Siftings 21
My (Some!) New Year's Resolutions
As far as anyone can remember, Christmas Eve has always been quieter than New Year's Eve. Where we are in Fremont, CA, the latter is even quieter, with people smothered in their winter clothes and the reality of getting home before the stroke of midnight, according to custom. I don't know if that Pinoy custom is also followed by other cultures here, but to my observation, the Pinoys here bought their media noche fare before midnight and quietly stayed home to watch the Big Countdown on Times Square in New York, where no less than former Pres. Bill Clinton and wife Sen. Hillary officiated at the "rites", drawing appreciative grins when they went into their New Year's clinch.
Back then, in the long ago when I was a young girl, my mother would hold her Grand New Year's Day Blow-out at lunchtime, having invited the whole kith and kin within calling/inviting distance, including the neighbors with their kith and kin, etc.; so that by the end of the day, our household would have fed the whole neighborhood and more, having dispatched the lechon proper and lechon de leche, Chinese hamon, kare-kare, arroz valenciana, fried chicken, salads, pork barbecue, kambing caldereta, bangus relleno, leche flan, yemas, suman, ibus, apples, oranges, boiled chestnuts and walnuts (which we dutifully cracked between the door and the wall), Hersheys Kisses, Baby Ruths, etc.,etc.,etc. I know it reads like a restaurant menu, but food then was a whole lot cheaper and easier to come by, including the imported fruits and chocolates. And money was not scarce, it came with the bonus and the 13thmonth pay together, and there were all those gift baskets (usually no less than 3 every Christmas) from Papa's business associates and importers and the ubiquitous Chinese ham from Tiya Aqui's New China Grocery which was a Mecca for Ilonggo food fanciers who wanted not just the salty Chinese ham but also the very sticky-yummy New Year's tikoy! I believe that the abundance of food was the real reason less people got hurt from firecrackers on New Year's Eve then! People, esp. children, were too engrossed in eating all that spread that they forgot to light up their firecrackers. Of course, we didn't have super lolos and piccolos and what-nots then. All we had were sparklers, a few Roman candles, and later, watusis which street children would grind with their bare heels!
What a world of difference. As I watched the news on TFC replaying the events of New Year's Eve and the casualties that, year in year out consist of: burned or cut fingers/hands, scarred faces and necks, burned houses and firecracker factories, even deaths from stray bullets, I am consumed with bitter amazemant at how backward and stupid our people, esp. the masa, can be. At times like this, I don't care much for Ninoy's: "The Filipino is worth dying for." Is this the people he died for?
Which brings me to my New Year's Resolution, or Resolutions. It's a wonder why I should even bother at all. But there's a bit of the child still gasping to survive in me, and I have come up here with a list of wish-fulfillment rather than resolutions that Someone up there may help come to pass. Or maybe some Magical Power like the Tooth Fairy who comes in the night to make wishes come true when you've just lost a tooth and hid it under your bed to make a wish come true. For my list, one would need one gigantic tooth to summon all the Tooth Fairies in the world to help the poor Filipino nation's Dream come true! But what Dream, what Nation? Aye, there's the rub, as Hamlet would say. Anyway, here's my New Year's Resolutions for 2009:
I hereby resolve that the following issues and scandals that have rocked the Filipino Nation in 2008 be completely given their day in court in 2009, with their perpetrators given just punishment behind bars or exiled to the frozen fastness of outer space; and with that, may the people whom they victimized or marginalized given their just rewards for merit:
-- That the Jocjoc Bolante Fertilizer scam, the ZTE-NBN Broadband Deal, and other scams be brought to Light and Justice before the elections in 2010 so that those involved could be prosecuted;
-- That GMA, her family and cohorts be made accountable for their 'kakulangan' to the Filipino people who seem too scared and awed by their show of political and military power;
-- That our economy will improve somehow despite these corrupt practices and the global recession;
-- That Filipino OCW's be given government support all the way-- financial, social, emotional, etc.,-- for the hard times they are going through now and in the near future;
-- That the Filipino masa and the poorest of our poor be given economic alleviation and a chance to live more decently;
-- That our politicians, local and national, be made to undergo total moral, social and spiritual rehabilitation for the benefit of the nation and people;
-- That we Filipinos become more proud, in the right and progressive way, of our history and culture, and stop being copycats;
-- That our national consciousness as a people be improved, if not totally realized, given our 'showbiz' orientation;
-- That Filipinos worldwide be given the chance and encouragement to come home to a politically secure,financially stable and culturally enriched society;
-- And finally, that the Philippines, at last, be on its way to becoming a true nation: economically strong, proud of its history and culture, and free from the burdens of corruption, ignorance and poverty.
I have said my piece. And may I add: May we all have the Hope and Peace we deserve as a People in this year 2009! Amen.