Vol. 6, No. 22, February 3, 2003

Once more, as we usher in the Chinese Lunar New Year, Asian communities all over the world are once again abuzz with greetings of Kung Hei Fat Choi.

Kung Hei Fat Choi is Cantonese for "best wishes for prosperity." It  is used mainly in Hong Kong whose population is Cantonese.  Yet, the phrase is now being parroted by people everywhere as if it were the lingua franca for Chinese new year's greetings, including the Philippines where the majority of the Tsinoys speak Fookienese, not Cantonese.

Not that it is wrong per se.  But it sounds ironical, if not downright absurd, when people unwittingly greet local Tsinoys with such malapropism.  It is akin to a Cebuano fellow greeting his Tagalog friends with "Bulahang Bag-ong Tuig."  The more applicable form of greeting in our local context would be its Fookienese version: Kiong Hee Huat Chai. Better still, why not say Sin Nee Khuai Lok (or Hsin Nien Khuai Leh, in Mandarin) which literally translates to "Happy New Year"?  The phrase Kung Hei Fat Choi is simply not spoken at all among local Tsinoys, whether at home or in the community  -- except perhaps when ordering congee and batchoy. -- COS

Rovira appointed city councilor

Atty. Voltaire Rovira (in photo), who once served as Iligan city administrator, was recently appointed as member of the City Council to fill the seat left vacant by the death of councilor Narciso Adeva who died last year.  He was nominated by Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, the political party to which Atty. Rovira belongs since 1987.

Like Pres. Arroyo and Sen. Angara, Atty. Rovira said that he would not participate in the electoral race in 2004 and would just serve the remaining 15 months of Adeva's term. "Since I will not be a candidate in 2004, I am in a position where I cannot be beholden to anyone and will not be subject to pressures by people with vested interests. I will work for the interest and common good of the people," he stressed.

Veteran Councilor Providencio Abragan welcomed Rovira's appointment and said he will support Rovira especially on measures that will benefit the people.  "Rovira, being the son of the late former Judge Valerio Rovira., is not cut out as a politician. In fact, during his stint as city administrator, he declined an offer to run for the office of councilor under the Yañez administration," Abragan disclosed.  Prior to his appointment, Rovira has been working and coordinating with the bidders for the re-opening of the giant National Steel Corporation.

Census on early Chinese in RP

Not all early Chinese in the Philippines were businessmen.  This was revealed in "Research Notes" by Go Bon Juan, in the Jan. 7, 2003 issue of Tulay, a Chinese-Filipino Digest published fortnightly in Manila.  "Based on the 1903 census," the article states, "among the 41,035 Chinese in the Philippines, there were 2,931 cooks, 2,508 carpenters, 1,363 shoemakers, 1,355 messengers, 998 servants, 549 bakers, 495 blacksmiths, 357 launderers, 331 kutseros, 327 tailors, 302 stevedores, 284 barbers, 226 sewers, 221 gardeners, 107 tinsmiths and 95 butchers.  In addition, there were 4,707 Chinese laborers in various industries, as well as 374 farmers or farm workers and 62 fishermen.  Even in the business sector, although there were 13,761 merchants in 1903, there were also 5,954 Chinese storekeepers."

“People’s Formula” housing project

Mayor Franklin Quijano said that the Gawad Kalinga housing project in Canaway, Iligan City  intended for fire victims is an example of “People’s Formula” for constructing hundreds of houses for the poor.  Under this formula, the city government did not spend public funds for the purpose but depended on donations from individuals, business firms, civic organizations, religious groups, and the city government employees.

Last December, ten newly constructed, ready-for-occupancy houses were awarded to some of the fire victims.  Each house stands on a 60-square-meter lot and has a floor area of 20 square meters, with wall finish and painted in bright colors. It also has a small spot for a garden.  They form part of the over 100 basic homes that the city has started in its poverty alleviation program.

There are now 87 houses under various stages of construction.  Many of the fire victims are still in the evacuation centers.  Because there are more fire victims than housing units, awarding of units is done by raffle while more houses will be built to serve more families.  President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who at mid-year 2002 had given P30 million for the Gawad Kalinga, visited the site. The President discovered that if this "People's Formula" concept had been applied to her donation, it would have been used to build a far bigger number of houses to more poor people.

Neri opposes high tariff protection for NSC

Newly-appointed Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri is not in favor of granting high tariff protection to the National Steel Corp. (NSC).  "Imposing high tariffs on steel products would adversely impact on downstream industries," Neri said yesterday.  Instead, Neri prefers the NSC to be more efficient in its production.

