Thoughts post Maguindanao

A few minutes ago I was listening to joyfully rendered versions of Filipino carols. A week ago 57 persons might have been thinking similarly happy thoughts...

Life is Cheap

I asked my wife if she was surprised that the massacre had happened. And she seemed surprised by her own answer as she said “No”.

Therein lies the unspoken tragedy. Over our history, and especially in recent times we have come to accept death and murder as understandable and even natural concomitants to public life. Given this acceptance, is it any wonder that Maguindanao has happened? Especially given how easily death is dealt out, or how easily those with the means or position escape accountability for their crimes, was it simply a matter of time before such a massacre happened? After all, what is 56 more when one is nothing?

Unless we place the same value on one life as we do the 57 lives lost in Maguindanao, unless we treat each and every murder in other cases as infinitely valuable in its own right, and deserving of justice, then we can only expect more Maguindanaos to come.

We already have a whole nation inured to the notion of death in politics. Unless our leaders take steps to confront and change that mindset and say with unanimity, that from this day forward, as individual citizens and as a country we completely reject this culture of violence and death in politics, then we do not address the societal mindset that allows such animals (with apologies to the natural members of that genus) to find a home.

What Rule of Law?

In another example of leading from the front but all going the wrong way, we have all members of the administration stressing that the rule of law will be applied in full force to all, ally or non-ally alike.

But there are too many recent examples when the Law has been brandished around like a sword but only as and when it suits. The Rule of Law is fine – but not for me!

In the recent transfer of rapist Larranaga to sunny Spain, we have a never before used Spanish treaty applied selectively to one of our mestizos to relieve him from the discomforts of our local jails. Maybe Mr Ampatuan’s legal team should begin scouring legislation for similar treaties. After all there would be similar rationale for a transfer – none!

In the celebrated NbN-ZTE melodrama, the protection of executive privilege was invoked on specious grounds to obscure and deny transparency relating to the president’s personal involvement in the scandal.

Wouldn’t you think that murder most foul was probably on some minds, when Jun Lozada was taken from the airport in that car and driven around Manila?

And when all those honourable men in the Senate fired questions and came out with no one being responsible for that abduction, least of all the minions from Malacanang, doesn’t it just offend your sense of justice?

Patronage

When the president goes to Pampanga and dispenses favours and good works - that is patronage. It is a style or manner of governance that displaces institutions and places one outside due process. In older civilisations when imperial power was absolute, patronage extended to dispensing life or death.

That is simply why the politics of patronage is so objectionable. Patronage in excess, engenders a sense of power that is simply inappropriate in the modern context. Mindless creatures in politics, and we have plenty of those, mistake themselves for God and start dealing in life and death.

At the least you could say the President’s management style and dispensation of political patronage is a style, that taken to extreme, places one beyond law and beyond institutions. It is a mindset that can only lead to Maguindanao.

And what about its effect on local institutions? Doesn’t it render those institutions ineffectual by removing the decision making capacity of that institution, or by indirectly reducing resources or usurping the functions of the local authority?

Accountability

The suspensions , while probably completely warranted, are all too late and only distract from real issues around the role of local law enforcement.

Responsibility and accountability are not there. Already we have the president’s executive secretary disclaiming any responsibility for the massacre. That’s not at issue.

What should be an issue is that local law enforcement turned a blind eye to the massing militia. Who is responsible for that? Did Manila have any role in their inaction? There was enough notice that violence was about to take place. There was a request for protection - why was no action taken?

Malacanang’s stance, despite being the nation’s ultimate repository of executive power, seems to be all care and no responsibility.

What next?

Leadership has taken us into the abyss. In the global scheme of things, I am thinking this maybe puts the Philippines leadership somewhat close to the warlords of Somalia or Afghanistan?

This once proud and loving country has been losing its soul for some time. When will we wake up and find our way?

Reminiscing about the first house we lived in, in Canberra

I wrote this roundabout a year ago now - January 28, 2008 to be precise.

*****

This is “home” for us in Canberra. It’s the sight that greets me as I walk up from the bus stop from work. This is the view from the street looking down over the front garden and driveway.


If you walk down right now, and walk up to the front door, this is what you will see…As you can see, the walls of the house are covered in foliage, which I personally think is nice and very homey.


If you stopped at this point and looked to the left, you will see the balcony off the main bedroom. It’s one of the endearing features of the house. We actually hardly ever open it up because of the noise off the street… But when we do pull up the blinds in the bedroom, it lets in a very pleasant amount of light into the bedroom. Can’t help but think of that scene…. … “Romeo, o’ Romeo, wherefore art thou? …or alternatively….“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!!!”…take your pick!


