Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Personal Views on Three Filipino Issues

…Education, School Activities, Christmas

By Apolinario Villalobos

I have nothing against the education, the requirements and activities, and the celebration of “traditions”, but it seems that the practices have gone overboard. Instead of helping, they have created more problems – FINANCIALLY to the impoverished.

EDUCATION is very necessary, no question about that. Unfortunately, the K-12 system has added misery to the parents who can hardly send their children to the former 4-year high school as the new system has stretched their financial agony by two more years. Due to the haphazard implementation of the system, many schools have been caught without the necessary facilities for effective implementation. Before, a high school graduate may already have the chance to work as a store attendant or a security guard so that he or she can earn and save for his or her college education. Today, the parents must spend for the education of their children beyond the Grade 10 up to 12 so that the “high school” education has been attained for a diploma needed for a job as sales lady, security guard, messenger, etc. Why the need for the extra 2 years, then, when the graduates shall land on the same kind of job? I have not yet mentioned here the corrupted printing of text books which have been converted into workbooks that are discarded every end of the school year as  this long-time issue may just ruin the day of viewers.

SCHOOLS COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER IN IMPLEMENTING REQUIREMENTS AND HOLDING OF ACTIVITIES. In first year high school, there is already a requirement for a “thesis” which many students do not even understand. To be able to complete a requirement, they practically “copy/paste” materials from the internet. Some schools right at the early opening of classes are already requiring students to join “educational tours” supposedly as part of a certain “module”. Those who cannot afford the expensive trip are required to submit a report that require them to go to the internet where they spend long hours of browsing and copy/pasting, printing and collating of materials that they stole from the different sites. Where is the connection of the educational trip to the supposedly research?

Here is a classic story of a young mother who sells pastil as a livelihood to help her husband who drives a tricycle with a “boundary” of Php150 a day….to send their 3 children to high school. Since October this year, she has incurred a total loaned amount of Php8,000.00 that she used for the “school requirements” and lately for the “family day” and “Christmas party”. I need not elaborate on the “school requirements”. But the “family day” and “Christmas party” are two activities that should be thought of…as regards their necessity. For practical reasons due to the financial difficulty of the time, are they really necessary when so many families can hardly afford to give their children decent school allowance? After the family day that is supposed to bond the family, the impertinent children are back to their cellfones while the poor mothers are back to their laundry, cooking and cleaning of the house. Unfortunately, as I am writing this, the poor mother and her husband have yet to pay, Php3,000 as balance of their loan…and the year is already ending!

CHRISTMASTIME IS GIVING, NOT ASKING FOR GIFTS….IT IS ALSO SUPPOSEDLY, THE “BIRTHDAY (?)” OF JESUS  CHRIST. Unfortunately, the parents should be faulted on why children have the wrong notion about the season. In this regard, children are sad if they have no new clothes, toys, no expensive food on the table. Also, instead of thinking about the impoverished as the recipients of material gifts intended for Jesus, they want to have them for their own gratification.

On the other hand, lest I be misunderstood, I like the unifying intention for the celebration of Christmas, but there is a need for its utmost understanding. Many Christians already know how the pagan-based celebration has started. For the sake of unity, there has to be a reason for getting together. Feasts have to be celebrated as man by nature loves festivities and rich food….the way pagans of long ago wanted them. THE PROBLEM IS, MANY OF THOSE WHO OBSERVE THE TRADITION TODAY ARE OBSERVING IT WITH ARROGANCE...THEY FLAUNT TO THE WORLD THEIR EXCESSSES IN LIFE…WITHOUT THROWING A CRUMB TO THOSE WITH THE LEAST IN LIFE.

The “Best Seller Syndrome”

By Apolinario Villalobos

A very popular book store in the Philippines patronizes “best sellers”…books of foreign authors. They are prominently displayed right at the entrance of their stores. To cap their promotion effort founded on the colonial mentality of Filipinos, the establishment invites the foreign authors to come over all the way from their so-called “first world” homelands…to sign purchased books which the suckers devour with all their best literary duplicity.

