Banality: The Postindustrial Disease

Ranting to Mazzy Star

Week Four

Just letting you all know I'm still alive, but running out of steam I think. I know I'm not here on vacation, but the feeling of not having any purpose is starting to get to me. I want to go home and soon.

It is week four of my third semester. There's still Christmas and New Years a few more months then its all over. I'm not on vacation I know, but some enjoyment wouldn't hurt. But I'm antsy and impatient and useless in Australia. I'm almost done Manila...Konti na lang.

Spot Sparks

Hopefully, some of the Asia Pacific's future leaders.

APEC Sydney

When these heads of state come together during these pow-wows, you wonder if they compare notes on how best to police their borders and 'protect' their people. Australia's new anti-terror law has come under fire lately, and people are seriously questioning whether civil liberties are being sacrificed at the altar of anti-terrorism. Sydney has been in complete lock down this past weekend to make way for the APEC summit. Human rights watchers are critiquing the expanded powers of Sydney police impinging on Sydneysiders' rights and whether they have not been overly 'forceful' in enforcing security.



The latest news on TV show burly police offers, all conspicuously not wearing their name tags, carting away a young woman who has gone over the agreed space of protest. There's also been footage of officers pushing a female journalist so hard she fell on the ground. One thing I noticed though, the police didn't carry batons and those plastic shields. So, its really not as bad as what Manila protesters contend with during rallies.

Here is a short doco on the preparations of anti-war, anti-Bush and all sorts of activists to welcome the APEC Summit leaders.





And here's a clip showing the heads of state in their Aussie costume, the driza bone (dry as a bone) coat they wear in the outback. Watch out for the commentator's hilarious quip about GMA. Hehehehe.

Housemates

It is tricky having to share domestic space with two strangers, trickier when you don't particularly like them. Well, not that I dislike them, just that I've finally accepted the fact we can't be friends. I share nothing in common with either J, a Chinese Malaysian or A, an Aussie from Melbourne. When you are making dinner sharing the kitchen, or have democratically decided on which TV program to watch, it is a strain to make conversation.

In her own fashion, there is much to recommend about J. For a young woman of 22, she is not frivolous or shallow. Not irritatingly girly, not loud. She seems to be incredibly self-sufficient for someone so young, and a hard-worker. As her cultural background dictates, she is never wasteful. Not with the dishwashing liquid, not with the use of electricity, the washing machine, dryer or dishwasher. Given time and maturity, I expect I will probably come to respect her. She was here first when I came in January. There was a bit of a fuss on how controlling she was over the management of the house. So controlling in fact that our first housemate A from Canada, had to move out. But after one heated altercation last April, when all were grouchy and tense over finals and assignment deadlines, we have made our peace.

A is a boy encased in a grown man's body. Some would say he is quite attractive, if not for the receding hairline. Stereotypically macho, all he he seems to like doing is watch footy (rugby or Aussie football...I forget what's what, there's so many variations of the game), play footy in real life or play footy on his Xbox. I wouldn't say he's a dumb jock however, but it is difficult to make conversation when you don't share points of interest. I have been living with him for four months, but his accent is so weird it's embarrassing having to ask him to repeat himself still. So far, he has brought home four girls that I know of. 2 girls he met here, and 2 girls flew in from Melbourne. Nothing scandalous, no overt display of anything...I guess he doesn't want to embarrass either J or me. J herself has had her boyfriend C come stay with us a couple of times already. But anyway, C's a likable fellow and when he is here they probably make sure I'm not in the house whenever they do the horizontal tango as the wall between J's room and mine is quite thin.

I make acquaintances quite easily if I choose to apply myself, but my housemates remind me I don't make friends easily. Maybe because friendship for me means more than doing things together. I was telling my Indonesian friend A the other night, boy or girl, we gotta have chemistry. Which is shorthand for conversation should come easily and I shouldn't have to censor myself on the topics of conversation. There would be genuine exchange of ideas, whether they be about the Chinese in the Spratlys, the meaning of life or Justin Timberlake's delectable hiney.