That door there is the front door. Adjacent to the door, on both sides are floor to ceiling glass panels, which are draped with soft translucent curtains. So you can see this area is quite bright and cheery with heaps of light. The bookcase on the left appears to be in a dark spot, but really it’s only the camera compensating for the extremely bright sun coming through the glass. These pics were taken at 9.30am, and this side of the house gets the easterly sun, so it’s bright. Excuse the towel.





Here’s another shot of the foyer from side on. You’ll see our ‘snake” there on the floor, and the steps leading to the bedrooms in the background. It’s a little blurry, but in the timber panelling in the back, you might be able to discern a cuckoo clock we bought at Berry a few years ago. I like the idea of a mechanical clock tick-tocking away in the house.

A snake is a necessity for a draughty door. I’ve never felt the need for one in Sydney but here in Canberra, it gets mighty cold and we had to get these for quite a few of our doors.

That door in the background leads to the garage downstairs. There’s a 1 ½ car garage there, and then we also have the laundry and there’s the kids toy room/TV room. We keep a second fridge in there so Jen can buy up in bulk for her cans of coke and eggs, and frozen food.



See what I mean about the bookcase not really being in a dark spot? The thing everyone likes about this house is it’s so bright and airy. It’s really gorgeous to wake up in the morning and bound down into the living room and there’s all this light around you.



Here’s another shot from a slightly different angle. Again notice how bright it is. We love books. Caitlin worries me sometimes she is always reading. Most weekends we are here we go down to one of the libraries and spend a few hours borrowing a set of books. The ACT lets you borrow about 30-40 books on one card, so Jenny and I have one each that we put the kids loans on to.

One of the things we noticed about homes here, is that people appear to be well read, most have walls and walls of books. In 13 years in Sydney I only saw one house with so many books, and my theory is that’s only because the owner, a barrister, grew up in Canberra. We aim to have walls and walls of books too over the next few years. We’re not there yet but in time….



There you see our reading chair. An old IKEA POANG I think I bought way back in ’93. Pre-marital asset!!! The storyboard on the wall is from PNG. I bought it as one of the few mementos of working there from ’87 to ’93. It depicts the ubiquitous crocodile with some pigs and village life. Below that is a leather work that belongs to Dad and Mom (really Dad). I borrowed it from San Rafael way back when I was still in PNG. I love reading there, there’s always heaps of light. You can see we probably have about 2 weeks of newspapers to get rid of behind the chair.



The view from the kitchen door... what pictorial would be complete without a pic of my babies??...my stereo. They are a pair of Fostex PM-2s hooked up to a Wadia 6 with PSC silver cables. The rubbish bags on top of the speakers conceal (?) bags of sand I picked up from Bunnings (the hardware store). They make the speakers sound better! Honestly! I am not nuts! Thus far Jenny hasn’t asked me to get rid of the sand…

In the background is yet another window with more light. As Paul used to say about sport – “too much is barely enough!”


Here’s a shot going the other way, from the stereo looking back towards our dining table and kitchen. Can you spot Jenny?

In case you are wondering, the kids are in Sydney with Auntie Miles. How do you think I got the time to do all this??? Jenny was with them yesterday but had to come back to Canberra on the bus to retrieve Euan’s spectacles. Euan is seeing an occupational therapist for his eyes on Wednesday and of course he forgot his glasses didn’t he? She’s bussing it back to Sydney at midday today – a 3 hour trip.



The mosaic is a present from Jenny’s class at Northside when she left. I think it’s very very nice. Those sticks on the PNG basket are not sticks, the long one is an unstrung bow, and the smaller ones are arrows. These are real and were a present to me from my officemate in PNG who hailed from Enga province. I think these have been used in anger (not by me).

The sketch partially obscured is a real drawing from a PNG artist. He was hawking his wares one afternoon, and I remember buying this one when I was still with “Yu Kisim We? – Steamships Hardwe!” in Waigani.

The charcoal drawing of the kids was done by Dianne – Jen’s niece. She is a real artist and can capture the soul of her subjects, as she has done here. Caitlin has a plaintive expression and Euan leans protectively over his older sister. Emotionally it captures the relationship dynamic between the two siblings that most people don’t ever even see. What can I say… Diane is the real thing… it’s very humbling to see her work. This world should have more like her.



So this is walking down towards where we have the rest of our stuff. Euan received a slot-car racing set from Santa, which you can see in the foreground, this Christmas. He wonders still how Santa knew just exactly what he wanted. He loved it but quite possibly Dad had just as much fun with it. Isn’t it amazing how good Santa is? Caitlin was given a pink dollhouse.

I fired up the chimney last winter when Jen and the kids were away, and succeeded in smoking the house out. I suspect that fireplace will have a TV in it within the next few months.

We tried living without a TV by putting it downstairs where you get lousy reception so we never watch. I am just about ready to throw in the towel and buy a nice big one and put it where that fireplace is. What do you say to that?



