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SHARING AND REFLECTING

 

 

Paul M: From my stay with the people in the rural area, I have observed some cultural similarities between my country and this country. People work together such as harvest time, which is a com­munal activity, Strong feelings for ex­tended families still exist.

Janice: My host was not as I expected him to be. I guess I thought more people would have the SCM's world view. The job of re-education is as large here as in New Zealand. My host approved of Martial Law; he was very individualistic and he did not seem to be interested at all in community. His main concern was to make more money and going overseas.

Ricky:   The situation here is the same as I experienced in China in the past — before 1949.

 

 

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Nimalka: Only when I came here was I confronted with the reality. Much of the society is superficial — jeepneys, music, etc. A certain kind of ideology has been formed in the minds of the people. Most have learned to live with this and try to get the most of it. There is a certain kind of innocence, overlaid with discipline and superficiality imposed from other cul­tures.

Lin:      I find it difficult to reconcile the intel­lectual analysis with the attitudes of Filipinos. The people seem to be torn by conflicts due to their historical roots — Spain, Asia, USA.

Paul S: Filipino students seem to be more conscious politically than students in my country.

Lubis:   Filipinos are very friendly. Where we stayed, my first impression was that the barrio was safe. My impression changed after two weeks stay in the place.

Frans:  So many people in my country say how similar Indonesia and Philippines are. Now that I am here, I see that this is true in many ways, in spite of our different historical backgrounds. Since we have opened up to foreign investments, all our education is directed to big business. Before, there were, for example, many local drinks available. But now, since Coca-cola has come in with extensive advertising and high technology, local companies could not survive. This has increased unemployment.

Another area is the Christian/Muslim Struggle. I don't believe that this is basically a religious struggle, but one which has to do with the class system problem —

Christians being in the majority enjoying the privileges of the ruling Majority. In its search for a just system, the Philippines needs to work out its own. American democracy has failed although it wants to keep on perpetuating itself.

Safeer: I concur that the Mindanao struggle is basically a class system problem, but it also has its religious aspects.

Frans:  it’s very easy for a political leader to make the conflict take a religious color.

John:   Martial Law, someone said to me, is good because we can do everything we want: go to movies, drink, go everywhere. Many people think this way. In my country, we have the same situation. But I don’t think there is freedom.

Patrick: Different sectors here experienced Martial Law in different ways. For example, some students are only aware of political prisoners because they have direct contacts. Others are not aware at all. With peasants, they can be aware if people work with them like the labor movements. Others are dissatisfied with martial law on direct effects on them such as low salaries, the spiraling cost of living, etc. still others are against Martial Law as a principle. There are many varied perceptions depending on the level of awareness and politicization.

Linda:  I have met Filipino workers here who are better off than most Indonesian workers. But what I find most striking is the hospitality of the people – my host who wanted to give me everything and to make me happy although they are quite poor. I found it difficult to tell them they did not have to.

Frans:  Indonesian profits tend to stay in Indonesia, but the problem for the Philippines is that profits are transferred overseas.

Paul M: The educational system is propagating all kinds of expectations in people which the system cannot satisfy. It is not an agent of equalization among the people. Third world countries should chose an appropriate culture – oriented educational system, which would benefit all – not just a few.

Paul M: Change must come through education, we must educate our children from birth.

Nimalka: we must change the political system first.

Jan:     this is not just a third – world problem. It exists in my own country too.

 

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Romy:  it is unfortunately true that counter – consciousness cannot come about unless the underpinning system is changed.

 Vimal: The West has punished its message throughout the third world. Development is confused with modernization. And western ideology has affected a type of living where people see “changes” like in the presence of soap powder yet they cannot see the effects of such changes in the national life as in the profits that are hauled overseas.

Lin:      There are two types of western culture: the indigenous and the corporate. In United States of America, the corporate has overtaken all the indigenous forms, e.g. Hollywood ‘40’s replaced folk and coal mining songs of the Appalachians. American people have gone through some ideological revolution as the Asian people.

 

 

 

 

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