Hegemony

"Hegemony is the result of control over the ideological state apparatus, following the seizure of state power at the political level. The various apparatuses of the State must not be smashed but rearticulated."

- Carl Boggs, Gramsci's Marxism

Mga Nilalang sa Hayupan ni George Orwell

Insired by Jego, who has begun translating CS Lewis into Filipino, I begin my translation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. He was probably spurred by the discussion at Manolo's blog over the lack of good translations of English works into the vernacular. I took the liberty of changing the setting from England to the Philippines. Inihaw, pagdamutan po ninyo ang aking pagsasalin.

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Unang Kabanata (a)

Lango sa alak, nalimutang itangkal ni Manong Juan ang pinto ng manukan. Tangan ang dumuduyan-duyang lampara, siya’y tumawid patungo sa bahay. Sa likurang pinto, kanya’ng inalis ang bota, at saka naghanda ng huling baso ng tuba bago pa man umakyat sa silid-tulugan. Naroong malalim na ang tulog ng naghihilik na asawa’ng si Aling Huling.

Sa saglit na namatay ang ilaw sa silid, napainlanlan ang mga kaluskos sa mga maliliit na gusali ng bukirin. Buong araw na’ng kumakalat ang balita’ng mayroong nais ibahagi si Tandang Kapitan, isang pagkalaki-laking baboy-ramo. Nais nitong ikwento ang napanaginipan ng nakaraang gabi. Napagkasunduan ng lahat na magtipon-tipon sa kamalig sa oras na mahimbing na sa tulog si Manong Juan.

Gawa ng paghanga’t paggalang kay Tandang Kapitan, handa ang lahat na magpuyat ng kaunti upang marinig ang kung anumang nais nitong sabihin.

Sa dulo ng kamalig, sa ibabaw ng isang maliit na entablado, naroong nakahimlay si Tandang Major sa palumpon ng dayami. Sa nagdaang labin-dalawang taon, malaon na itong tumanda’t nanaba, ngunit bakas pa rin sa tindig nito ang kakisigan.

‘Di nagtagal at nagsidatingan na ang mga hayop. Nagsi-ayos ang mga ito, naghanda’ng makinig. Unang dumating ang tatlong aso – sina Bughawin, Jessie at Pingkian, pagkatapos ay ang mga baboy, na agarang pumuwesto sa harap ng entablado. Tumuntong ang mga inahin sa may bintana, habang ang mga kalapati’y dumapo sa mga kilo ng kamalig. Ang mga tupa’t baka ay nagsi-pwesto sa likod ng mga baboy at nagsimulang ngumuya ng damo. Ang dalawang kabayong sina Bugoy at Caring ay sabay na dumating. Marahan silang naglakad, ingat sa paglapat ng kanilang mga paa sakaling mayroong maliliit na hayop na naikubli ng dayami.

Si Caring ay isang inahing kabayong nasa kalagitnaan ng ng buhay. ‘Di na nagbalik pa ang magiliw nitong hugis matapos iluwal ang ika-apat na anak. Si Bugoy ay isang pagkalaki-laking kabayo, halos labing-walong dipa ang taas, at sinlakas ng dalawang karaniwang kabayo. Isang puting tanda ang sa mukha nito’y gumuhit. Nagdudulot tuloy ito ng anyong kamangmangan. Sa katunayan nga, ‘di rin naman ito katalinuhan, ngunit batid ng lahat ang kaniyang matatag na ugali at kalakasan.

Matapos ang mga kabayo ay ang puting kambing na si Mariel, at si Benjamin, ang asno*. Si Benjamin ay ang pinakamatanda sa kabukiran, at ang pinaka-mainitin ang ulo. Madalang siya’ng magsalita, at sakali man ay madalas itong pakutya. Halimbawa na lang, sinabi nitong binigyan daw s’ya ng Panginoon ng buntot upang bugawin ang mga bangaw, ngunit mas mamaraptin na lamang raw n’yang mawalan ng buntot. Sa gitna ng iba pa’ng mga hayop, hindi s’ya tumatawa. Kung tinanong, ayon sa kanya’y wala naman daw katawa-tawa. Sa kabila ng lahat, kahit di pa man nito aminin, ay lubos ang kaniyang pag-ukol kay Bugoy. Madalas ang dalawa’y nanginginain ng damo ng magkasami sa may likuran ng kural ng kabayo. Magkatabi, ‘di kailanman sila’y nag-uusap.