Who’s that!??! It’s 9.30 in the morning here and we’ve thrown the doors wide open to let the fresh morning air in. Jen’s sitting where I am tapping away right now.



This is a view from the verandah door looking back in…more windows!

Do you realise that the actual “Three Musicians” by Picasso has much more vibrant colours than the print on top of the keyboard? That print is another one on “loan” from Dad. I have to get a new one. I should get him one too.

I bought that keyboard way back in 1992 in PNG. I knew I would be itinerant so bought a weighted keyboard instead of a real piano. Before I pass from this Earth I hope to have a Yamaha C-7 grand in my living room and the chops to play jazz.



The tour is almost done, we’re going to the back. This is taken from the vegetable garden looking back towards the back of the house. You can just see the clothesline on the right side of the picture.

We set up a camp table in the rear verandah and had a few al fresco breakfasts on this rear verandah this past Christmas summer break. That was very nice and the sun was just as you see it here – coming over the top from the front of the house so we had enough time in the shade to finish breakfast in the cool morning air. Jenny grows tomatoes in those large pots.



On the left side of the garden, Jenny started a veggie patch last spring. That season has finished. We were well fed from this garden, getting strawberries, lots of different types of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, English spinach, and other things. This was Jenny getting rural. I myself have never had, and never will have, any inclination to work a garden. I’ll just be the taste tester. The kids loved it though – they were always very excited in helping Jen.



To our right you can see the trampoline, which is always popular with the kids. Our neighbours over that fence keep chickens for eggs. In Sydney we used to wake up to birdsong, because we lived in a very leafy area – Sydney’s North Shore. Here we wake up to chickens squawking.

That’s Canberra for you. We live very close to the city, but just think, our neighbours keep chickens…. Is that rural or what! By the way, the chickens are never noisy, although you hear them in the morning, and they don’t smell… hmmm I am told fresh eggs are the best…hmmmm ….maybe I can encourage Jenny…. Jenny? – what do you say to that?



Finally, this is a composite shot of our backyard. It’s patchy as we aren’t allowed to water our lawn because of water restrictions, but we love it. The kids love going out here and playing. That’s our Weber Baby Q on the right, which gets a real workout – it’s very easy to clean and very economical and it cooks fantastically well with that Weber smokey flavour!

That’s it folks. As Hal David said, “a house is not a home”… It’s what you can’t see that makes a house a home and I hope I’ve shown you what can’t be seen with ours.

This is our home in Canberra. We love it here, but that said you never know, we might pull up stumps again at some point. Canberra, like any place, has its good and not so good. If we ever decide to leave, I remember Dad always telling us about PNG, that he looked at it as a vacation. If it ended tomorrow, well and good, if it ended in a few years, that was good as well.

© JayGantor

Post from New Year 1 Jan 2009

I wrote this literally New Year's Eve, and sent it off, and had a pleasant surprise a month later to see that it was published in the letters to the editor in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

*********************

Where has the year gone, a friend wrote me a week ago. I had meant to set aside some quality time to write a reflective tome on the year, but here I now find myself in the interstitial spaces of life, trying to accomplish one of the tasks I feel are truly important.

Rina Jimenez David wrote with disarming honesty about a sense of gloom amidst the celebration, of a darkness ahead borne on winds of uncertainty, underlined by a disturbing apathy in the nation.

We have more to be worried about these days, beginning from the President's impunity in the face of substantive allegations against her cohort, and immediate family. We nearly had another martyr – GMA at least, had learned her lesson from recent history. And of course, the rice shortage, and now the global financial crisis have undermined the hopes we would have held for a more prosperous year ahead.

Apprehension about the New Year is not such a bad thing. It at least hints that the realisation is taking hold that doing nothing will only exacerbate an almost intolerably bad situation. There is much to be concerned about, and the question that may be at the back of people's minds may be: "how much more of this can I take"?

No on ever wants to go backward, so there can only be one answer to that question. Once that question is resolved, the mind turns to the issue of what action to take.

The first priority

Barack Obama's victory as president-elect must be the good news story of the year – an inspiration almost, but not quite as uplifting as was Pacman's two triumphs. But the one thing that struck me as I watched Obama give his victory speech, was this: there was a man who had just felt the world's weight fall squarely on his shoulders. Was it just me, or didn't Obama sombre face belie the burden he had just assumed? So showed the man's nature, that public office was a matter of immense responsibility, and not simply a matter of triumph or victory.

In the wake of Obama's victory we have had no shortage of those who claim to be the Philippines version of Obama. But that victory was not his, and to see it as such is to miss the point about the Philippines issues.

