Change

It's been repeatedly said that "Change is the only permanent thing in this world." and if there is something constant in this walk, that must be change. This is perhaps the reason why I love listening and singing Jose Mari Chan's meaningful song named Constant Change. As the lyrics of the song goes, "We're on the road, we move from place to place and every time when I'm about to call it home we'd have to move along coz life's a constant change." This is exactly what I am feeling right now.

After being so used with the profession which I learned to love and philosophically adhered to for more than four years, I had to say goodbye from it and start with a new journey where everything seems to be very strange. The workplace is so diverse and the culture is so different. The way we do our job is also totally different from the way I used to do things. 

From being a Mathematics teacher abroad, I decided to give myself a break from the teaching arena by entering into the corporate world as a customer service associate and since it is offshore and outsourced, I will be handling customers through phone calls. I have been into customer relations almost five years ago when I worked as marketing assistant in one of the fast food chains in the Philippines but because I will be handling different product and different customers this time and such experience has almost been outdated, I really need to learn and absorb a couple of theories and techniques which I first thought I would be able to do at once. I was looking at the holistic picture of the job when I was only entailed to look at the details and work on them. I realized that it's really different and if there were things which I learned before, I need to leave them behind for the sake of my new career. I will never be able to grab hold of the new learning opportunities I will have in this new job without putting aside some if not all of the experiences I had. I need to empty my mind so that I will be able to fill it up with refreshed ideas.

How gratifying this new job might be, I am not telling myself to totally quit from teaching for I know that one day soon I would be back to that wonderful profession. If time will permit and opportunity will allow, I will still engage myself with a variety of talks, special classes for children, youths and adults, individualized tutorial and even education consultancy. The opportunity to help and educate people is just too difficult to lose. 

The Philippines SK and Barangay Elections 2010

October 25 has been declared as national non-working holiday in the Philippines due to the simulated Sanguniang Kabataan (SK) and Barangay Elections. In this small yet nation-defining event, the Filipino people practice once more their right to select who would represent the majority in the government by electing the chairman of the voices of the youth and the head of the smallest sector of the Philippine government which is the barangay.

As expected, lots of people flocked to several precincts in different barangays (villages) in the Philippines to cast their votes for the Barangay Captain, Barangay Councilors, SK Chairman and SK Councilors. I was actually one of those people who went all the way to my assigned voting precinct to cast my vote. Although it was a very small election compared to those of the municipal, provincial and national levels, I thought such expression of one's right of suffrage is another manifestation of one's great concern for 'our democracy' and so our democratic people. Barangay, although a very small sect of the entire government, plays a big role in our country's societal landscape as it is here where the people first express their individual concerns to our society. The barangay is also the most immediate way for people to connect with the government. The voices of the chairmen who will be elected in the barangay elections will soon resound in a national scale. The councilors will soon maintain order in the barangay through their resolutions and local ordinances. The elected SK officials will soon be taking care of the youth in the barangay. In reality, they're all huge parts of the national political tapestry.

This time, I am so excited for the result of the said election in our barangay and I hope that the officials who would soon be declared would stay true to their promises. As for me, whether the ones I voted for will win or not, I will remain happy and peaceful for the fact that I voted for those people whom I believe would make a difference in our small village. The others I voted for were not personally known to me as I have been away from home for years but with their background in public service as laid by some people I asked, I am quite confident that they are the most capable people that our locals could ever have. 

Tata Young Receives Prestigious US Environmental Protection Agency Montreal Protocol Award

The United Nations Environment Program Department of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) celebrated the International Ozone Day and the Millennium Development Goals with Asian pop star, Tata Young, at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok last night. Luckily, I was invited by a friend and was able to come for the event. Following is a press release forwarded through e-mail by the UNEP.

Bangkok, 5 October 2010 – Tata Young, Asia’s pop music sensation, was awarded this year’s Montreal Protocol Award of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for raising public awareness on the importance of protecting the ozone layer - a notable effort that contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on environmental sustainability.