Judging a book is subjective, a fact that cannot be questioned. What can be the best material for one may be trash for another. But an impression can be a very significant influencing factor. How can that fact be questioned when all it needs for a book to be grabbed at bookstores is a review made by influential people…known in their respective field, that do not necessarily show them as literary personalities. This attitude is akin to the “identified with” syndrome, too.

Some Filipinos buy popular books, especially, the hard-bound sets of encyclopedia to create an impression so they are prominently displayed in living rooms. Some friends unabashedly admit that they have not opened any volume of the set and that they are there, just for display, without of course expressing their desire to enhance the sophisticated impression that they practically try to solicit from their visitors.

When word spread about an obscure book that happened to be a favorite of a rags-to-riches business tycoon, suckers rushed to book stores to buy a copy or two, with the extra as a gift to a friend, complete with a “dedication” where the information about its being read by a famous Filipino businessman is also scribbled. I got my copy this way – from a friend who tries hard to make an impression that he is “intelligent”, just because he reads a lot. I have come across the book long before it became popular and sold for only just less than a hundred pesos, but when it got popular the tag price has soared between 300-400 pesos depending on the store selling it. I also found the book prominently displayed in offices I visited, as some kind of a coffee table book.

During one of my visits to a book store, I came across a book with a triangulized corner note about its being the fifth edition, and with sold copies running to millions. This time my sucker instinct made me buy a copy, parting with my hard-earned pesos, especially, because, as the synopsis at the outside back cover said, it was indeed a good read. In the evening when I browsed through the pages thoroughly, my blood pressure shot up because many paragraphs were enclosed with quotation marks…meaning, contents were copied with impunity though with the safety of the said literary marks and  bibliography which ate up 14 pages! I did not notice them when I bought the book because I was in a hurry, and I trusted the “best seller” come on. There went my 300 pesos! In my disgust, I burned the trash!

On the Value of Books, Magazines, Etc.

By Apolinario Villalobos

I just cannot understand how some people can fail to appreciate the value of books, magazines, etc. just because they are two, three or more years old. For them such materials are already outdated, so they do not deserve appreciation. The fact is, these materials, especially books can be updated while retaining their historical usefulness, hence, never outdated. Books are updated based on the old editions, and this is necessary, as some authors are found to bungle or distort facts, especially, on political issues.

Even for scientific and technical books that are supposed to be updated regularly due to the fast turnover of new ideas and discoveries, there is still a need to maintain old editions so that basic information will always be on hand, in case of verification.

The notion that hard copies of books are no longer necessary with the onset of high technology is wrong. What the cyberspace keeps in its archives are actually digitized old books and their new editions if there are, for easy reference. Important issues here are the convenience and affordability of access, as not everybody can afford the installation of computers at home or the expense for browsing in internet cafes. On the other hand, there are the so-called e-books, but such are just “versions” of printed ones. In fact, some authors venture into e-book publication first, to sell their books on-line which is easier, but still print them later, using the earnings.

While before, the book was considered as a precious commodity for the acquisition of knowledge, today, book publication is viewed more as a very profitable business venture. This is the reason why the questionable Philippine educational system has allowed the “conversion” of text books into workbooks with the insertion of a portion on questions and answers at the end of each chapter. This practice of the educational institutions, including government agencies, in connivance with the unscrupulous publishers and agents has made many people shamefully rich on one end, while on the other end, the parents and students suffer. In their haste for printing, some books even come off the press with so many errors. The practice no longer made possible the passing on of old books to younger members of the family, as buying new sets with unanswered questions at the end of chapters, has become necessary and a requirement of the school.

People love trivia. But where do all the information come from? – old books and magazines! Those found in the internet are the upload, patiently done by website owners that earn through ads squeezed in available spaces of their site’s pages, or number of viewers they generate. This is how servers and website owners in the cyberspace earn. Netizens thought that they owe a lot to them thinking that they are the originators of the information, when all these website owners do is upload information. On the other hand, the servers only provide space for these websites from which they earn enormous income. 

I have no quarrel with the servers and website owners, but my effort here is directed at how people have been misled by thinking that because of the computers, hard copies of reading materials have become obsolete or on a kindlier view, unreliable.

