Concerns About This Pestilence

It's hard not to be scared about the virulent plague of SARS currently spreading across the globe. I try not to be affected though. But the more I read the daily newspapers or tune in on a radio or TV station, the more I come across SARS related stories as if there is nothing more that could top this news item besides the recent war at Iraq. Take for example the following news excerpts. SARS death toll is on the rise. An overseas worker from Hongkong came in with SARS-like symptons and is now quarantined. A victim of SARS has visited her family and relatives in and out of Metro Manila and possibly these people may have been affected.

The news may make us all scared out of our wits, but these should not stop us to not be informed at all. The web has a plethora of information that could be researched about SARS. It's good that we know the symptoms of SARS. SARS is not some kind of a cool terminology to try out in everyday discussion, thus it's important that we straight out the facts. Prevention is the key, but when one has developed SARS like symptons, it's important to cooperate with health officials to help them diagnose the disease.



My project manager has gathered our group to a meeting early this week. We have discussed about matters concerning the possibility of working remotely in case an outbreak of SARS has reached a greater part of Metro Manila, particularly in Makati City.

Suddenly, I picture the ladies and gentlemen garbed in their crisp business attires donning face masks to work. And there would be multi-colored face masks to
complement work clothes or office uniforms. Instead of appearing as smart corporate people, they would look more like candy-colored urban ninjas. As additional protection, business handshakes would be an option unless done with sterilized, rubber gloves.

And I was overimaginative there. Although funny, we could see from photos from China and Hongkong of their citizens doing their everyday chores garbed with face masks. There was also a photo capturing the innocent smooching of couples on an escalator ride, though their lips lie hidden behind face masks.

Life must go on indeed. To live, we have to adjust. And when we adjust, we may survive.



I once scanned an article about some local fashion designers creating their radical face mask designs in lieu of the common plain hospital-type ones. One design has on it the familiar facial arch of the yellow smiley. Another has gemstones attached complete with assorted beads. And still another has an intricate floral pattern. The article's author said that if they would die because of the virus, they would do so fashionably.

Yeah. But your still dead.

Anyway, for the sake of looking cool or astig in local lingo, I want to look good in a face mask similar to that of Scorpion of the Mortal Kombat games. Eh? Don't give me that funny look now.



And now it can be told: I dare you sneeze if you feel like doing so. To sneeze or not to sneeze, that is the question my dear.

Some War Stories, Part 2.

Through The Eyes Of A Pianist

Wladyslaw Szpilman's harrowing experience as a Jewish survivor during the Holocaust in World War II tells everything about being an innocent person caught unprepared for the days of destruction and death. I happened to watch the film and was deeply moved by his accounts of the days he struggled to escape death in the hands of the brutal Nazis. As The Band Of Brothers portrays the brave men responsible for destruction of Hitler's rule (the rescuers), this time The Pianist portrays one person's life under the clutches of Hitler's rule (those to be rescued). This is his life.

Below is this movie's summary. Major spoilers ahead so for those who haven't seen the film, be warned.

Wladyslaw is a young pianist in Poland and lives with his family in a small apartment. In one scene, he refused to believe that the Germans had invaded the country and continues on with his piano play. Then a shell bomb hit the apartment's wall. As funny as it may seem, only at that time did he believe that they had to leave very soon.

But horrible things had started to occur without warning. They found themselves "imprisoned" inside the ghetto - a high brick wall was constructed around the area to lock the neighborhood inside, including Wladyslaw and his family. Soon, their nights were filled with terror as they see friends and neighbors being shot randomly by the Nazi officers. Those who tried to escape got shot from afar. As if not satisfied, these Nazi officers drove over the scattered dead bodies with their own vehicles. Another shocking scene was when Wladyslaw and his family witnessed an old man in a wheelchair thrown over from the windows high above the apartment by the same Nazi officers.

