For The Love What?

Received this via forwarded message...

The message goes:

As you know, we have plenty of Koreans currently
studying in the Philippines to take advantage of
our cheaper tuition fees and learn English at the
same time.

This is an essay written by a Korean student i
want to share with you. (Never mind the grammar;
it's the CONTENT that counts) Maybe it is timely to
think about this in the midst of all the confusion
at present.

MY SHORT ESSAY ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES
Jaeyoun Kim

Filipinos always complain about the corruption in
the Philippines . Do you really think the corruption
is the problem of the Philippines ? I do not
think so. I strongly believe that the problem is
the lack of love for the Philippines .

Let me first talk about my country, Korea .
It might help you understand my point.
After the Korean War, South Korea was one
of the poorest countries in the world. Koreans
had to start from scratch because entire country was
destroyed after the Korean War, and we had no
natural resources.

Koreans used to talk about the Philippines , for
Filipinos were very rich in Asia . We envy Filipinos.
Koreans really wanted to be well off like
Filipinos. Many Koreans died of famine.
My father & brother also died because of famine.
Korean government was very corrupt and is still very
corrupt beyond your imagination, but Korea was
able to develop dramatically because Koreans really
did their best for the common good with their heart
burning with patriotism.

Koreans did not work just for themselves but also
for their neighborhood and country. Education inspired
young men with the spirit of patriotism.

40 years ago, President Park took over the
government to reform Korea . He tried to borrow money
from other countries, but it was not possible to get a
loan and attract a foreign investment because the
economic situation of South Korea was so bad. Korea had
only three factories. So, President Park sent many mine
workers and nurses to Germany so that
they could send money to Korea to build a factory.
They had to go through horrible experience.

In 1964, President Park visited Germany to borrow
money. Hundred of Koreans in Germany came to the
airport to welcome him and cried there as they saw
the President Park . They asked to him, "President,
when can we be well off?" That was the only question
everyone asked to him. President Park cried with
them and promised them that Korea would be well
off if everyone works hard for Korea , and the President
of Germany got the strong impression on them
and lent money to Korea . So, President Park was
able to build many factories in Korea . He always
asked Koreans to love their country from their heart.

Many Korean scientists and engineers in the USA
came back to Korea to help developing country
because they wanted their country to be well off.
Though they received very small salary, they did their
best for Korea . They always hoped that their children
would live in well off country.

My parents always brought me to the places where
poor and physically handicapped people live. They
wanted me to understand their life and help them..
I also worked for Catholic Church when I was in the army..
The only thing I learned from Catholic Church was that we
have to love our neighborhood. And, I have loved my
neighborhood. Have you cried for the
Philippines? I have cried for my country several
times. I also cried for the Philippines because of so many
poor people. I have been to the New Bilibid
prison. What made me sad in the prison were the
prisoners who do not have any love for their country.
They go to mass and work for Church. They pray
everyday.

However, they do not love the Philippines . I
talked to two prisoners at the maximum-security compound,
and both of them said that they would leave the
Philippines right after they are released from the
prison. They said that they would start a new life in other
countries and never come back to the Philippines .

Many Koreans have a great love for Korea so that
we were able to share our wealth with our neighborhood.
The owners of factory and company were distributed their
profit to their employees fairly so that employees could
buy what they needed and saved money for the
future and their children.

When I was in Korea , I had a very strong faith and
wanted to be a priest. However, when I came to the Philippines ,
I completely lost my faith.
I was very confused when I saw many unbelievable
situations in the Philippines . Street kids always make me sad,
and I see them everyday. The Philippines is the only Catholic
country in Asia , but there are too many poor people here.
People go to church every Sunday to pray, but nothing has
been changed.

My parents came to the Philippines last week and
saw this situation. They told me that Korea was much poorer
than the present Philippines when they
were young. They are so sorry that there are so
many beggars and street kids. When we went to Pasangjan,
I forced my parents to take a boat because
it would fun. However, they were not happy after
taking a boat. They said that they would not take the boat
again because they were sympathized the
boatmen, for the boatmen were very poor and had a
small frame. Most of people just took a boat and enjoyed it.
But, my parents did not enjoy it because of love
for them.