Ang dalawang kabayo’y kakahimlay lamang nang nagsipasok ang mga bibeng nawalay sa kanilang ina. Nagsisihuni’t nagpapagala-gala upang makahanap ng lugar kung sa’n sila’y di matatapakan. Itinuwid ni Caring ang kanyang mahabang hita, at saka nagsisilong ang mga bibe’t dagliang nagsitulog.

Pagkatapos ay pumasok si Milay, ang ‘di katalinuhang kabayo na humihila ng kariton ni Mang Juan. Mahinhin itong pumasok habang ngumunguya ng kaunting asukal. Umupo ito sa may harapan at saka naglandi. Tawag-pansin ang puti nitong buhok na tinirintasan ng pulang laso.

Huling dumating ang pusa, na agarang naghanap ng pinakamalamlam na pwesto - sa pagitan ni Bugoy at Caring. Doon, ito'y mahinang nag-mimiyaw sa kabuuan ng talumpati ni Tandang Kapitan, ‘di alintana ang anuman nitong sabihin.

Ang lahat ng mga hayop ay naroon maliban kay Moises, ang maamong uwak. Ito'y natutulog pa sa may likuran ng kamalig. Na’ng nakita ni Kapitang ang lahat ay sabik na’ng naghihintay, siya’y nagsimula:

“Mga kasama, inyo na’ng narinig ang tungkol sa aking panaginip nitong gabing nakaraan. Ngunit bago ang lahat, nais ko’ng ipaalam sa inyo’ng nalalapit na ang aking wakas. Bago pa man ako pumanaw, marapat ko’ng ibahagi sa inyo ang dunong na aking nakalap sa tana ng aking pamamalagi sa daigdig. Sa aking pagninilay-nilay, palagay ko’y malalim na ang aking pag-unawa sa gawi ng buhay. Patungkol dito ang nais ko’ng sabihin sa inyo.

“Ngayon, mga kasama, ano ba ang katalagahan ng ating pamumuhay? Dapat nating akuin na ito’y nakahahambal, kay hirap at maikli. Tayo’y isinilang, tayo’y pinakakain lamang nga husto upang manatiling buhay. Ang ilan sa ating mayroon pa’ng lakas ay sapilitang pinagta-trabaho sa huling tagaktak ng ating pawis. Sa sandaling tayo’y wala nang silbi, tayo’y walang habas na kakatayin.

“Walang hayop sa Pilipinas ang nakalalasap ng kasiyahan at mga sandaling malaya matapos ang ika-unang kaarawan. Walang hayop sa Pilipinas ang malaya. Ang buhay ng isang hayop ay tunay na kaaba-aba. Tayo’y mga alipin, at iyan ang katotohanan.

"Ngunit ganito na lang ba ang payak na sistema ng kalikasan? Sadya ba’ng kay hirap ng ating bayan kung kaya’t hindi maaaring ang lahat ng nabubuhay rito ay marapat na matustusan? Hindi mga kasama! Hindi! Ang lupain ng Pilipinas ay mataba, ang klima nito’y mabuti. Kaya nito’ng magpatubo at maglago ng pagkain para sa lahat ng mga nilalang na dito’y naglalagi. Ito’ng ating bukirin lamang ay kayang bumuhay ng dose-dosenang kabayo, dalawampung baka, daan-daang tupa – at lahat sila ay mabubuhay ng matiwasay at mahusay, bagay na ngayo’y isa lamang panaginip.