Wladyslaw witnessed more deaths and sufferings of his other Jewish friends and neighbors. In a poignant scene, he held the body of a young thief trying to slip under a hole in the ghetto wall. Only to his horror did he realize that he was now holding on a dead child in his arms. Somehow, the angry men at the other side of the wall managed to smash and beat the other half of the boy's body. Too late indeed. He cried in anguished and broke down.

Soon, he became one of the men assigned to build structures inside the ghetto. He carried heavy bricks and sacks of grain. In between, he experienced maltreatment and embarrassment from the Nazi officers manning the area. They were simply apathetic to the plight of the Jewish people heavy at work, hungry and thirsty.


Escape

Fate worked for him though, as he managed to escape the ghetto through the help of some of his close friends outside. To hide him, they meant well to lock him up in an abandoned apartment and promised him to give him food on a regular basis. Lived like an invisible man, he lived his days watching the world outside the windows. He witnessed more civilian deaths from the Nazi German officers. He saw burning buildings and rebels fighting it out with the enemies. Everything looked like scenes from a war movie, but all too shockingly real. Unfortunately, a shell from a tank blew off near the room he was staying. Thus, he was forced to move out of the apartment and carefully crossed back to the ghetto to find some vacant building to hide.

He found a suitable one, an abandoned hospital. From there he lived on, scrounging on whatever canned food and grains he could find. He looked out from time to time outside a broken window of a bathroom, until he was again forced to moved out after the Germans started ferreting the surrounding area.


A Kind German Officer

He stumbled out into a place of ruins and instinctively moved inside another vacant building after hearing some German soldiers drawing nearby. He crept above the attic of the building and stayed until nighttime. Both hungry and thirsty, he crept out and foraged for some can food. He found one, was about to open it, when a German officer surprisingly stumbled upon his presence. Both were shocked to see each other. But this is where things started to be strangely good for Wladyslaw. The German officer soon found out that Wladyslaw is a pianist by profession, he instructed him to play music for his enjoyment. Out of fear, even though how strange a request from an enemy, Wladyslaw followed and poured his heart out as he still incredibly played beautiful piano music after all these years of hardship in the ghetto. Somehow deeply moved by the piece done by the pianist, the German officer decided to let Wladyslaw stay for the night. The can of food will be in Wladyslaw's possession.

Surprisingly, the vacant place turned out to be an improvised German officer's building. But no one knew of Wladyslaw's existence, except for the German officer who found him. Ironically, the officer was of high ranking. This points out that still, there is a good heart among the Nazi Germans. Out of kindness, Wladyslaw was also given food and water by the same officer.


Freedom At Last

The day came when the allied troops were approaching near the area. The German officers decided to moved out of the place. One last token of kindness, Wladyslaw was provided food and the official overcoat by the kind German Officer. Grateful was Wladyslaw by the gesture, he stayed inside the building as he waited for the coming of his rescuers.

Alas, when the Soviet troops came, he forgot to shed off his overcoat. Mistaken for the enemy, instinctively they shot and pursued him. Luckily, he came out unscathed, telling them that he was cold, thus he was unable to get rid of the overcoat upon the Soviet's arrival.

Freedom at last for Wladyslaw. He was glad to survive the holocaust. He was overjoyed that finally, he could live on without fearing for his life.




Although the movies mentioned portray war as a final solution to stop oppression inflicted by erring nations over other nations, there are some stories left unheard in between and would never be known. These stories tell another facet and the cruel fact of war - the innocent civilians.

If you look at the soldiers at war at any angle, you would say that at least these men got to be geared up from head to toe, toting weapons to defend them in case of war. They have helmets to guard themselves from head injuries (but of course, not from headshots). They have flak jackets or other hard and heavy battle suits to protect themselves from bullet impacts. They have boots to protect themselves from foot injuries over sharp and stony surfaces.

On the other hand, the victims of war - the innocent people caught in between the battle of opposing forces - aren't as lucky as what these soldiers have. At the very least, they only have their everyday clothing on them as they find themselves caught in the heat of a battle. Either they freeze in place or scamper for their safety; they have nothing to protect themselves from bombs, bullets, and shrapnels. In war, soldiers return as heroes even if some got injured or killed in action. In war, innocent civilians - men, women and children - may never return at all. Soon they are forgotten as statistics of those killed in war. One party had a chance to be prepared for war. The other had no chance at all, save for measly luck.