My mother who has been working for Catholic Church
since I was very young told me that if we just go to
mass without changing ourselves, we are not
Catholic indeed. Faith should come with action.
She added that I have to love Filipinos and do good things
for them because all of us are same and have received a great
love from God. I want Filipinos to love their
neighborhood and country as much as they love God
so that the Philippines will be well off.

I am sure that love is the keyword, which Filipinos
should remember. We cannot change the sinful structure at once.
It should start from person. Love must start in everybody,
in a s mall scale and have to grow. A lot of
things happen if we open up to love. Let's put away
our prejudices and look at our worries with our new eyes.

I discover that every person is worthy to be
loved. Trust in love, because it makes changes possible.
Love changes you and me. It changes people, contexts and
relationships. It changes the world. Please love your
neighborhood and country.

Jesus Christ said that whatever we do to others we
do to Him. In the Philippines , there is God for people who
are abused and abandoned. There is God who is crying for love.
If you have a child, teach them how to love the Philippines .
Teach them why they have to love their neighborhood and country.
You already know that God also will be very happy if you love others.

That's all I really want to ask you Filipinos.

Overdrive

alam mo mayro'n akong pangarap sa buhay, sana matupad na...

BNSP Good News, eBay Bad News

SHOPBLINK mentioned BNSP’s search for BEST SELLER of the year here, and I was surprised today to see my handle atop the ranking for now (See Buynsellplus.com, at right side bar). They’ll give out exiting prizes but already, being atop the list, it’s already a win for me. This nomination at BNSP kinda absorbs some of today’s disappointment.

The disappointment is brought upon by having, my super valued account over at eBay is suspended. And judging by the template/generic responses & answers I am getting from eBay Philippines Customer Support, it looks like my personal eBay account is done. Anyways, the story of eBay Account Suspension is of different matter & posting. I’ll get to it sometime soon.

Back to the happy times… Out of this Buynsellplus.com nomination for Best Sellers, let me make a promo of my own out of that. If ever I win, I’ll give free shipping to the first 10 buyers who’ll contact me thru Buynsellplus.com PM system. If you still dont have an account, register here. My handle there is BECYPHER.

BNSP Prizes are…

Major Prizes:

(1) Nokia N70
(1) Philips MP3 Player
(2) Timex Sports Watch
(2) Flash Drives (4GB, 2GB)

Consolation Prizes:

(24) Vintage T-shirts

HBO: MP Greatest Hits

Biz Categories

Accounting & Consulting Listings of CPAs, auditing & accounting firms, consultants, finance & tax advisors, etc.

Advertising & Marketing Listings of advertising agencies, marketing companies, promo products, internet marketers, etc.

Agricultural & Fishery Listings of agriculture related ventures, forest, fishing, fishery, farm supplies, feeds and more.

Architects & Interiors Listings of architectural firms, interior designers, architects, urban planning, design, etc.

Banking & Finance Listings of banks, microfinancing, rural banks, loans, lending firms, pawnshops, etc.

Cars & Automotive Listings of car dealers, rentals, makers, rentals, service center, custom cars, motorcycles, etc.

Electricals and Electronics Listings of businesses associated with electronics and electrical industry.

Engineering & Construction Listings of engineers & contractors, suppliers, planners, consultants, developers, civil works, etc.

Flowers & Florists Listings of flower shops, online flower store, florists, floral suppliers, flower arrangements, etc.

Franchising Business Listing of franchise opportunities like ink refill, water station, food franchise, etc.

Garments & Clothing Listings of garments factory, clothes store, designers, uniforms, fabrics, men's wear, etc.

Hotels & Restaurants Listings of Philippines' Hotels & Restaurants.

