996. Linked date displays are instances when the site has been updated.

Looking at the older versions of CNN (look at its coverage on September 11 2001 WTC bombing), NBA (interview with rookie Lorenzen Wright and interview with Knicks star Larry Johnson), ESPN amazed me on how they transformed their websites from simplistic and over reliant on animated gifs and Java applets to Flash and DHTML. I got a glimpse of my previously favorite website in Discovery.com.

However, not all sites are covered. If robots are not allowed to scour over the site, then there is no page to visit. A few other reasons spoil us from viewing what we used to see in sites a decade ago.

Neat!

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Celebrity sightings

Hong Kong is too small for you to miss important people and those who feel they are.

My list is composed of singers, actors, politicians, broadcasters and those in between.

Nanette Medved - The original Dyesebel in Philippine movies, she appeared in television as a fine actress when I was in high school. Now settled with her businessman husband and a young son, I ocassionally see her at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church where I began attending while I lived nearby. Obviously she saw me already because I also act as lector on some Sundays, but who cares.

Rosemarie Vandenbroucke - Among the most prominent models in Hong Kong, the 22 year old Rosemary has French, Russian and Chinese ancestry whose beauty is comparable with fellow Eurasian Reika Hashimoto and graced many of the product launches and socialite parties as seen on paparazzi magazines Hong Kong people often read. I saw her at Electric Road near the office, walking with a guy. We stayed close waiting for the pedestrian light.

Maggie Q - The familiar face you see in Wall's Ice Cream commercial. Beautiful even if she is already in her 20s. While walking underneath the HSBC HQ building in Central, she passed in front of me. I did not pay too much attention but the Filipinas around immediately recognized her.

Rain Li - This is a female singer/actress, though a former officemate at PCCW (a guy) has also similar name (guess what's the most unusual name in Hong Kong). She looks good standing on a stage at a promotional tour in Causeway Bay. I was on my way to Catholic Centre to hear Mass with Karen. Thankfully, the sight did not disrupt my plans.

Aaron Kwok - A singer who has also several endorsements (I only remember Pepsi). I saw him with the parade during 2002 Chinese New Year celebrations in Tamar Site, Admiralty.

Charlene Choi - The other half of the group Twins (with Gillian Chung), at HMV in Causeway Bay. I was listening to Maroon 5 when a little commotion ensued. There I saw her, rhetorically we brushed elbows, and that was it. It was shocking to see her colored hair.

Mark Niu - Starworld anchor of the show FocusAsia, he is also a Catholic who hears Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Nick Waters - ATV World newscaster, he was found asking a local Chinese for directions in front of Manulife Tower in Electric Road.

Anne Marie Sim - After office I caught up with her exiting Tin Hau MTR Station going to the direction towards Victoria Park.

Joe Cairns - Starworld colleague of Mark Niu and favorite anchor of Jun, he hears Mass at St Vincent Church in Clearwater Bay. I happen to be there singing for SFC choir organized by Jay and Karen.

Jenny Lam - I did not know Jenny Lam of TVB is the wife of Joe Cairns and has a couple of young children. She is a newscaster who alternates with Diana Lin, James Chau, Regina de Luna and Chris Lincoln at TVB Pearl.

Kym Leo - I was told by Jun he always come across this lady who is also from the broadcasting agency and I was quick to tease him of fate and destiny. One day also I got to see her in person, while taking dinner at can*teen in ifc after the Reloaded Conference.

Tony Sabine - The flamboyant ATV World sportscaster was caught in a hurry passing by the bus stop nearby Wan Chai's Southorn Playground.

Teresa Cheung - The sexy fortysomething socialite who often hogged the headlines with her bickering with former lover Kenny B in public. I queued after her her buying CDs in HMV Central. I can laugh to myself how the elderly HK folks pretending not to see her, yet flashing those sharp looks when she's on her back.

I want to see

Lee Sinje - Is she a Malaysian? I thought she is beautiful yet her beauty can always be stared on without feeling boredom. I watched her movie A-1 with ex-officemate Jacqueline and she also likes the actress.