The local appliance manufacturers, which are also opposed to a tariff protection for the NSC, welcome Neri’s opposition to higher tariff on steel products.  The group points out that they also use steel inputs to manufacture appliances and would thus be affected if the government imposes higher tariffs on certain steel products.  For now, government has to comply with its trade commitments under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) to lower tariffs on certain iron and steel products, some of which NSC also produces.

The Philippines had earlier excluded 16 iron and steel products from the reduction in tariff because these products would directly affect NSC.  The major products of NSC include billets which are imposed a three-percent duty; cold rolled coils, seven percent; hot rolled coils, seven percent; and tin plates zero.  However, various manufacturers of welding electrodes, GI wires, nails, screws, bolts and nuts have been clamoring for a reduction in tariff on wire rods from the current three percent to one percent.

Those seeking a reduction in the tariff on wire rods claim that carbon wire rods are not produced by NSC or any other local manufacturer. But government pointed out that wire rods may be converted to rebars through cutting. Rebars are finished products of billets which used to be produced by NSC.

To be able to attract investors to NSC, government is reportedly prepared to extend tariff protection to NSC once it resumes operations. At the moment, NSC is still closed as it is undergoing financial rehabilitation. NSC just recently went through a change in ownership as creditor-banks of the mothballed steel firm converted their debt into equity and the Malaysian majority owners agreed to a write-down zero duty.

Chinese-Filipino editor makes bid for Guinness

Who holds the record for the world's longest editorship?  According to the current Guinness Book of World Records, it is the late Sir Etienne Dupuch  who was the editor-in-chief of the Nassau Daily Tribune in the Bahamas from 1919 to 1972 and a contributing editor until his death in 1991, spanning 72 years.  But this is being contested by the supporters of Sy Yinchow (in photo), an 84-year-old Chinese-Filipino journalist who has been an active chief editor of a daily newspaper for the last 58 years.

Sy Yinchow's supporters said the Guinness Book of World Records should be rewritten to acclaim him as "the longest-serving, living editor-in-chief of daily newspapers."  They claimed that Sy Yinchow has been editor-in-chief for the past 58 years while Sir Etienne had been the top editor for only 53 years.  "A contributing editor is not editor-in-chief, he is only an editor in name," they stressed.

Sy began his news editorship stint in 1945 when he steered the underground publication, the Manila New Day, against the brutal Japanese occupation.  "Those were dangerous times," he recalled. "Some people poked fun by asking me: you want your head chopped off by the Japanese?  But this is no laughing matter because I later heard that the wife of the French military attaché in Manila at that time who had taught me French was executed by the Japanese military -- she was accused of being part of an interrnational spy network."

He is currently the chief editor of the United Daily News, a leading Chinese-language daily in the Philippines, where he is regarded as the dean among Chinese media practitioners.  "In 1999, I was already acclaimed the longest-serving newspaper editor-in-chief by a Beijing state-run publication," said Sy, who has penned more than 20 books and translated more than 100 English and 72 French poems into Chinese.  Aside from his main job as a journalist, the octogenarian is a world renowned literary figure.  He is also an honorary president of the Hong Kong-based World Association of Chinese Writers and fellow of the International Writing Program of the US-based University of Iowa.  Sy said although his "precise" translation of English poetry to Chinese had earned him many accolades, "my burning ambition is to be a noted translator of poetry from Chinese to English."

He has already completed translating 120 Chinese poems for publication soon. "The Chinese-to-English translation matches word for word, rhyme for rhyme and meter for meter and this will be my greatest achievement," said Sy, an English department scholar at the University of the Philippines before the Second World War disrupted his studies.  "The English he uses continues the tradition of Wordsworth, Keats (top English poets of the 19th century)," P.C. Hsia, a professor at Columbia University and considered among the best Chinese writers in English, said in a report.

Sy, a father of six grown-up children with successful careers, looks very fit for his age.  An ex-medium-distance runner who exercises regularly, he lives with his 82-year-old wife, Jade Co, acclaimed a "model Filipino mother" by the Chinese community.  Despite their age, "we still have sex," chuckled Sy, but not insisting that this be etched in the record books.