Industrial & Factory Listings of industrial & factory ventures, heavy equipments, parts & mechanisms, etc.

Maritime Industry Listings of shipping lines, boat builders, seafarer's unions, agencies, training centers, etc.

Safety & Security Listings of security & safety companies, surveillance systems, fire & personal safety, etc.

Sales & Distribution Listings of direct sales, distributors, MLM, sub-dealers, door to door sales, retails shops, etc.

Telecom & Communications Listings of Philippine telecom companies and services like VOIP, ISP, data, voice, fixed line, etc.

Trade Exhibits & Auctions Listings of expos, trade fairs, trade exhibit, auctions, conferences, events, etc. Above are sub categories I loaded to Business & Economy category of Bizikat.com. There are still about 3 dozens sub categories I still need to pump into the Business category of the site. After that, loading of the categories is almost done. Will just check out out Philippine Online Directory for other categories the site is missing. WHAT'S BIZIKAT???

Be-productive, Bizikat

I paid some dollars to have this domain (BIZIKAT.COM) registered then I totally dropped this in the pecking order of projects to be done.

Since the NBA 08 done, the PBA too done, Olympics done, TV time is now directed to project testing time. So, I finally had the time to get back at this domain and see what I can make out of this.

The plan...

• Philippine Web Directory.
• This pinoy online directory is already pre-loaded with "admin added" websites and companies.
• Super easy listing. Only 4 minutes and you're done.
• With heavy preference to internet presence, blogs, internet forums, online stores, company websites, etc.
• Only Philippine based or with Filipino connection can list their sites.
• It's totally FREE listing.
• For accuracy, this internet directory 100% human edited and supervised. (AHEM, that's me.)
  
• Each listing has "hits" counter and added image gallery option.
• For registered user, the power to edit, delete your entries in the future.

Right now, I am in the process of filling up the categories (an unenviable task really) coz the categories are broad and the sub categories never end.

Bizikat.com is a Philippine web directory. Specifically created for Filipinos and Philippine based companies, businesses, corporations, websites, enterprises, etc. Bizikat.com generally offers the following: A quick but a totally efficient, complete contact, easy to use, cleanly designed and a cool Philippine online directory.

The end-result of which is helping you to be more popular or sikat. Thus, be sikat. Looking at it in a diffrent way, Bizikat simply means, listing your Business (BIZ) in the Internet (i) to right category (KAT) with the purpose of letting other easily find your website/company.

This should be ready soon so I'll wake up before September ends.

Christ Is Cool

Heads Up

Quck info, these 3 will soon be out over at SCRED.

Here’s a play on Eraserheads’ EP Bananatype… Bananatype, Tikman ang Saging! Love this, love it.

Walang unggoyan yan, maganda ‘to.

Your eyes are still ok. Right, this eye check up chart is wrong. This is actually E-chart, a timeline of Eraserheads LP Albums.

Yes, as shown by the Reunion Concert turnout, Ersaserheads is a SUPER BAND, NO PROXY!

Tsadadat, tsadadat, tsadadat-dat… Ito ang Kailangan mo… I text mo na'ng telepeno… 09276026300

Hey Dimensione, Check My Stool

During our excitement with our new crib, we got some furnitures from diff suppliers. Being a frequent MOA (Mall of Asia) visitors, we ordered few items from Dimensione. To be fair, they have some good items there that we are still using and we still like up to now.

But, just making public service here, if you'll get a chair and stool, stay away from the 2 types shown . The red chair (we bought 2 pieces and both are now cranky and ready to go) already gave in after only 2 months. I had it wired for us t be able to use the chair.
The second chair of that type we own, is already due for binding as well. Totally a waste of money and time for P1500 chair each. That's why now, we are saving some and will just get a molave solid wood chair instead. No. 2, the black stool. Forget it. This one (or two, we bought 2 pcs of this too) doesn't stand a chance. Pun intended. Just a couple of weeks, it's already swaying and dancing. Another few days, and the welds are gone. For P500, this is whack.