Before the onset of the internet, students had no choice but to diligently turn the pages of books to cull the needed information for their theses. They were forced to make summaries or condense sourced materials. But because of the advance technology, some of them just “copy” and “paste” pages from sources in the internet, make minimal revisions, by deleting sentences and paragraphs, then, collate them into a “thesis”. That is the ongoing sad reality.

When I did a job on the side editing theses of students from a reputable university, I discovered one time, that four drafts were identical word for word – with the same source in the internet. Two other students tried their best to be authentic by jumbling the sequence of paragraphs that they copied and collated. And there’s the story shared by a librarian about two similar theses, but with submission dates of more than ten years apart.  They were discovered later when a researcher took note of the similarity and called the librarian’s attention about it. And, there’s a classic story of how the whole content of a thesis reference was peeled off from its cover by a student researcher, and who inserted folded newspapers, afterwards, as replacement to make the reference material look intact when it was returned to the librarian who did not bother to check.

I am not saying that we fill whatever space we have at home and offices with books and magazines and hold on to them till time eternal.  What I am trying to share is the restraint that we should observe in disposing books and other reading materials that have outlived their immediate usefulness. What we do not need can be shared, instead of dumping them in garbage bins. What shocked me was when I found two copies of pocket edition of Bible in a box of junk, and worse, a copy of Koran in another junk shop! I found my rare copies of biography of Queen Victoria, “Pepe En Pilar”, and “Codigo Penal” printed in 1870, in a pile of junks sold on a sidewalk.

As a high school and college student in Notre Dame of Tacurong, a parochial school in the far southern province of Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao, I had a grand time poring over the pages of National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, and Encyclopedias in our library, all old editions, solicited by Oblate priests in the United States. Some of them were even dated as early as 1950’s, especially, the Reader’s Digest and National Geographic, but I still enjoyed reading them. We were lucky, as our bespectacled librarian, Leonardo Ninte and his student assistants, carefully, rebound the reading materials, to make them endure regular handling. A good number of shelves in the library were filled with donated books, with only very few important current editions purchased due to the scant fund of the school. Those “outdated” materials helped me a lot in developing my love for reading. Accordingly, if some people who are in charge of libraries today will nurture an attitude of abhorrence to old books, they will eventually deny others the opportunity to earn knowledge from books, be they old or new.

The fast advancing technology on information is proving its great help to mankind. But we should understand that technology in whatever form has limitations. The gadgets we see now as “repository” of information, still need to be fed with basic information by man as basis for their mechanical “intelligent” subsequent actions. Most importantly, what are fed to these machines come from the human brain. These invented and fabricated machines come about as forms of convenience that man seeks tirelessly for his comfort. Man started with barks, leaves, rocks and even pot shards in recording events long time ago. What resulted into modern day codices – books, should therefore be given due respect and importance for all their worth which is fathomless. To tip the balance in favor of these machines as regards the perception on the value of books, therefore, is not fair.

On the Value of Books, Magazines, Etc.

By Apolinario Villalobos

I just cannot understand how some people can fail to appreciate the value of books, magazines, etc. just because they are two, three or more years old. For them such materials are already outdated, so they do not deserve appreciation. The fact is, these materials, especially books can be updated but they retain their historical usefulness, hence, never outdated. Books are updated based on the old editions, and this is necessary, as some authors are found to bungle or distort facts, especially, on political issues. One example here is about the first Mass held in the Philippines, whether it was at Massao in Butuan or Limasawa Island in Leyte. The author of the old Philippine history book contended that it was held in Limasawa when his book was published during the administration of Marcos. There was a popular notion that it was done to please the First Lady who is from Leyte. When Marcos was ousted, those who were protesting in silence, took courage and became more vocal about the issue.

Even for scientific and technical books that are supposed to be updated regularly due to the fast turnover of new ideas and discoveries, there is still a need to maintain old editions so that basic information will always be on hand, in case of verification.

The notion that hard copies of books are no longer necessary with the onset of advance technology, is wrong. What the cyberspace keeps in its archives are actually digitized old books and their new editions if there are, for easy reference. Important issues here are the convenience and affordability of access, as not everybody can afford the installation of computers at home or afford the expense for browsing in internet cafes. On the other hand, there are so-called e-books, but such are just “versions” of printed ones. In fact, some authors venture into e-book publication to sell their books on-line which is easier, but still print them later, using earnings money from the viewers of their e-books.