Jackie Chan - Before I came to Hong Kong, it was a dream to meet him. Though when someone in the office or a local friend will know, he or she will say he/she hates Mr Chan for a variety of reasons from redundant storylines in his movies to his murky personal life.

Miriam Quiambao - The 1999 Miss Universe first runner up representing.. of course. I knew she settled here a few years ago after she got married but I got no idea where she lives here.

Cathy Yang - Just like Miriam, Cathy is also a Filipina who looks more like a typical Singaporean or Hong Kong Chinese. She works in Bloomberg.

Mango Wong - A HK actress/singer who may be obscure at the moment but I always liked to look at that Optical88 poster, let alone in person.

Kelly Chen - The only music CD I got from any Cantopop artist is her "Red" album.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Waterworld

Imagine a world that's more water -- currently it's about three-quarters of the Earth's surface -- than what we currently see. Not too bad for hopeless farmers dwelling in areas frequented by drought as well as those lacking access to potable water.

But imagine if icebergs in the North and South poles start to melt their way into the mainstream currents of the world's oceans and elevate water levels that even a few inches can be disastrous. Without the influence of melting icebergs in the mix, December 2004's tsunami across Indian Ocean wrecked the vulnerable seaside villages, much worse than tropical storm and the effect is intercontinental. Maldives had to redraw its map as a few of the low lying ones disappeared as if devoured by the giant waves.

I have been reading journals about global warming since I was in my grade school. All the stereotype I have been getting about global warming has me worried for the past years. Yet people around me don't seem to get bothered; was the press release only meant to serve another personal purpose? To use the non-CFC products and discredit refrigerators and household sprays as nuisance contributors to the chronic health condition of Mother Earth. I was hardly moved of my fears. I know this is for real. Inspired by my sixth grade book that illustrates how tiny Earth is with respect to Milky Way Galaxy, let alone the vast unexplored universe and that it did not matter at all, for it's the only place that accomodate us humans.

Wanton destruction of forests, rapid industrialization in Wester Europe, fuels that emit black smoke that contribute acid rain and America's defiant insistence on not signing the Kyoto Protocol contributed to the change in climatic conditions that monsoon rains in India are not properly following its annual cycle nor salmon circulating Canada's Newfoundland seas confused by the extended period of warm climate, thick snows across the Southern states of the USA as well as the Baltic states in Easter Europe.

It is estimated that an increase 1.4C to 5.8C in average temperature increase from 1990 to 2100, a dramatic change whose deviation is based on the uncertainty of future carbon dioxide emissions. The effect is more than just the submerging of the atolls of the Maldives and the romantic Venice.

Curiously the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 was thought by many as pure destruction: crops, villages, churches, towns all buried in its wake and its emissions reached as far as the Indian Ocean coasts of the Malayan peninsula. Little did people know that it somehow helped ease the ozone layer destruction as its pyroclastic ashes helped reduce the global temperature by 0.5C.

A clear sky could mean danger to humans as the previously shielded atmosphere has now become a perforated fortress enabling deadly ultraviolet and cosmic rays to pass through without much trouble. The same UV rays that were thought by the Soviets as fatal and was the reason they never sent man to the moon.

Greenhouse gases derive their name from the fact that they trap energy from the sun that would otherwise bounce back off to space. But this fact is more beneficial than the harm they are projected to be. Without this effect there would be a drastic drop in temperature. It's just that their presence is more than what is prescribed.

And so the increase in temperature melts the glaciers in such a way that certain spots open up gaping holes that form as lakes. Underneath the lakes are the gradual melting of ice up to 3 miles deep. And once water reacher the bottom, water then moves the glaciers as they float over a mass of water. Melting of massive icebergs is gradual but catastrophic that it would raise water levels to unprecendented heights.

By then high tides would become low tides and very high tides become high tides. Coastal areas would diminish and people would be moving up the hills. Land area would shrink and problem of crowding, lower crop yields, diseases and land conflicts take place.

By then that 90s movie of Kevin Costner is more likely to happen than The Day After Tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Remembering the Marlboro Tour

It's summer time many years ago, after the "Closing" in Mintal Elementary School and Holy Cross of Mintal. Time to help my father tend the little store we keep in the market and get the chance to be the first to read the daily news serving of Tempo. It also meant I can serve more Masses at the Immaculate Conception Parish especially during the Holy Week and Easter season. The whole May for Flores de Mayo. And of course glued in to my favorite Cebuano dramas in the radio. But what made those summers more memorable was the Marlboro Tour of Luzon.