Walt Whitman wrote in his poem "Election Day, November 1884" that America's greatness was not in the grandeur of its landscape, the geysers of Yosemite and the Niagara fall, but in the quadrennial choosing. The most powerful force in that great nation was that "still small voice vibrating – America's choosing day"

The benefit out of that process, what Whitman thought was the greatest force in America, is what the Philippines is denied today. It was corrupted four years ago with Garci's kind assistance. GMA barely escaped that crisis, and here we are four years hence, seriously contemplating giving up that force again through the debate about Cha Cha.

There is a lot that's wrong about the Philippines, but change must begin somewhere, and change must come, if the Philippines chooses to fight against the forces of corruption and darkness, from its "choosing day".

Too often, as good catholics, we rely on simply having good intentions and convictions. But the challenge we face, if we want change, is to start somewhere. To that end, I think there should be a national concerted civic focus on implementing timely, reliable, transparent, centrally tallied, technology-based vote counting systems in the next presidential election. The nation must take an active interest in protecting the integrity of the Philippines "choosing day". The continuation and integrity of the voting process should be the concern of every Filipino who can see that there must be a better way of life than what GMA offers.

It is far too important a step to be left to those who would profit from another Garci episode.

Puno is not Obama

The search for villains and heroes of our time and for the future remains a staple of political and social discourse. It offers a convenient perspective on the political situation that most anyone can understand – good guys and bad guys. So depending on one’s political persuasion, GMA is evil incarnate, Chief Justice Puno is salvation in waiting, Jun Lozada is one of the villains turned hero, and undisputably, Pacman tops them all.

Puno has been characterised as our own Obama – a force for good and for change.

In a few hours Obama takes his oath of office, with more people attending the inauguration than has ever been known, and with more people around the world watching the moment in history. But this is not a triumph for Obama - it is a celebration of America, where nothing is impossible, where people have said “yes we can” and in a few hours can say amongst themselves “yes we have”. Obama as an event is that moment in history when the nation that asserted everyone is born equal in opportunity, sees that assertion come to fruition.

My difficulty in casting GMA as the villain, and with Puno as the hero, is that this view discounts the responsibility the electorate has played in putting GMA in power. It exalts Puno without acknowledging the change necessary in our nation’s culture, that Puno or any future leader would need, if they are to succeed in all that we hope they can achieve.

GMA did not come into the office of President by stealth. She was voted into office – albeit with help at the margin, but still with enough of the vote that a final nudge could tip her into office. She does not govern in a vacuum. She is supported by the civil service and armed forces, by a substantial portion of local and provincial government, and despite all the denunciation, she continues to be tolerated and accepted by the electorate. Public commentary excoriates GMA, but one would have to concede all the criticism does not look to amount to anything like a popular movement to forcibly dislodge her from office.

What does this say about the country and its voters? What does this say about its media and their choices of coverage? Like most other countries, we probably do not expect our leaders to be much better than you or I, and precisely because corruption is so insidiously present in our lives, we always end up with more of the same. But that is the problem, and it should now be painfully obvious to everyone that a continuation of how we’ve been going will condemn the Philippines to the scrapheap of failed states. Change is needed.

I do not despair about GMA - I despair that the country continues to tolerate her. That is the tragedy. I think that as a body politic, we do not take responsibility for the choices we have made. Our pundits go on, without really taking the people responsible to task – engaging in a critical examination of what drives our vote. As long as we keep on making those choices, keep on repeating those mistakes, is it any wonder we keep on getting the same results? Some serious national introspection, some national reflection would not go astray at this point, before we enter next year’s presidential elections.

Isn’t it naïve for the punditry to expect that somehow our politicians will find their way on the road to Damascus? The problem, as Cassius would have said, is not that we lacked an Obama, but that we did not vote for him, even when he was there. As one illustration, their naivete aside, the “Ang Kapatiran” party could have received more exposure at the last senatorial contest. Could anyone say they received more than passing coverage? If you agree that corruption is the dominant problem in the nation, then shouldn’t that party have received more exposure?

I have not enjoyed much success at all in inducing change on the basis of what seemed to be an obvious moral imperative. Morals are a fickle measure that varies in as many ways as there are people. However self interest has often been a more effective instrument of persuasion. If it is not obvious now how crippling every act of corruption is for every person and every generation that comes after that act, just how bad does it have to get before the Philippines will make the right decisions? How much worse before action is taken? Why do we still have so many individuals in office who wear the odium of corruption like an Olympic gold medal?

So coming back to point, I think it will be a long time before we can call anyone our Obama. Although I live in hope, I fear that the time will never come when Philippine society develops the values that will call for an Obama to come forward and be a singular embodiment of an enlightened Filipino society.

Unless we change.

Corruption - the cancer of a nation

I watched a parent say recently that the death of their son was particularly hard to bear. When one experiences the death of one’s parents, one sees the past slipping away. The hard thing when your child suffers untimely death, he said, is that the future dies with them.