I wish to hear the stories of these innocent people. I wish to know their fate in life. Have they lived from all these horrors, lived to tell the tales that war does not do anything good for humanity save for the greedy businessmen and military forces?

I don't know. Hollywood already portrayed the rescuers and those to be rescued. The casualties in between the battle become blurry facts, thus unfit to be shown on film.

How I wish someone from that group would tell their tales.



Advance Happy Easter to everyone.

Some War Stories, Part 1.

I know. I haven't been updating this site for a week. It's my decision actually as I found myself fully immersed at things to be done at home and at work. But during free times, I took on these opportunities to watch some videos about World War II. As timely as the current events, especially of the war that continues on at Iraq (Allied forces are winning the war over their Iraqi opponents), I learned from a third point of view the effects of war in the lives of men, women and children - physically and mentally. How war can always eventually change everybody's lives. One film dealt with a large band of soldiers engaged in the war in Europe, and how war strenghtened their friendship amidst chaos and adversity. The other one through the eyes of a simple Jewish man and how he survived the terrible holocaust.

This is the first installment.



A Band Of Brave Men

If you have a knack for war movies or films, I recommend you collect the entire episodes of Band Of Brothers. Yes, Band Of Brothers is actually a mini-series shown in America. It's a long mini-series: ten episodes to be exact.

The band of brothers refers to the brave and dedicated soldiers of Easy Company, a group of paratroopers of which in 1942 was a newly formed military regiment. Led by the soft-spoken Lieutenant Richard Winters, they were arduously trained for two years in preparation for their mission on D-Day, June 6, 1944, where thousands of American, British and Canadian troops storm Normandy, France. Trained as paratroopers, they have to land behind enemy lines and infiltrate their defenses.

Their first mission led them towards the grassy areas of Normandy, as they have to stop the German cannoneers targeting the other soldiers landing on the shores of Utah Beach. Through valiant assault and decisive tactics, Lieutenant Winters and his group managed to defeat their enemies but not without any casualties. Their second objective led them into more German assaults as they have to infiltrate the town of Carentan where tanks, bombers and snipers await for their arrival. Other battles awaited the company, each slowly picking out a random soldier's life either physically (death or lose of limb) or mentally (gone mentally unstable). The climactic battle, in the forest of Bostogne, took much toll to the company as many men died during the onslaught bombings of the Germans. Adding to their misery, they had to endure the savage cold days and nights as tons of snowfall made this battle the most difficult for the company.


A Leader Emerges

Along the way, one could observe and learn from the leadership qualities that Lieutenant Winters displayed throughout each episode. In one particular episode, Lt.Winters not only displayed courage and decisive actions, but he also empathized with the mental and emotional aspects that one of his subordinates, Private Blithe, has gone through during the battle at Carentan. This is the trait of leaders nowadays must possess at all times. A leader could be the best decision-maker of his group, is intelligent and industrious at work, but if that leader could not empathize with his subordinates - hearing out their concerns and voices and providing moral support - he is considered a liability rather than an asset in the company. Remember, a leader is but 50 percent of a group towards the success of an objective. The other 50 involves the team members. Get the 50 but lose the other 50 is still equal to 50. Not a hundred; it's a dead group already before the war even starts.

As an example, in the first episode, majority of the Easy Company never liked Lt. Sobel who harshly trained them during their years of training Camp Toccoa, Georgia. At the same time, junior officer Lt. Winters gradually earned the respect of his subordinates as he, unlike Lt. Sobel, encouraged them in times of their hard training. Soon, the two found themselves embroiled in a case requiring court marshal. Between the two though, majority of the trainees chose to side with Lt. Winters, even going to great lengths of discontinuing their final training days if Lt. Sobel stays and not Lt. Winters.

