Tag: December 16, 2007

MALAKING bahagi ng buhay ng isang tao ang paglalakbay. Sa pamamagitan nito, umuunlad ang ating mga karanasan, lumalawak ang ating mga pananaw, at yumayaman ang ating mga isipan.

Masasabing nakabatay sa kaisipang ito ang mga kuwento sa Komposo ni Dandansoy: Mga Kwento sa Hiligaynon at Filipino (UST Publishing House, 2007) ni Genevieve Asenjo. Si Asenjo ay kasalukuyang Assistant Director ng Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center sa De La Salle University kung saan nagtuturo rin siya ng mga asignatura sa panitikan at malikhaing pagsulat.

Matutunghayan sa mga pahina nito ang paglalarawan hindi lamang ng mga dahilan ng pangingibang-bayan ng mga Pilipino kung hindi maging kung paano nila hinarap ang mga pagbabago sa kanilang pagbabalik sa mga pinagmulang lugar.

PASADO alas-otso na. Tulad ng dati, nahuli na naman ako sa trabaho. Gaya ng aking inaasahan, dinatnan kong maasim na naman ang mukha ni Boss nang makita niya akong humahangos na pumasok sa loob ng pagawaan. Pinandidilatan niya ako nang siya’y lumapit sa akin. Inusisa niya kung bakit sa ikatlong beses sa linggong ito ay lumampas muli ako sa takdang oras ng pasok sa pabrika.

“Sir, trapik po, eh,” paliwanag ko sabay kamot sa ulo. Subalit ang totoo nito ay tanghali na akong nagigising. Madalas na kasi akong nago-overtime kaya’t hindi na rin ako nakatutulog nang maaga.

“Simple lang naman ang solusyon diyan. Umalis ka sa bahay niyo nang mas maaga,” ani Boss. “Sige, magtrabaho ka na.”

Inumpisahan ko na ang paglalagay ng mga laruan sa mga kahon. Tungkulin naming gawin ito habang nakahilera pa ang mga ito. Bukod pa rito, gawain din namin ang pagdadamit sa mga manika o kaya’y pagkakabit sa mga parte ng mga laruang kotse.

By these waves is chaos-in-waiting.
So for that sylph, hold back no words in caressing.

Crests and troughs retreat from white foam to the shade of black glass.
And if the wind grants your wish for a pirouette, never let it pass.

At times, nothing stirs from illusory solidity.
Breathe the liquid in: a chance to know truth in clarity.

If cold bites, your corporeal cask can never be enough.
Resistance is a choice, but do you really want to seem tough?

And while full of folly and pain, that ceremonial setting out to sea,
The abyss is for those, who even by the shores, never tried to be.

A FANTASTICAL anthology exploring the nuances of Filipino culture, Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 2 (Kestrel IMC. 2006) is a compilation of short stories featuring the works of various amateur and veteran writers, edited by celebrated fictionist, Dean Francis Alfar. Alfar also edited the first volume of Philippine Speculative Fiction published in 2005, and has written The Kite of Stars and Other Stories, as well as the 2005 Palanca grand prize novel, Salamanca.

Speculative fiction is the general term used to describe stories that are categorized as fantasy, science fiction, horror, surrealism, and magical realism. Some stories in the book cite references to literary figures such as Lam-ang and Doña Victorina, and even places such as Quiapo and Ilog Pasig—making the reader more aware of his cultural roots.

THE SENSITIVE but practical pen owes to a sensitive but practical woman, Bella Angeles-Abangan, the byline of what is perhaps the longest-running newspaper column in Filipino in Philippine journalism history, Lakbay Diwa of Tempo.

Lakbay Diwa, a column born out of Abangan’s desire to inspire readers about everyday life, tackles themes such as love, personal conviction, and hope. For example, her article, “Pagsisimulang Muli,” attempts to motivate readers who have experienced a great loss or failure to take the first step toward recovery by starting the day with a positive attitude: “Ang araw na isinilang ay malaya nating magagamit upang bumangon at magbagong buhay. Iyon ay ang NGAYON!”

This coming December 15, the 23rd Ustetika Annual Student Awards for Literature will bestow the Parangal Hagbong on Bella Angeles-Abangan.

INITIALLY dreaming of a free trip to Japan, Thomasian professor Michael Bahrami-Hessari joined this year’s International Biotechnology Leadership Camp (Biocamp) and after a stringent selection process by Novartis, the sponsor of the international event, Bahrami-Hessari emerged as one of the two official representatives of the Philippines to the prestigious convention held in Tokyo last October.

As a student, Bahrami-Hessari readily showed a knack for the sciences perhaps brought about by his family background. “My mom is a biochemist and a professor here in the University while my father is a physician. I also have aunts and uncles who are pharmacists, chemists, and engineers,” he said.

BRITON Robert Johnson, a 23-year-old male, thought he would never see the light of day until news about a medical intervention came knocking on his door renewing his hopes. He was treated by replacing defective retinal genes with functional ones through gene therapy, according to BBC News.

Gene therapy, a recent scientific breakthrough, is just but one of the revolutionary applications of biotechnology, defined by Kevin Keener, assistant professor of food science at the North Carolina State University in its official website www. ncsu.edu, as the use of living organisms and their products to modify human health and environment for commercial purposes.

INTERWEAVING aesthetics and cultural identity, the College of Fine Arts and Design’s (CFAD) led by Professor Cynthia Loza launched the exhibit, Likhaan Bayan: An Exploration of Traditional Filipino Art, which depicted the intricate and colorful mesh of Philippine history and heritage as reflected in the nearly forgotten folk arts tradition of Bulacan and Laguna.

Held last month at the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, the exhibit included folk art demonstrations.

Loza said the exhibit served to draw public attention to the neglected traditional arts and the need to include their study in the CFAD curriculum. The new module, she explained, would develop a sense of national identity among students while encouraging them to apply folk art motifs and techniques to their designs.

SUCCESS is a hodgepodge of hard work and fervor for painter Wilfredo Offemaria as he reaps the fruits of his ingenuity for 13 years now after graduating from the College of Architecture and Fine Arts.

“I wanted to prove others that success is not just about the course you take up but on how you deal with it,” Offemaria said.

Offemaria started scribbling lines and colors at the age of three, which led him to become conscious of his veiled talent.

“It is already my interest when I was young, I was like any other child who would draw on walls and before I get home from school, I have already exhausted all the pages of my pad,” Offemaria said.

WHEN notes harmonize with beautiful musical pieces, choirs are almost always the innocent culprits. Choral groups tend to elevate music a nick higher since their songs reverberate glory, power, and majesty.

For its launching concert titled “First Verse” last October at the Angelo King Auditorium of the UST Hospital, the inVoce Choral Arts Society did not fall short of evoking an ambience of majesty. In fact, the concert showed the impeccable voice and maturity of experts rather than the pretense and insecurity of neophytes.

The leadership of Jonathan Ayson, a choral conducting student of UST Singers’ conductor, Prof. Fidel Calalang, proved to be of great significance in honing the music skills of the 24-strong choral group.

“We chose music that will tickle the fancy of the uninitiated to choral music and catch the attention of the well-versed,” Ayson said.