Funny, I dropped by them (DIMENSIONE) and told the story and I was not even on the offensive mode, or requesting a refund or angry but the store boy there at Dimensione MOA is on defense and readily told me, "the red chair requires monthly maintenance for it to be fit fot the job". Ah yeah? (1) you did not advise that during the time of my purchase (2) i absolutely doubt that a monthly tweaking and twisting will save his chair for its destined early demise. Well. I guess that's his job, parry the buyers concerns.

I repeat now, not much problemo with Dimesione but I'll be staying away from those types of chairs (both can be bought at SM Dept Stores too). Oh, I'll stay away from dimensione too.

ROTC Days, How I earned

I had a piece about my ROTC inspired jacket and it brought back some memories. Despite the heat, the difficulty in waking up on a Sunday, the very long wait, the Alay Lakad, etc., it was not all bad. I had good times too and good earnings during my stint as ROTC salesboy. See why I ended up selling hopia to the Philippine Army reserves.

During the Hopia days, what I did was, I'll buy a plastic full of hopia outside the school stores. Once the master hopia officer gave us our 2 boxes each of hopia to sell. I'll remove the school sanctioned hopia, insert my own hopia and I'll sell my own. And by noon, I'll check back with the Hopia Master Sergeant and will report that I did not sell much. The thing was, I did sell a lot but I sold my hopias. I'll end the half day with earnings enough to buy cinema ticket. But man, business is risky. Couple of times I ended on a red and went home with about 50 hopias. How's that? Sometimes the command from higher ups allowed the the "lumpia" sellers from the inside to be embedded inside the troops. That's where the trouble came in. ROTC boys prefer the lumpiang fried toge with spicy dirty vinegar and pop cola over my hopia. Even I loved and love that toge lumpia, can not blame them. This one is nasty but another source of income involves chirping the lip of the empty, sold, pop cola bottle a bit and we said to our chiefs, that buyers were angry and decided to get back the money and refund.

Hopia Boi Jacket

This is a mock on my ROTC days back in the day. I made all sorts of alibis for me not join the troops in the field, basketball courts, Alay Lakad, community cleaning drive, blood donation, etc. I figured, it's better for me to sell HOPIA than toast my eggs from 7am to 12 noon for that friggin totally useless ROTC. And so I was a Hopia crew. We'd sell hopia at around 10am to 10:30am then do whatever we want, during off times.

ROTC then was once a week gig. Usually Sundays. To avoid the ROTC, I also joined the light duty service. I had to check in Monday to Friday for an hour and do drafting/drawing service for the corps(e) office.

Then, one time, my letter signed by a colonel did not work (the letter is attentioned to the school ROTC chief, basically, the letter says I am a wimp, let him do easy tasks), I finally joined the force. But, I had another tactic. I did not check in 7 am, or 8am, or 9am or 10am or 11am. During the ROTC day (sunday), I will check in 11:45 on civilian clothes, and I'd say to MP at the gates that I have basketball practice or faculty drawing OJT. But, I have inside my bag are not basketball gears, shoes, drawing tools, etc. Inside the bag are ROTC uniform, combat shoes, etc. There you go. I'll do a quick makeover once inside the schools premises to a deadly combat fighting reservist seeking for the attendance sheet. I'll look for the room that has my squad then check in for the attendance.

Back to the custom jacket. I had it made beside the IseTann at Quiapo Manila. Really wanted this jacket customized so on my way to a fella over there at Jose Abad, I made a detour. The plan was to put the "hopia boi" in front but decided to put at the side. To give tribute (or mock the useless ROTC), the plan was to get an ROTC patch but the last minute, I went for the more rugged PNP patch. Color looks great.

The untouched jacket here.

Bucket Wood (And by the way, I love Beatles)

Bucket Wood pics. (Items in pic are my decade old guitar and meet the beatles pic frame.)

And by the way, I love the Beatles. I am just selling the wood bucket, I still love the the Beatles.