A full day
A full day
Posted 02:30am (Mla time) Feb 18, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 18, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SINCE the editors decided last year to add one more free day in my work schedule, I've come to look forward to every Wednesday as a mid-week breather in an otherwise packed calendar. And because I don't have a deadline to meet on Wednesdays, I've come to reserve the day for "optional" activities like granting interviews and accepting invitations.
Last Wednesday proved, though, that even a "free" day can be full and satisfying, especially when devoted to activities that are both gratifying and enriching.
The day started at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati where I had been invited, over a month ago, to address third and fourth year high school students on the theme "Ang mga Kababaihan sa ating Lipunan (Women in our Society)." I'd come equipped with a power point presentation prepared years ago mainly for a female audience, so I was thrown off a bit upon finding an audience dominated by young men, with the exception of a few teachers. I later found out that I was addressing not just the young men in the large air-conditioned classroom where I was, but three other classes as well, linked by live video. Later, assistant principal Lito Tenerife told me that the combined activity for Social Studies, Filipino and Christian Living was meant not just to provide "inputs" to the students, but also to train them on handling live video conferencing. So, I was only a lab subject, huh?
Anyway, the young "Bosconians" proved to be sufficiently interested in the topic, and there was hardly any hint of resentment or skepticism among the young men. During the question-and-answer portion, they seemed to take the notion of gender equality quite matter-of-factly. Unlike, say, during sessions with bigger audiences where someone, usually a man, invariably asks if "it is not Filipino men who need liberating." What the students wanted to know was how gender awareness could help them, and if the attitudes of feminist organizations toward men had changed through the years.
Well, if the students of Don Bosco are an indication, then times have indeed changed, and the road to true gender equality need not be as difficult as feared.
* * *
FROM DON Bosco, I had to rush to the US Embassy where it was worth going through the hassles of security checks just to be present at the 16th Annual Awarding of the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Fellowships for Professional Development.
Each year, two Aquino "fellows"-for public service and for journalism-are chosen to participate in a study tour in the United States to meet and exchange views with professionals in their fields. I made the extra effort this year because the awardee for public service is Yasmin Busran-Lao, recognized for "her efforts to assist impoverished communities in Mindanao and promote the role of women in peace-building efforts."
Yas, as her friends call her, is a sister in the women's group Pilipina and was even the third nominee for a party-list seat in Congress last year under the women's party-list Abanse! Pinay. What makes Yas even more deserving of recognition is that she is a Muslim undertaking the difficult and perhaps even dangerous work of changing traditional Muslim attitudes toward women and women's roles in society.
"I couldn't quite believe that the small things I do in my small corner would merit such attention," Yasmin said of her reaction when she first heard of the Aquino fellowship. Her feeling, she said, was that she had long found her reward in "personal fulfillment and affirmation for the things we do," and that "seeing change happen" was an award in itself. And though she at first wanted to keep quiet about the award, Yasmin said she later realized that "the award is itself an advocacy for our work."
Most memorable was Yas' tribute to her husband Andy, who has stood by her all these years, she said, even as he had to withstand insistent queries from his mother and mother-in-law why he was "allowing" his wife to do what she was doing. Sadly, neither Andy nor their daughter Amanah could make it to the awards ceremony because Amanah had exams scheduled at the last minute. Other members of their family were on hand, though.
The other Aquino fellow, by the way, is Jose A. Torres Jr., a senior editor of abs-cbnNews.com and a freelance print journalist. He is best remembered for his book "Into the Mountain: Hostaged by the Abu Sayyaf," which was such an engrossing read and shed light on the ASG kidnappings through the stories of "little people" who had harrowing encounters with these bandits. Not bad for someone who says he's in journalism simply to "tell stories of people's lives."
* * *
AFTER A BIT of shopping, I decided to check out the movies showing at the Shangri-la Mall's Cineplex, especially at the vaunted "Premiere" theater where there's "bottomless" popcorn. When I saw that "Ray," the biopic for which Jamie Foxx is predicted to win Oscar for Best Actor, was showing in a smaller theater, I immediately bought tickets for myself, the hubby and our daughter.
At times, it seems as if Foxx is not so much acting as channeling Ray Charles, who is shown in this movie as a true musical pioneer who dared blur the boundaries between musical genres. Charles' life story (he was Ray Charles Robinson in real life) is told against the backdrop of life in the United States in the years shortly after World War II, including his inadvertent role as a civil rights champion. Even more admirable is the movie's unflinching look at both the good and bad of Ray Charles, including his drug addiction, his womanizing and his demons.
Overall, an honest, deeply felt film about a musical genius who was an all-too-frail human being. And for making the most of a role of a lifetime, Foxx deserves that Oscar!