I left the Philippines when I was 14, and now at 42 I feel more compelled than ever to write in a vain effort to induce change. Because I can see the future of the country slipping away in a way that is not so abstract as you may think. Because I see that tragedy unfolding for my 7 year old niece whom I met for the first time two years ago, and the struggles that lie ahead for her. She is an incredibly intelligent child, more so than most people I have met in or away from the Philippines. She may yet transcend her environment, but what of other children who are not so blessed?

What are the chances a few words can change things? Not much really. At the same time, the words of outrage that I see gracing the pages of the Inquirer, from its columnists and its readers, is the singular thing that gives me hope that a better future is possible. For far too long it seemed the consciousness of the nation expressed through its media was as superficial as the government is corrupt. But maybe, the rising chorus of those who reject corruption indicates a nation learning from its bitter experience.

But is it now too late? We don’t have the luxury of a few centuries to internalise the value of institutions and the primacy of law and justice and a “fair go’, as English and Western civilisation did. Our population increases, as the capacity to provide for basic needs of food and shelter diminishes, and this dreadful circumstance will only be an increasingly pervasive global challenge. What chance for a corruption-riddled system to compete on the global marketplace for these basic resources?

Conventional wisdom in basketball has it that a star on a team is no guarantee of the championship, but everyone also knows, that a team will never get the championship without a star. The Philippines right now is bereft of both the team and the star. There is no national or administrative will to move to a state without corruption, and there is no political star. Once again it doesn’t look good for the nation.

Looking after a nation is not a part-time job while you concentrate on self-enrichment; it’s hard enough at the best of times, and it simply is beyond the present cohort whose most pressing problem is concealing the “bukol” of their efforts.

That’s why I agree with Conrado de Quiros’s column in the Inquirer today, 23rd March, 2008 – that Corruption Kills. Like cancer, we just don’t see it, but it will be the death of the nation all the same.

I may not be able to help the nation, but maybe I can help my niece. That much I will try to do. Maybe then I will grieve for one less child.

On corruption and the NBN-ZTE deal

The crime of corruption

We have become so inured to corruption in our midst that we forget its place in history.

Corruption is an act most vividly recounted in the Bible, in a story we remember more for the idea of betrayal.

It is the story of Judas as he betrays Jesus for the thirty pieces of silver.

Read the passages and be filled with sadness, more so than anger. For Judas asks the priests in Matthew 26:14-16 :

"What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

We are so accustomed to seeing corruption, to dealing with it as we go about our day. We give the “tip” to the office holder, to forget our transgression. We “befriend” the person in charge, so we get more of what he disburses. We accept a friendly gift and “return” the favour in kind.

We have forgotten corruption’s face, for we see it in the mirror, we see it in our family, we see it in our workplace, we see it on the street. For this is corruption’s way.

But let us cast aside what blinds us. Betrayal is at the heart of the NBN crisis, and cries out for the nation’s answer. For myself, I readily admit, Lozada’s testimony rings with truth, whatever else he may be. And the President’s reaction, for its speciousness, its viciousness in its blighted abduction, its concerted obfuscation, tolls more convincingly than a signed confession. For here is where, as Randy David says, the President’s covenant with the nation is not tested nor is it resolved in the courts of law, but in the furnace of public opinion.

And that betrayal of the public trust, this treachery on the nation, was for that selfsame base reward 2000 years ago. Inflation now has a definitive measure: those thirty pieces of silver would have been US$130m in 2008AD.

For all who have known hunger, who have known pain, who have known loneliness and privation; for all of us who live for a better and brighter day, for a life of peace and love for our neighbour; for all of us who work for our families, for all who have trudged and toiled, who have cried and cared for our parents, our children, our brothers, our sisters: know this and know this well – GMA and her cohorts on the NBN deal are today’s faces of corruption.

GMA and her cohorts are the inheritors of a tradition descended from that most venal of actions.

People Power and our burden

Our power comes not from the glorious demonstrations of EDSA. We do not necessarily have to march to demand accountability.

For every servant who serves faithfully, for every labourer that works diligently, for every one of us who does his due, we have the right to expect that of others. Perhaps that is the least we can expect, because whatever talents we may or may not have, the capacity to “do the right thing” is granted to us all in equal measure.

A gentle poet once said, “Life needs a thousand kinds of men”. To each of us, no more is expected than we bear our burden as best we can.

We are called to respond to the corruption of our leaders. We have the right to demand accountability from GMA. We have the right to demand truth. The humblest worker in our poor land has a right to call GMA to account personally for the harm she has done to him, to all of us. And the challenge for the nation, collectively and individually, is twofold. Firstly we must learn from history, and we must believe with every bone in our body, that we possess those rights and we have those rights to wield. Secondly, we must insist on the exercise of those rights.

