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| Two Book Reviews from Mind Feed MIND FEED is a new section of Global Nation that will be devoted to book reviews and scholarly articles relevant to both current and long-range national concerns, especially to Filipinos abroad. In this section, Inq7 hopes to help close knowledge gaps, provoke new thinking on old problems and dilemmas, and encourage synergies in a nation dispersed throughout the globe. We welcome your contributions. Email us at [email protected], [email protected] (All contributions are subject to editorial discretion. Published submissions reflect the opinion of the contributor and not necessarily the opinion of INQ7.net and its parent companies.) Brown Americans of Asia By Renato Perdon Reviewed by Bert M. Drona "In order to read the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the book of its past" - Dr. Jose P. Rizal I have just finished reading two books a friend recently sent me from Australia: "Brown Americans of Asia" and "As I see It - Filipinos and the Philippines." Both books are published in Australia. I found both books (paperback) pleasantly easy to read, extremely worthwhile and thus highly recommendable. I am not in anyway a book reviewer (and I note the books have good reviews from acclaimed or known Filipinos), however I want to share here some of my impressions regarding these two books since I have found both very informative in terms of our country's history and of ourselves as a people, and because they introduced me to two Filipino writers (I confess ignorance about them.) who offer fresh insights about us Filipinos; and in addition a knowledge about Australia and Australians as they interact with us. These two paperbacks among a few other books (most especially those by the late nationalist, Prof. Renato Constantino) also directly and indirectly address the roots of our colonial mentality, our so-called "damaged culture" which results in our lack of national consciousness, national unity, dignity - and the consequent underdevelopment and more aptly, the socioeconomic regression in our homeland. The first book "Brown Americans of Asia" is by Renato Perdon, a Filipino historian based in Australia. Its catchy title, not new to the young and older Filipinos who read history, is appropriate, given the contents of the book. It book provides an excellent historical overview of our homeland, the Filipino character and culture. Though the book was originally written for Filipinos and Australians, it is also relevant and educational for any foreigner anywhere in the world who's interested in learning about Philippine history and the Filipino people. The book includes chapters on the historical linkage between Australia and our homeland and how we are perceived by Australians, then and now, coupled with profound thoughts and great information new to me and many Filipinos, I venture to guess. I feel appreciative and grateful to find them here. "Brown Americans of Asia" is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with what Perdon tagged "Current Images;" Part 2 talks about "Historical Issues." Part 1 begins with Australian historical and present perceptions, and includes stereotyping of Filipinos in our homeland and in Australia. He discusses mixed marriages between Filipino women and Australian men and provides us with interesting commentary on the "why, what, how" of these cross-cultural marriages. Another dwells on the past and present symbols of Filipino ethnicity - our flags, food, clothing, even names. Perdon ends Part 1 by touching on our well-known image as the only Christian country in Asia and our quite unique practice of faith and religion (mainly Catholic), Church and State interaction, and the widely divisive relationship with our Muslim brothers. Part 2 gives us a good refresher course on Philippine history. It starts with the British invasion and its brief occupation of Manila in the 18th century when Manila residents were made to take an oath of allegiance to King George III. Perdon then continues to talk about the rise of national consciousness, i.e. seeing and thinking that "bayan" represents all the island territories as opposed to just that little corner of province or region where one was born and/or lives; and our forefathers' struggle mainly for political independence from the Spaniards. He also informs us about the early trade links between Australia and Spanish Philippines that began in the mid-19th century, deliberating on Australian observance and indirect participation (actually cooperation) with the invading (later occupying) Americans. Perdon also talks about Australian and British perspectives on the Philippine-American War and the British desire to purchase from and/or exchange our rich islands for the American protectorates in the Caribbean, as proposed by Andrew Carnegie, the richest man in the world at the time. He then informs us about Filipino pioneers in Australia, speculating on their arrival in the 1850s; mainly on Thursday Island, the northernmost part of Queensland (I say that we Filipinos are seemingly like the Chinese in being "all over the place," most especially now that a significant number of us are forced to leave mainly by economic reasons, thanks to our traitorous leaders in the last three decades to the present). Perdon devotes the last chapter to a certain Heriberto Zarval, claimed to be the first Filipino diplomatic agent to Australia (said to be a Portuguese-Spanish-Chinese-Malay hybrid) sent by the Philippine Revolutionary Government in 1898 and who settled in Thursday Island. In sum, I find "Brown Americans of Asia" one of the better outlines on Philippine history and people because of the author's insights, his novelty of topics, the inclusion of numerous historical pictorials (first time to see such a collection) and its good bibliographical sources from Filipinos, Australians and as usual, Americans. Given its insightful scope, this book is uniquely different from the common Americanized, standardized or popularized books on Philippine history, making it worth reading and having, if only to learn about Australian-Philippine historical relationship then and now. "The HISTORY of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its conquerors." - Meridel Le Sueur, American writer, 1900-1996" *** As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines By Pura Santillan-Castrence Reviewed by Bert M. Drona "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines" touched me emotionally as a person and a Filipino because its author, Pura Santillan-Castrence, wrote very personal commentaries (also with nostalgic and historic photographs) - on herself as a career woman and a parent, on our past and present Filipino society, our culture and tradition, our past and present value system, our history