Vol. 7, No. 20, January 5, 2004

THE SPECTRUM wishes its readers around the world an entire year's worth of wonderful opportunities, one sunrise at a time, marvelously disguised as ordinary days. Do what you can to open that door to a day that is filled with inspiration. Remember that goodness is rewarded; that smiles have ways of coming back full circle. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Dept. of Trade & Industry, for its part, said the rehabilitation of NSC is expected to begin as early as 2004 should the group of creditor-banks, headed by Philippine National Bank, agree on the terms of the offer of the foreign bidder, Global Infrastructure Holdings, Ltd. (GIHL).  GIHL, a subsidiary of the Ispat Group of India, won last November the right for a 90-day exclusive talk with credit-banks after placing a bid price of P11.9 billion, much higher than the P7 billion originally offered by the only other bidder LNM Holdings N.V.

Sy clan holds grand reunion

Members of the Sy families in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and other neighboring towns held a grand reunion on Jan. 4, 2004. The luncheon gathering was held at the Harbor Lights Hotel & Restaurant, Cagayan de Oro.  It was the second such reunion of the Sy families.  The first one, held also in CdO in year 2000, saw the attendance of over 200 members of the Sy families.  It was agreed that the clan will hold a grand reunion once every two years.  Sy Chu An, in photo, a prime mover of the affair, said the gathering was held to foster closer ties among the young generation of the Sy clan.  Among those who were actively involved in organizing the reunion in CdO were Florcita Tiu Huan-Sy (Batch '64) and Virna Sy-Oh (Batch '62).

Spectrum new subscription list

The Spectrum is using a new subscription list starting this January 2004.  Many email addresses of subscribers under the old list have been deleted either because they were already outdated or the owners did not renew their subscription for 2004.  Thus if you are reading this issue and you have not received this same issue on your email, it is possible your email address is no longer included in the Spectrum's new mailing list. If you wish to continue receiving the Spectrum, please send email to spectrum@i-cebu.com.ph with this message: Renew my subscription.

Dy Pico's little princess finally arrives
By Cherrie Anne Lim-Mosqueda (Batch '90)

The recent yuletide festivities brought in much excitement and meaning to the family of Dr. Francisco Dy Pico. After so many years of praying and longing for their very own grandchild, he and his wife, Dra. Adelma P Dy Pico, have finally been blessed with one. Eldest daughter Aileen Dy Pico-Ang (Batch '90) gave birth to a healthy baby girl through Caesarian section last Dec. 24, two minutes past midnight at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital in Manila. The lucky baby came out a few weeks ahead of her estimated date of birth. Aileen flew in to Manila during the second week of December to give birth. The proud father, Fritz Ang of Cagayan de Oro City, was very lucky to have been able to take the last flight out of Cagayan de Oro last Dec. 23 to be with his wife. Aileen and Fritz have been married for more than three years now. Incidentally, the baby is also the first grandchild of Fritz's parents. Thus, making her the most awaited baby in the family. The beautiful princess was given the name Lexine.

Roger Suminguit, Batch '73

Batch '76 reunion

This corner features a photo of the recent reunion of Batch '76 in Iligan.  Photo courtesy of Ritky Dy (Batch '76), Clanton, Alabama, U.S.A.

Thanks to Spectrum
Fri, 26 Dec 2003 12:30:15 +0000 (GMT)

Happy Holidays! Even if it is one day past Christmas, there are still a few more days before the holidays are over! As part of my resolutions, I shall endeavor to contribute to the Spectrum on a regular basis. I have missed out on the last couple of issues so I better tack a note to my bedroom wall saying, "Deadline coming on at you," complete with a flashing red bulb. That ought to keep me on track.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Spectrum and all its staff for giving me the space to write from the heart, and from the murky, gray matter that is my brain! It is doubly appreciated because I don't happen to be an alumna of the school. I am grateful that my long pieces were serialized instead of being sent back with a curt note saying, "please shorten your contribution. we cannot print it due to space constraints."