It was the time of the year that the country's elite cyclists gather and travel across the majestic mountains of Sierra Madre, plains of Central Luzon, the treacherous Dalton Pass en route to the city of Baguio and the gruelling travels to the Bicolandia passing through the notorious Bitukang Manok (am I right?). At the time the farthest place I went to was Bohol. Haven't traveled to Luzon made me marvel if I could venture to those places myself in a few year's time.

It was an Inquirer front page in 1986 which showed half-body portrait of an exhausted champion which bares the title: The Marlboro Champion is a tuba gatherer. I was referring to the legendary Boholano Ronaldo Pagnanawon who won the Tour that year.

A tuba for those querying brains, is an rural Filipino drink made up of coconut juice, fermented and flavored with something called tongog. It's a truly Filipino drink which somehow never got the limelight because of its notorious ethnic taste and was often associated with the backward economy of the hinterlands.

Personally I do not drink it, though my brother did when we were young enough to realize a drunk man don't appeal well to women. Concocted with egg and chocolate drink from cacao nuts, it transforms itself to an energizing kinutil which made me sick when my grandma introduced it to me.

So that's the product Pagnanawon gather before (possibly after too) he joined the 21-lap bikathon. It's typical for tuba gatherers to ride their rickety bicycles (fondly called pantubaay) to carry two 12-gallon bins to sell to sari sari store retailers whose business transforms itself into an important gossip generating, self-made drinking pub as the clock hits the angelus.

Traveling across barrios bringing joy to the hungry palates of tired farmers, Pagnanawon has been doing the job for years, and apparently, his desire to earn more prompted him to kick the pedal faster. Eventually, it brought him honor to the ranks of the lowly manananggot people, the local term for tuba gatherer. The job of climbing a forty footer coconut tree is a daunting task, a career that almost took the life of my uncle.

It was a patriotic act of recalling the past glory of Philippine cycling where collecting gold medals in SEA Games were a norm just before aerodynamic technology put an edge to the Europeans and eventually those who caught up with it elsewhere in the world.

Carlo Guieb, Gerardo Igos, Bernardo Llentada, Romeo Bonzo, the late Jacinto Sicam, Armando Catalan and Renato Dolosa, formed the Hall of Fame cast in Philippine cycling, lording the streets and baked pavements summer after summer in the 80s and 90s.

Lap by lap, from Sorsogon in the South to Laoag in the North, I tune in via my lola's transistor radio, listening to Rick Yap Santos and Danny Javier with my peculiar pen and paper stance to add up the accumulated time clocking of teams such as the Broncos, Mavericks, Studs and later regionalized teams to make team building more meaningful among racers from various parts of the country.

Those days were gone but surely the joys of cycling will always be remembered even if it is a fact that I learned how to ride the bike just hours after my high school graduation.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Sun-tastic!

Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinals game between Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns did not come in a better situation.

I had my broadband TV on for about a week and one reason I took it is that I want to take a better view of the NBA Playoffs where the Phoenix Suns, the team I am rooting for the past dozen of years is still in the running.

The game was scheduled perfectly at 9AM on a Saturday where I expected myself to be still in bed at the time. The heavy rain last night that soaked my feet helped me get a well-deserved night's sleep and further tempered my excitement.

The last game was held in Phoenix where the Suns won the pivotal game and had the psychological advantage in them over the Mavs; 84 percent of Game 5 winners in a tied best-of-seven contest wins the series. Amare Stoudemire, the 22 year old power forward masquerading as center in coach Mike D'Antoni's high octane offense concluded that the Mavericks have no way overcoming themselves from the 3-2 deficit. It propelled the team confidence to new heights, a boost from Game 2 where the shallow bench was further depleted with Joe Johnson's eye socket injury that prompted sixth man Jim Jackson to be part of the starting line up with point guard Steve Nash, wingman Quentin Richardson, Stoudemire and the Matrix, Shawn Marion.