Roger Suminguit, Batch '73

Alumni happenings

Seen at the Tap Bar and Restaurant right after the alumni Christmas party last December were Warren Lim, Ai-Ai, Sheena, Cherry Anne, Cristina, Janiefer, A-a, Dominic Lim and Mrs. Sherjack Siao (in photo) who streeeetched the night into a memorable encounter.  Meeeeeh! Welcome the Year of the Goat!  On the first day of the new year, "Tracers" was awakened by the insistent sound of drums.  A group of LCHS students were performing the dragon dance along the streets, surrounded, followed and cheered by the enthusiastic crowd.  The night before, "Tracers" stayed late watching the beautiful firework display launched by the Resurrection of the Lord Chinese-Filipino Catholic Community led by Vy Beng Hong and Rosanna Co-Belmonte.  There will be continuing celebrations until the full moon by which time "Tracers" and Maning Gaite, Toto Samson, Santi Ong, James Booc, Sandy Chua, Dominic Siao, Chester Dy-Carlos, Patty Co, Richard Dy, Suniel Lim and friends will be languishing in stupor for over-indulgence of lumpia and other delicacies to be concocted by Olay Dy, Andy Lee and company.  Calling the attention of Dr. Bunz!  Be ready for patients who have consumed too much of the good thing.

Meanwhile, recently back in Iligan for a hometown vacation are Jesus "Hesing" Dy (Batch '63) and his wife Melania.  They arrived in Iligan about a week ago -- a timely respite from the freezing weather in Edmonton, Canada where the barometer has plummeted below zero degrees.  Soon after their arrival, Hesing was seen hitting the fairways for a few rounds of golf with his golfing buddies at the Golf and Country Club of Iligan in Pindugangan.  Another alumnus back from abroad is Bonifacio "Boncio" Te (Batch '62).  He arrived in Iligan last week after almost a year's stay in Los Angeles, U.S.A.  To Hesing, Melania, and Boncio, welcome home!

Congratulations!
Mon, 20 Jan 2003 5:00 PM

Remy, congratulation on your son's trip to the altar. I'm sure he has mastered the answers YES YES YES by now.  No hehehe on this remark. Hope to pick the promised pictures soon. --Ernesto L. Yu (Batch '65), Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.A., e-mail:  Ernstyu@aol.com

Hi Remedios, congratulations for your son's wedding.  We've been hearing a lot of good things about you and we're glad for your blessings. P.S. How's Marcing, Pabling, Temy & Carda? --Alex Rodriguez (Batch '65), Miramar, Florida, alpacino_8@hotmail.com

Marie Janiefer Q. Lee, Batch '87

Out goes the Year of the Horse, in comes the Year of the Goat.  And the first thing that comes to my mind is that this is the year of my sister Jojo.  In other words she’s turning 36 this year.  Makes me feel that time really flies.  Wasn’t it just yesterday when she got a beautiful diamond ring as her 18th birthday gift from our father. My younger sister Joan and I were hoping that when we reached 18, we’ll get a ring just like hers.  But sad to say we were not as lucky as her.  We didn’t have the luck to have the presence of our father when we reached that age.  Life was different without our father.  But that’s another story.

Year ends and new years are the perfect time to reflect on how life was and dream of how life will be or should be in this new year.

In the Year of the Horse I think my life galloped and cantered like a Stallion.  It’s like everything was moving so fast.  Sometimes I was able to keep up and run just as fast but in some instance, I got kicked and fell.  I got hurt and bruised several times but each time I fell I still managed to get back on the saddle.

Looking back at the year that was ...

When I took my mother on that tour of America, it was so physically and emotionally taxing that I promised myself that it would be my first and last.  I’m no longer in my teens, my heart can’t accommodate that much stress.  It was like we were a couple of wild horses, running from one place to the next.  Both literally and figuratively. And running entails some stumbling too. The painful part is when we get hurt by somebody we love, somebody dear, somebody we regard highly.

But then have you heard how the horses laugh?  Well, I’ve had my share of funny moments too where I think I laughed like a horse.  Like one time when I mistook somebody else’s van for ours.