Thank you too, to the readers, who are a continuing source of support and encouragement. Special mention goes to Winston David Sy who is vocal about it. I suppose I should give him a leg of ham.
--Candice Uy, Cebu, Philippines, email: candz911@yahoo.co.uk

Kudos to the staff and writers of LCHS Spectrum!  Frankly speaking, the more I read every issue of this "international" internet newsletter, the more I'm impressed. Keep up the good work! Wish you the best of health, wealth & peace this "2004" New Year and every subsequent year as well. The grace of the Lord be with you all!
--John Go (Batch '65), Edmonton, Canada, email: johnygo2@yahoo.ca

Wed, 24 Dec 2003 08:03:25 +1100
To my fellow LCHS friends: Anywhere you may be, be it alone or with your family and love ones, here I am wishing you all the merriest of Christmas and a very joyous New Year! From Sydney, with love plus hugs and kisses!
--Loloy Tan (Batch '66), Sydney, Australia, email: edtan@iinet.net.au

Wed, 24 Dec 2003 20:13:28 +0000
Same to you too Eddie & family.
--Alex Rodriguez & family, Marimar, Florida, U.S.A., email: alpacino_8@hotmail.com

Wed, 24 Dec 2003 09:24:59 -0600
Greetings from the Windy City of Chicago.  Wishing all the Merriest Christmas & a Prosperous New Year.
--Greg, Mary, Gregg James, and Geraldine Dy, Chicago, U.S.A., email: gregdy@juno.com

Tue, 23 Dec 2003 19:02:54 -0700
To my fellow LCHS friends: Happy holiday to all and Happy New Year! Greetings from Snowland.
--Peter & Tita Dy & Family, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, email: pdy@telusplanet.net

Thu, 1 Jan 2004 20:11:06 +0800
Cheers to all alumni!!!
--Roderick Ngo (Batch '70), Vicky Ngo & family, Cebu, Philippines, email: westside@mozcom.com

Condolences for Tan & Lim families
Sun, 21 Dec 2003 17:34:12 -0500 (EST)

To the bereaved Gregorio Tan & Marcela "Sena" Uy-Tan & family, and Leoncia "Ahon" Sy Lim & family:  We're with you in prayers during this sorrowful time of the untimely demise of Ronald Uy Tan & Manuel Lim Lo Suy, respectively. 2 Corinthians 7:9:  "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to God, that in nothing you might suffer loss from us."
--John Go (Batch '65) & family,  Edmonton, Canada, email: johnygo2@yahoo.ca

Charles O. Sy, Batch '67

The holidays are over.  So is the revelry.  It's now 2004.  Time to settle down to brass tacks.   This year is an election year.  The frenzy of political campaigns leading up to the homestretch in May will hold captive our people's attention for the next five months.  From the looks of it, this year's election, with the colorful cast of characters in the presidential derby, may yet prove to be the most interesting one in Philippine history.  The mandate of the masses will determine the shapes of things to come for the country in the next six years.

At the home front, we learned from Joe Booc, who visited us in Cebu last week, that he is running anew for city councilor of Iligan.  He ran but was defeated by a slim margin in the last election.  Will he succeed this time in reclaiming the old glory he once enjoyed as barangay captain many years ago?  We dare not divulge our own forecast lest we place his election in Joe-pardy.

Marlinda Angbetic-Tan

I do believe in the adage: real friends do not tarnish, fade or depreciate.  On the contrary, the older the friendship, the more valuable it becomes.  And it doesn't matter whether you have been in touch with each other over the years, regularly or none at all.  Once real friendship has been established, the bond stays true, no matter what.  If one you consider a "friend" has become a stranger after sometime, then he/she was not a real friend in the first place.  You just deluded yourself -- or that "friend" successfully used you and is now moving on to other more useful "friends."  Sad -- but true.  This has happened often enough to me -- and you!

