Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
MISPLACED PRIORITIES CAN MISLEAD a NATION

 

 

Gising Pinas!

 

Misplaced Priorities can Mislead a Nation

  

"He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest 

in

what is great." John Ruskin.  Jasmine Trias visited the Philippines 

very

recently. Everyone was agog waiting to welcome her. The excitement was

remarkable as the media and many of our "kababayans" flocked to the 

airport

to see her. This scenario is typical of Filipinos. Sadly, it reflects 

our

country's misplaced priorities.

 

 

Contest of the Mind. Another young girl came back to the country just a

couple of weeks ago. Her name is Faye (not her real name for very 

sensitive

reasons). Unknown to her countrymen, this eleven year old girl brought

honor to the Philippines. She represented the country in the

Intercontinental Science Quiz Net in Australia. Out of 57 countries

represented, Faye garnered First Place for the Philippines. Germany 

came in

second while the

 United States came in third.  In stark contrast to the

hooplah extended to Jasmine Trias, Faye's Arrival did not make any 

noise.

Not a peep.  In an earlier competition, "Mathematics for the Young 

Asians"

in Indonesia, Faye also came out in the Top Five. But just like

 the

Australian event, this feat did not receive any recognition in our 

country

at all. Our interests seem to be set on other "priorities." We are more

interested in promoting celebrity guests instead of educational

 and

intellectual pursuits. Indirectly and quite obviously we are teaching 

our

children that development of the external image takes priority over

educational achievement.  Faye's story is inspiring. She comes

 from a

broken family. Her father falsely claimed that he was unmarried when he

married her mom. When her mom found out, she decided to raise up her

daughter alone.

 

 

Despite the difficulty, Faye in no way used it as an excuse for 

Complacency

in her studies. In grade school, she was a consistent honor student. 

She

took every academic requirement as a challenge. And she delivered. At 

one

time, she submitted a project thesis in Australia that won "The Best

Physics and Science Award". The award qualified the Philippines to be 

one

of the top 10 countries that would compete in Australia, among the 57

countries that joined.

 

 

 Considering her family's financial constraints, she and her mom asked 

help

from our government for their trip to Australia to claim the "Best 

Physics"

award and to join the Science competition. They saw this challenge as a

rare opportunity offered to Faye and her country, considering that only 

two

Asian countries qualified - Japan and the Philippines.   Unfortunately, 

our

government had other priorities.

 

 

Mother and daughter then tried to ask help from individual senators and

congressmen. All turned them down except for one who was willing to 

help,

on condition that Faye should give public credit to the senator for

supporting her even in the earlier competitions she joined. Out of

integrity, the mother could not accede to this arrangement. Thus no 

outside

help was found.

 

 

 Faced with this situation, Faye and her mom took out all their savings 

and

went out of their way to secure by themselves the additional finances

needed. The only driving force behind them was their desire to give 

honor

to God and to the Philippines.

 

 

With the little resources they had, they went to Australia on September 

17,

2004 for the competition. They claimed the trophy and cash award for 

the

"Best Physics" thesis Faye submitted in Sidney and then flew to 

Brisbane

for the quiz competition.  No kababayan welcomed them in Australia 

except

for a kind Filipina they met in the plane who assisted them. As they 

were

checking in at a hotel, the "kind" Filipina who volunteered to help

 

them

disappeared taking with her Faye's and her mother's bags, passports, 

and

plane tickets.  At that point, they literally had nothing left except 

for

the few pieces of clothes and their faith in God. They had to sell the

extra clothes left to be able to buy food.

 

 

In need once again, they sought help from some of the Filipino 

officials in

Australia but to no avail. Oddly, the Filipino officials there were too

busy with other priorities, not minding to help a young girl and a

 

mother

who had no other desire but to bring honor to our country.  Given a 

budget

for only a one night stay at the hotel, mother and daughter had to 

check

out the following day. Leaving their luggage on deposit and without 

money

for transportation fare, they decided to walk two kilometers to the

competition venue on their native Filipino costumes.  If walking a two

kilometer distance was bad enough, how much more would be walking the

distance on their native costume along the highways of Australia!

 

 

 Upon arrival at the competition site, Faye and her mom were very 

surprised

when they discovered that the delegates from each of the other 

countries

were well supported by a band, a cheering squad, and a flag, while Faye

only had her mother and the anxiety of lost passports and plane 

tickets.

Worse, representatives of each country were required to decorate their

booths.  With only the three-piece costume they had on, Faye and her 

mom

were even more surprised when the organizing committee awarded their 

booth

as "The Most Creative" booth.  In the early part of the competition, 

Japan,

Brazil and Spain were eliminated. As the only Asian country left to 

compete

against six Western nations, the Philippines was cheered on by Japan. 

Faye

was encouraged by her Japanese cheering squad, but in her heart, how 

she

wished that she had her own countrymen to cheer her on. 

 When Faye 

finally

won first place and the Philippine national anthem was being played, 

she

prayed silently thanking God for making her a Filipina.

 

 

Despite all the painful experiences she had with her country, her

priorities did not waver. A Japanese diplomat was the one who helped 

Faye

and her mom to secure temporary pass so they could return to the

Philippines. The money they won was just enough for their fare back 

home

and their temporary passport. When Faye was relating this story before

 

a

crowd, she said, "Let us love our nation, for nobody else will."

 

 

Faye did not allow her painful experiences to tear down her loyalty to 

her

country. She is not a celebrity but a servant out to serve her fellow

Filipinos.  A Small Way to Greatness. Our concept of leadership in this

country is pitifully skewed. We mistakenly think that leadership is 

about

"lording" it over other people. Christ corrected this distorted 

thinking

when he said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of

 the

Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority

over them. Not so with you, instead, whoever wants to become great 

among

you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave

 of all - Mark 10:42-44

 

 Sadly, we are far from the

 precept of this truth. It is no surprise 

then

that we have a dearth of real leaders in this country -leaders who 

would

set the nation's interests above their own. In the same way, our 

concept of

citizenship is damaged. Those seeking for social good for themselves 

are

never willing to grant the same good to others. Hence it is common for 

us

to hear stories of Filipinos who take  advantage of their fellow 

citizens.

 

 

We want to be served, but we are unwilling to serve. We dream of 

becoming

like Jasmine Trias. We want our children to be like her. We would 

rather

spend on things that would make us look good instead of things that 

would

make us grow in character. We prefer stardom glitter over 

service-oriented

endeavors.

 

 

Quite the contrary, Faye spend sleepless nights studying to win the

competition because she knows her priorities. Unlike Jasmine Trias, 

Faye

did not receive a hero's welcome when she cam back, but, young as she 

is,

she keeps calling on Filipinos to love the Philippines because every

Filipino is a valuable gift of God.

 

 

Life, really is not a matter of intelligence but a matter of setting 

our

priorities

 right. The question is, what's our focus on "grand" things 

that

make us superficial or on simple things that lead us to greatness?  

Faye's

story reminds us all to look within ourselves. This eleven year old

 

girl

could have complained to the media, but she did not. She went out of 

her

own small way to bring greatness to this land.  Right priorities grant 

us

wisdom. When properly set, priorities point us to the right people we 

need to invest in, the right use of our energy, the right resources to draw

from, and the right endeavors support.

 

 

From the words of Faye's mother, "We all wanted to win, but success is 

not

measured through by merely winning. It is measured through our hearts, 

if

it is truly attuned with God all the time. It is all that really 

matters

for we have only an Audience of One. Whatever we have achieved, big or

small, remember one thing: it is for God and God alone. The King of the

Kingdom of a higher world..