One night we stopped at a gas station on the way home.  I went inside the convenience store to get something.  With a gallon of ice cream on one hand and some bags of chips on the other, I went straight to the black Starex parked outside the store.  I was shocked to find that it was locked, so I tapped at the window furiously.  It was heavily tinted like ours.  So I had no clue what was inside.  It was parked facing the store so I assumed that the driver, who was supposedly my husband must have seen me coming.  As the seconds ticked by while somebody inside slowly rolled down the window, my blood was also slowly boiling.  Then I saw the driver, he was this big man with long hair.  The question on my face was “anong ginagawa mo dyan?!!!”  But I saw that his face had more questions on it like:  “sino ka?” and “sira ulo ka ba?!!!”  After mumbling a “sorry” and started laughing so hard, I went out looking for our van.  Of course I got more harsh words from my husband after that, saying how dumb I could be.  Just for the record, our vans looked really identical.  Although, once my dear husband was finished enumerating the difference well, I did feel a little stupid.  But did we really have time to look if its mag-wheels were the same as ours?  Or if its stepboard was the same as ours?  The van was parked right where we parked.  I didn’t know that while I was inside the store they were asked to move to another pump.  I had a hard time convincing my husband that it was unavoidable.  Although he might not admit it, I was sure that he was also afraid that he’d make the same mistake because the next day he asked somebody to put some stripe stickers on our van.  Just to make it stand out.  If I would still make another foolish mistake like that, I’m sure he’d have my eyes checked.  Just in case I’ll need eye patches like those use by the kalesas or our very own tartanilyas.

All in all, the Year of the Horse wasn’t so bad.  Now I’m excited what the Year of the Goat has to offer.  Although, goats are known to be afraid of water, I hope that we will not run out of water supply, especially not in the gym. And since the goats look like they are always munching and chewing, I hope that this would mean that every family will always have food on their table.

So “Kung Hei Hwat Chay!” to everybody.  Meeeh the Year of the Goat be goat to us, este, may the Year of the Goat be good to us.

Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch '65

Perhaps, the most effective approach to liquefying the numbness in silence is to march and echo the familiar songs that you have learned to adopt in your psyche.  Maybe, to breathe back the once-upon-a-time look of love, when plain daydreams can be elevated in a grand scale, you pipe in a list of lyrics that automatically string together love memories in a heartbeat.  Or, if you desire to vibrate again in the past sparkles of your favorite stars and moon, you need to perfuse in your system the soothing comfort and healing warmth of hand holding and whispers ... For Pete's sake, what the heck! Drum up your dormant love machine. It is Valentine's Day. Don't plan on putting the genie back in the lamp without wishing for free grants.

Basically, baby boomers like me are graduates of the Stone Age when harmonizing groups like the Lettermen and Cliff Richard and the Shadows dished out hits after hits of romance and sentiments. Such melodic lines lovingly hugged our inner sanctum, propelling our emotional resonance to reverberate in full cylinders.  Of course, the modern refinement of these tantalizing old favorites -- essentially, digital soundbytes bred in the same appealing strength -- can readily be picked from the velvety vocal cords of Westlife, Faith Hill and the likes.  Hence, here's a brew of lyrics that's specially filtered to revive the Romeo and Juliet in you.

Accommodate that

1) Are there stars out tonight/ I don't know if it's cloudy or bright/ Coz I only have eyes for you.  2) I wanna feel this way longer than time/ I wanna know your dreams and make them mine/ I wanna change the world, only for you/ All the impossible, I wanna do.  3) Everytime you touch me, I become a hero/ I'll make you safe no matter where you are/ And bring you anything you ask for, nothing is above me/ I'm shining like a candle in the dark/ When you tell me that you love me.  4) Did you ever know that you're my hero/ And everything I would like to be/ If I can fly higher than an eagle/ You are the wind beneath my wings.  5) When there's no getting over that rainbow/ When my smallest dreams won't come true/ I can take all the madness the world has to give/ But I won't last a day without you.  6) Cherish is the word I use to describe/ All the feeling that I have/ Hiding here for you inside/ You don't know how many times/ I've wished that I had told you/ Mold you into someone who could/ Cherish me as much as I cherish you.  7) I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy/ I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need/ I love you more with every breath truly madly deeply do.  8) Unforgettable, that's what you are/ Unforgettable, though near or far/ Like a song of love that climbs to me/ Is the thought of you that stings to me/ Unforgettable, unforgettable you.  9) I love you in a place where there's no space or time/ I love you for in my life you are a friend of mine/ And when my life is over/ Remember when we were together/ We were alone and I was singing this song for you.  10) Who can say/ Where the road goes/ Where the day flows?/ Only time.  11) When I first saw you, I saw love/ And the first time you touched me, I felt love/ And after all this time, you're still the one I love.  12) I can feel the magic floating in the air/ Being with you gets me that way/ I watch the sunlight dance across your face/ And I've never been this swept away/ I can feel you breathe/ Just breathe.  13) You could say you couldn't live one day without me/ You could say all the thoughts are about me/ You could think no other love could be as strong/ But you'd be wrong/ You'd be wrong/ Baby I'll still love you more.  14) Why do birds suddenly appear/ Everytime you are near?/ Just like me, they long to be/ Close to you.  15) Someday when I'm awfully low/ When the world is cold/ I will feel a glow just thinking of you.../ And the way you look tonight.  16) Everybody's looking for that something/ One thing that makes it all complete/ You find it in the strangest places/ Places you never knew it could be/ When you've found that special thing/ You're flying without wings. 16)I'd climb right up to the sky/ I'd take down the stars/ Just to be in your arms, baby/ I'd go and capture the moon/ That's what I would do/ Just to hear you say that you love me. 17)You were my strength when I was weak/ You were my voice when I couldn't speak/ You were my eyes when I couldn't see/ You saw the best there was in me/ I'm everything I am/ Because you loved me.