What's revealing as the series wore on was Nash's revelation games. He scored 48 points in Game 3. He got a triple double in Game 4. It disproves his critics who claimed he did not deserve winning the Most Valuable Player award. Notable non-believers were Orlando Magic's Grant Hill and TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Incidentally, Barkley led the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns into the NBA Finals, losing in six games to the Chicago Bulls behind John Paxson's (now the Bulls' General Manager) game-winning, championship-clinching three pointer off an assist from Michael Jordan.

In my opinion, all the Barkley criticism is probably because he was sore with the management once he got traded to Houston. He then mended fences with then ex-Suns GM Jerry Colangelo and was one of the members of the Suns Ring of Honor. That year, when I was in early college, was the time I adopted the Suns as my NBA team.

Back in July of 2004, Nash's acquisition raised eyebrows from many members of the media. At 31 he may have had the best basketball years behind him. His sixty plus million contract with the Suns seem too steep that even deep-pocketed Mark Cuban would not bother to consider.

In retrospect, not signing Nash and instead opting for a younger center in Erick Dampier was considered a logical choice for a team that was more known for offense than defense. Lack of legitimate center (Shawn Bradley is more like Manute Bol) hinders star Dirk Nowitzki from operating in the perimeter in his advantage as a seven footer. Trading Antoine Walker for Jason Terry and Alan Henderson made sense too. With the dream series pitting Steve Nash, the current league MVP against his former team (Nash jerseys in Mavericks store still sell for 7 bucks) is a chance to show them what they were missing and what they are messing with.

With MVP numbers in this series, Nash has seriously proven that he deserved the award. And while he did not need to explain it, his 48 point performance in Game 4, triple double in Game 5, and later near triple double again (only one rebound was needed) to end the Mavs season, Nash did make Cuban look bad in not signing him.

After trailing 16 points midway in the third quarter, the Suns blew away the Mavs and chipping the lead all the way to that last shot in regulation play. With Dallas leading by 3 and less than 10 seconds to play, Jason Terry squandered an almost sure win by allowing Steve Nash to take an open three in the left wing. Nash made it, as are his next four shots in overtime.

Terry had a solid game of 36 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists but those were soon negated when he did make than defensive lapse. He was interviewed by Jim Gray during halftime and all he said was about urgency in offense and defense. None of that mattered as the team than needed to win, leading by 16 going to the fourth quarter lost the game at home.

The game is an instant classic.

Three errors the Mavs made during the crucial minutes of fourth quarter extending to the overtime period:

1. Jason Terry stepped back to give Steve Nash a clean look at the basket for the game-tying three-pointer.

2. Dallas did not call a timeout (apparently responding to the shocking no-timeout move by Phoenix that led to the Nash three pointer) with Jerry Stackhouse rushing to make the desperate last shot.

3. Dirk Nowitzki's hurried position in taking the shot from the three point line off an inbound pass. He missed his last six shots.

In a deliberate and well planned game like this, mental lapses can take over a weaker team as the team with more heart will have more chances of winning the game and eventually the series.

PS I have been doubted as a Suns fan (I bet on Phoenix when they rose from the ashes this season from a woeful 29-53 record in 2003-04.)

One little proof I have been monitoring the team in years:
http://www.basketballdraft.com/inside_game/jack_mccallum/news/2001/12/14/nba_mailbag/

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Imported Graftbuster

It looks as if a race cannot save its own breed from the onslaught of greediness but it's a fact that someone from another nation was called upon to fix a problem lingering for decades.

Call it an act of desperation, call it an insult to the Filipino pride but Tony Kwok's reign could be a solution to the woes in the Philippine government whose graftbusters were inutile or simply unarmed to fight the chronic graft and corruption practice in the Philippines. He was straight talking ("This (country) is one of the most corrupt in the world"). And he meant it. What a huge slap on my face as a Filipino who lives in the country Tony Kwok hails from. While Hong Kong people are typically not fond of sidebar stories Inquirer, ABS CBN or GMA 7 are used to feature and capture the hearts of my soft-hearted countrymen, once any of my officemate will read this news will have an effect on how I am portrayed not as a colleague but as a foreigner working in their country.