Posted 02:30am (Mla time) Feb 18, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the February 18, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SINCE the editors decided last year to add one more free day in my work schedule, I've come to look forward to every Wednesday as a mid-week breather in an otherwise packed calendar. And because I don't have a deadline to meet on Wednesdays, I've come to reserve the day for "optional" activities like granting interviews and accepting invitations.
Last Wednesday proved, though, that even a "free" day can be full and satisfying, especially when devoted to activities that are both gratifying and enriching.
The day started at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati where I had been invited, over a month ago, to address third and fourth year high school students on the theme "Ang mga Kababaihan sa ating Lipunan (Women in our Society)." I'd come equipped with a power point presentation prepared years ago mainly for a female audience, so I was thrown off a bit upon finding an audience dominated by young men, with the exception of a few teachers. I later found out that I was addressing not just the young men in the large air-conditioned classroom where I was, but three other classes as well, linked by live video. Later, assistant principal Lito Tenerife told me that the combined activity for Social Studies, Filipino and Christian Living was meant not just to provide "inputs" to the students, but also to train them on handling live video conferencing. So, I was only a lab subject, huh?
Anyway, the young "Bosconians" proved to be sufficiently interested in the topic, and there was hardly any hint of resentment or skepticism among the young men. During the question-and-answer portion, they seemed to take the notion of gender equality quite matter-of-factly. Unlike, say, during sessions with bigger audiences where someone, usually a man, invariably asks if "it is not Filipino men who need liberating." What the students wanted to know was how gender awareness could help them, and if the attitudes of feminist organizations toward men had changed through the years.
Well, if the students of Don Bosco are an indication, then times have indeed changed, and the road to true gender equality need not be as difficult as feared.
* * *
FROM DON Bosco, I had to rush to the US Embassy where it was worth going through the hassles of security checks just to be present at the 16th Annual Awarding of the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Fellowships for Professional Development.
Each year, two Aquino "fellows"-for public service and for journalism-are chosen to participate in a study tour in the United States to meet and exchange views with professionals in their fields. I made the extra effort this year because the awardee for public service is Yasmin Busran-Lao, recognized for "her efforts to assist impoverished communities in Mindanao and promote the role of women in peace-building efforts."
Yas, as her friends call her, is a sister in the women's group Pilipina and was even the third nominee for a party-list seat in Congress last year under the women's party-list Abanse! Pinay. What makes Yas even more deserving of recognition is that she is a Muslim undertaking the difficult and perhaps even dangerous work of changing traditional Muslim attitudes toward women and women's roles in society.
"I couldn't quite believe that the small things I do in my small corner would merit such attention," Yasmin said of her reaction when she first heard of the Aquino fellowship. Her feeling, she said, was that she had long found her reward in "personal fulfillment and affirmation for the things we do," and that "seeing change happen" was an award in itself. And though she at first wanted to keep quiet about the award, Yasmin said she later realized that "the award is itself an advocacy for our work."
Most memorable was Yas' tribute to her husband Andy, who has stood by her all these years, she said, even as he had to withstand insistent queries from his mother and mother-in-law why he was "allowing" his wife to do what she was doing. Sadly, neither Andy nor their daughter Amanah could make it to the awards ceremony because Amanah had exams scheduled at the last minute. Other members of their family were on hand, though.
The other Aquino fellow, by the way, is Jose A. Torres Jr., a senior editor of abs-cbnNews.com and a freelance print journalist. He is best remembered for his book "Into the Mountain: Hostaged by the Abu Sayyaf," which was such an engrossing read and shed light on the ASG kidnappings through the stories of "little people" who had harrowing encounters with these bandits. Not bad for someone who says he's in journalism simply to "tell stories of people's lives."
* * *
AFTER A BIT of shopping, I decided to check out the movies showing at the Shangri-la Mall's Cineplex, especially at the vaunted "Premiere" theater where there's "bottomless" popcorn. When I saw that "Ray," the biopic for which Jamie Foxx is predicted to win Oscar for Best Actor, was showing in a smaller theater, I immediately bought tickets for myself, the hubby and our daughter.
At times, it seems as if Foxx is not so much acting as channeling Ray Charles, who is shown in this movie as a true musical pioneer who dared blur the boundaries between musical genres. Charles' life story (he was Ray Charles Robinson in real life) is told against the backdrop of life in the United States in the years shortly after World War II, including his inadvertent role as a civil rights champion. Even more admirable is the movie's unflinching look at both the good and bad of Ray Charles, including his drug addiction, his womanizing and his demons.
Overall, an honest, deeply felt film about a musical genius who was an all-too-frail human being. And for making the most of a role of a lifetime, Foxx deserves that Oscar!
posted by Dante at 2:30 AM
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