Whatever touchy feely ballads excite your love molecules, stop, look, and listen because February 14 is the perfect occasion to make your spouses or the Luv of your life feel brand new and alive, while putting her/his head on your shoulder.

For moments like this/ Some people wait a lifetime ...

Who discovered the Philippines?  For that matter, who discovered the New World?  Ferdinand Magellan?  Christopher Columbus?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Recent studies indicate that a Chinese explorer named Zheng He discovered the Philippines and the New World long before Ferdinand Magellan even heard of the Philippines and before Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World.

Who was Zheng He?

In his new book, "1421: The Year China Discovered America," (accompanying photo) Gavin Menzies, a retired British Royal Navy Submariner, says Zheng He was the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe.  He was an admiral in the imperial navy of the ruling Ming Dynasty.  He led a series of expeditions to explore and colonize the world starting in 1421.

Gavin Menzies claims that a massive Chinese fleet of huge junks and support ships led by Zheng He made a two-year circumnavigation of the globe, with extensive exploration of the Americas, nearly a century before Magellan and Columbus.  Menzies' book draws on his navigational experience, as well as the findings of a team of experts he assembled to collate and decipher an ever-growing body of multilingual, cartographic, and biological evidence.  In 1421 the emperor Zhu Di ordered the dispatch of a fleet of treasure ships to bring back tribute to his kingdom. According to Menzies' findings, an armada of 800 massive junks set sail in the spring of 1421 to explore, map and bring tribute from the uncharted reaches beyond the horizons.

Menzies' research shows that these Chinese ships had reached America 70 years before Columbus. They also discovered Antarctica, reached Australia 350 years before Captain Cook and solved the problem of longitude 300 years before the Europeans.   The first Europeans to reach North and South America found colonies of Chinese people in California, Mexico, Venezuela and even in Peru.  There were Chinese junks found on the Mississippi, the Florida coast and in the Amazon. Descendants of those people are still around today. There were even early Chinese colonies in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

How were the Chinese able to sail the seven seas?   From his 15-year research conducted all over the world, Gavin Menzies learned that Old China's naval supremacy came from the might of its ships.  Ming dynasty naval ships were massive giants, larger than even some of the ships today. The ships measured 500 feet long and were built from the finest teak.

Menzies writes that, "In every single respect -- construction, cargo capacity, damage control, armament, range, communications, the ability to navigate in the uncharted ocean and to repair and maintain their ships at sea for months on end -- the Chinese were centuries ahead of the Europeans." The journey would last over two years and circle the globe.  The Chinese fleets had charted the world, they could determine longitude by means of lunar eclipses, and by comparing charts they were able to resolve any remaining longitudinal differences and complete the first map of the world as we know it today.

Incredible?

Whether or not Menzies' recent astonishing revelations are to be accepted as fact will be the subject of heated debates among academicians and historians.  In unearthing this new startling information, Menzies, however, cautions that his motive is not to belittle the achievements of such great explorers like Dias, Columbus, Magellan and Cook. The exploits of these brave and skillful men will never be forgotten, but it is now time to honor other great men, like the early Chinese explorers, who have languished in obscurity for too long.
 

GAH Trees Roger Suminguit poses beside one of the Mahogany trees planted at the LCHS grounds by alumni donors during the LCHS Grand Alumni Homecoming in August 2000.  The trees have now grown over 20 feet in height.  Photo by Charles O. Sy.