The Title is not Eric Clapton.

The school season was supposed to have started last week, but due to the flu pandemic (as the WHO is labeling it now), most private schools will start this Monday. Traffic will certainly be bad as there will be a convergence of students on their way to school, families back from vacation, and the usual Monday traffic snarl.

I hope come Monday, it wouldn’t be as bad as I imagine.

It’s not as bad as say, the tuition fee most schools charge. I was talking to somebody today and I learned that high schools charge from as low as 30K to almost 100K per year. Imagine that. Is knowledge that expensive?

That amount does not include the books, school supplies, and your child’s snacks for the next 9 to 10 months. It’s amazing how we Filipinos still survive in this country with the level of wages we receive.

Pambihira.

What about public schools? While I never studied in a public school, I would assume that the quality is not that good. It is not my intention to demean people who came from public schools as I am knowledgeable of the fact that there are achievers in Philippine society who come from the public education system.

But this afternoon, a personal experience forced me to recall an old post of mine regarding our public education. This experience was anecdotal and worrisome.

I was at the Gateway Mall and entered a record bar there. I had been looking for a CD copy of a collaborative album featuring Eric Clapton and BB King. I approached a comely saleslady (SL), and asked this question:

Moi: Miss, meron po ba kayong Eric Clapton?

SL   : Yun po ba title ng kanta?

It might not be due to her schooling but just innocent ignorance; but, there’s no denying that her answer is up there with the best one liners in the world.

Ciao and enjoy the rest of the week. I will be back soon

Poem for Recyclables & Wellness Camp

Upon the request of someone, I wrote a poem for an upcoming event to be held at the Manila Doctors College grounds (near Blue Wave Macapagal) June 20.

Help Mother Earth! Support the Recyclables & Wellness Camp!

RENEWAL                                   by moi

The trees spoke no words,

Only the emotion of falling leaves.

The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky,

The four legged beasts that prowl the land;

All lost on man’s hand.

The corrupted spirit,

The tortured mind,

Avarice spreads like the filth of the sea.

The death song plays across the land,

All because of man’s hand.

Yet in the darkness of day,

The seed of the good and the deed of the noble

Refuse to enlist in the evil of men

The bounty and harvest of the sea and the land

All will return by man’s hand.

Nature’s treasure and the human spirit

The joyous whispers of the birds and the trees

A chant of happiness played by the rays of the Sun

There is a new beginning in all the land,

And it all started with man’s hands.

(Special thanks to a friend who recited this poem over at Jam 88.3 last Saturday 9PM.)