Death of the Kalesa

While doing my morning rounds at Divisoria, I almost stepped on a large dump of horse shit right in the middle of the road. It was difficult to maneuver away from the 'land mine' since the street was packed with pedicabs, deliery vans and push carts. Fortunately I found some room to step away, I doubt if the guy behind me was lucky.

To be honest, I hate the Kalesa. They move around downtown Manila, shitting and peeing all over the streets. When their shit dries up, it gets blown away into the air by the wind (for everyone to smell). These modes of transportation are obsolete and very inhumane to animals. The local government should just phase them out, or put them in parks and historical places for tourists to enjoy.

I doubt if the drivers of these Kalesas know how to take care of their horses. I often see a lot of these animals looking sickly and tried while dragging the driver and his passengers. We still have a lot to learn about animal rights and inflicting harm to these beasts of burden. But then again, we also have a nasty practice of treating other people like beasts of burden.

Reading Chinese Books

After visiting the main library of UP Diliman (for supplementary research on my thesis), I came across a shelf that had a pile of interesting Chinese books that talk about the Chinese culture and language. I looked over the books and I was delighted at the various subjects concerning China. There were books on the language, the politics and culture. There were three books that caught my interest.

The first book is "Twenty Lectures on Chinese Culture (An Intermediary Chinese Textbook)" written by Parker Po-Fei Huang, Richard I. Feng Chang, Howard Chao, Linda Hsia and Yen-Chan Wang (see the illustration). Originally published in 1967, this book is a collection of lectures about China, written by Mainland Chinese lecturers. An excellent book for intermediate learners of the language since the lectures have a combination of simple and more advance grammar and vocabulary. The text is in traditional Chinese characters, which shows that China just recently adopted the simplified character system. The lectures are pro-China and puts Taiwan in the role of a provincial domain of the motherland.

The second book is "Proscribed Chinese Writing" which is compiled and edited by Robert Tung. Originally published in 1976, it consists of eighteen essays and stories about China during the 50s to 70s. This book proves that despite the strict censorship of the communist government, Chinese literature continued to grow and evolve. The book contains various essays written by pro and anti government writers. Aside from its socio-politcal commentary, the book provides good educational material for those intermediate scholars of the Chinese language who want to have some exposure on the literary works of China.

There was another book that I wanted to borrow, yet I felt I wasn't ready to read it (considering the fact that I had just photocopied the first two books I mentioned). The third book talks about Archaic Chinese Characters, and how early Chinese aristocrats and scholars use a more formal and eloquent characters to express their ideas, as compared to the "bai-hua" or common tongue of the people.

Looking over these books remind me of the Chinese textbooks I used to read during high school and grade school. I never thought I would go back to learning Chinese and remaster the language. I guess it is never late to rediscover my cultural roots.

Bad Driving Habits

I have been driving for over fifteen years now and I believe that the driving skills/etiquette of Filipino drivers have degraded a lot. Drivers have no respect for pedestrians and other drivers. Drivers of public vehicles don't practice safety driving. And traffic enforcers are lax in apprehending traffic violators.

I admit that I have acquired a lot of bad driving habits as well. It probably came from a need cope with the traffic conditions, the uneven roads and also from the other rude drivers. One of this bad habit is the use of my cellular phone on the road. Sometimes I text people, make/answer calls and even take pictures (if I am bored in traffic). Aside from that, I also do other things in the car to pass the time (specially in congested areas) --- like reading a book/magazine and eating. People like me have to find some kind of distraction or entertainment while on the road.

Now that I admit to having such bad habits, I should make a commitment to change these behaviors. But then it would be difficult to sit inside the car and do nothing but fidget and wait. I think that a person's driving etiquette is influenced by the kind of environment where he or she is driving. I'm sure a lot of foreigners and balikbayans are appalled by the way we drive around the city -- but for us, it is a normal way of life.

The Strait of Malacca

Got this article from the World Languages site at Multiply dot com. I couldn't get the proper nouns right because they are not listed in my dictionary.

The Allure of the Strait of Malacca

For some places, the land does not choose its own importance or relevance, but it is determined by its geography and its environment, as well as changes in international situations. The Strait of Malacca is such an example. The Strait of Malacca holds an important position because it is a major sea route towards the Asia-Pacific region, making it an important passage way. In this passage way, one side is the Malay Peninsula, the other side is Indonesia. The most narrowest place is at Malacca, its waters can only accommodate two passing naval ships. If this point experiences a traffic block, the entire Northern Asia's raw material supply and mercantile export would be cut off. In the beginning, it was only Japan who was concerned with this route, but with China's economic growth in the last twenty years, the strait has become China's lifeline. This writer arrived at Malaysia, specifically to examine the land and its significance.

The Strait of Malacca is actually developed by the Chinese, during 1405 to 1431. Zheng He Yi (?) traveled to the West several times. He knew everything about the Strait of Malacca - its important geographical position, and left an army to guard the place. This batch of foot soldiers remained in the land and intermarried with the local people there, which helped form the "ke-ke-niang-re (?)" civilization. Their marriage and funeral customs, clothes and ornaments, have been influenced by the Ming Dynasty. Aside from this, a visitor from the Ming Dynasty named "Ming Han Lee" princess married the Malacca King. She came to Malacca with over 500 men and women (servants ?). The Chinese developed the Strait of Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

The northern Malay region borders Thailand's territory. It is also the Malay Peninsula's most narrowest place. With China's fast economic development, the elite thinkers(?) have been actively consulting with the Thailand government. They are preparing to invest in a new asian transport river(?), with the help of China's investment, labor and management. With the purpose of developing the local area, and it is also China's important strategic act. China has developed the Southern and North transport river(?) during the Sui Dynasty, it helped develop the economy. This strip of river is truly an instrumental invention.