But I never let these "impostors" thwart my inherent high regard of true friendship.  It was in its name that I was able to live through my darkest hours, survive my difficult times of need or magnify the high points of joy and achievement.  They were there for me, my dear loyal friends of many, many years.  Staunch and unquestioning in my lowest times; proud and festive in my shining moments.  They have never changed through the years.  We have grown older together, have become more comfortable and cozy -- like one's favorite pair of shoes.

Friendship bonding is like a bank account.  You get overdrawn if you don't make regular deposits of time and generosity.  One can't keep on withdrawing from one's friendship, one has got to give.  Of course, in every relationship, one may be giving more than the other: in terms of wisdom, material benefits, affection and emotional support.  And in times of trouble, a true friend does not ask how one can help.  One just strives to make the necessary effort to bail out a friend in trouble ... without counting the cost.  It is then when bonding occurs.  Then the friendship takes on value or significance.  I have become richer because of the huge deposits I have made in the name of friendship.  Sometimes, these deposits pained me or tempted me to count the cost.  But I have no regrets, even for the deposits I made on "friends" who turned out to be manipulators and opportunists.  I paid the price and have grown wiser.  Hopefully, more humane after the disappointments.

This piece took inspiration from a surprise telephone conversation I had with an old friend.  For these last ten years, he has settled in a small town in Negros Oriental.  Eli always tries to get in touch whenever he would be in Cebu, even if only through the telephone.  He mentioned that he called Portia, one of our pals during our radio stint at the now defunct Broadcast Product and Training Center (BPTC), a German-funded outfit turning out developmental plugs and dramas in the early 80s.  Portia eventually became the diminutive boss of production where I scripted, directed or stepped in as radio talent for works in Cebuano, English and Tagalog which were distributed nationwide.  It was a challenging and fun portion of my life and Portia and Eli were very much part of it.

Because of my enriching friendships -- childhood pals, elementary gangs, high school chums, college buddies, business/professional friends, theater ties and the BPTC bunch -- my life is a day-to-day fulfillment, a continuous affirmation of being.  In turn, I make sure that my children develop significant friendships as early as pre-school days, among our neighbors and the children of my friends.  My children's buddies regard our house as their second home and, hopefully, they look upon me as a surrogate parent because I make them feel that they are part of the family.  Friendship thus nurtured will get stronger through the years and they, in time, will regard each other as old friends.

It warms this heart to be greeted with kisses by my children's friends: Otik, Nelson, Levi, Calvin, Ryan, Laurinda, et al.  (I hope I have not missed anyone!)  Since they are enriching my children's lives, they have become my children, too.
 

A different kind of scrabble
Courtesy of Clem Estrera, M.D.
Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.A., email: clems3ra@adelphia.net

Below is a different kind of scrabble.  Letters of a name or a word are being re-arranged to form a phrase or a sentence.

Animosity:   Is No Amity
George Bush:  He Bugs Gore
Dormitory:  Dirty Room
Desperation:  A Rope Ends It
The Morse Code:  Here Come Dots
Slot Machines:   Cash Lost In Me
A Decimal Point:  I'm A Dot In Place
The Earthquakes:  That Queer Shake
Eleven Plus Two:   Twelve Plus One

Divination -- man's effort to know the mysterious present and predict the future -- has been practised through the dawn of history.  Although the ritual has changed with the passage of time, the purpose remains the same -- that is to gain knowledge into what is going to happen to us in the future.

Of man's many efforts in self-interpretation, perhaps none exceeds in earnestness the interpretation through the reading of the various parts of the body.  And the best known and widely practised today is palmistry or palm reading.

To the uninitiated, palmistry is a mystery.  To see the future through the lines of the palms is something beyond their comprehension.  They look at it with sarcasm.  They even burnt the palm readers in the early centuries.  Because to them, something beyond the understanding of the common mind is the work of evil.  It is sorcery.  But is it?  What is so mysterious about our palms?