To me, the move is a sign of a country battling a chronic problem that no one in the government is capable of doing so. Previous appointments of anti corruption czar, Ombudsman, lifestyle checks and similar moves were insufficient to combat what the United Nations Development Program's estimate of 13% of the yearly budget (1.8 billion dollars) goes to the pockets of unscrupulous officials, notably in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, two of the biggest income generating agencies in the government as well as congressmen who publicly clamor for countrywide development fund more popularly known as pork barrel -- an unusual arrangement that meant the nation's legislators wanting to get a piece of the pie to serve their constituents better (while to me it's more of gaining personal favor in preparation for the next political move). Bidding process on public works are often, if not always, marred with irregularities and whose procedures normally grant a padded budget for a project, bringing public money to the hands of the initiating official and project contractors.

When I was younger, I had a neighbor who works for the Public Works department. Underneath his house are steel pipes, apparently stolen from the office warehouse with a purpose of installing water system in our neighboring hinterlands. And while I take the jeepney ride to downtown Davao, mobile police checkpoints near Ulas are notorious for mulcting logging truck drivers in an effort to allow the timber, whether cut legally or illegally in the forests of Bukidnon or the outskirts of Calinan, reach their destination.

The public has taken corruption as an almost no cure cancer in the society that drives almost everyone to become part of it. A childhood friend and neighbor works for a government office because she is known as a die hard supporter of a high ranking local official. With her influence, she was able to bring two other friends to work with her with less efforts. My sister who is a public school teacher used to experience bribing a school division official with a bottle of wine to help her secure a teaching post after being failing to land the job for years despite her credentials. Still, others who know nobody in government agencies are at the mercy of these corrupt officials, who are asking for favors, sexual or material just to grant their wishes.

It is one reason Filipinos would prefer to go abroad than stay home and die gritting their teeth in cursing the government for being inept, inefficient and harboring arrogant people, depriving the public with basic services. Look at any government agency: public hospitals don't have enough skilled manpower to man the premises and affordable medicine is not readily available. Government fire trucks are often less serviceable than their private counterparts, fire hoses are worn out and firemen do not have decent protective suits. Coast guard and the Navy got involved in allegedly selling oil supplies instead of patrolling the high seas. Forest rangers are ill-equipped to drive illegal loggers, who themselves have strong connections to municipal officials and police protectors. School building backlogs pile up year after year even if the Department of Education gets one the biggest share in fiscal budget; school teachers who try to solicit help from parents while at times digging in their own pockets get accused of illegal collection of PTA fees from school children. The president herself gets accused of coddling big time corrupt officials in her effort to reward them for supporting her during the elections.

The sight of public officials in their handsome smiles boarding the luxurious sedans, with a convoy of escorts evading traffic signs make things worse. The list goes on and on.

As we see, corruption is what the country needs to address first and foremost as this is the cause of a typical Filipino's misery. And if we Filipinos cannot fix it among ourselves, then we should not be ashamed to hire someone else from a different race to do the job. If it is the culture of corruption that blinds Filipinos and prevents us from solving this ever worsening problem, then let Mr Kwok do the job. To quote n upbeat President saying "...with our political will and working together, what Hong Kong was able to do in seven years, we could perhaps be able to do in three years." She added: "We shall win this war against corruption." Wishful thinking. I am fed up with her words. No offense to the opposite sex but I think Gloria Macapagal Arroyo does more talk and less work.

Just like our athletes who need foreign coaches to put their game to the next level, the same is true with our drive to eradicate the problem of graft and corruption. This used to be unnecessary but Filipino patience has worn out and before it becomes a collective anguish that translates to revolt, better try other means to solve the problem. Otherwise, the Arroyo would suffer the same fate as her predecessor, Erap Estrada.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Proud of HK International Airport


http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/12/pf/goodlife/airports/index.htm?cnn=yes

Looking at the link above made me marvel on the ingenuity and futuristic thinking of the men and women who built Hong Kong International Airport and made it into the top of the rankings two years after it was launched, and consistently winning in the past five years.