“Bakit nga ba tayo patuloy na umaayon sa ating kaaba-abang kalagayan? ‘Pagkat halos lahat ng bunga ng ating pagod ay ninanakaw ng sangkatauhan. Narito, mga kasama, ang kasagutan sa ating problema. Ito’y saklaw ng nag-iisang kataga – Tao. Ang tao ang nag-iisang tunay nating kaaway. Sa sandaling alisin ang Tao dito sa atin, ang sanhi ng gutom at kapaguran ay tuloy na’ng mapapawi.”

Itutuloy....

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*asno - donkey

Manila Standard Today WTF Are You Doing?

So. It has come to this. Malu Fernandez' supposed resignation was not accepted by MST, and her column resumes on Monday, September 3. I don't get it. Is their editorial board courting disaster?

Manolo writes:

However, if the potential for the re-escalation of the issue is fulfilled by the resumption of the column -which would also firmly lay the passions raised firmly at the feet of the paper and no longer the magazine- things would get possibly worse. After all, all the to-do about an apology and a resignation, would be proven either insincere, or merely a gambit: those arguing for moderation or a more nuanced approach would have been proven naive. Then we might have the media equivalent of a conversation Louis XVI supposedly had with a courtier, upon being told of the storming of the Bastille.

Just to remind everyone, I made a video highlighting parts of Fernandez' July 30 column in MST. Parang naghahamon ang pahayagang ito. Sige.



Feel free to spread the news. Find the embed link here.

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ETA: Thanks to micketymoc for the head's up on Carlos Celdran's post:

In fact, what happened to Malu could happen to quite a few other members of the upper classes. Just last week, I heard that some of her other friends were commenting how she kinda "took the bullet" for everyone, so to speak. And this I consider as a sign of how detached the Philippine rich (and their wannabes) are from the realities of our country. I mean really, the Philippine elites are a completely blessed bunch who do not know or care just how blessed they are. Just look at the PIPC scandal. Some Singaporean guy named Michael Liew runs off with U$250million from the pockets of the Pinoy perfumed class and both our country and it's economy are still standing. Php250 million! That's almost the entire Gross National Product of the Solomon Islands or the cost of a brand new international airport and yet nary a dent was put on our currency nor our stock markets. This only proves that that the Philippine elites have the financial capacity to pull the country out of poverty but yet it's their apathy and lack of priorities that prevent them from using this money to achieve social progress.

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Related posts:
Putting on the Other's Shoes
The Democracy of the Pinoy Blogosphere a.k.a Malu Fernandez, Take Your Cue
Let Them Eat Cake
OFWs are No Heroes
The Philippines' 1st Cyber Counterculture Movement: Malu Fernandez, Hala Lagot Ka!

Pinoy Dies in the Outback

A Filipino OFW recently died under suspicious circumstances somewhere up in the Northern Territory. Three months into his work term, Pedro Balading's remains were found on the road as he was reportedly thrown off a speeding vehicle. His body was flown home in June.

Balading, along with 2 other Filipinos were reportedly targets of racial discrimination, abuse and were made to do tasks in violation of their 457 skilled worker visa. Another Pinoy was also killed last March as he was crushed by 2 slabs of granite in his workplace north of Perth. The Philippine embassy and the Australian government have called for review of said visa. Australia Malcolm Knox writes:

HIS body aching, his hands bristling with splinters, Pedro Balading phoned his wife Maria Magdalena on his 35th birthday and said he wanted to come home to Manila. The university-educated Filipino piggery supervisor had had enough of living a modern-day version of Wake In Fright in the Australian outback.

Instead of performing the skilled work prescribed by their visas, Balading and two Filipino co-workers on a cattle property on the Gulf of Carpentaria had become targets for bullying and discrimination, were underpaid and ordered to do back-breaking unskilled jobs.

The circumstances of his death remain the subject of an official investigation, but witnesses say that Balading's death resulted from the same harassment and exploitation that characterised his brief tenure in the territory.

Ten weeks after his death, his destitute and distraught widow has received no report on what killed Him and scant information on her entitlements, which include unpaid wages and accrued leave, workers' compensation and life insurance.

Territory and federal authorities have maintained a veil of secrecy around the death. Balading's employer has washed his hands of responsibility. When Maria Magdalena was notified of her husband's death two days after it happened, she wept: "Now they will let him come home."

