from an e-mail
"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 Australiathat won "The Best Physics
and Science Award". The award qualified the Philippinesto 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 Australiato 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 - Japanand 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 int 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,
2004for the competition. They claimed the trophy and cash award for the
"Best Physics" thesis Faye submitted in Sidneyand then flew to Brisbane for
the quiz competition.
No kababayan welcomed them in Australiaexcept 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, Braziland 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 Philippinesnational 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 Filipino.
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
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 spent 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