Indeed, a big percentage of the episodes can be utilized as reference materials in the military (or even in business companies) for leadership training. Besides the two types of leaders mentioned a while ago, there is another type referred to involving the inept character of Lt. Dike. He was the type of leader that "seems to be there but is actually not there". Physically he shows up; mentally though his mind does not work at all. He made several wrong decisions at the wrong times, costing the lives of several of his men during an attack at the town of Foy.


Fighting For A Cause

One of the moving highlights of the series is shown on the 9th episode depicting the reason why they were called in this war in the first place. A group of soldiers from Easy Company stumbled upon a concentration camp for Jews in a secluded area in the forests of Landsburg, Germany. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners slowly came out of their makeshift shelters all in filthy, ragged clothing. They walked towards the soldiers as if like zombies though hungry for the warmth of human embrace and solid food. Liebgott, the German translator of the company, was most affected by the plight of these prisoners since he himself is also a Jew.



Doubtful Motives For Fighting

As such, they were called to duty to fight for the oppressed people and nations under the inhuman reign of Adolf Hitler, his allies and his armies. Come to think of it, we could say that the US and British troops over at Iraq were called to fight for the freedom of the Iraqi people under the dictatorial leadership of Saddam Hussein. Or is it?

No doubt, words are abuzz worldwide that US does not solely want to free Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein. Behind every war is an opportunity for businesses to thrive and take opportunity of. Think of weapon manufacturers and big construction firms who will take over the reconstruction of Iraq afterwards.

Yes, there is a cause in fighting these wars. While historical facts of World War II have made it clear that there is a need to end the reign of Hitler (the holocaust, the murder of Jews, nations in Europe suffering under the Germans), it is still unclear whether the crimes of Saddam can brand him unanimously as a great threat to the entire world. It has been years when he attacked Kuwait during the Gulf War of the early 90's. Now, Saddam once again made some aggressive assaults at Kuwait, sending missiles over at that nation only after US made the first attack move.

To be concluded.

Eventual Changes

I don't know what's really on my mind these days, but somehow with the collection of ideas that I have so far gathered from the news on TV, in the radio and in the Internet have inspired me to make another round of changes for this site. And eventually the things I would like to discuss about. That's what life is all about - changes.

I find myself changing in every aspect as a person. Growing from obscurity to clarity. From youth to maturity. And the more I relate with the people around me, the more I discover about myself and what I could eventually do. My older beliefs are now challenged and I feel the need to adapt to changes in thinking, mingle with the minds of those who know better and the majority or die alone and be trampled because I think differently and don't want to be counted in.

Yet, sometimes you have to make a stand on issues. As born with a free will and mind, I couldn't rely myself to go with the flow of others and follow what others like to do or want to say. I have a lot of things to say, well, just like one of the students featured in one episode of Boston Public. This black American student was always the one who looks tough and out and ready to blurt out the first words to come in his mind. Always the one to say something on any issues thrown at him be it the AIDS awareness in Africa or the importance of memorizing thousands of dates in American history wherein black Americans were being mistreated. He has something to say because... he has something to say.

I have a voice. The voice is within me. I want to say something.
There is no payment no reward to saying something. I just want to say something. You also have a voice within. If you have something that you want to say, then say it. Harsh words or good ones. They don't matter. Right or wrong. Who cares?

What matters most is that you have shown your individuality and own stand on any issue.



As I have mentioned a while ago, this site shall be undergoing further changes soon. Radical changes from version 6.2 to 7.0. I am not kidding you. My schedule has suddenly gone hectic. I find myself in a heap of things to do in life, both at home and work that need my attention. Priorities first. So for those who have been following this site sorry for the inconveniences. I know, a good website should never be open to the general public still under construction. But, as I have said, there are things I want to say. So I opened again this website even though half-baked.

For those who I have linked before, you are still in my list. I would pay a visit to your websites some day.

I just need to gather my thoughts for now. The war at Iraq, the latest bombings in Davao, and the sudden recantation of Ador Mawanay's accusation against Senator Lacson and other maddening events somehow got into me.

They just make me sick and tired of hearing bad news.