In the Pinoy blogosphere, Geejay, himself a migrant worker here in Australia, writes:

Now, I’m not saying that all working conditions for migrants in Australia are as bad as what was depicted in the two articles. However, I just want to remind you, if you are interested in working here, to be extra vigilant. Don’t be lulled into thinking that working in Australia is without any risks. Do your homework and do not let yourself be abused. I strongly urge you to read the two articles in its entirety to get some ideas of what to watch out for.

From oodles of goodles:

There is just too much pent-up urgency in me to do something right about this. Perhaps, other than suggest that we boycott the agency which sent Balading to his death in a foreign land and send a barrage of furious email or letters to employers Paul and Stuart Zlotkowski, we can divert some of that passion, anger, unity we incited when Malu Fernandez made fun of OFWs and convert it into a microcosm of social relevance.

From sette:

It seems ironic that these days workplace reform, rights of workers and equality in the workplace are hot topics in the political arena and yet there are blatant breaches of overseas worker privileges in our own backyard.

Related news:
Foreign workers "enslaved"
Manila hits out on work visas
Hundreds ride the conveyor belt to fortune
Deaths prompt calls of 457 visa inquiry

Race: The Floating Signifier?

Eminent scholar of Cultural Studies, Stuart Hall, discusses race.



"Race is more like a language than it is like a way in which we are biologically constituted. Signifiers refer to the system and concepts of a classification of a culture to its making meaning practices. And those things gain their meaning not because of what they contain in their essence but in the shifting relations of difference which they establish with other concepts and ideas in a signifying field. Their meaning because it is relational and not essential can never be finally fixed, but is subject to the constant process of redefinition and appropriation."

Blood Red Moon

The lunar eclipse will be visible from this part of the world tonight.

A COSMIC ballet will bathe much of Australia's east coast in an ethereal red glow as the night sky becomes lit up by crimson moonshine. But forget high-powered telescopes. A dark spot and roof tops will give some of the best views of tonight's Blood Moon eclipse. At exactly 8.37pm (AEST) the Sun, Earth and Moon will be in total alignment, scattering light as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and bounces off the moon in hues of bronze and red.

You should see it in Manila by 5:52pm. Will try to see if my puny cellphone cam can catch it.

Update: 8.35 pm. The moon is red now. The live webcast is supposed to be here. But I guess everyone's trying to access the page, so goodluck!

The Semiology of Skin

Edited to add: This post is in no way normative. I am not making value judgments on what should be. I guess I need to put a context to this post. It comes from me looking at photos of young Filipinas in search of foreigner husbands on the online dating site I work for. I do not consider myself a prude, but some of the photos enrage and sadden me. I do my best to edit unnecessary cleavage, or just crop the upper half of whole body shots of young women in skimpy outfits. The photo below is actually very tasteful, it is a mere hint of some of the photos we get. By far, most photos are head/shoulder shots. Some though, look more like this one on the right. Yes, and that's a German url, so you know to whom this photo is addressed. I'd rather not think of what happens to young Filipinas in the provinces. Really, I'd rather not. I've read news about trafficking and white slavery. I've heard of anecdotes from friends and colleagues. It is a different thing, however, to see their faces.



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When you look at the two photos above, you are not merely looking at lines, shapes and colours. Now, probably more than ever, there is truth to the adage - a picture speaks a thousand words. But these photos communicate more than words. They tell a story. They string more pictures together within our brains. They make connect-the-dots associations of concepts and ideas that denote more than the literal message - that they are two young, attractive females.

What does the one on the left tell you? What story do you see unfolding when you look at this photo? Does it tell you where this photo may have been taken? Does it tell you, who this young woman might be? Does it tell you anything about her character? What about the photo on the right? Let's pretend she isn't a well-known celebrity. As she smiles at you, with her Oriental eyes and her European features, what sorts of other images come to mind?