While before, the book was considered as a precious commodity for the acquisition of knowledge, today, book publication is viewed as a very profitable business venture. This is the reason why the questionable Philippine educational system has allowed the “conversion” of text books into workbooks with the insertion of questions and portions for answers at the end of each chapter. This wicked practice of the educational institutions, including government agencies, in connivance with the unscrupulous publishers and agents has made many people shamefully rich on one end, while on the other end, parents and students suffer. In their haste for printing, some books even come off the press with so many errors. The practice no longer made possible the passing on of old books to younger members of the family, as buying new sets with unanswered questions at the end of chapters, has become necessary.

People love trivia. But where do all the information come from? – old books and magazines! Those found in the internet are the upload, patiently done by website owners that earn through ads squeezed in available spaces of their site’s pages,  or number of viewers they generate. This is how servers and website owners in the cyberspace earn. Netizens thought that they owe a lot to them, thinking that they are the originators of the information, when all these website owners do is upload information. On the other hand, the servers only provide space for these websites from which they earn enormous income. 

I have no quarrel with the servers and website owners, but my effort here is directed at how people have been misled by thinking that because of the computers, hard copies of reading materials have become obsolete or on a kindlier view, unreliable.

Before the onset of the internet, students had no choice but to diligently turn the pages of books to cull the needed information for their theses. They were forced to make summaries or condense sourced materials. But because of the advance technology, some of them just “copy” and “paste” pages from sources in the internet, make minimal revisions, by deleting sentences and paragraphs, then, collate them into a “thesis”. That is the ongoing sad reality.

When I did a job on the side, editing theses of students from a reputable university, I discovered one time, that four drafts were identical word for word – with the same source in the internet. Two other students tried their best to be authentic by jumbling the sequence of paragraphs that they copied and collated. And there’s the story shared by a librarian about two similar theses, but with submission dates of more than ten years apart!  They were discovered later when a researcher took note of the similarity and called the librarian’s attention about it. And, there’s a classic story of how the whole content of a thesis reference was peeled off from its cover by a student researcher, and who inserted folded newspapers, afterwards, as replacement to make the reference material look intact when it was returned to the librarian who did not bother to check.

I am not saying that we fill whatever space we have at home and offices with books and magazines and hold on to them till time eternal.  What I am trying to share is the restraint that we should observe in disposing books and other reading materials that have outlived their immediate usefulness. What we do not need can be shared, instead of dumping them in garbage bins. What shocked me was when I found two copies of pocket edition of Bible in a box of junk, and worse, a copy of Koran in another junk shop! I found my rare copies of biography of Queen Victoria, “Pepe En Pilar”, and “Codigo Penal” printed in 1870, in a pile of junks sold on a sidewalk.

As a high school and college student in Notre Dame of Tacurong, a parochial school in the far southern province of Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao, I had a grand time poring over the pages of National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, and Encyclopedias in our library, all old editions, solicited by Oblate priests in the United States. Some of them were even dated as early as 1950’s, especially, the Reader’s Digest and National Geographic, but I still enjoyed reading them. We were lucky, as our bespectacled librarian, Leonardo Ninte and his student assistants, carefully, rebound the reading materials, to make them endure regular handling. A good number of shelves in the library were filled with donated books, with only very few important current editions purchased due to the scant fund of the school. Those “outdated” materials helped me a lot in developing my love for reading. Accordingly, if some people who are in charge of libraries today will nurture an attitude of abhorrence to old books, they will eventually deny others the opportunity to earn knowledge from books, be they old or new.

The fast advancing technology on information is proving its great help to mankind. But we should understand that technology in whatever form has limitations. The gadgets we see now as “repository” of information, still need to be fed with basic information by man as basis for their mechanical “intelligent” subsequent actions. Most importantly, what are fed to these machines come from the human brain. These invented and fabricated machines come about as forms of convenience that man seeks tirelessly for his comfort. Man started with barks, leaves, rocks and even pot shards in recording events long time ago. What resulted into modern day codices – books, should therefore be given due respect and importance for all their worth which is fathomless. To tip the balance in favor of these machines as regards the perception on the value of books, therefore, is not fair.