As individuals we have the right but not the capacity. For that right we have delegated to our representatives and our other leaders to exercise on our behalf. We rely on the mechanisms we set in our institutions, on the law and “due process”. Every senator and congressman, every public servant is called to remember on whose behalf they serve, and to consider the challenge of the corruption that is waved about their faces and to respond accordingly. Every person with a voice is called on, to contribute and to be involved, at the very least: to bear their burden as best they can.

Our burden all is to apply our hearts and minds to respond to our times and the clamour of the nation, not for popular overthrow, but to make the system work, to use its processes, to hold GMA and her cohorts accountable for their misdeeds.

Some have decried the lack of leadership of the Church. I admire the Church’s restraint. For the role of the Church is to give hope. People have turned to the Church in dismay at what they observe from the political process, because we all know whatever ills Man creates for himself, there will always be light and love in God’s house.

This matter is for us to resolve, by creating a tide of public opinion so irresistible that it compels those who lead, to introduce productive and lasting change and ensure our processes hold accountable those it must.

Let GMA trifle with the force of our nation’s humanity at her peril.

Let us not forget the crime, this crime of corruption, the darkness it brings, and from whence it comes.

Let us recognise the challenge. Let us put our shoulders to the burden.

Letter to my friends

Well after about 10 weeks here I can honestly say we’ve settled in nicely. For about 7 of those weeks we were somewhere in cyberspace between iinet and Optus. Its funny but one really feels disconnected without the net. Jenny especially got so desperate for stimulation she went out and found a casual job at [a school] here.

I enjoyed doing nothing for once, being incommunicado from [my previous boss] while I did not have broadband. However once I did get a broadband connection hooked up, there were too many things to do in a short time. I had to do a few things for [the old job], after hours, then two assignments for the LPAB, Jenny’s 40th (!) happened somewhere in between the two, all in the last three weeks. Finally I can once again catch my breath.

We were fortunate enough to find this place in Canberra that’s fitted our needs really well, as much as spoiling us in terms of proximity to everywhere.

The kids walk to school, or at least they did when Jenny wasn’t working. As they say you have to be careful what you wish for. They have settled in nicely. Deep down in every parent is a wish their kids are half-smart, so it was with some dismay that we heard from Euan's new teacher that she felt Euan's skills were not up to Year 1 standard. But that disappointment did not last long, I was more annoyed (incensed) about the lack of governance at their previous school which allowed the teacher to get Euan to Year 1 without the requisite literacy. But after our chat with his teacher in the new school, we felt she was being constructive. Jenny and I have had to confront our own shortcomings in bringing up Euan as the “baby”. Funny thing is Euan is adamant he will not drop down a year. We shall see how much progress he can make in the next three months. Poor kid, under pressure at such an early age. Whatever makes him happy is fine with me, but I am somewhat surprised how seriously the little man has applied himself to learning how to read and write.

Caitlin has settled in well without any social issues, which for a little girl, means the world.

We are taking Canberra as an unfolding pleasure. Most Sundays we go to church, then leave the kids in Sunday school for an hour, and Jenny and I wander around Manuka and have a coffee and browse the bookshops or the music store. The music store is actually a real gem, good value and selection. After that we go for a drive wherever we fancy. We try and do a different thing each weekend.

Going out has been quite a treat as well. We’ve had very good meals at a Thai, Chinese, and a pizza place! All at very good prices. Karen visited Canberra and I took her to “Chairman and the Yip” which has modern Chinese. We had the degustation menu and one of the dishes was “Patagonian Toothfish”. I Googled that fish with some anxiety when I got back and found it was not endangered – merely overfished. I though the dish exquisite but Mother Nature exacted sweet revenge, giving me gas for a week.

Did I mention how fresh the air is here? Back when it was not so cold we used to drive with the windows down just to smell the air.

Winter has set in. Tomorrow we are expecting snow in Canberra. For the kids sake I hope it eventuates but the novelty might wear off quickly if tennis lessons are not cancelled tomorrow.

Jenny has seen the folly of her ways – she has decided to be a kept woman and wake up at the crack of lunch. But she is mulling over her options right now, and I think may well step away from teaching, given a chance.

We’ve settled into the house. Almost everything is in its place. What isn’t, will stay in boxes until the next move. Its my first experience in Australia of being so close to the city, and I fear I will never be the same again. This is how life is meant to be. Jenny and I have a joke – I ring her in the afternoon saying "I’ll be home late – you can expect me there at 6.30pm!". Far cry from some late nights at [the old jobs]!

I work with [my new job], and I can commend to you the good men and women of this organisation who keep planes from flying into one another. The dedication is humbling. It is a body incorporated by statute, answerable to the Minister for Transport, and its mandate is to ensure safety “airside”. Once again Michael your words have been prophetic. You warned me that SAP was not a tool so much as a factory. Our systems here are a bit like that. We have about 3 million flights a year, and billing has been automated to the extent we have just this one person pushing a button at the end of the month, generating $700M in revenue. Ironically there is not one person in the organisation who has a grasp of our system end to end!