Let me dissect the mystery of our palms.  Just like any magic, once you know how it is done, the mystery vanishes.  And it becomes an art.  So let's see how those artists do it.  Perhaps we too can take a little peak into our future.

When one opens his palm, he sees many lines crisscrossing on it. Of these, we will only consider three major lines due to space limitations.  The three are the Line of Love, the Line of Head, and the Line of Life.  The uppermost horizontal line is the Line of love.  If it is deep and clear, free of break or branches, then you are going to have a smooth sailing love life.  Starting under the index finger, the line is divided into ages of seven.  So a break under the ring finger could mean heartbreak at age 40 to 50.  The middle line represents the Head or Intelligence.  When it goes straight across your palm, the owner has a calculating mind.  He is good in business.  When the line goes down to the wrist, the owner is very imaginative and artistic.  A break somewhere along the line could mean a nervous breakdown or accident where the head is injured.  The lowermost line is the Life Line.  When it is clear, pinkish and long, then we say the owner will have a very healthy and long life.  A shallow and faint line means weak constituents.  A break in one hand could mean accident.  Breaks in both palms could mean life ending at that particular point where the breaks occur.

There are also markings such as stars, crosses, triangles, islands and so on.  Each mark has its own meaning, depending on where it is located.  For instance, a cross located under the index finger means a happy marriage.  The same cross found under the middle finger means a miserable life.

To gain mastery in any new knowledge takes time and patience.  But as long as you are interested, even the seemingly mysterious art of palmistry can be yours in a few months or even weeks.

In our venture into the world of palmistry, we encountered some very interesting incidents.  One such case involved a friend named Henry Morgia.  He is now living the America.  A few years back, we saw a break in the Life Line on his right palm.  The position of the break means an accident could happen at age 30 to 40.  At the time of reading, he was 31.  He said so far nothing serious has happened to him.  Five months later, on his way to work at Shemberg in Pakna-an, Mandaue, he was bumped by a speeding tricycle.  His leg was broken and had to be plastercasted for 5 months.  Coincidence?

There was a time when we were at the beach having fun reading palms with our group.  A young beautiful lady nearby cut in and wanted her palm read.  In doubt and curious about the accuracy of palmistry, we read her palm.  We saw her marriage line touching the Line of Fame which, according to the book, is a sign that the owner will marry into fame and fortune.  So with confidence, we told her that she is going to marry someone with fame and fortune.  Her eyes aglow, she said, "How nice.  But what will I do with that salesman husband to whom I'm married now?"  And she pointed to a man nearby.  Well, like what they say -- you win some, you lose some.

A Chinese Daughter’s Path
By Candice Ang Uy
Cebu, Philippines

Sweet song of the nightingale
bursts forth in joy, freedom
pain in my heart, anguish.
Today I leave my family
this is my destiny, tradition speaks.

Black hair perfectly swept up,
status of a married woman.
Hot tears scald my cheeks
mother’s heirlooms on my neck
arms, like shackles, unyielding.

Fine rice powder on face so smooth
red lips utter no words, trembling.
Gold and red silk, happiness,
Phoenix and dragon, prosperity
must be happy, a good match.

Nothing is of my will
as a daughter this is my way.
Obedience, Humility, Respect of Elders
my duties are bound to my destiny;
my heart a stone in my chest.

The wedding party has arrived,
Mother enters the room.
Love in marriage very rare
more sons, more joy
fewer daughters, fewer troubles.

I am led away from my room
the house, perhaps forever.
No looking backwards,
a new life.
Old ties, everything must be forgotten.

My feet shuffle noiselessly, following always
as it should be with my husband.
Meek and biddable wife most desirable,
matters of the heart no concern
suffering in silence most sensible.

Great gods and honored ancestors
give me the strength to walk this path.
Ease the burden of a leaden heart
bless me now on my way
for my daughter shall tread here someday.