Local vs Imported Goods

June 29, 2007

I went to the grocery a few days ago.  One of the items on my list was garlic.  I went over to the produce area and what I found was a clear illustration of how local farmers and producers simply CANNOT compete with imported goods - especially those coming from developed countries where the methods of production are far more advanced than our own.

 

In this picture, 150 gms of Native Garlic is selling for around PHP22 while 500 gms of Taiwan Garlic is selling for around PHP 23.  That's a huge difference, especially now that the Peso has gone up against the USD, there's no telling how much more the prices of imported goods will drop. 

 

I ended up buying the locally produced garlic, for the sake patriotism.  Why do we even have to import this stuff when we can obviously produce our own?  Can't we accommodate the demand of the country?  It must be difficult enough for our farmers to compete with large and organised industries, but allowing foreign goods to flood the country is just blatant disregard for their welfare.

Brunei Pics

June 19, 2007

These are just some random pictures from my visit to Brunei last week for a friend's wedding.  Because of how they're saved in my computer, they tend to follow a chronological order with some misplaced pictures here and there.

Brunei as a country is pretty boring maybe mostly due to its physical size and the size of its population.  It has just about the same excitement as a small baranggay in a far off province.  Not that Brunei is an undeveloped coutry.  On the contrary, they have impeccable road infrastructure.  It's just that the size of their population does not generate the kind of demand that would make it economical or would allow it to sustain the sort of social and entertainment venues like, say, the Philippines.  For example, their largest mall is no bigger and not much better than our Walter-Mart but with much much less choices. 

Anyway, here're the pictures.

Saying goodbye to the Philippines

Air

Earth

Hello Brunei

At Empire

Towering columns

Mosque 

 

Some peeps at Empire

The peeps at Viv’s House

The green stuff

Peeking duck

Red stuff

The door

Got milk?

Doing the dance

Some terrible dancing

This guy is trying to hump me

Some terrible humping

The Bride

Tea

What a headache I’ve got

Tradition

Tradition

The couple with the bridesmaids

With the groomsmen

At the groom’s house

Incense

One of the wondrous sights in Brunei

Me drinking the pipino juice

Pink girl 

Bridesmaids and groomsmen

Walking the aisle

With whatever her name is… oh, Cynthia

The Waiter

Peeps at dinner

The boys

With the bride and groom

The gang

With Jenny

That's what it's all about

The boys again

Hiphop pose

With CH

Dancing

Doing the robot

Party

Party peeps

Angas pose

Ridiculous

Another angas pose

Sisters

With Gary

With Gary and Mandy

With Jenny

Gangbanger

Westside

Flip

Yup, Flip

Eva, Senem and Me

With the girls

Pull tea

Snacks

 

Goodbye Brunei

Hello Philippines

The Successful Types

June 1, 2007

Three types of people generally achieve success or have the darndest easiest time getting there:  the Beautiful, the Ruthless and the Opportunists.

 

 

Success is a bit of a tricky expression.  It’s subjective for the most part, dependent on what the individual aspires for or hopes to achieve.  However, for the purpose of this article, we will define success as obtaining status and/or wealth.

 

 

The Beautiful

 

 

The Beautiful are the painters, singers, writers and even athletes, people who achieve success by generating beauty through art and other physical forms, and those who are just physically beautiful.

 

 

They all have it easy.  They can be successful by almost doing nothing.  A lot of people would find it unjust that someone could achieve so much by mere preening and posing, and yet that very same lot would secretly and ashamedly marvel at their beauty or the beauty they produce. 

 

 

They can become successful by association, relying on the success of others to be deemed successful themselves.  The Beautiful are successful because they are so desired that even for just looking at them, one can put a price.  What more the price for owning them? 

 

 

They have it easy because nature is on their side.  While it is medically possible to make one-self beautiful or to get all the physical training and education the arts, there is no replacing those that are born or grow up with beauty.  Biology is on their side.  They are predisposed to beauty.  They are naturally stronger, faster and more able.  They have the natural eye for beauty, able to distinguish what is beautiful and thereby create what is beautiful.  There is no replacement for just having it.

 

 

They are a treasure in themselves, physical representatives of that which we wish to be hence world’s infatuation with stars and celebrities.  Some might say that there is no substance to beauty, that it is all superficial. True but there is no denying the fact that we all desire beauty and we all want to be beautiful.

 

 

Ironically, there is an ugly side to beauty.  First of all, beauty is subjective.  What was beautiful yesterday and today will not necessarily be beautiful tomorrow.  What is beautiful to one person is not necessarily beautiful to another.  There are generally agreed upon standards for beauty, but even these change as time progresses. 

 

 

Secondly, beauty is not as rare as we think.  We all desire the beautiful but it is only normal for the beautiful to likewise desire the beautiful, just as any successful person naturally gravitates towards other successful people.  And so there is a perception of rarity.  However, if there any true rarity, it is beauty that transcends time and culture – but to be beautiful no matter what is no easy task. 

 

 

Finally, but most importantly, beauty is fleeting.  One can have it for only such a short period of time.  If not because of changing trends, one will lose beauty due to the passing of time – objects of beauty will rust and decay, people will age.

 

 

The Opportunists

 

 

Also known as the Lucky, Opportunists achieve success sometimes by luck but, most of the time, by the ability to spot opportunity.  They are not active seekers but rather they just go about their daily lives, not necessarily waiting for the right moment, but when the right moment does come along, they pounce on it. 

 

 

They can become successful just by being at the right place at the right time, or of having the right stuff, whether knowledge or skills, when it is required.  They are the people who win the lottery, or those who get promoted due to need.  They are those who don’t necessarily have a plan but seem to have everything fall into place.  And they are those who perform well when responsibility is thrust upon them.

 

 

The downside, obviously, is that opportunity is exactly what it is, just opportunity.  Opportunists could end up waiting forever or as long as their lives permit.  And opportunity is nothing but the chance to do something, an opening, a window.  You can jump through it but who knows where you’ll land.

 

 

The Ruthless

 

 

The Ruthless are the real workhorses.  They strive for success.  They are the ones who truly achieve their success because they desire it and they will do anything and everything to reach it.  They’re not necessarily smarter but their passion is so strong that it is nearly impossible to stop them.  Those who call The Beautiful superficial would believe that the Ruthless have true substance.

 

 

They prove that one does not have to be beautiful or lucky to achieve success and that one only needs to want something enough to do anything for it.  And so, this is where everyone else who does not fall within the other two types may be categorized.  But it’s still a matter of choice because not everybody has the will, the desire or the passion to trudge along and persist no matter what.

 

 

However, like the opportunists, there is no guarantee.  Many people work all their lives to achieve nothing.  The right decisions have to be made along the way otherwise it’s just a complete waste of time working on something that provides no prospect of success.  But, as opposed to the Opportunists, the Ruthless actively seek their success and so have a greater shot at it.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

There is a fourth type but their success is not inherent in their character.  They are those who obtain the status of success by inheritance. 

 

 

There is no telling what the best way to become successful is and a person cannot simply choose to be one or the other.  What is certain, however, is that one needs to have a little bit of everything to achieve a little bit of success.  Success is also temporary, it can be had for a long time or even a life time but success is not forever.  Also, not everybody can be successful otherwise there would be no such thing as success but we can always be successful in our own little ways.  Finally, success is not necessarily happiness but it sure helps.