The Award, which recognizes individuals and organizations who are making a difference in protecting the environment through their demonstrated commitment and extraordinary contributions, was presented to Ms. Young by Judith B. Cefkin, the U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission and Dr. Young-Woo Park, UNEP’s Regional Director and Representative for Asia and the Pacific during a ceremony yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.

The USEPA highlighted Ms. Young’s work with OzonAction Programme in the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). One of the singer’s first projects with OzonAction was a public service announcement (PSA) entitled “My Ozone Wish” that encourages people to stop using products that contain ozone depleting substances.

Ms. Young, who has record labels with Sony Music, also uses her concerts to inform the public about protecting the ozone layer. At the mega launch of her third album “Ready for Love” in Bangkok last year, the “My Ozone Wish” PSA was screened, and a special sticker saying “Protect yourself, protect the ozone layer” was placed on the album’s cover which later sold over 10,000 copies.

“It is an honor for me to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and I will continue to use the power of music to capture people’s hearts and encourage them to take action to protect the ozone layer and to help prevent climate change,” said Ms. Young upon receiving the award.

The Montreal Protocol, signed by 196 countries, was designed to reduce and eventually eliminate ozone-depleting substances. The phase-out of ozone-depleting substances, including hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, necessitates a long-term commitment from all developed and developing countries alike. HCFCs and some of the alternatives, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are global warming gases, and their continued production and emissions contributes to climate change. Parties to the Montreal Protocol in 2007 accelerated the HCFC phaseout with a view toward increasing climate protection. In November, Parties will consider two amendment proposals concerning HFC reduction to ensure stronger climate protection.

“We would like to thank Tata and her management team for their wonderful efforts,” said Dr. Young-Woo Park. “UNEP’s OzonAction Programme is looking forward to working with her in the future to raise public awareness on ozone layer protection and its strong linkages with climate change, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” added Dr. Park.

Tata Young’s award ceremony follows the celebration of two other special occasions, the 2010 International Ozone Day on 16 September and the launch of a new UNEP brochure entitled “Stand Up for the Ozone Layer and the Millennium Development Goals.” This pocket size booklet explains in simple language how protecting the ozone layer can also contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 target.

The MDGs are a set of eight concrete and specific development goals adopted by 189 world leaders committed to achieving by 2015 as part of the Millennium Declaration signed at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. These time-bound Goals are: 1) end extreme poverty and hunger; 2) achieve universal primary education; 3) promote gender equality and empower women; 4) reduce child mortality; 5) improve maternal health; 6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; 7) ensure environmental sustainability and 8) develop a global partnership for development.

“The latest review of the MDG Goal 7 on environmental sustainability has found it regressing and lagging behind. The impacts of climate change directly threaten the achievement of the MDGs as they push the poor and vulnerable deeper into poverty,” said Mr. Minar Pimple, Regional Director of the UN Millennium Campaign Asia and the Pacific Regional Office. “The need to address climate change concerns, including the rapid depletion of ozone layer, is deeply intertwined with the long-term efforts to achieve the MDGs to end global poverty. Thus a climate change strategy should have the MDGs and poverty reduction at its core,” he explained.

Mr. Pimple also added that the outcome of the recent UN MDG Review Summit in New York last month attended by over 150 world leaders illustrated that push to achieve the MDGs has been accelerated through renewed global partnership.

The Ruamrudee International School students and the Kaya Green Band also performed “Fix That Hole”, a song about ozone layer protection during the ceremony. The song was written by the Kaya Green Band from the Philippines last year for the 2009 International Ozone Day Celebration.

The award ceremony was hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) OzonAction Programme, the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), Ruamrudee International School (RIS) and the United States Embassy in Thailand.

DepEd banning homeworks on weekends: A teacher's point of view

A recent memorandum circulated by the Philippines' Department of Education (DepEd) ordered all public school teachers especially in the elementary level to refrain from giving take-home assignments especially on Fridays. Accordingly, the learners should spend quality time with their family during weekends but due to loads of homeworks given to them, children tend to become burdened on weekends. Such memorandum, of course, has stirred negative reactions from a couple of educators in the country who seem to have been ignored when the policy was planned. 