I work in the [new work] area reporting to the manager. Pay is good thus far which is nice as our place in Normanhurst has suddenly required a lot of repairs. Now and then I do get a glimpse into the Public Service. There is the biggest trough here with the old-fashioned company car scheme. It’s as if I stepped back in time before FBT. However I am in a good team and there is plenty of scope. I do not have much at all to do with accounting these days, my focus being on transactional processing and shared services systems. I do not miss debits and credits one bit, but occasionally I do a reconciliation for the accountants here just to make myself feel good.

[My travelling friends] - I have been following your travel journals with great interest. You will have such a lot of memories and some very different perspectives when you do come back. That may well turn out to be a challenge upon the eventual return. I must look up Petra on the net. That must have been a magnificent experience. [Our previous boss] sends his regards.

[My Sydney friends] I am not sure when I can meet up again. Whenever we are in Sydney our relations pull us in every direction. Perhaps you should come down to Canberra for a visit!!!

I have been remiss in not keeping in touch, but thoughts have never been far.

With warmest regards

Canberra 10 weeks on

9 1/2 Weeks. Today it is 9 1/2 Weeks since we moved to Canberra.

After more than a decade in Sydney, we had had enough. Just getting around was hard. Both Jen and I had good jobs, but our stress balance seemed to be larger than our bank balance.

So it came to a point of exasperation one night, followed by a flash of inspiration - why not Canberra? One of those monumentally significant decisions one arrives at in 2 seconds.

9 months later, we were commuting up and down the Monaro Highway. I had resigned from my job in St Leonards, but kept up a part time presence. In between we were travelling to Canberra, alternating between looking for a job and looking for a house.

Another 4 weeks later, we had found a job, a school for the kids, and a house to rent. That is another story for another night!

Every night I marvel that we are happy. I fulfilled my old wish of not having a TV. We connect through the 'net. The children don't seem to want for stimulation. They don't ask for the TV. I no longer see the bored and glazed and overstimulated look in their eyes I used to see. More than that is they are happy.

I ask Jenny, as if to pinch myself, how can this be? Maybe it comes from how Jen and I have settled in here being so happy with where we are. We're country folk. There's more time to "be" rather than "do". Ironically the "do" part is easier as well. I am finding my studies are easier. Right at the moment we are in "balance". That spills over into home life, how we are with the kids. They probably have seen and been with me more in the last 2 months than they ever have been, even when we have been on holidays. In fact that's how they feel: we're on holidays!

Canberra is such a lovely spot. I love the bare branches on the trees. They have this elegant simplicity about them silhoutted against clear cold skies. It is winter after all, and you've got to have that wintry look. I love walking up to the bus stop and looking at the trees and skies and sometimes seeing the odd hot air balloon rising above the city. How good is that?

Our first nights here I could not believe how silent it was at 8 at night. Even in the wee hours in Sydney it never got that quiet. Here it's dead silent.

The air's so fresh we drive with our windows down for the smell of it, when we can stand the cold.

When I have more time I'll have to go into this more. For tonight, I have my assignment to complete in Real Property. Oh joy.

The Prodigal Son

Yesterday's gospel reading was the Prodigal Son.

I had never paid much attention to it before. The family and I don't go to mass every week, and I was almost disinclined to go to Mass yesterday, but Jen wanted to so off we went.

The story captures so much of the New Testament doesn't it? We have the prodigal son, and the father who would be entitled to cast his son to the servants quarters, but instead welcomes him and puts on a feast.

Both the father and the older brother have all the reason in the world to reject the younger son. But it is the father's love that shines over any other consideration and welcomes the younger back into the fold.

The father followed his heart, and we feel that it is the right thing to do, even as we acknowledge that there is ample reason to do the opposite.

Love and light prevail over justice and retribution.

And the envy of the older brother is evil in its destructive and selfish manifestation.

Love triumphs in the end.

I'm a simple man, and certainly know nothing about the bible. Nevertheless, I thought if all I had to take out of the bible was one passage, it would probably be this one.

I am tired tonight and can't do this justice. Maybe some other time. For now I take comfort in its story as one which represents to me the most important lesson of all.

Harvey Keh

Most responses to Harvey's now infamous letter seem keen to point out reasons why people should stay in the Philippines. What these retorts have in a common is an appeal to the nationalistic spirit not to give up on the Philippines.

Realistically I wonder how much of a factor "nationalism" is in the decision process when we leave the Philippines. To what extent has it ever held anyone back?

Let me illustrate. Say I decide to leave the Philippines. I foresee that the move will free me from the shackles of poverty and give me an opportunity to have a better life for every member of my family. When did it ever occur to me that ," Gee , there's a million young kids out there just waiting for people like me to vote a better government in so that the whole country progresses. I gotta stay and help the cause!"???