This year was no different for Chek Lap Kok after the release of figures based on 5,584,365 survey entries -- a bulk of it came from North American and European travellers so rule out the bias factor.

The Top 10 Airports in the World for 2005 :

1 Hong Kong Int'l Airport Gold Award
2 Singapore Changi Airport Silver Award
3 Seoul Incheon Airport Bronze Award
4 Munich Airport
5 Kansai International Airport
6 Dubai International Airport
7 KLIA - Kuala Lumpur Airport
8 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
9 Copenhagen Airport
10 Sydney Airport

Apart from the airport awards, Cathay Pacific, a British brand closely associated to Hong Kong came in with major recognitions in the field of First Class and Business Class lounges.

Top First Class Lounges
1 Cathay Pacific - HKG
2 Thai Airways - BKK
3 South African Airways - JNB
4 Asiana Airlines - ICN
5 Malaysia Airlines (KUL)
6 Lufthansa (FRA)
7 Singapore Airlines (SIN)
8 Qatar Airways (DOH)
9 Gulf Air (BAH)
10 Swiss (ZRH)

Top Business Class Lounges

1 Cathay Pacific- HKG
2 Virgin Atlantic - LHR
3 Gulf Air - BAH
4 Asiana Airlines - ICN
5 Swiss - ZRH
6 Singapore Airlines - SIN
7 SAS Scandinavian - CPH
8 Malaysia Airlines - KUL
9 China Airlines - TPE
10 Qantas Airways - SYD

These awards put a good name of Hong Kong and therefore deserve due appreciation, if not rewards as they successfully produce a fusion of Chinesee culture which takes back thousands of years and the needs of a modern traveller with all amenities necessary. Just as Thai Airways offer their homegrown Thai massage, Hong Kong prides itself with delectable dishes and warm hospitality I used to know Filipinos are superior -- at an extreme fashion. Cathay's luxurious bathing at the Cabanas, a modest serving of freshly cooked noodles and surfing the Internet on wireless connection are a distinct translation of how the culture relates with the brand.

All in all, I'd rather not make any comment at the sight of other lesser known airports once I try to compare it with Hong Kong's. I am proud to have taken several flights in and out of the best airport in the world.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Seventh Haven

I am now in my seventh home in Hong Kong. All that in a matter of four years and three months. That seems numerous to count especially that all in my life in the Philippines my family moved house only once -- when I was fourteen.

Moving home is never an easy task, from looking for a new place, calculating supposed expenses, making sure it's accessible to public transportation, market, bank, post office, laundry shop; has lift, good lighting, security and water supply. Of course affordable. Doing it alone is a challenge and will always generate questions from my peers on my way of thinking and deriving decisions.

My history of living in different houses in Hong Kong:

1. Wah Ming Centre (Sai Ying Pun, 13th Flr) - Living outside the Philippines for the first time is exciting but has barriers we need to pass through: guards unable to speak English, laundry issues, bathroom use schedule issues, etc. I lived with Onin and Leo and later Onin was replaced by Raymond. It was a relatively in-house kind of group where we seldom go out and have fun. I left the house when I lost the job at PCCW. Leo and Raymond, as well as Onin on the other house had to go back to the Philippines and I was left behind.

2. South Horizons (Block 16, 4th Flr) - I was with generous souls in Benjie and Tintin who adopted me for a month while on jobhunting. I stayed there for free and was the best thing to do especially that I was facing uncertainty of whether to stay in Hong Kong in the next few months or I have to go home.

3. Spring Garden Bachelor Pad (Wan Chai, 11th Flr) - I got a job and while I was still looking for a place to call home, Zandro offered his cozy little abode. Intended to be a single bedroom bachelor pad, he was too kind to offer a space for me even if it meant inconvenience in his part. The place is overlooking the Wan Chai wet market with all stuff from dried fish to assorted towels on sale. I stayed there for two months before deciding to move out with Zandro and look for a two-bedroom flat.

4. Lap Hing Building (Wan Chai, 5th Flr) - Zandro is just a very nice person whom I owe a lot. This time we share a two-bedroom flat in Wan Chai. It wasn't the best deal we got I admit but we stayed in the area for about one and half years. The place is along the Hennessy Road so the convenience is there. At the same time, crowded streets on weekends is a pain. We were able to host households there with better comfort than in the Spring Garden flat. The reason we moved out is that he got married and will be bringing his wife Charm to Hong Kong.