Where should I stand to such memorandum? As Filipino educator, I couldn't just say that I could ignore it. Personally, I have been fond of giving homeworks to my students especially during long holidays and I never meant to  give burden in the part of the parents and the learners every time I give some homeworks. Instead, I instill to the learners that learning could be as fun as doing other chores and that spending the entire holiday playing would not do good to them. Of course, I know the capability of my students and I would not give bunches of homeworks which would only cause them to spend their entire holiday doing homeworks. In fact, I advocate in providing a learning equilibrium inside and outside schools, thus, providing the learners a friendly and natural learning atmosphere where they could personally explore that learning and fun could actually interplay provided that they possess a positive attitude.  

As for the parents, they need to understand that education is a collaborative process and that the burden should not be solely given to the teachers. Parents have to spend as much time as possible  helping their children showing them a positive attitude towards learning. We all know that most of the parents are being bombarded with lots of work-related loads during weekdays and spending quality time learning with their children is almost impossible. Weekends could be a good time for them to spend some time doing few school-related works with their children.

I believe that the said memorandum from DepEd only instills negative connotation for homeworks to the learners. It adds fuel to the existing phony perception that homework (and so learning) is burden -- a struggle which must be endured by every learner. Having parents spend time with their children doing homeworks is the best way for parents to show affection and interest towards their children's education and that it encourages them to gain more positive insights towards learning. I strongly adhere to a personal proposition that what needs to be done in our public schools is not to suppress teachers from giving homeworks to the learners. Instead, teachers should be equipped with enhanced professional knowledge on the principles of learning and the giving of homeworks as well as the provision of holistic development among every individual. Meanwhile, parents should also be informed that their children do not have to spend weekends doing special classes in some tutorial centers or having individualized lessons but rather spend a portion of their time during weekends preparing for their lessons the following week. It's in the parents how they teach their children to manage time especially when they're home. 

The world is now moving towards the creation of a knowledge-based society. If we want to cope with the current trend of the society, then we need to instill in the minds of our learners that genuine desire to learn at any time every time. Homeworks have never been and will never be designed to cause burden to the learners but to encourage them to learn more whenever possible. 

They'll learn: With or without me

Rains were heavily falling in Bangkok during the past days. Those crystal drops seem to have penetrated the innermost of my bones causing a bit of poignant effect to my body. Although raindrops continued,  I was still happily devoting most of my times with my students when a piece of melancholy  struck in my heart leaving an effect similar to those crystal drops of rain. I gazed at my lesson plan, checked the school calendar, tapped my iPod to learn what day was it and then I found out that I only have two last meetings with my kids. 

I happened to tell one of my classes to be prompt in sending their works as I would only be staying until the last day of the month. There were some questions raised and some were almost answerable but one question stood out from the rest. A tall guy in my Grade 12 class asked if I would be gone forever to which I answered, "No, I'm not dying yet." Of course, I knew what he meant but I was just trying to cover some emotive thoughts that might have overflowed during that time.

Telling myself that I would not miss my students is a great lie for they've been precious stones who adorned a couple of supposedly dull moments in my life. There were times when they made me mad but they've always been parts of the challenges that I really loved. I would surely miss those times when a smile was given instead of homework. I would miss those days when a command of silence would mean a horrendous noise. I would miss those moments when I entered into their classroom stared and was ignored like I was bringing bunches of burden for them - like being a Mathematics Teacher, I was looked at as an advocate of eternal suffering and nonsense puzzle. I would miss those simple things which seem to have been ignored over time but in the end, meant a lot for my own and my students' personal progress.

And now the time is getting near for me not to say goodbye but to leave them with an inspiration and an expectant mind that someone and something better would come in their lives and that something would also come into my way. I am a teacher yet learning has never been confined with my presence in the classroom. I trust and I believe that my students could still venture for even wider learning opportunities than what I have given and shared with them.