People focus on what they can do to bring about a result. Most if not all of us have some means of improving ourselves, but can't see ourselves as individuals changing the collective will of a nation expressed in its elected politicians. So what do we do? We vote with our feet and leave.

This is like going for a better job. If a company one works for is terminally riddled with corruption, cronyism, and nepotism, one would rather leave than try and fix that company. Most people are more average than outstanding. Most don't have the innate capacity or position to change their environment. We adapt more so than change. Try stopping someone from leaving their job once they've found greener pastures. Impossible.

Someone said the mark of a society is how it treats its least fortunate. If one is so blessed and so able that one flourishes in the environment, why leave? Conversely, its precisely because the state has failed to provide a decent environment that we leave.

That's democracy. Capitalism, which we equate to democracy these days, posits that the collective operation of individual self-interest promotes progress and wealth creation. Ano ang ipapakain mo sa anak mo - "kabilugan ng buwan"? (BTW this is a great line taken from Danny Javier in one of APO's skits during their Sydney concert, when he berates his partners for their attempts to improve on one of his songs. It's a line worthy of Keating.) Prinsipyo? Sorry guys, you can't eat nationalism.

So leave the country I say and look after yourself and your family. You will be earning money that will improve their future. You won't be harming anyone. You will be productively engaged in another country. Tell me what is wrong with that.

What if you can't leave? Well then obviously you make your own bed. If the country can't vote for politicians that will take them out of the dark ages, well too bad. Magdusa kayo diyan, as Nasty said.

You've heard of the frog that was in a pot of water that started off cold, but was gradually brought to the boil. Well poor frog got so used to the temperature because it was done so slowly it died without ever jumping out. I look at my wealthy relations from 20 years ago, and without exception, they now struggle, although they are still among the exalted in Manila.

I don't regret leaving.

I won't be helping people to vote better. I'll be helping my relations by helping them get out. Sorry Pinas. Your time is up. Measured and found wanting.

Why we leave the Philippines

Roger, a friend of mine, mailed around another anguished cry from an expat Pinoy in the Mid-east lamenting the state of things back home, and saying "this is why we all leave".

Our elections focus our minds in this way...

Most Filipinos given half a chance to do things the right way, will do the right thing. If we are transplanted into an environment where things are done properly, most of us want to participate and be into this. Most of us succeed in this effort, aside from occasional lapses.

Our famed ability to flourish in the most difficult circumstances offers one perspective on the Filipino environment: 'eka nga, kung pupunta tayo sa marangal na lakaran, kaya natin iyan. Kung tarantaduhan, kaya din natin.

That's the funny thing. Given half a chance we can get things right, However as a group, and in the cesspool that is Manila, the system itself is corruption. That's the game. If one wants to play in that environment, that is what one must do. Even the purest will be tainted once the game is afoot.

Is it any wonder why the fittest leave the place? What alternative is there so one can live a dignified and honourable life? The system is too ingrained, that the only realistic and attainable alternative is to opt out of the system, and that is why we leave.

That in itself is another worry. In terms of geopolitical evolution, you have to wonder what will happen to a country as those amongst its populace who are able desert it for more promising shores? Survival of the fittest will ensure the country is left with and to the political detritus.

why blog?

why indeed? Couple of reasons...

A lot of people write interesting things on the net, but despite this being accessible to the WWW, one gets the feeling its bad form to rain on someone else's parade, or even worse, grab the limelight on their turf, hence the need for my own.

Someone else out there laments the negativity of the media in the Philippines today. Sheesh I thought - couldn't he pick an easier topic to talk about? There are so many facets in that area one can only pick at the edges...

The wife and I share an interest in this, both still feeling an intense interest in the place we left 25 years ago now.

Typically articles about Filipinos cite examples of achievement to establish the proposition that we are just as good, or have the capacity to do just as well as the best out there. For the wife and I, its old hat to read this thing again. Almost a statement of motherhood. Everyone of us who has managed some modicum of success overseas is testament to this. That's not the point - and the fact that this self-congratulation still happens is in itself symptomatic of whatever it is that ails the Philippines. So what? What good is it? What looks back when we look in the mirror?

Common sense tells us we've got to be able to define a problem in order to solve it? Where do you start with the Philippines? I would like to see someone articulate what is wrong with us. This brings us back to my opening paragraphs. Sure we have to feed our soul, keep our stories alive in order that our culture outlasts our bodies. But as the bloody soapies would put it, there is the resounding question...BAKIT????? At some point we as a nation have to come to terms with our problem and maybe the negativity is our feeble and ineffectual attempts at healing ourselves.

If you haven't already noticed, much of this blog will have my thoughts on the Philippines. For some levity I'll drift to other things from time to time. For now, before I return to my studies on Tort(s), this will do for tonight.