Online cheers

Of the New Year’s messages I read on the Internet, here are two that touched me to the core. The first is the speech by Queen Elizabeth on the 40th anniversary of her succession (Annus horribilis). I quote portions of her speech. She said, “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an ‘Annus Horribilis’. (Columnist: the term is Latin, meaning horrible year.) I suspect that I am not alone in thinking it is so. Indeed, I suspect that there are very few people or institutions unaffected by the last months of worldwide turmoil and uncertainty . . .

“. . . Years of experience . . . have made us a bit more canny than the lady, less well versed than us in the splendours of City hospitality, who, when she was offered a balloon glass for her brandy, asked for ‘only half a glass, please’.

“It is possible to have too much of a good thing. A well-meaning Bishop was obviously doing his best when he told Queen Victoria, ‘Ma’am, we cannot pray too often, nor too fervently, for the Royal Family’. The Queen’s reply was: ‘Too fervently, no; too often, yes’. I, like Queen Victoria, have always been a believer in that old maxim ‘moderation in all things’.

“I sometimes wonder how future generations will judge the events of this tumultuous year. I dare say that history will take a slightly more moderate view than that of some contemporary commentators. Distance is well-known to lend enchantment, even to the less attractive views. After all, it has the inestimable advantage of hindsight.

“But it can also lend an extra dimension to judgement, giving it a leavening of moderation and compassion – even of wisdom – that is sometimes lacking in the reactions of those whose task it is in life to offer instant opinions on all things great and small.

“No section of the community has all the virtues, neither does any have all the vices. I am quite sure that most people try to do their jobs as best as they can, even if the result is not always entirely successful. He who has never failed to reach perfection has a right to be the harshest critic.

“There can be no doubt, of course, that criticism is good for people and institutions that are part of public life. No institution – City, Monarchy, whatever – should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don’t.

“But we are all part of the same fabric of our national society and that scrutiny, by one part of another, can be just as effective if it is made with a touch of gentleness, good humor and understanding.”

* * * I have often wondered about the abysmal grief and frustration of people who have been living behind bars for years, hopelessly waiting for the judicial determination of their cases. Why cannot our courts decide on their cases, they be guilty or not, to end their suffering and, if found guilty, accept the verdict as such? Such is the cruel slowness of our justice system.

The second message I caught online is the prayer tweeted by Sen. Leila de Lima, who has been confined in the Philippine National Police Custodial center in Camp Crame on drug charges for three years now. Why cannot the court or whatever authorities or beasts act on her case, and declare whether she is indeed guilty? The senator tweeted this prayer, dated 12/21/19:

“Thank you, dear Lord, for all the blessings mostly unexpected, in the exiting year, and for future blessings in the coming year!

“Thank you for constantly watching over me, with your boundless mercy and grace!

“Thank you, Mama Mary, for your loving intercession that I ceaselessly plead.

“Mine is a firm faith that right must ultimately prevail. I thus welcome the New Year with an unbending belief in the power of good – the power of God – to overcome evil.

“I pray for justice and a liberating 2020, Senator de Lima tweeted.

* * * Responding to my column (Dec. 10, 2019) on the use of Zonta-produced comic books to inform teenagers about the dangers of teenage pregnancy, reader Lily Galace writes:

“I commend the use of comic books in reaching teens. I am guessing that young people who grew up in the 50s and 60s have better reading comprehension because of comic books. My father owned a large bookstore in our town and flocks of young people would come to buy Tagalog comic books (Hiwaga, Pilipino) as well as English comic books (fairy tales like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast) or English adventures (Superman, Batman). Those who could not afford to buy would rent them for 5 centavos. These were illustrated comic books so young people could easily relate to the stories. We also sold newspapers and magazines which were very popular. For the young adults, we sold Mills and Boon books and even some classics. My first book was Gulliver’s Travel I took from our bookstore.

“Our bookstore is long gone, none of us children wanted to stay in a small town, but they were glory days for young people who loved to read in my town.

“In high school I studied English and American literature along with Rizal’s Noli and Fili. In college, required reading were Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Shakespeare, etc – no Filipino authors.

“My brother came across a thick book entitled 100 years of American Stories. I brought it to Australia. The book was chronologically arranged and I found it difficult to relate to the stories of the authors in late 1800, early 1900. I would read the story and wonder what that was all about – the vernacular was strange, the characters were alien to me. It was a struggle to read the stories by supposedly the best American authors.

“I read about Solidaridad Bookshop from you and I finally was able to find the time for my brother and me to go to the bookstore. I bought Sionil Jose’s 5-book series and two of Nick Joaquin’s (The Woman with two Navels and one other).

“My reading fare had always been foreign authors (Tolstoy, Dumas, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Austen and Perry Mason in my younger years). In my retirement years, I have decided to correct this.

“I don’t know what books are being taught now but it is time Filipino authors are in schools’ curriculum, if it is not being done yet. Homer and Shakespeare were good for classical education but it is not easy for current students to relate to these authors, especially as many will not go beyond high school, or even grade school.

“My view is that reading comprehension would improve dramatically if students

were made to read relatable and interesting stories. There are many books that would teach Filipino culture and traditions and hopefully make our young students proud to be Filipino.”

(Ms. Galace lives in San Narciso, Zambales. She returned to the Philippines in November 2012 after working in Australia for 32 years. Her work in Australia had been mostly in the administrative area, as an executive assistant to top executives in large corporations. She worked for Oral-B/Gillette, Lotus/IBM, and with the Salvation Army in their training school for their ministers (Booth College).