5. 163 Hennessy Road (Wan Chai, 18th Flr) - When Zandro introduced one new friend in one of our squash sessions, little did I realize this person would become my next flatmate. I am referring to Jun who lives alone in a luxurious and convenient location in Wan Chai. I would say the place is the best I had so far. All amenities are provided that I could move in with my clothes and other personal items. Someone cleans the house three times a week too! I lived like a prince for about a year until Jun decided to leave Hong Kong for good.

6. South Horizons (Block 13A, 1st Flr) - I thought of finding a place alone but with time constraints I settled with another flatmate, a family. It was the first time I lived with ladies so it was kinda different from the past. I drew nasty comments from my friends about it but assured them it could be just within the six months period. My former boss Colin who still maintains communication with me, is glad to have me back in South Horizons after 2002. With my firm stand to live alone and avoid being tardy in the office, I decided to move out after five months. Telling the landlord I will be leaving the house for the first time was weird to me; I often had the experience my flatmate had to go and not me. Glad I overcame that.

7. Lido Apartments (Quarry Bay, 7th Flr) - Finally I get to live on my own. I just moved on 12 May, but at a big price. I had to buy almost everything from cutter to kitchen knife to extension wire, wardrobe and bed, telephone line and second hand appliances. I calculated though that after three to four months I will not spend anymore on the items and will instead be concerned more on monthly rental plus utilities.

It's never easy but I enjoyed it in a way that I get used to see various places and change of scenery. I get to know more people though in face only and I learn to adapt to the new environment I am in.

Monday, May 02, 2005

50 million Firefox downloads

I was pondering on the thought that Firefox would seem to have an impact as other products of the same genre have gotten in the past -- open source. Surely, Linux and other Unix wannabes rocked the operating systems world in the mid-90s with an approach that embraced the philosophy that everyone should have the chance to be an author; the more authors get involved, better ideas are spawned.

But Linux hardly threatened the UNIX fortress, heretofore the common belief that piracy will kill an industry -- oops I never mentioned Linux is an underground program, only that the people at Berkley felt an honest day's effort of an overworked brain deserves to be compensated -- is never true all the time.

On 29th of April at 8:58AM, Firefox tracked the fifty millionth download -- a testament of half a decade of hardwork which people hoped to switch on amid security threats that hounded Microsoft's proprietory Internet Explorer browser program.

While IE has been notoriously tied as haven for hackers, backdoor programs and phishers, Firefox has been far from perfect either. A recent discover showed two critical security flaws. Firefox automatically allows software to be installed from update.mozilla.org and addons.mozilla.org, but users who want to install software from other Web sites can add to this trusted list. This issue has been addressed in the 1.0.4 version. Moreover, it also fixed the apparent mishandling of dynamic html (dhtml) in the previous release.

I am admittedly a fan of Firefox though I made the switch to the new browser alongside its e-mail client effectively replacing Outlook Express in my desktop in the office and at home.

IE will still be missed though. I cannot work without it. Our intranet application runs on an ActiveX supported browser such as Internet Explorer. Hopefully an alternative to this potentially hazardous feature will be in place for Firefox in order to make missing IE a formality.

Founded with a name called Phoenix and renamed Firebird whose name briefly existed prior to its current name.

Going back to its glitz and glamour of achieving an unprecedented download quantity Don't you think it was amazing to have a program downloaded 25 million times about three months after its release? It's like an online revolution which truly translated the web browser landscape with a major facelift. As the slogan would put it, the browser, reloaded. The Phoenix logo changed after being renamed Firebird and an emphasis to yellowish tail was done on the Firefox version. Why fox over a bird?

Without the need of third party popup blockers and an array of new features such as tabbed browsing, DOM inspector and support for web standards Firefox is my logical choice.

At an astounding pace of about 8% in the total market share. Internet Explorer is still the force but its popularity has dwindled dramatically over the past months. I would like to believe David has morphed into Goliath and want some more.