as a people, our future in the "old" country; its present politics and predicament. I find the author very intelligent, smart, caring, actively nationalistic and full of wisdom. An added amazement is that she has keen memory and observation, still truly cares for our homeland, lives to learn, be continually productive and contribute to our education as Filipinos despite losing her sight due to advanced age, now approaching 101 years old on March, 2006 as per the Preface! Who can beat that? It's very rare indeed that someone who knows and has lived through a full century had also observed and studied our Filipino character and society. It is also surprising to know that the author was educated and trained in Pharmacy with a Masters in Chemistry (UP) but instead became a pioneering and prolific writer and social commentator; she capped her university years with a Doctorate in Philosophy. She's also a linguist, being fluent in Spanish, French, German, and Italian in addition to English and her native Tagalog. With all these, it is not surprising that she won so many accolades in the Philippines and abroad. I am so impressed and proud of her being a Filipino. I could go on and on but you can find out all about her this book. Going back to "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines," Santillan-Castrence introduces us to her book of collected commentaries first on the subjects of "Family, Friends and Old Age." Here she reminisces on her past, of another milieu, another time for most of us. She talks about her family, her friendships and old age. She reminds me that my (our) learned "old" Filipino values worth keeping and, if I may add, now probably being lost in the "pop/western" influences strongly facilitated by our unquestioned copycat television programs. An observation I heartily agree with is that we Filipinos are not a 'book people.' We do not want to read. Truly, to many of us who have time and/or money to afford reading, i.e. beyond our specialized professions, preference seems to be spending leisure on purely mundane activities: making more money, partying, gossiping, shopping and other escapist pursuits. Thus, even very intelligent fellow Filipinos have stunted intellectual growth, one indication being our failure to develop critical thinking on social issues, the inability to comprehend the roots of our national predicament and by default, contributing to its perpetuity. Santillan-Castrence notes that we Filipinos used to have a high literacy rate but did not read extensively, compared to the Japanese who read widely and learned the values of social discipline and responsibility. She suggests that we learn from them. In the chapter on "Filipino Culture and Tradition," she talks about our "damaged culture," the notions of equality and identity, knowledge and wisdom, sexuality and integrity, the joy of teaching, gift-giving, language, right conduct and moral imperatives, and being old. It is so rewarding to read all about these topics because they are up front and very personal, very relevant and, most importantly, replete with wisdom, rarely attained, I think, and gained only by a good synthesis of formal/informal education, knowledge, real life experiences and, of course, longevity. Under "Philippine History," she writes about a group of women from Malolos -a group said to be commended by Jose Rizal- who wanted to learn Spanish. Interestingly, the women were taught by her uncle Teodoro Sandiko, who later left for Europe for political reasons. Thus the topic and development is also very personal to the author and very new and interesting to any reader. Another chapter is covered under "World Stage," in which Santillan-Castrence demonstrates her broad knowledge of current world affairs and world conflicts. She also reflects on materialism and spirituality, with linkages to the Dalai Lama and Buddhism, about leadership models like Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan, in contrast to self-righteous and bullying Americans like George W. Bush. She alludes to the Filipinos' own lack and incomplete intellectual education (beyond business/scientific/ technical specializations), humanitarian and moral. In the latter we Filipinos identify and limit morality to sexual morality, and exclude public or social morality, thus greatly contributing to the bad governance, corruption and chaos afflicting our homeland. The book ends with a remembrance of her Filipino peers or contemporaries, great literary and patriotic ones too like Salvador P. Lopez, Bienvenido Santos, Lydia Villanueva-Arguilla, Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose and several others. (I am a chemical engineer, and was not really into Literature in my years in school, thus unfamiliar with most of them or their writings; but now I have leads on who to read). One of her granddaughters gives a nice description of her, followed by a list of enlightening and/or moving quotable phrases from the book. I copy and shorten some as samplers below. I think Mrs. Pura Santillan-Castrence is a Filipino treasure - her life encompasses much of our recent century and even the time of her parents, the Spanish period. I feel fortunate to have obtained a copy of her book. It made me more aware of the greatness of our Filipino heritage despite the continuing pervasiveness and destructiveness, witting or unwitting, of our colonial mentality, naivete, mendicancy and subservience, particularly to our former master, America. We really have not filtered this heritage completely out of our Filipino mind. "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines" is a book to read, own and pass on to our children and grandchildren. I googled to check where its available and found that it's available in Australia, England and the Philippines, but apparently not yet in the USA. Anyway, the books say the publisher is: THE MANILA PRINTS, P.O. Box 1267, Darlinghurst NSW 2010. AUSTRALIA; Tel.(02) 9313 8179. Quotations from book "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines:" "Many Filipinos are what I what I call Sunday-religious, that is they go to church every Sunday, take in confession and communion, but the rest of the week they bribe and do corrupt deeds..." "Certain marks of colonization are still manifested by the people. I have arbitrarily identified these marks as dependence, subservience and compromise." (I add compromise of our homeland and at our peoples' expense) "Only the strong, unrelenting efforts of Filipino people can erase the blemishes to our culture and remove the negative label attached to it. Fortunately, there are concerned Filipinos who, with all their might, attack 'these cultural damages' with the pen and the tongue. They are unrelenting." (These reviews come from Bert Drona's blog http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com.) |