The photo on the left will probably say, it was taken somewhere in the provinces. The woven sawali wall behind here connotes a nipa hut, probably near the beach. She is wearing around her neck what looks like a string of seashells. She has on her face, a relaxed, open look. Just as relaxed as her body. Now, what sorts of other images do these connotations tell you? Do you think, well here is a woman in an idyllic setting. Here she languishes, her shoulders lightly leaning against the woven wall. She's probably looking at the waves crashing and contemplating...something. Contemplating what? Or maybe, dressed up as she is, she's waiting for something or someone. Maybe she's waiting for you? And who are you? Are you a man? Or a woman? Are you perhaps a fellow probinsyana nearby? Are you straight or gay? Are you a weary urbanite from the capital? Or maybe someone who needs a passport to come see her?

Now look at the photo on the right. She obviously has mixed parents. She is not, what some would call, a "pure" Filipina. Would you say, that this photo connotes the exact same messages given by the one on the left? Would you say, this was taken in the provinces somewhere? Probably not. You would think, well this photo was probably taken in the city. Most likely in Manila. Looking at her neatly coiffed hair, her fair skin and toned arms, would you think she denotes the exact same messages as the one on the left? Do you see them switching places? Probably not. More importantly, looking at the woman on the right, who are you?

The seaside idyll of the woman on the left is seductive in its...simplicity. To get away from the chaos of the city, of modernity, you're going back to basics. Its the same kind of thing those characters in "The Beach" are looking for. You're looking for something in the past. Something pure. And here she is, the perfect simple woman. With her long black hair and her willing posture, she would welcome you. You would expect her to be soft and submissive, open to your demands. Would you say she was rich? Would you say, she bought her clothes, put on her make-up and her string of seashells? Probably not. It is artifice. You might think, living in her sawali hut, that she is probably poor. Just as her dark skin tells you she is poor.

What about the woman on the right? Do you think she is poor? Do you think her soft and submissive and languid and waiting in her hut? Waiting for you? Probably not. She looks like she put on her own clothes. She looks like she went to an expensive department store and bought her own make-up. Her arms suggest she probably has money to spend in Fitness First. Does she look like she needs you? Even as she looks you in the eye, do you think she needs rescuing? Or is she more your equal? Not so feminine, so soft, so powerless as the one on the left?

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Your might also want to read:

Of Postmodern Sex
Mga Puta

The Power of Name-Calling

Early in the Harry Potter series, the warlock who killed Harry's parents, Voldemort, was often called "He who must not be named." He is so menacing, so powerful, he cannot be labelled. When something cannot be named, it is not a thing. We cannot make it an object to our Subject - something separate from us, something that is part of our objective reality. If it cannot be labelled, if it cannot be named, then it is beyond our grasp to manipulate.

When we name something, it is the power to pin down what was before something we cannot control. Naming something gives it a face - an identity, a bounded reality. Naming gives us the power to say that Object X is not Object Y. On X, we as Subjects, bestow traits. We dictate what it is. We dictate what it is not. Naming gives the Subject the power to create objects. Naming gives the Subject agency - the capacity to act on an objective reality. History then ceases to be something that merely occurs. It becomes something we can change.

Amen

Her divilacious highness had the grace to resign. Bravissima. Thanks Jae, for the heads up. And thank god for YouTube!

Ang Pera

Ang pera ay pagod
Sakit ng likod
Kakulangan ng tulog
Rayuma ng tuhod.

Ang pera'y magang mata
Ngawit ng leeg
Panahong ginugol
Di sa layaw, di sa hilig.

Ang pera'y panukat
Ng talino't galing
Ng tapang at sipag
Ng abilidad, ng tulin.

Ang pera'y panukat
Ng obligasyon at paglingon
Sa utang na loob
Sa pagkalingang naipon.

Ang pera parang wika
Nagbabadya, nangungusap
Ng kasiyahan o ng kakulangan
Ng ganda o kapangitan.

Ang pera nga ba
Ang s'yang namamagitan
At kumakatawan
Sa pakikipagkapwa't ugnayan?

Ang pera nga ba
Ang simbolo ng tatag
Na s'yang naghahayag
Ng pagkatao't kalooban?